John Lewis - Miele vacuum dispute.

oneilld12

Hi looking for a bit of advice.

I bought a Miele vacuum from John Lewis 6 months ago (£150) and the handle mechanism has broken. I raised it with JL support who said I had to go to Miele.

Miele said this was wear and tear and offered to send me a new part for £90!

I'm now back at John Lewis and have been pushed to their (non customer facing) Consumer Rights Act support team. They have also claimed that it is wear and tear! Their solution is that I have to get it looked at, at my cost by a Miele registered service engineer to declare that it is a fault and not wear and tear.

I explained that if it's a fault they will need to replace it, and if it's wear and tear, then the item has not lasted a reasonable amount of time under the CRA, and they would need to replace. But they refuse to budge.

I'm after any advice on next steps. I'm happy to push a legal case but not sure how.

I'm so annoyed at both John Lewis and Miele, I literally picked both those companies for their record on customer service, support and guarantee ad have been let down by both. Safe to say I won't touch either company again.

Special shout out to the fact that Miele wanted over half the price of the product for a handle!

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Burden of proof is on JL under 6 months and yourself over, when exactly was it delivered OP?

tacpot12

I've sued John Lewis over a faulty tumble dryer. I had to sue to get them to accept that they they were liable; they maintained that they weren't liable for a manufacting fault. They will defend the case, so you need to be absolutely sure of your legal case, and even then it is always a risk going to court. You will have to have an expert witness, which will add to the cost. If you can find a Miele-registered service engineer, their report might suffice, but you need legal advice on this. If the engineer says it's a fault, you seem to have a way forward.

If you have home insurance, check to see if you have legal expenses cover. If you do, you can call the legal helpline provided by your insurer, and they may even take on your case but they will want the chance of winning to be better than 50/50 to do so.

Okell

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81957462#Comment_81957462

Didn't @MyRealNameToo sue JL some years ago for a fridge or freezer?

I believe he got as far as actually issuing a court claim but JL's legal team backed down and paid up after they received the claim

(I think…)

Okell

I've said this before and I'm sure people will disagree with me again

Assuming this is more than 6 months after purchase and assuming that Miele and JL are saying it's "wear and tear" and not customer misuse, is it really necessary to get an expert report for this?

A £150 vacuum cleaner shouldn't fail through "wear and tear" after 6 months - it clearly isn't of satisfactory quality under s9 of the CRA (ie not fit for the purpose for which vacuums are usually supplied and not sufficiently durable)

The Act even says that the standard of proof for staisfactory quality is that "which a reasonable person would consider satisfactory".

It says "reasonable person" not "industry expert".

Would any reasonable person consider this vacuum to be of "satisfactory quality"?

[ @oneilld12 - I'm sure I'll be in a minority of one here so don't blindly follow what I say…]

lincroft1710

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81957537#Comment_81957537

I agree with you. Unless a product such as a vacuum has not been abused you would expect it to last more than 6 months.

Okell

@lincroft1710 - glad you agree with me - a minority of two then!

I do find it strange that after 6 months the first response on here is always that "you need to get an independent report" when for satisfactory quality the only standard of proof is what a reasonable man would consider. So far as I'm aware there are no recognised independent experts on what a reasonable man might think.

(Although you might want either to substitute "If" for "Unless" or to delete the "not"… 😉 )

oneilld12

Order placed 16 September 2025.

I raised the issue on 20th March which is frustratingly 4 days over 6 months.

It's such bad service, I'm just amazed at the customer service. I'm a pretty stubborn person and I will refuse to deal with either of these companies again.

lincroft1710

(Although you might want either to substitute "If" for "Unless" or to delete the "not"… 😉 )

Done!

Okell

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81957648#Comment_81957648

I believe JL online customer service can be very unhelpful these days. Not sure if it's been outsourced.

Staff instore still tend to be very good

Alderbank

I think I would reserve judgement on whether the cause might be something like wear and tear or similar such as user misuse until we have more information about both the model and the failure.

The handle in several versions of Miele vacuum contains an electronic module which connects in some way (I assume Bluetooth or some proprietary system) with the main motor control. Replacement handles like this seem to cost upwards of about £90 so I assume we are talking about one of these?

If so, this Youtube video from a vacuum repair man illustrates what might have happened, perhaps when the user was changing the battery for the electronic module.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8ygjX49Bk4&t=1s

I would not like to say whether that issue was due to an inherent design fault or user error, but I am sure that other posters will have opinions!