Dyson Corrale Straighteners battery not replaceable! Now scrap £300 landfill

Hainzy

I purchased a set of Dyson Corrale hair straighteners 2 years ago for my partner(6/4/2021 so now just out of the 2 year warranty). They cost £300, which is a heavy premium to pay but my partner loves them, so they seemed to be worth every penny. They are now almost unusable as the battery will not hold charge and they work for about 2 minutes even with the mains lead attached (Dyson call this Hybrid mode but the battery is still required for them to operate on mains electricity). I have contacted Dyson support and have been told to await a phone call within 24hrs but this never happened. I have been researching the possibility of doing a battery repair as I am a qualified electrical engineer but after lots of online research, I have found that the battery is almost impossible to remove from the device and it was never designed to be replaced. Dyson are also reportedly unable to repair them, which I find an amazingly short-sighted design from a reputable company. Especially with the modern culture of recycling electrical equipment. I think this should be highlighted as this is a premium product by a premium brand charging premium prices. Many people when buying these will expect, as I did, that the battery would be a replaceable part not to end up a £300 scrap item for landfill.

The Dyson forums are full of people pulling their hair out (unstraightened of course) trying to get repairs but being told they can only purchase a new set. Anyone else on here got same issue or managed to get them repaired?

tightauldgit

Pretty much SOP for Dyson products that the batteries are not consumer-replaceable. Certainly with the handheld vacs it was generally possible to do though it just needed unscrewing the casing and switching it over provided you could get a spare battery or else you could get a Dyson repair. 

I don't know the design of the straightener specifically but generally Dyson support are decent so if it is repairable then I'd expect they'll tell you to send it in and they'll replace it (at a cost). If it's NOT replaceable then I think the only other option would be to look at a claim under consumer rights on the grounds that a hair straightener should last more than 2 years. 

I'm sure Sir James would see such things as repairability and avoiding landfill as pesky lefty European ideas smothering his unfettered genius in red tape. 

Appliance_engineer

Dyson products are massively overpriced. Much better to purchase alternative brands which are just as good but without the price hike for the brand name.

tightauldgit

Appliance_engineer said:

Dyson products are massively overpriced. Much better to purchase alternative brands which are just as good but without the price hike for the brand name.

Kind of depends what you mean by 'just as good' and what specific products you are comparing. A lot of Dyson products are very good while also being hugely overpriced. I certainly wouldn't call them value for money but then nor are some of the cheaper lookalikes that don't really do the job. 

prettyandfluffy

After a similar experience with 2 Dyson vacuum cleaners I wouldn't buy another.  Out of warranty and soon after, off to landfill.

littleboo

hopefully not landfill, but responsibly disposed of for recycling

tightauldgit

littleboo said:

hopefully not landfill, but responsibly disposed of for recycling

Also known as being exported to become someone else's landfill. 

littleboo

tightauldgit said:

littleboo said:

hopefully not landfill, but responsibly disposed of for recycling

Also known as being exported to become someone else's landfill. 

Only if you think that someone else sometimes doing the wrong thing is an excuse for you to not try and do the right thing

sheramber

I have had three Dyson vacuums. 

The first  we  had for over 10 years until my husband blew the  motor using it to suck up the dust from sanding a parquet floor.

The second was previously my son's and it was at least 15 years old when  we bought a reconditioned model as  the suction was  was  not as efficient as it had been.

I still use that third one  after at least 10 years.

7 hairy dogs in various combinations have deposit piles of hair to test these vacuums.

Uk_Dood

Recently had the same experience as the original poster.

Having had many Dyson products over the years the product support has dropped significantly. I recently called the Dyson helpline regarding a failed Corrale battery and had the phone put down on me as they couldn't understand why I wasn't prepared to pay £85 for a replacement battery (just out of warranty). Also received multiple (failed) promises that a VSE would call me back via WhatsApp and similar via X (Twitter).

Given the wireless operation is the item's USP, the repair plus purchase price makes the Corrale a very expensive item. You can carry on using the Corrale plugged in however, there are plenty of superior wired alternatives out there for a lot less.

Based on this most recent experience the premium price tag isn't worth paying and we won't be investing in the brand going forward.

Caveat emptor

Lesley1947

I’ve spoken to a Dyson Customer service today regarding a similar problem, the young lady was very pleasant but I had great difficulty understanding her, enquired where in the world she was situated it was Central America. She ran the problem through her system and told me the motor was broken but she could offer me same straighteners, refurbished, for a special price of £99. I questioned the ‘motor’ problem as I wasn’t aware they had a motor, so again it was entered into her system and again it was the ‘motor’. I gave up at this point and asked for the complaints email, bless her she was quite happy to give it to me so tonight I’ve registered my complaint, watch this space.
Now I’m going to search online for another make of these hybrid straightners without the Dyson name and price!