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Thread Number: 16700
Hypothetical advice for Consumer Reports |
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| Post# 178166 , Reply# 1 4/23/2012 at 15:17 (4,378 days old) by twocvbloke () | ||
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"what would you have them do?" Stop giving better ratings for companies who pay them the biggest cheques... | ||
| Post# 178217 , Reply# 4 4/23/2012 at 19:11 (4,378 days old) by sebo_fan (Scotland, UK, member AKA ukvacfan, & Nar2) | ||
"Stop giving better ratings for companies who pay them t
How well put! Which UK are notorious for this - it seems every Miele vacuum they test has "different data," on same motor built vacuums, but seem to have a different set of final results, often turning a blind eye to the obvious but then they suddenly ALL get a Best Buy award! They moan about other brands that put out too much hot air and don't say a thing about the hot air exhaust at the top when it comes to changing the suction setting.
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| Post# 178245 , Reply# 8 4/23/2012 at 22:41 (4,378 days old) by sebo_fan (Scotland, UK, member AKA ukvacfan, & Nar2) | ||
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Petek et al - That's the problem with these companies. The info you get isn't quite in depth enough - which is why review sites exist giving individual experiences from actual owners - I don't believe CR or even the UK equivalent WHICH UK is the "god above all" for data tests on vacuum cleaners let alone household appliances or indeed anything else they publish.
Because of the way vacuum cleaners are required to be used in so many ways such as cleaning on different types of surfaces, to hard floors, to the use of the smaller cleaning tools, to maintenance, changing the filter/washing/buying/changing a bag, weight of the actual individual floor head, tubes, length of hose etc - these requirements are seldom reflected in tests and are consistent with every brand. CR, WHICH, GHI - they're good at their marketing and they're good for promoting the brands - but when it comes to actual testing, they can only go so far. Sadly for collectors though and for those who pride in machines, it's never quite enough to just read baseline reports and I'm sorry but brands DO bribe consumers AND testing companies. One company I can think of who are bribing UK consumers at this moment are Vax. Since they merged with TTI and Dirt Devil, they consistently send out free machines and appliances to consumers in the agreement that they will write up a good review about the product to promote the machine, thus cutting the cost of actual advertisement. I became a member of their product trials but they know me well from the product reviews I've written over the years - I write what I feel is honest - and quelle surprise, Vax have never sent out a free machine to me yet! Bad publicity isn't what brands what, whether it's the truth or not! | ||
| Post# 178279 , Reply# 10 4/24/2012 at 07:19 (4,378 days old) by jmurray01 (Scotland) | ||
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| Post# 178659 , Reply# 15 4/26/2012 at 12:14 (4,375 days old) by sebo_fan (Scotland, UK, member AKA ukvacfan, & Nar2) | ||
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Well, WHICH UK get around it by doing annual reliability stats rather than back up testing.
I don't think back up tests are good though - owners treat their vacuums very differently and some brands go as far to removing the model at the time of the original test with another model so that it doesn't reflect the original findings - Miele used to do that as well as Morphy Richards. Through the stats WHICH UK then reflect on aspects like use, build quality, design, customer service etc and then produce a final tally and statistic. Another thought that just occurred to me - how can machines stand up to the sound tests? Where consumers who may well have a decibel reader/meter can do their own tests, it would have to be done in a very controlled environment compared to just testing a machine for noise in a household where air noise/outside noise might be affected. Should sound ratings be trusted wholly, then? | ||
| Post# 178681 , Reply# 16 4/26/2012 at 15:42 (4,375 days old) by ralph123 (Little Rock, AR) | ||
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I'm not sure how the data is used, but Consumer Reports sends vacuums home with employees for in home testing. | ||
| Post# 178690 , Reply# 17 4/26/2012 at 16:09 (4,375 days old) by gsheen (Cape Town South Africa) | ||
 I do testing of vacuums, here's what I do , lab test , put on about 2 years worth of use in a matter of weeks , then the most important test, take it home and use the same machine for a month or two. all vacuums work great when new but how do they cope after 2 years. Ive been doing this a long time and I have found that most vacuums if they are going to give trouble do so after 2 years when things start to wear. Again I want to know how well that vacuum works after 2 years of heavy use. We even place domestic machines in hotels for a month or two , nothing wrecks a machine and shows up any weak points like that, but always home testing as that show's up inconveniences and problems with using the machine and maintenance. | ||
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