AIBU to think 'Sir James' has lost touch with his customer base ?

[albertcamus]

We WERE the loyallest customers of Dyson products and didn't even look at other makes until the piece of merde which was the vacuum cleaner we bought last October. It was much lighter and less solid than all the previous machines we've had, couldn't cope with moving from solid oak floor to woollen rug without a loud hissy fit, had a new clutch after three weeks, motor went completely after five months of nonsense with it and two engineer visits blah blah blah ...

So we bought an excellent Electrolux bagless replacement which is as good as the Dyson was crap ... in fact so much better that cleaning is a pleasure ! (sad I know). This was actually £100 cheaper too :)

Annoyed with the ubiquitous Sir James who constantly promotes his 'British' company (products in fact manufactured in Malaysia), we wrote an articulate letter addressed directly to him, linked to the Amazon order number, pointing out that we had put up with six months of a defective machine giving us a build-up of dust in our house (luckily we have a cleaning lady who uses her own Henry once a week, or would have had to replace it sooner). DH is an engineer so commented in an informed way about the inferior standard of the plastic and the components (he was the one here when the engineer called). Basically pointed out to him that his much-proclaimed 'market leading standards' have slipped...

Did he give a flying F* ?

We received the most bland fob-off letter informing us that: 'Sir James spends most of his time travelling and is out of the office, so we (Customer Service) can tell you that our products are thoroughly tested and are of the highest quality blah blah blah '

Next time I see that smug bugger on TV wittering on about his British company will have to throw something at our (unashamedly Japanese) TV !

If you're going to compromise on quality, don't pretend you are still selling quality products, plus at least seem as if you are listening to your customers :(

Clearly the gong places him above us mere mortals.

AIBU and just accept that globalisation means that most manufacturers just don't care that a percentage of each batch are just going to be rubbish due to lack of quality control and penny-pinching on raw materials + cheap labour, and it's enough just to give a refund?

Sorry to be boring and should have posted this in the Anthea Turner housekeeping forum but it's more of a grrrr about what a waste of time you get when you buy something important which is just ... scheiss !

Sermons???? What's wrong with this phone??? see one

I agree totally. My mum had one of the original dysons and it was amazing. By the time we bought one they had obviously really compromised on the quality of the manufacturing and components. It was a piece of shit.

Such a shame as the original product was so good. I'd never buy one again.

i too gave up on Dyson and hav gone over to Miele and its the best vacume ever

My mum has a dyson, it stopped working after 12 months. I've had mine for 9 years and it's on its way out now. I'm going to replace it (with something else that isn't a dyson) ASAP. Miele looks like a winner judging by this thread, thank you.

Total Miele fan here. I had a crappy dyson too! One thing I have never understood is why do people like bagless vacuum cleaners? I always found it a horrid job emptying thye dyson plastic thing. Loads of dust flying about the room and difficult to get it all out etc. Maybe someone can enlighten me.

YANBU.
Dyson has gone seriously downhill and p*ssed away all the brand loyalty it had built up for the DC01 which was brilliant.
Since that died, i have bought two more...both crap.
I now have a Henry that I eulogise about and have vowed NEVER to buy anything with the word Dyson on it again. I am not being taken for a mug.

Norks now I've read your exp. I'm even more annoyed about their complacency and the way our letters were fobbed off

let's hope they read this thread !

I had an early Dyson, which broke again and again and again - the plastic just wasn't strong enough. By the time we finally replaced it (with a Miele) it was onto it's second motor (first one was replaced under guarantee in first year) and held together mostly with gaffer tape.

I disagree that they've gone downhill - the build quality has always been ropy, which is kind of inevitable if you're going for cutting edge designs on moving parts. Which? had a policy for the past 10 years that no matter how good any Dyson cleaned it could never be recommended as a Best Buy because the brand reliabilty was so poor. They've now relaxed that because new Dysons come with a 5 year guarantee, but I still won't buy them because I don't want something that will be repaired for free - I want something that won't break in the first place.

