I got the feel-a for the Miele....the vacuums we sell....

[programcomputer]

So,

The main line of machines that we sell...is the Miele. We carry the full line from the Naturell starting at a bloomy $249.95...thru the Blue Moon. This machine chimes in at the highest end of the spectrum at $1,300.00 respectively

Quite a high price point...if you ask me. BUT, that blue Moon is pretty snazzy and is the biggest body cleaner, in the Miele line.

However, It stuns me that at the Hoover Store that I used to run, that it was almot like pulling teeth to get people to upswing to the premium Hoover Windtunnel models like the Windtunnel Self-Propelled retailing for like $279.99 for the base model.

Yet again, when I put on a show of the Miele...people practically roll over and pee in fountain fashion and lay out cash for one. Not always...but have seen some pretty enthusiastic actions when people buy these things. Never bad, but dang how happy can people be over a vacuum purchase..(vintage buy's NOT included)

Let me tell you, not every sale is a SilverMoon tho. Our most popular models thru the price scale is the Red Star at $600.00 and the Solaris Electro series at $799.99 respectively.

My question to all of you is this?

1. What do you think of the Mile line and it's products.
2. What do you feel are it's selling points over the competition. I.E. Electrolux/Aerus,Rexair,FilterQueen,
3. Do you feel for a premium product, a high price tag should always dominate? And WHY?
4. If you could choose a Miele for yourself from their broad lineup...which one would you choose ( please use your REAL budget as your guide).

And finally, would you be happy with your Miele as your main cleaner, not supplanting them with any other cleaner for the long haul (including the oldies).

And as a last note..if not, why?

This isn't a stupid sales quiz that Im asking you. I have to sell this product daily...along with Riccar, Royal and Sanataire. I would like to know what to base my sales presentations on thru your input. So, what do you feel about it.....(as a cleaner).

thanks Guys and Gals....

Chad

If we were to use my want as a guide, and I could choose a Miele series cleaner and using MY budget as a guide. I would have to say honestly right now it would be the Miele Plus. This machine retails for $499.99 and is thier LOWEST price powerhead model. And in THAT...it's their cheapy little powerbrush...not even their SEB215 which is their TOL head. BUT AS OF NOW, i can't afford higher without taking a second job...or ritualistic time honored body whoring......

Thanks again

 

[tolivac]

Miele vacs

there is a dealer here in Greenville that is trying to sell them-so far not a lot of luck.Explain to him it was difficult enough to sell other "Hi-end" vacs such as Kirby,TriStar,Filter Queen,Aeros Lux.so far,Rainbows do well here.Would prefer the Miele thogh.I have an older Miele "white Pearl" is sort of like the "Blue Moon" its the full size large body machine.It uses the 6 Qt bag-fortunately the newer Miele "Filtrete" style bags fit it.(Type G-N)I am going to try it vs my Tri-Star and Vortech Force.What I don't understand about Miele is they price the "Red Velvet" and the "Blue Moon" the same-yet the "Blue Moon" is a full size machine-the "Red Velvet" is a mid size-Most other canister builders price their Mid size models at a lesser price.I feel Miele builds a good machine---but they are OVERPRICED.I think there are better ones for less money.Tri-Star,Vortach are good examples-A friend and I may try to sell "Miracle-Mates" in this area.That is another "Vertical bag" canister like the TriStar.It has a metal body and unlike TriStar and Vortech Force-a sealing bag when the vac lid is opened.This is best for allergenic folks.Mieles are liked by them-becuase of their sealing bags when the canister bag lid is opened and the bag removed.To be honest I think the Miele #206 I beleive it is power nozzle is better quality than the #236 they are offering now--Too much plastic-reminds me of a Kenmore or Panisonic power nozzle.I feel Hi End buyers want More METAL and less plastic.The newer wand for the Miele is excellent-metal telescoping-no "pigtail" power connections.All direct connect like a TriStar.I also feel the Mid-Priced Mieles are a good bet. those should sell well here.-Would be good competition to the Sears Kenmore and Panasonic canisters.I also do like Mieles variable speeds.-nice touch.
better then Bleeder valves used on others.For Floor cleaning---I like the Royal metal uprights and the Riccar uprights-in your place those mieles will have tough competition from Riccar and Royal-Don 't like the Miele upright-they should drop those and stay with their canisters.their uprights are too much of a "clean air side hose clone" like many others--not a good design-A direct air design like A Royal,Kirby,Riccar Radiance-will outclean ANY of the Clean air uprights.The dealer here commented they were not built by Miele but by a contractor for them.Sebo is also a better upright. Haven't tried the Sebo canister.also I feel Mieles lineup is too many and too confusing for both customers and dealers--also too expensive for dealers to carry that wide of a line.Miele should pare them down.Mieles are quiet and powerful-move a lot of air for a canister-in CFM tests with a Biard meter-they move more air than most.Biard meters are used by Kirby salesmen in their demos-have a few of them-including a new one from a defuct Kirby dealer.But to sum it up thogh-Miele will have tough competition from Wall-Mart,Sears,and Best Buy.I have tried selling vacs here---its tough sell-most folks like the lower priced machines.-they don't want to spend a lot on a vacuum.they are not Vacuum "fans" like I am or others that are on this website.

