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Thread Number: 11744
TTI Vacuums |
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Post# 126354 3/1/2011 at 17:53 (4,803 days old) by bagintheback  (Flagstaff, Arizona) |
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I was looking on the Hoover web-site and I noticed most of their vacuums have warranties over 1 year. So they must think they build vacuums well. So other than selling crud Dirtdevils under the Hoover name, what is wrong with their vacuums? What I'm saying is a vacuum is a 3 year warranty is going to last longer than that, and most of them do clean well, so I don't see why people hate them.
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| Post# 126355 , Reply# 1 3/1/2011 at 18:11 (4,803 days old) by twocvbloke () | ||
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"what is wrong with their vacuums?" They're made in china, stealing the work from us western people... | ||
| Post# 126357 , Reply# 2 3/1/2011 at 18:44 (4,803 days old) by eurekastar (Amarillo, Texas) | ||
It would be interesting to hear the opinion of someone who services vacuums for a living. According to Consumer Reports, Hoover is the most repair prone upright on the market. Their canisters are in the middle of the pack when it comes to reliability. I've owned two Hoover branded TTI uprights. The first was a bagged self-propelled model. I think it cleaned extremely well; however, it's transmission shifted too quickly and made an awkward vacuum even harder to maneuver. The other was the Platinum bagless model. Again, I thought it cleaned VERY well. It had some nice features too like a powered height adjustment. But it was top-heavy and hard to maneuver too. The dust bin door wasn't easy to open and the one piece door got in the way of neatly emptying debris into the garbage pale. The other thing that was annoying about both vacuums was an odor that the motor emitted. I don't know if it was an odor from the motor brushes, the bearings, some kind of adhesive, or just good old fashioned formaldehyde, but it always bothered me. But again, they were outstanding cleaners. They were mainly just heavy and awkward.
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| Post# 126377 , Reply# 4 3/1/2011 at 21:17 (4,803 days old) by scvacuumguy (SC) | ||
TTI is very good about warranty support. Most of the warranty work on the cheap Dirt Devil machines is negated by people not changing out the filter and voiding the warranty. We send many a sad customer home with a bad motor in the Dirt Devil Reaction upright (my least favorite). I think the reason Hoover is the most repair-prone is because there are just so many of them out there. There needs to be a way to track the repair ratio to market share.
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| Post# 126433 , Reply# 6 3/2/2011 at 13:22 (4,802 days old) by scvacuumguy (SC) | ||
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"dragged through the dirt" (pun intended)
Those puns are only allowed to be used once every two weeks...I think that one was recently used. :-)
TTI has come out with some great products lately and are rolling out later this year with some even better products. Dirt Devils from the 90's did last for quite awhile considering their price point. You focus is too narrow when you make these posts about TTI (as expected). You need to look at the big picture. Cheap vacuum=short life. Compare vacuums with clothing. My general wardrobe consists of Lacoste polo shirts, shorts, and khaki pants. In addition to being fairly expensive, they last 3-4 years on average. I know that when I spend $88 on that shirt, I will end up paying $22 per year to own that shirt. If I were to ever shop for clothing at Target/Walmart, I would expect the $10 shirt to last maybe 6-8 months. A cheap vacuum is not expected to last for very long. Try and get the Oreck place where you work part-time to allow you onto the sales floor one day. You will quickly hear many customers say that they, "Get tired of buying a vacuum every 2-3 years." When they say that, it is obvious that they are not upset about having to buy a vacuum every 2- 3 years; but they are exhausted with cheap vacuums. I have been in this business for a long time and have never heard a customer get upset because their "cheap" vacuum cleaner for which they paid $100 broke. People expect something that costs more money to last longer. TTI simply has a number of machines in the portion of the market where they are not expected to last for long periods of time. The decent quality machines from TTI are really built well and do last for a long time. | ||
| Post# 126438 , Reply# 8 3/2/2011 at 14:39 (4,802 days old) by scvacuumguy (SC) | ||
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| Post# 126442 , Reply# 9 3/2/2011 at 15:07 (4,802 days old) by twocvbloke () | ||
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Made from 100% scratch with American made materials, or just finished off, adding the screws and ID labels, when it hits the shores after sailing from China? | ||
| Post# 126449 , Reply# 10 3/2/2011 at 15:58 (4,802 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
Christopher,
