Kirby Vacuum Cleaners

pinkshoes

So we somehow ended up agreeing to a Kirby vacuum 'complimentary carpet clean'.

(I didn't really realise it was Kirby until they turned up and I saw the box, as when I took the phone call I had screaming babies who wanted milk!)

Anyway, these two blokes turn up, and do their stuff - vacuuming our carpet with our own Dyson, then using their Kirby over the top to show how apparently cr*p our Dyson is.

They then vacuumed our bed, and ewwww how much dust came our was quite disturbing!

One amazing vacuum!

They then tried to impress us with its carpet cleaning abilities. Epic fail! It was actually no better than the cheap Vax carpet cleaner we had, and no matter how much spray he added, the stain would not shift. I will give him 9/10 for his efforts to try and convince me that the stain had got better (it hadn't) but after repeated efforts, nothing worked.

3 hours of my life wasted, and a vacuumed but not cleaned carpet (all his time wasted trying to remove the stubborn stain so no time for the rest). Pah!

I have no doubt that their vacuum is amazing, and far better than our Dyson, but for £1500 you are having a laugh! I think I will live with the dust.

But that aside... I do like nice clean carpets, so if my Dyson were to die (it gets well used!!), what would be a good vacuum to buy that could potentially match the vacuuming ability of the Kirby?

They even said in their sales patois that another vacuum actually came close, but which one might it be?? I would pay a reasonable amount for a really good vacuum.

(But not £1500!!!)

boliston

I'm pretty sure you can get kirby second hand at a fraction of the "new" price which probably works on the basis that a lot of the cost is to cover the salaries of these smooth talking salesmen.

Spendless

pinkshoes wrote: »

So we somehow ended up agreeing to a Kirby vacuum 'complimentary carpet clean'.

(I didn't really realise it was Kirby until they turned up and I saw the box, as when I took the phone call I had screaming babies who wanted milk!)

Anyway, these two blokes turn up, and do their stuff - vacuuming our carpet with our own Dyson, then using their Kirby over the top to show how apparently cr*p our Dyson is.

They then vacuumed our bed, and ewwww how much dust came our was quite disturbing!

One amazing vacuum!

They then tried to impress us with its carpet cleaning abilities. Epic fail! It was actually no better than the cheap Vax carpet cleaner we had, and no matter how much spray he added, the stain would not shift. I will give him 9/10 for his efforts to try and convince me that the stain had got better (it hadn't) but after repeated efforts, nothing worked.

3 hours of my life wasted, and a vacuumed but not cleaned carpet (all his time wasted trying to remove the stubborn stain so no time for the rest). Pah!

I have no doubt that their vacuum is amazing, and far better than our Dyson, but for £1500 you are having a laugh! I think I will live with the dust.

But that aside... I do like nice clean carpets, so if my Dyson were to die (it gets well used!!), what would be a good vacuum to buy that could potentially match the vacuuming ability of the Kirby?

They even said in their sales patois that another vacuum actually came close, but which one might it be?? I would pay a reasonable amount for a really good vacuum.

(But not £1500!!!)

I have a Sebo, bought after good on-line reviews.
I had the first Dyson (DC01) and adored it. I lasted 7 years before 'dying' but we passed it on to a relative who did a bit of a re-furb on it and it had a few more years life.

I then bought my next Dyson (DC07??). This 'died' at less than 2 years old and in its dying throes spat out a ball-bearing. DH who has worked at a bearings supplier for all his adult life, was unimpressed at the poor quality of the bearing and I've never dared risk getting another model.

I *think* I've read that a Miele do well against other vaccuums. Have you tried seeing if the magazine Which has done any studies? You might find something on-line.

motorguy

boliston wrote: »

I'm pretty sure you can get kirby second hand at a fraction of the "new" price which probably works on the basis that a lot of the cost is to cover the salaries of these smooth talking salesmen.

Their salesmen are paid purely on commission and are brain washed into thinking that they're on to some "get rich quick" scheme because they get £500 commission or something crazy like that for every vac they sell.

Sadly the reality is very different and they end up doing endless demos and hard sells with very little sales

Theres a load of them for sale on ebay at a fraction of their new price if anyone feels they really must

LilElvis

They would have a hard time trying to do a demo at my house as there isn't an inch of carpet in sight - all stone and wood.

Hate our Dyson Animal as it takes multiple attempts to pick up a few crumbs. The central vacuuming is far better and is still quite fun after a dozen years. How sad is that

emmatthews

I bought a Sebo after having owned 3 Dyson's & it's superb. Highly recommended.

onlyroz

For washing carpets just hire a Rug Doctor. £22.99 for 24hr rental, plus chemicals.

I've got a hand-held cordless Dyson, which is far easier to use than the Dyson upright - especially now we have a 3-storey house.

System

Do they still weigh a ton?

Rain_Shadow

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1993983

libra10

We were also led into the 3/4 hour sales demo for Kirby vacuum cleaners. The spiel was that if we allowed them to clean our carpet we would be entered into a competition to win a car.


When the salesman called, I couldn't understand why he was showing us various parts of the cleaning system, I just wanted him to clean the carpet and leave us in peace!


After a couple of hours, we realised we had been had, but it took ages before the salesman actually left.


I can't recommend a cleaner as good as the Kirby, but the Dyson guarantee is for 5 years, and has been invaluable to us. Having needed to have 4 or 5 replacement motors for the Dyson, customer services have replaced them with no problem.

pinkshoes

libra10 wrote: »

We were also led into the 3/4 hour sales demo for Kirby vacuum cleaners. The spiel was that if we allowed them to clean our carpet we would be entered into a competition to win a car.


When the salesman called, I couldn't understand why he was showing us various parts of the cleaning system, I just wanted him to clean the carpet and leave us in peace!


After a couple of hours, we realised we had been had, but it took ages before the salesman actually left.


I can't recommend a cleaner as good as the Kirby, but the Dyson guarantee is for 5 years, and has been invaluable to us. Having needed to have 4 or 5 replacement motors for the Dyson, customer services have replaced them with no problem.

It was pretty much this - I just wanted my complimentary carpet clean and watching a three hour carpet demo was not suitable for 8 month old twins and a 5 year old. Yaaaawn.

My Dyson is fine, but they are not built very well and some of the components are poorly designed.

Have had a look on eBay and indeed you can get some second hand Kirbys, but I think I will look into the Sebo and Miele options.

(But if they are that good, why would people sell them...?)

I have no qualms about paying a decent amount for a good vacuum, but there is no way the Kirby is worth £1500!

I believe they get about £400 commission for each sale.