 

[magic clean]

a bit overrated IMO

Chad, #1, their vacuums are powerful, quiet and have a great floor brush. #2 not familiar with those brands. #3 Miele has very interesting advertising, intriguiging product line and the internet websites & vac shops propel the Miele mania in my opinion. The high-price will dominate for those seduced by the advertising, styling and product demonstration.

Chad, we have a 1999 "Platinum" Centenery edition. It was over a grand at the time. We like it very much for hard floors and furniture dusting. The machine is quiet and clean running. The new filtrete bags make the machine even better. It's silver-platinum-anthracite color is sharp too.

Things I don't like: the cord is too short, the hepa filter is outrageously expensive, the motorized SEB26 powernozzle is a disappointment and the electical connections in the hose are now intermittant. The hose control switch only controls the powerbrush motor. The machine was a gift, but when I learned what it cost........I broke out in a cold sweat. We use it primarily for floors and furniture cleaning. The powernozzle sits in the closet next to an inexpensive Hoover Widepath Windtunnel, that works great.

So with that said, I bought my mom a straight-suction White Star for their hard surface floors & above the floor cleaning and a Hoover Windtunnel for their carpets 2 years ago. My retired parents like both machines. Guess which one has been repaired??? The Miele. My mom had to call Miele and make a fuss because it was in the shop for about 2 months last summer waiting for parts. She told them its not "Immer-Besser"! Miele blamed the delay on the hurricanes in Florida and the failure was said to be an "isolated" incident. Their hometown vacuum dealer said it was a lame excuse as their parts department is in New Jersey. To pacify her, Miele mailed her a free box of paper bags.

If I were to buy another, I'd stick with the 2 or 300 series straight-suction models and try not to spend more than $500. The price paid to value equation diminishes greatly by spending more, again my opinion. After all it's a plastic box with a suction motor. Many full size appliances that require delivery, installation, removal of the old product without trade-in credit and in-home warranty service don't cost as much.

 

[magic clean]

Miele uprights

Tolivac, the Miele uprights are made by Panasonic or Matsushita electric. Quite similar to the Kenmore.........just a lot more $$$$$

 

[maytagbear]

Miele vacuums----

I've known about them (and their prices!) for years, but have never seen one in the flesh.

I am pleased with my Hoover WindTunnel CANISTER, except for the noise. Are the Miele's that much quieter?

The nearest dealer has the Red Velvet for 1,249.
Plus, they aren't very near...maybe 25 minutes away.

Geeze...a person could get a very decent stove, or a fridge, or probably a Duet/Hettie (at least on sale) for 1,249.