Those fans are rubbish too. I stood in front of one in the shop a few months ago, on its maximum setting, and in all honesty I've done more forceful farts.

ninedragons
Dilys interesting !

Had a Dyson, it died in record time. Now have a Tesco cheepo, nothing special but it does the job.

What is a quality, lightweight hoover?

Have had a dc05 for 12 years. Its the business. It broke 5 years ago and cost 40quid to repair. it worked perfectly until it died again couple of months ago on the very day we moved house. I decided it was time to buy a new one and treated ourselves to the new DC26 citivac. "Half the size with no loss of suction".

'twas pants. I complained and was politely informed that id fallen for a play on words. No loss of suction doesn't mean the same thing as no loss of power and that when they say "has the same power as machines twice its size" they don't actually specify which larger machine - and they really mean the same power as an inefficient machine twice the size. They sent me a snazzy turbine head foc to appease me. "so will this make it work better?" i asked "oh yes it normally costs £50!" they told me.

It made bugger all difference. I've just spent £50 getting the motor of our old dco5 fixed and it works like a dream again - it lifts the carpet when it sucks. the citivac barely bothered the dust.

Guy in the repair shop admitted that the older models are great and the latest ones are hyped rubbish.

recurring theme here treacle - I love hearing about older things being mended, like Dilys I don't expect anything, cheap or expensive, to just be crap and not last a reasonable length of time. Must be showing my own age, though !

i've got a couple of older models and they're great, that's so WEIRD that the new ones are so shite, what is he thinking?

I still have a DC01 and its fabulous - helps that my DH used to be an electrician so he can solve any little foibles really quickly with it - he actually really loves fixing vaccuum cleaners..

Aitch it's the company's arrogance that pisses me off, they just don't give a monkeys about the degradation in quality.

Agree that the DC01 was good - ours withstood three sessions of building and the years of bringing up 3 DC and lots of cats ... hence our brand loyalty until this experience.

Sad to see something that was good go downhill ...

We have a Henry - truly fabulous. He has fallen down the stairs on numerous occasions and still gives a super performance whilst smiling away!!

Next door have a dyson. They hoover every day (perhaps because the hoover is so crap they daren't allow dust to build up?) and the dyson is sooo noisy it sounds as if they are sanding floorboards (in fact the first time I heard it I did ask them which room they were sanding to be met with faces.

Lillytheminx bet there a few disappointed customers out there who were hoping for good suction IYSWIM !

Behind agreed on the noise. This was the last straw with the one we returned - it whined and screamed louder than a toddler who's dropped her sweeties down the loo ! WTF with a brand new machine?

Dyson now seems to be designing products that aren't actually needed and don't do the job as well as those that already exist. Those hand-dryers are pointless and I bet his new fan is, too. His 'David and Goliath' schtick dating from the big manufacturers turning down his designs for his first hoover is rather wearisome now and doesn't apply to any of his new products.

We had a DC01 when Dysons were new and it was great - although emptying a bagless hoover is rather messy as someone pointed out. Bought another Dyson when that one gave up the ghost years later (after dh used it to hoover up DIY debris...) and the new one was pants. Moved onto a Henry which was good but a bugger on the stairs - maybe I'm a klutz but those casters + stairs + me = potential domestic disaster. Now have something that's OKish (cheap from Asda IIRC) but sounds like our next one should be a Miele, judging by this thread.

I've had a DC08 for 5 years and never had a seconds bother with it despite 3 children and a small pride of cats shedding everywhere. But the motor went last week. I considered buying a new one but the prices of the new Dyson's are terrifying!

Think I'll just have the motor replaced in this one and eek a few more years out of it. Although I did really want to switch to an upright with the ball thingy [sucker for advertising]

Summer know what you mean, they look cool but don't do the job. From this thread, it sounds like a Tesco value machine is better than the whizzy over-rated plastic fantastic products which Sir James is too busy to answer for when disappointed customers attempt to tell him what he needs to hear !

Dyson is to vacuuming what ASOS is to fashion I guess : great looks but crap quality !