Just to comment on your sentence that related Hoover uprights' brand reliability to the volume if units sold on the market. Consumer Reports' brand reliability is indeed a result of the ratio of "good" Hoovers to Hoovers that needed to be brought in for repairs in the first year. It is based on the percentage of CU members who bought a new Hoover upright who needed to bring it in for repair. It is not based on the absolute number of respondents indicating they bought a faulty Hoover upright. There are far fewers Rainbows sold in the USA than Dyson canisters, and yet they have the same brand reliability for canisters. The questionnaire you get as a member asks you first if you bought a new vac in the past year, what kind was it (canister or upright) and what brand was it. Then you are asked: "For each vacuum cleaner you mentioned, did you ever have a serious problem that required repair in the first year?" The data comes from the ratio of vacs from one brand that needed a repair to the number from that brand that did not. Here's a quote from the CR vac brand reliability web-page: "Kirby was the least repair prone brand of upright vacuum, and Dyson and Rainbow were the least repair prone brands of canister vacuum. Eureka and Electrolux were among the more repair-prone brands of canister vacuum. That's what we found when we asked almost 115,000 readers who bought upright vacuums, and almost 24,000 readers who bought canister vacuums, between 2005 and 2009 about their experiences. The graph shows the percentage of models for each brand that were repaired or had a serious problem. Differences of less than 3 points aren't meaningful, and we've adjusted the data to eliminate differences linked solely to the age and usage of the vacuum. Models within a brand can vary, and design or manufacture changes might affect future reliability. Still, choosing a brand with a good repair history can improve your odds of getting a reliable model." | ||
| Post# 126450 , Reply# 11 3/2/2011 at 15:59 (4,802 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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| Post# 126457 , Reply# 12 3/2/2011 at 16:34 (4,802 days old) by jcste09 (Lubbock, TX) | ||
Guess I'm not from the right area but...
I still to this day see pre-TTI Dirt Devils being used and many of them are pre-Swivel Glide models. The only gripe I would have about the TTI Hoover isn't the reliability of the product as the T-Series Windtunnel I have has yet to have any issues, would be the high pitch of the motor. The Windtunnel is about a year old, and the DD's I see are from 95-96. I also see some newer DD's and they are still decent granted you clean/replace the filter as needed.
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| Post# 126464 , Reply# 13 3/2/2011 at 17:17 (4,802 days old) by portable (Corvallis, OR) | ||
I think there is a big difference between resenting a company that bought out and moved a company's manufacturing and labor to another country, and a company that makes lousy, repair-prone appliances, no matter where they are located.
Many MANY good people in and around North Canton, Ohio lost their jobs when Hoover (Maytag) sold out to TTI. Many of them were 3rd or 4th generation Hoover employee families. That is very sad. I often use that example for people who crow about how much better it is to pay less for products than we used to (as a percent of our incomes). Yeah, but that price has a price! But that is NOT the same as criticising a company for badly engineered, designed and executed appliances. I think Hoover quality was not all that wonderful long BEFORE they were acquired. And they do make a TON of vacuum cleaners. I think the law of averages is going to bear out problems in a certain percentage of them, no matter what. However, playing the devil's advocate for a minute....I hope TTI rises to the occasion and takes positive steps to improve quality and reliability. I can't fault them for scooping up Hoover...it's a done deal at this point. Just make decent stuff, please. I personally only own one Hoover that was made during TTI's ownership. It is a Hoover Air, and I agree about the motor smell. There is a strange chemical burning odor when the machine is run, even for short periods. I also have that same problem with my Mr. Coffee 4 cup coffeemaker. When the pump is finishing the last of its work, the smell is enough to knock you off your feet. I've had other Mr. Coffee owners who have complained about this when I tell my story. I think that there may be an issue with foreign-made appliances marketed in the US. I may be way off base, but quality control is an important issue, and if there are quality issues either because of bad engineering or bad manufacturing, more careful oversight should be employed by the maker. | ||
| Post# 126468 , Reply# 14 3/2/2011 at 17:30 (4,802 days old) by scvacuumguy (SC) | ||
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| Post# 126469 , Reply# 15 3/2/2011 at 17:36 (4,802 days old) by portable (Corvallis, OR) | ||
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| Post# 126471 , Reply# 17 3/2/2011 at 18:04 (4,802 days old) by scvacuumguy (SC) | ||
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I have no clue what the smell is- but I'm also a licensed mortician and definitely can tell you its not formaldehyde. That's a very unique smell and will chemically burn your nose. I'm sure there is some sort of phenol solution in the plastics. Someone mentioned before, there are several "grades" of plastic. Some of the cheaper grades feel almost pliable. There is definitely a unique smell, though, with packages and their origin. Panasonic machines have a completely different odor than any of the Hoover machines.