I am saying this in the <I>friendliest tone<i>: Miele Vaccum People--Convince me!

Lawrence/Hooverbear

Confidential to Magic Clean...ever check your email?

 

[petek]

I have no real experience with the Mieles only from seeing them in a store and turning one on once.
Personally I think they are way way overpriced. You could buy plenty of lesser vacuums that works as well for the price of a Miele..
I saw the uprights and they do look like Panasonics but also not worth the price, get the Panasonic.

 

[foraloysius]

Overhere in Europe Miele vacuums are priced much lower. The lowest price I saw on the internet was $190.-. Ofcourse there are more expensive models, a very good MOL model would go for around $400.- to $450.-. In that price range Miele is a good vacuum. Miele vacuums overhere have bigger motors too, the TOL models have a 2500 Watts motor. Personally I think the price difference between Europe and the US is too big. $1,249.- for a Miele vacuum sounds too much for me.

 

[whirlcool]

About a year ago we bought a Miele Red Star. We could have afforded the Champagne model (which I loved) but the local Miele dealer I used said that they try to fit the vac to the size of the house and the "purpose" you will be using it for. Our primary goal was removal of dog hair from carpets and hardwood floors. We have three dogs, a Black Lab/Great Dane mix, a Dalmatian, and a Golden Retreiver/Yellow Lab mix. So we definitely know dog hair! (The Dalmatian is the worst!)
We are in the smallest home we have had in years (1750 Sq Ft). So he recommended the Red Star (S314I) at $549.00.
I didn't get the demonstration as I went in asking for a Miele on the advice of some freinds I have in Germany. We were previously Rainbow owners for many years (since the early 80's).
My DW bought a Fantom Fury once, it worked OK, was heavy as a pickup truck and fell apart after three years and parts were simply not available due to Fantom going into bankruptcy and being bought and sold and handed around a few times. In to the trash it went!
It seems with Miele vacs according to my research, that you have three basic sizes and the more features you have, the more you pay.
So far we have been very, very happy with the Miele Red Star.
Here is why:

1. Sound Level. The quiestest vacuum I have ever heard. You can actually hear the "clink clink" of small particals of dirt going up the hose. It makes less noise than my hairdryer does, much less. The dogs didn't like the Rainbow and the Fantom, the Miele doesn't even attract their attention.

2. The black sock test. With the Rainbow and to a smaller degree, the Fantom never got 100% of the dog hair off the carpet, you couldn't see it, but if you walked across the room after vacuuming you'd see some hairs on your black socks. With the Miele, there are none, not even one!

3. Power. When we turn the "suction control up to 1200 (max)" and are using the power brush, the thing sticks to the carpet and is extremely difficult to move. We have to bring it down to 900 or so when vacumming the carpets (deep cut pile). The hardwood floors feel smoother than ever after vacuuming with the hardwood floor tool. No grit at all left over. Our carpet nap even stand up better then it did before the Miele. I wold gather to say that the Miele can match a Kirby at almost all levels. We have had the 6 hour Kirby demo!

4. Weight, this is one lightweight vacuum, maybe 10 lbs complete. My wife likes it as it's very easy to manueuver and pick up and move from room to room and the cord is very long so we only have to plug it in and move the plug once during the whole vacuuming process. But even though it's light, it's very sturdy. The dealer said that the shell is made from the same material as Motorcycle helmets are made from, I believe it.

5. We have the telescoping wand which makes cleaning ceiling fans and the upper ends of our plantation shutters very easy to get to.

6. The dealer we used. Some of the most accomodating people we have ever used. They called us the next day after we took the machine home to see if we had any questions about the operation of it, and a week later called to see if we were happy with it.
Very freindly people, plus they had the best price available even beating some Internet dealers.

7. And it has the sex appeal of the Miele brand name! More and more people are becoming familiar with it. One of our neighbors came over and commented "I didn't know Miele made vacuums, I thought they only made kitchen appliances!" My comment, if you think Miele vacs are expensive look at a Miele cooktop or their stove fan!

