While at Sears (department store) we noticed a Dyson DC23 Animal Canister Vacuum Cleaner. We'd seen Dyson advertised on TV so we decided to see what it was like. The salesperson, Suzette was very helpful showing us how it didn't need a bag or replacement filter. Lovely! It was on sale from $549.00 down to $439.20. That's still pretty expensive for a vacuum cleaner. She said it would be on sale for two days and that Sears would conveniently handle the Dyson 5 year service guarantee. (If you want to buy a vacuum cleaner at the Pearlridge Sears store, go see Suzette. She's great!)We really wanted to buy it but decided to check online to see what critics thought of the machine. Besides you KNOW we can never make up our minds that quickly.
We then stopped at the Base Exchange and discovered that they didn't have the model we wanted, but they had the cheaper model for about $50.00 MORE than Sears had it on sale for. Strange.
Our next stop was Target. They had the model we wanted. It was over $500.00!!! What the heck!
We stopped at a Vacuum Repair place and the very nice fellow said he can't fix Dyson because he can't get the parts. Hmmmm....
We were ready to go back to Sears and just buy the darn thing. However, I really wanted to check online so we went home instead.
Back at home I read the reviews. Apparently tall people complained that the wand was too short. Gee... I'm short... sort of. So no problem.
Checked Best Buy (online) to see if they had a better price...just in case. By golly! They had it on sale for $399.00! (No shipping charge! Just pick it up at the store.) Woo hoo! But what about the guarantee? How would Best Buy handle that?
I called Dyson and asked about their 5 year warranty if we bought their vacuum cleaner from some place other than Sears. What would happen if my machine broke? The very nice lady said Sears handles the guarantee no matter where you buy their machine. If the machine stops working, you call Dyson, get a work number and take your machine into Sears where they are supposed to repair it.
Cool!
Called Best Buy in Aiea. The nice lady said they were all out, but their computer listed two Dysons available. She gave me the number to the Honolulu store.
Called the Honolulu store. Put on hold forever and a day! Finally a woman answered the hold I was put on to say they had NO machines in stock and none back ordered or available for purchase.
What?
Went back online to the Best Buy site and bought the Dyson on sale. It stated that it was ready to be picked up at Best Buy Honolulu now!
What?
I called Best Buy Honolulu back and talked to a rather not so friendly fellow which meant I had to resort to my teacher voice. He said they do have the Dyson ready for pick up. I asked him why the woman I talked to earlier said they didn't have any and wouldn't have any in the near future. He said she probably didn't know that it was in the storeroom (even though it's listed on their computer inventory, mind you).
I looked at the rating for Best Buy Honolulu. They got 1.5 out of 5 stars from 64 customer reviewers and I can see why. The Aiea store got a better rating but they don't have the vacuum cleaner available there.
Wouldn't you think that if a store had such terrible customer service ratings from so many people that they would do something about it? When I mentioned this to my brother, he burst out laughing saying he makes it a point not to go there.
Can you believe we made this decision in ONE DAY? That's a record! Now let's see if we really like it.
POSTSCRIPT 1: We went to Best Buy Honolulu to pick up our Dyson Animal Canister vacuum cleaner. I'm happy to report that the pick up counter person was very friendly and helpful. We brought the cleaner home, quickly assembled it and tried it out on our rather clean looking 4 X 6 feet oriental carpet. We could NOT believe how much dust it picked up!
Needless to say, we are quite happy and satisfied.
POSTSCRIPT 2: Uh oh! I just talked to my friend, Diane last night. She said their school had a Dyson and it broke within a year. Sigh...
Well... thank goodness for the 5 year parts and labor garantee.
