If you’re a regular reader of our site (if you’re not, go check out this post) you know that there are four types of shoppers.

Dyson markets their vacuum cleaners to Experiental and Reputation shoppers.  The Experiental customers want a vacuum that works well and has testimonials that it does (nothing better than the inventor discussing his product on television) and the Reputation shoppers want an exclusive product (the price is high) that has a good reputation and adds to their own reputation.

dyson-dc14-animal.jpg

I have to admit that I’m not a reputation shopper; I don’t care if you like my vacuum.  And while I care about the experience of the product, I’m also a Price shopper.  I believe that most vacuums work the same, regardless of the price.  But both human members of my  house were experiencing ill effects because of pet dander (we have a medium-sized dog and a grotesquely large cat) so I decided to try a vacuum that promised to correct the issue.

We bought the Dyson DC17 because it’s the PET MODEL.  Supposedly gets all the pet hair other vacuums leave behind.  And boy does it.  But it seems this model (for $549 at Target) also snaps belts quite easily.No problem, however, as Dyson Customer Service quickly promised to send not one, but two replacement belts, just so we’d have an extra in case it decided to eat another belt.

Problem solved?  Not hardly.

The expensive vacuum never worked again, as Dyson FORGOT THEIR PROMISE and didn’t send replacement belts.  After 22 days of borrowing the neighbors vac to clean the house, I called Dyson again.  They couldn’t figure out what happened to the previous package (my request that they track the UPS shipment was met with silence from the other end of the line) and could only promise that we’d have another shipment within “a week or so.”

Now I have spent almost $600 (when you count tax) for a vacuum cleaner that I can’t use.  I bought it not by the price, which might encourage me to wait for crappy customer service to fix my issue, but based upon the experiences of others and Dyson’s reputation and claims of superiority.

When I asked for an earlier shipment, the girl balked.  She couldn’t help me.  Guess the customer service reps aren’t “empowered” to keep customers happy.

Requests for a supevisor were met with “I can have someone call you.  But it might take up to 48 hours for a response.”  Seems customer service managers can’t take phone calls, just return them at their convenience.

I hung up and drove ten minutes to Target where Bill, the customer service associate whose head isn’t lodged in an uncomfortable part of his own anatomy, refunded my money while shaking his head.  Seems he couldn’t believe it either. 

The ultimate lesson here is that if your marketing promises a certain type of experience for your customers, make sure you deliver.  Otherwise, someone might write a scathing review on their website (LIKE I JUST DID!) and tell A LOT of people how bad you are at delivering on your promise.