Cons:

Mieles are very expensive to buy and expensive to maintain!
Our dealer charges $42.00 for a set of five bags! We get about two months use out of a bag, the machine REALLY packs the bags full and the cost of the HEPA filter with Charcoal (the vacuum never gets that "doggie odor") is outrageous. The dealer wants $56.00 for it and it's an annual replacement item.
We buy our bags on Ebay where we can get genuine Miele bags for $16.00 for a pack of five, and we bought the Hepa filter for $26.00. Which, is still expensive.

We still have our Rainbow with squeegee for drying the floors when they are washed (it can be used as a wet/dry vac) and cleaning the car out, but we use the Red Star for everything else.

 

[maytagbear]

Here I thought

that my Hoover's allergy bags were expensive!

I get three allergy "S" bags for 5.99-8.00 (depending on store), and I thought that was a lot.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[cr_atl]

$42 for 5 bags!!!!?!?!

I have the Solaris Turbo which uses the FJM bags (same as Red Velvet, I believe). $13.25 for 5 bags. Free shipping for spending > $60.

http://www.thinkvacuums.com/miele/redvelvet.htm

 

[magic clean]

Hello Lawrence

Hi, my replies to you keep coming back undeliverable. Send me a note.

Regards......L.P.

 

[maytagbear]

Sent!

to the email in your profile.

L/Mb

 

[tolivac]

The Mieles are among the quietest canisters I have used-their motors are well made.
$42.00 for bags-your dealer is overcharging you-bought a pack of 5 bags for my White Pearl(new GN Filtrete bags instead of paper)at it was only $13.00the pack also had the motor filter and a non-HEPA exhaust filter.
the dealer here breifly showed me their Miele uprights-and was not overly impressed-he really wasn't either-and liked the Sebos better(another German vac )I would like to compare the Miele Red Velvet canister against the Riccar 1800 but the Riccar dealer here doesn't stock the machines-he only orders them when a customer wants one.Remember the area I am in is still a small market. Hope the new Miele dealer does alright here-but skeptical.

 

[whirlcool]

Needless to say, when I saw the invoice for the first set of bags I called the Miele Dealer and asked the price, he verified the $42.00 for a 5 pack of bags.
This is the way I look at it....
He charged us $549.00 for the S314I, then $42.00 for the pack of bags. The S314i is traditionally sold everywhere for $599.00.
So we paid $591.00 for Vac, Hepa Filter and a pack of vac bags.
We saved $8.00 overall. I won't be going back in there to buy more bags from this dealer again, thanks to cr atl I have a new source for vac bags.
I am really surprised at how much dust/dirt is packed into a Miele bag before it becomes full. Our Rainbow only got two rooms done before we had "mud" and the Fantom had to be dumped every two rooms as well. With the Red Star, we only have to change the bags every four vacuumings of the entire house!

 

[tolivac]

I am anxious to try the "Filtrete"-"Intensive-Clean" bags as Miele calls them-and see how much dirt I can get into one before it has to be changed or the "change bag" indicator on the top of the machine shows.I dragged out my older Miele and cleaned it up-the Miele man out here looked it over-and tested it with his "Particulate Counter" and it showed very low-so its HEPA filter is still working and OK.That meter is good for demos-something new-but expensive-the particle counter is $2000! He does use it in his Miele vac demos and a demo of an air purifier.I could remember the Miele I bought was discounted-there is many Miele dealers in the WashDC area when I bought it.I figured the dealers there may have "price wars" with each other like Lowes and Home Depot do in the area I was in-they were almost next to each other.And-of course the fellow heere sure wants to see me the Miele Red Velvet!!It is a nice machine-but --overpriced.Got to figure its the only one in Eastern NC!

