Thread Number: 22463
Wednesday was an interesting day |
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Post# 251498 , Reply# 1   9/28/2013 at 08:59 (3,859 days old) by gottahaveahoove (Pittston, Pennsylvania, 18640)   |   | |
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Post# 251501 , Reply# 2   9/28/2013 at 09:27 (3,859 days old) by sebo_fan (Scotland, UK, member AKA ukvacfan, & Nar2)   |   | |
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I think you handled it well.
It is difficult to remain neutral when you have a love of a brand and have to work in the industry for selling not just that brand but rival brands too. I know it would annoy the hell out of me if I ever worked in an electrical show room and tried to remain impartial if I had a rep like that Dyson person. Last year I visited John Lewis in Oxford Street, London when I went down to see family before Christmas and had a few vouchers to get a few things as well as a SEBO extension hose. John Lewis stores have always been the main stockist for SEBO and Miele since the early 1980s including consumables and the stores are known for stocking and selling the extension hose. So I went along to the floorcare department and I must admit I was a bit disappointed to see how small their department is against the likes of Glasgow's store and waited to be served, since I couldn't find the extension hose. I waited for 20 minutes to be served and at that point a customer was looking at the Miele S5211 and the new Miele S8310 and wondering what the differences were since John Lewis had plopped the two black models next to one other. Each time a salesperson flew past me, they ignored both him and I each time we called them. It was just impossible to find a staff member. I eventually pointed out to said customer what the main difference was between the Miele models and he thanked me, going on his way. 40 minutes later I ended up sitting on the step leading to the electrical department. I had still not been served and yet I had recommended 3 customers to try out an Electrolux, to avoid one of the other bagless uprights that John Lewis were selling off cheap, to try out the Miele S6, to try out one of those Dyson balls against the SEBO Felix and to avoid the HEPA Miele filter since the black one was just as good but cheaper. A young man appeared before me and wondered what I was doing. By that point I was ready to strangle his neck, but I resisted and just told him I was waiting for a salesperson to fetch me a Sebo extension hose. I had already explained that I had been "to the shelf and there were no more boxes..." SO away he went and he came back "there's none on the shelf. " "I told you that before," I say, further handing him the product code slip and SEBO's part number. "Well, we won't have that part in, again for some time," he explains. "Well, you have that part in stock according to your website. Can you go and check again please?" I ask. I wait another couple of minutes. I don't know where he goes but he comes back moments later, empty hand. "We don't have that product in stock, but I can order it in for you.." "Well you had it in stock this morning when I phoned! Can you go and check your store house please...?" Off he goes and comes back, this time going to the shelf and looking underneath on the shop floor where the shelf is located. "If it isn't on the shelf, we don't have it." Eventually my presence begins to raise suspicion because I'm now at the end of my tether and beginning to raise my voice. A lady comes over in a power suit with a senior looking John Lewis badge on and asks me if she can help me? She was Scottish, so it was lovely to meet another Scot in an English store. The guy is just about go get out of there, and I calmly tell her of "my experience to the Oxford Street store," and then say, "do you know that I have served at least 6 people in this floorcare range who, like, me wanted to know about info that no one in your staff could serve? Meanwhile this muppet keeps telling me you don't have a product in stock that is a massive seller for John Lewis and that you always have one in stock and I know you had about 15 of them in stock when I rang, first thing this morning..." Well of course the boy doesn't like to be called a muppet. Who would? She interrupts by apologising kindly and suggests that both she and him will go to the warehouse and check for the extension hose. This takes another couple of minutes which turns into 15 or so many minutes. By then I have managed to convince a student that Panasonic make good budget microwaves that don't fall apart, one other lovely lady who is after an Oreck and just as I'm about to tell a guy about the Miele S8, power suit assistant manager turns up with 5 boxes in her hand, obviously to fill the shelves. She's about to go when she hands me a box. "Oh, thank you," I say and the boy is looking at the floor by this point! I grab her arm and say "by the way this gentleman is ready to buy. He's got pets but he also has hard floors and he will probably be interested in buying the Cat and Dog model of the S8 though I've also made him aware that he can buy the hard floor tools off Miele's website. don't pap him off to our friend on the right here." Her face was dumbstruck. She turns to the young sales guy and dumps the rest of the SEBO extension hoses onto him to fill the shelves to help the guy. And for all the fuss and nonsense I was put through, by the time I got to the till I find that I have been given a staff discount for another item I bought! |
Post# 251552 , Reply# 5   9/28/2013 at 18:11 (3,859 days old) by Turbo500 (West Yorkshire, UK)   |   | |
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That is debatable. I actually think that the Vax Mach cleaners are far better than the Dyson DC24 and DC50 and far better built. The cheaper Vax's are horrendous but the Mach and Air ranges are pretty good.
