Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

Just wondering if anyone knows if Miele are stopping their S7 production? I've heard an industry rumour that they are to stop making the S7.

I was looking around and saw a blog -- http://www.bestvacuum.com/blog/page/2/ -- stating that Bosch has dicontinued vacuum sales in the USA.

Naturally I called and spoke with a Bosch rep who apparently was not at all aware of the situation herself and had to put me hold while she went to make inquiries.

Upon her return, her answer was affirmative but I was assured, per law, that parts bags and filters would be available for the next seven years.

Then came the ultimate question. "Why did Bosch decide to discontinue its vacuum sales here."

The young woman I spoke being just a phone rep could not of course give a straight forward answer but, as best she could, did inform me that when sales or profits were not up to snuff the usual practice was to discontinue the item(s) in question. She also made mention that despite quality aspects higher pricing may also discourage a willingness to buy.

Venson

For the record, I spoke with Jim at Miele today. (Remember him, Sally, the Cat Lady and the mangled test model?) He claims that the S7 series is not going to be discontinued. Jim also claimed that sales are going well. Fact or fiction? I dunno . . .

Venson

Hello Venson:

Thanks for the reports on MIELE and BOSCH.  Good detective work Sherlock Holmes. 

WRT BOSCH vacuums no longer being sold in the USA:  Not the main product for BOSCH so easiest to cut costs and expenses by divesting itself of vacuum sales in the USA.  Appropriate time also.  Bad economy, exchange rate matters, falling off sales all in concert to dictate cutting overhead.  Least profitable markets and products are usually the first to go.

Carmine D.

Venson wrote:

Hello Venson:

WRT management speaking the truth:  Here's a non-vacuum related story of recent and similar note.

I posted about it and will add the results here.  The latest Casino/hotel to open in Las Vegas is within walking distance of us.  Opened Nov 11, 2008.  In June 2008, the CFO [Chief Financial Officer] appeared before a panel of reps from the the banks, gaming commission, gaming regulators and several big time stockholders.  It was a session for questions and answers.  The property costs over $600 MILLION.  Of which 450 MILLION was financed.  Best of everything.  Marble and chandeliers imported from Italy.  Absolutely gorgeous.  THe biggest screens for movies and entertainment in all Las Vegas.  The question was finally posed to the CFO:  Will the projected and anticipated gaming and hotel revenue from the property pay off the debt financing?  He answered:  We don't know. 

I stored that in the back of my mind.  On the soft opening of the property, several days before Nov 11, my dear Wife, her best friend [a hot shot NJ lawyer] and I were exiting the Casino and were met on the elevator by a muckety muck from Personnel.  We chatted briefly and I posed the question:  How long before the new property declares bankruptcy?  She looked at me and laughed.  Her retort: No way.  Not this property.  Perhaps others in LV but not this one.  Sure about that I asked.  Absolutely she said.  Okay I said.  And stored it in my memory.

I posted here at that time that despite her reply I thought by the spring-summer of 2009 it would go into bankruptcy.  Management declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy/reorganization last week after missing 3 months or so of bond debt payments. 

Carmine D.

Venson wrote:

Hello Venson:

A hard learned lesson for many of the best and brightest!  Whether vacuum makers, financial moguls, and/or gaming giants.

Carmine D.

I agree, thanks for all the detective work. However I've just been to Miele's site in Germany and the S7 still hasn't appeared on their pages.

A Miele spokeswoman phoned me this morning to say that the S7 is still in production and Miele have no intention of stopping it but she will email me later to find out why it is not listed on their home German website. However this wouldn't be the first time Miele have lied to me; they promised me a trial way back in July 2008 when the first models came and by November 2008 I just cancelled the whole trial programme thing. I'm also have concerns with their new HyClean bags (my review of it appears online) as the bags I've had for my S4 and S571 don't appear to close upon removal. Miele want me to send in the bags so you can imagine what I'll be remembering to do each time a bag gets full. I can't understand why they went with this silly inner seal flap; mine gets stuck on the dirt so that when you pull out the bag the dirt hampers the seal opening. IF anyone also suffers from the same problem please let me know.

I miss the IntensiveClean bags to be honest - the pull flap was so much easier and Miele could learn a trick or two from Sebo with their fold over caps on their Felix/Dart uprights.

vacmanuk wrote:
Hi vacumanuk,

The niftiest self-sealing disposable bag remains the one that Aerus/Electrolux. A cardboard seal is automatically broken when you close the bag chamber's lid and a rubber membrane close around the cardboard tab to seal off the bag's contents upon removal. I suppose there's a patent that keeps others from using the idea and that Miele looked for the next best way to go.

Miele self-sealing device looks a ittle elaborate but it works well for me. The HyClean bags have been working wonderfully too. Self-sealing mechanisms may be better for the more sensitive among us. I've been shaking out cloth bags, changing disposable bags of all types for years with never so much as tickle in my snout. Nonetheless, for people like nette who have very real issues with dust sensitity maybe self-sealing makes a real difference.

As for filtering effectiveness, I have seen I don't know how many throw-away bags and heard uncountable numbers of claims regarding dust capture. Despite how much I scream about expense, Miele's high-filtration bags so far are the only only that look like the real deal. The inner wall of the bag chamber in either of mine stays clean. That's best indication that the bags up to snuff. The only cleaner that I've seen offer comparable filtering ability is Filter Queen. Unfortunately FQ, due to design, requires extra care by dust sensitive users when emptying.

Venson

Williams-Sonoma has done something totally out of character. The Miele Pirouette upright "exclusively" designed for (No big deal. It's just a different paint job) has been dropped to $799.

WS continues to carry the Miele Capricorn at for $1,200 and has added the Rotho Twin wet-and-dry to its roster for almost $1,600. I would however note that a large amount of the vacuums on the WS page are listed as exclusives and can be purchased via the internet only. This leads me to think Williams-Sonoma is not putting its neck on the line. No sale, no loss.

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/shop/homekeeping/vacuums/index.cfm?cm%5Ftype=gnav

Venson

My biggest concerns as far as the new miele bags are:

1. on some models, when you open the dust compartment lid the bag pops outward. Sometimes you see that it happened but other times it is so slight you don't notice. This results in the neck of the lid crushing or bending the bag collar. it breaks the seal and debris rushes into the vacuum. VERY messy! A clean vacuum is why you by a Miele! LOL. Tell your customers...whenever the lid is opened, ALWAYS RE-SEAT the bag before closing.

2. The increased cost and perceived value. 2 dollars more and 1 less bag!

As regards vacmanuk's question I received the following via email:

Dear Mr. Venson Thomas,

Thank you for contacting Miele customer support.

I passed your question along to our Floor Care Product Development manager. He stated, the S 7 line is very successful and that there is no chance of that line retiring from production.

Please let me know if you need additional information.

Thank you

Matthew White
Customer Support
Miele, USA
Tele: (800) 843-7231
Email: moreinfo@mieleusa.com
Web site: www.miele.com