 

[whirlcool]

One thing I noticed ...

with the Miele bags and the change bag indicator is that the bag may become full before the change bag indicator shows this, especially if you are vacuuming dog hair. This is even mentioned in the Users Guide for the machine.
When the bag indicator shoes 3/4 full, you can look at the bag and it is almost as hard as a foam pillow and completely expanded. If we didn't have so much dog hair, the indicator should operate more efficiently.

 

[tolivac]

Yes-that is common when picking up hair-pet or people,new carpeting fluff,etc-those items are porus enough to fool the bag full indicators.

 

[programcomputer]

Thank you everyone.....

Yes,

IMHO, and your's does NOT have to match mine or even slightly paralell with my opionions,I do feel that they are a tad overpriced for what you get, and there are cheaper models and machines available that "patently" do the same thing's that the Miele can do....but putting Air-Way and possibly Compact/Tri-Star and maybe Kirby aside for a moment will they still run in 20 years like many Miele's still do? Will they still for the most part function and do exzactly it's same purpose like it did the day that you bought it? No prolly not.

And also, when you price out a new Kirby, Rainbow, FilterQueen,Aerus,Air-Way Sanitizor/Sani-Clean, Tri-Star or even the other "high end" brands that I have not mentioned; the prices asked are "really" NOT that bad.

For bags and filter's. Well you get what you pay for. You can as noted pack a Miele bag as full of smut from your home and ill have quite strong and useable suction. We charge $18.95 for the package of five bags and the "Intensive Clean" Filters that are useable in every machine that Miele makes. We also have a option of getting five boxes of Miele bags complete with all the filters for $79.95 which gives you 25 bags that should last you over 2 years. And becasue of the Intensive Clean Filters packaged in with the bags one for post bag, one for final filtration...for you cheapa' folk who are so ARN over the price of the Hepa Filter, you can use the standard filter in it's stead if you can't justify the $59.00 we charge for the HEPA filter.

On a personal note: if your that cheap, whiny and uncooth where you can't justify $59.00 a year to have a excellent filtration system on a vacuum cleaner that has been shown to have 0.001 parts per million particle emmissions thru the Mercury (with Hepa filter upgrade) Silver Moon/Red Velvet/Blue Moon (with standard Hepa)...I look at it this way don't buy a Miele with the certified HEPA, dont bother to concern yourself with quality and convienence and dont waste your/ nor my time. Don't buy a Miele I have something else for you..

Come and let me show you this Eureka Bagless ( that we also sell) for those who care less about what a "real" vacuum cleaner can do...priced at $149.95 and don't whine, b*tch,cry or complain after the sale because your house is dusty, and your eyes are all watery and swollen and you can't breathe. That's your OWN god*@mned fault. If you want the convienence of having a good vacuum cleaner that does what it says and doesnt send you into wheezing fits..Suck it up and replace it like your supposed to. IF you dont you've wasted over $1,000.00 of your money and your a dumaaas! Period.

Which BTW The Miele System is the only tru HEPA certified filter available in the industry. There are documents sent out by Miele to prove this. Other may have them, but their not certified thru the proper channels. Even Mistah James Dysoon, shouldn't be claiming this.

And becasue the bags are NOT made of just simple paper, and are made of a double knit, double wall fabric style material, your getting a better product that wont tear,burst or leak dust....and finally becasue of the plastic inner liner that's perforated..it holds back the larger fluffier particles from the filtering wall of the bag, where the finer dust and debris fit.

AND folks, for those who AREN'T convinced that the bags are better, and worth the money...when you replace most other filter bags, they belch crap out their fill tubes/inlets especially, ones with larger aperture's than most. With the Miele Bags they have a self closing /sealing mechanism, which is similiar to a rolltop desk that by the time your pulling out the bag...where the "poof" of smut occurs it has fully and completly covered the hole eliminating this source of 'poof". No one else has this that works as well or as easy.

As to the hoses being problematical....well wherever you go there you are. No hose, especially with electrical leads are EVER non-problematical, whatever brand you choose. I will state that Miele is the ONLY manufacturer that test it's hoses repetitively and in sucession and EVERY hose is tested over 50,000 stretches before it's packed into a Miele box.