On a side note- the warranty on the Metal Royal upright is now lifetime (on housing, fan and nozzle), so I am assuming they are still using a very sturdy metal. Its not the same as years ago, but it still holds up well. The motors on the other hand are fairly loud. | ||
| Post# 126472 , Reply# 18 3/2/2011 at 18:05 (4,802 days old) by scvacuumguy (SC) | ||
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| Post# 126475 , Reply# 19 3/2/2011 at 18:42 (4,802 days old) by eurekaprince (Montreal, Canada) | ||
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You're welcome Chris!
You know, I don't think that cheap necessarily equals bad. The Eureka 1425 Dial-A-Nap upright my parents bought me in 1982 cost only $100 in Florida (including attachments) and is still running fairly well in the lucky hands of my friend CountryGuy Gary. The only serious replacement I did over the years was replace the outer bag because a roommate somehow sucked up part of a coat-hanger and it was lodged in the bag "throat"!!!! I paid over $500 in 2002 for a top-rated Kenmore Elegance (Progressive in the USA) canister model 27210, and 3 years later the motor blew on me. I was religious in changing bags and filtres and watching for the little red "check bag" light, and the darn thing died on me during a "strenuous session" of dusting bookeshelves with a dusting brush. Go figure....:-) | ||
| Post# 126477 , Reply# 20 3/2/2011 at 19:18 (4,802 days old) by electroluxxxx (……) | ||
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@ chris lol ya I can see that. people who dont know how to treat their investments cannot expect them to last long. I dont know how many machines I have rescued from the Dump that had CLOGGED hoses or filters, or my favorite the usual broken belt. :P | ||
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Post# 126489 , Reply# 23 3/2/2011 at 21:10 (4,802 days old) by bagintheback (Flagstaff, Arizona) |
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Some cheap vacuums can last alot abuse. My aunt has had a Eureka Smartvac from 2004, and she really abuses it. Still runs like new.
I'm sure when the Windtunnel or Elite has introduced many people thought they were extremely cheap. I have seen elites go though alot. So you never know, maybe my $40 Bissell will outlive the warranty. :) | ||
| Post# 126513 , Reply# 25 3/3/2011 at 06:21 (4,801 days old) by scvacuumguy (SC) | ||
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Post# 126530 , Reply# 27 3/3/2011 at 10:13 (4,801 days old) by jfalberti (Visalia, CA) |
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In regards to Royal | ||
| Post# 126533 , Reply# 29 3/3/2011 at 11:20 (4,801 days old) by scvacuumguy (SC) | ||
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Ouch???!!
Actually...we are 2 years apart in age. Speaking of shoes, I'm going to put myself in your shoes when I respond to you now and I'll try not to bring anymore of your 32 year old bitterness out...
No, I can actually order and sell Orecks...but I choose not to carry them because as you said we are a local small business and do not want people complaining about stuff that we sell. I know you said you are done with me, but I bet you will reply to this :-). Sorry if I hurt your feelings. | ||
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