On the subject of sales staff, I was in Currys a few years back buying some Miele bags. One of the sales staff went to get some from the warehouse as their weren't any left on the shelf, which was fine. Whilst I was waiting, I overheard a Currys salesman trying to sell a Vax Power 2 as a "no loss of suction" cleaner. I had to interrupt and spent a good 5 minutes explaining to the customer what the difference between the low efficiency direct filter cyclone and proper dust separation dual and root cyclones is. In the end, she went off happy with a Hoover Freedom upright that was on offer at £99.99 at the time with 5 years guarantee and a proper cyclone - far better than the cheaper, budget bagless cleaners. Happy customer, pissed off staff lol. |
Post# 251563 , Reply# 6   9/28/2013 at 20:40 (3,859 days old) by sebo_fan (Scotland, UK, member AKA ukvacfan, & Nar2)   |   | |
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I agree Chris, but then I'm also agreeing with Adam based on conversations I've had with salespersons.
This is simply down to an experience I had more recently when considering to purchase a new oven and went to my local Currys to see what they had in-store. Of course not all Hoover and Vax products are bad - to collectors and owner - but to the salespersons at Currys, JL and so forth, the reliability issues can always be held up to question dependent on the call backs, or rather the machines coming back to the store when they go wrong. Whilst I was baulking at the list prices of dual fuel cookers, I had a chat with one of the assistant store managers regarding floorcare brands that have the most trouble or dependent on the type of reason a customer comes back with the machine. The worst brand is Vax. Second to that, Hoover and at odd times even Miele vacuums have been returned. My own Vax Mach Air had to be returned, or rather it was returned to Vax UK after a fault with the floor head occurred when I bought mine at a John Lewis store. Both John Lewis and Vax suggested spraying WD40 or whatever to loosen the floor head from the mechanism that should allow it to fall, but there was no way I was going to invalidate my 6 year warranty by jiggling about with a machine - after all it does state that you can inherently make the 6 year warranty void by tampering etc. So I had to wash the built in filter and make the machine new again before it could be packaged off and sent back to Vax. When the replacement one arrived, no problems. So I can sympathise with salespersons greatly who may jump to conclusions that a brand that has had so many call backs or returns, can be justified to say that a brand or certain models from that brand has lousy reliability or design/quality. The Hoover Purepower and Dustmanager models also seem to be quite high up on the list of returns - that old plastic design problem of the handle release pedal for example is a recurring problem and filters not fitting properly. The Miele vacs that were previously being taken back to Currys and John Lewis were the old S380/S381 cylinder vacs, a couple I've had myself. The problem with those ones are the tool doors on them ping off and the customer who feels that they have spent that much won't touch the machine to repair it. The very fault happened on mine when I bought a burgundy S381. The whole tool lid just pinged off - but I knew how to fix it. |
Post# 251594 , Reply# 9   9/29/2013 at 07:01 (3,858 days old) by sebo_fan (Scotland, UK, member AKA ukvacfan, & Nar2)   |   | |
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To be honest I don't mind Currys. You can't buy all at Argos to what Currys carry - and I prefer a store where I can see the machines physically rather than rely on an "as seen photo."
Argos exist but they are not as reliable as they used to be- they seldom have low priced floorcare products that get a high rating from customers as they're either sold out or find that the products are difficult to attain. Oh of course they do in plentiful supply should you visit another store no where near my address and then have to pay for delivery if it is less than £100 etc. I don't mind Currys - it was Comet I absolutely despised. I wrote a mammoth review about that company so many years ago and even when they were going bust the prices were far too high. CLICK HERE TO GO TO sebo_fan's LINK |