In their "DEEPER" testing, the hoses are crushed, twisted and beaten and dragged over miles of rough terrain in their "labratory" to make them one of the strongest and most durable available. So for a hose or two to have issues I believe fully that " Immer Besser" applies not only in full force but...full strength. Try that test with ANY competitor product's hose and see if not only it still works, but it's even still able to hold suction, or it's spiral shape. Won't happen everyone that's for sure.

As to their powerheads. I believe fully that their Electo Plus head is crappier than most. It's basically a powered version of a air-driven brushroll, with a whimpy brush with soft bristles an a small roller/mandrel. It has NO height adjustment to speak of, nor a positive latch to keep it upright....however on the other hand all of these heads are able to be docked int the parking slots situated on either the side or rear of the machine. At least they shut off when you suck something up into the nozzle and desn't ruin the product tho...

However, as stated elsewhere the suction is strong enough that the brushroll on the SEB215 really IS effective on most low and medium pile carpeting. However, if someone tells me that the have quite a bit of carpet, pets, kids or a truly gargantuan home...I will pull them up to at LEAST a Miele Mercury model that comes standard with the SEB 236 Electrobrosse (electric Brush). Reason?

Well number one it has a larger brush mandrel with stiffer bristles, and it has air channels molded into that mandrel that help whisk dirt, sand, grit and etc. into the air-flow. It also has a positive latch to keep the wand and so forth upright. It also has a five position height adjustment that keep the product appropriatly set for the carpet to be cleaned. You just should have these adjustments available. It's been proven over the decades that it's better to adjust it right than to have it clean badly...IMHO And automatic adjustments in most cases do not allow that to happen.

It also has a flourescent headlight that looks almost a blueish tint rather than white. I can't tell you how many people tell me that they really can see things in dark corners (after the sale) and that it just look's "cool" as they vacuum. the double swivel lower neck is also a great selling feature as well, although the SEB215 has this as well. They also like the fact that on all models PAST the Mercury thru the Blue Moon, you DO NOT have to fuss or bother with the outer powercords that clip elsewhere thru the lineup. And that the powdercoated METAL adjustble wand system with direct connect sell's the upper end models EVERY time.

I'm not here saying that the Miele is it..it's not. There will NEVER be a vacuum cleaner ever made thru the end of time that is EVER going to be "it". However, considering how fooled the public can be as to why this vacuum cleaner, or that vacuum cleaner is better or worse than the other one being sold down the street is..people will buy what THEY think IS IT.

And Miele, and their sales organization do their own private parts to make that thought possible, making the customer believe it, but after they do so by their advertising...they back it up...even tho there are SOME dealers that aren't at all reputable that sell the product and hose people (haha)
and make them wait three months for parts for a machine. Those are the "developmentally challenged individuals" that ruin a good product and a good name.

And finally, for 80% of my customers that come into our four stores in the Southern Lower Michigan area..the Miele IS it, they love it and thru positive sales experience, full happiness with the product, and service after the sale that we provide, at least in our area; it will be the lucky homes that really know the value, product longevity, abilities of, convienence of and the fact that it CAN be easy/fun to use a vacuum cleaner. Miele that is.

For Now,

Chad

 

[whirlcool]

Yes, Miele bags are made out of a unique material, kinda like that material that postal envelopes are made of for "super strength" shipping of items. I don't think you could tear one open without a knife, even if you tried.
Even though I have seen bags for Miele machines made by other manufacturers at a cheaper price, we still use only Miele bags.
Not only can you up pull on this lever to close and seal the bag, there is also a similar device on the Red Star itself to close the hose opening while you have the item stored while it is not in use.
Maybe I should stop in at our Miele dealer again and ask him why his is charging so much for the bags when other Miele dealers are charging much less? I was very impressed with their service, and they are truly nice people concerned with your true happiness with the product.