Dyson V11 Torque Drive Cordless Vacuum Cleaner, Blue

Dyson log: We purchased a Dyson V11 Outsize cordless vacuum from Amazon. It arrived promptly as Amazon committed to. We unboxed it, read all of the instructions (you must download the owner’s manual from the internet; a warranty written in Spanish came with the unit; no English version sent.), and assembled the vacuum. Enjoy reading the warranty if you can. Why can’t one just say: if you break it and it’s our fault then we fix it and if you break it and it’s your fault, you pay for us to fix it? The next day, Tuesday, April 6, 2021, I called Dyson’s customer service line with a minor problem. A recording came on asking if I would participate in a customer survey after the call. I responded “yes”. I was then put on hold telling me that they were experiencing higher than normal call volume. I heard that message a large number of times during my 20-minute wait. There were no apologies for my having to wait nor a way for me to leave a return number. As my battery was running low, I hung up and decided to try their chat which I think uses artificial intelligence to respond. My problem was simple: one of my two recharger units sent with the V11 Outsize was defective. I plugged it in with a battery attached and it didn’t light up. I switched recharger units and its battery and unit recharged. I switched batteries on the recharger unit and it didn’t light up or charge. Of course, the outlet worked as I tried every combination to identify that the recharging unit was defective. Using the chat was also a frustrating experience just as waiting and waiting on the telephone line was. There was no option to report a defective part or unit, none. I was directed to a video that explained how to charge a unit, how to connect a battery to the vacuum, etc. After several very frustrating attempts at trying to solve the AI program just to report a defective charging unit, I again gave up in frustration. I then decided to email Dyson. A third very frustrating experience. By this time, I was fuming: pay almost $800 for a vacuum and I can’t talk to a human just to say: defective charger, send me a replacement. One interesting point is that every time a customer sends an email to Dyson support an automatic response comes back “Thank you for contacting Dyson. We are experiencing unexpectedly high contact volumes and increased response times due to the many challenges of recent weeks. We apologize in advance and truly appreciate your patience as we work to provide you a resolution within 24 to 36 hours.” Same “we are experiencing…” but at least now someone has apologized. The automated response was apologizing also for my problem with registering my product; I had no problem registering my wife’s product! So I responded again, much more frustrated this time and probably nasty by now. I left my model number, serial number, registration info, telephone number, the problem: DEFECTIVE CHARGER, etc. The email was signed by the Dyson online team. In my initial email, the automated response saying they would respond in 24-36 hours, and their actual response have the same minute stamp 1:17 PM on them. Amazing! I think their customer service was able to respond in the same minute as it was evident that no one had read my email! I replied to that specific e-mail from Gulam as he was requesting my serial number which was in the email I had sent. I said look below and again printed in very big font my serial number and sent it back to Gulam. I then got another automated response …. I then got another email saying they were unable to locate my account. Recall I had no problem in registering my vacuum by serial number. I sent them my wife’s email address for them to look that up, I got the automated response immediately then another email 17 minutes later from Fareeda apologizing for the problem and stating “It would really help us if you could send us a short video clip or pictures of the issue you're experiencing.” How do I send a picture of something that is not working? I sent Fareeda the following: “Fareeda, The battery recharger unit is DEFECTIVE. It doesn’t recharge the battery. No light blinks! NOTHING. On either battery, NO BLINK. The other unit works fine! Send me a new recharger.” I got the automated response again. Then I got an email from Dibya apologizing and giving me directions to repackage the Dyson, UPS would pick it up, and they will replace the V11 free with an equal or better product at their choice OR I could contact UPS and they would box it for me and ship it. Recognize that all I wanted was a $29 replacement recharger since that model included two batteries and two recharge units. A rain check would have been sufficient. I said to myself: how stupid can company management be in this day and age???? I reflected on my Dyson experience and I hypothesized that Dyson doesn’t know how to manage its retail and repair parts inventories. I went to their website and sure enough, they were out of the recharge unit and some other accessories. I was pretty certain that my hypothesis was correct. BUT to be completely certain I searched for a Dyson Service Center and I called them (The NORCROSS DYSON SERVICE CENTER). I explained the DEFECTIVE CHARGER PROBLEM. He stated: No problem! Come by and I will give you one free; it is covered by your warranty.” I stated that I lived a distance from his location and he agreed to mail the replacement. It arrived yesterday! Nice guy! There are a couple of lessons to be learned here. I learned my lessons; you can imagine what they are. BUT Dyson in order to save money doesn’t staff to answer customer telephone calls. Expect to wait! Expect to not get called back for the survey of their responsiveness on the telephone if you hang up in frustration. Sounds like a biased survey to me? Don’t expect their chat to know what you are talking about. They will tell you about self-help videos for this and that BUT no help if you don’t exactly match an item listed for responses. If you answer OTHER expect some nonsense messages. If you use their email system expect that you will get a different person responding each time and they will not have the benefit of the previous emails even though you responded to those emails. How could Dyson improve their service? First, staff your call center to service your customers instead of to save money. Quit blaming the pandemic for your poor service. Be proactive, ask for the customer’s phone number and DYSON calls them back. You waste your customers’ time and frustrate them. Have people that one can talk to immediately and get the right answer. Call the guy that answered my phone call to the service center in Norcross GA. He solved my problem in far less than 5 minutes! I tried to give him my mailing address and he stated: give me the email address and I can pull it up. He did in 10 seconds! Second, recognize that you (Dyson) are operating an antiquated PUSH inventory distribution system and read “It’s Not Luck” and/or “Isn’t It Obvious? Retailing and theory of constraints” by Goldratt to determine how to run an effective PULL distribution system. How do I know you have an antiquated PUSH inventory system? You have too much of some parts and not enough of others (look at the out-of-stock items). Where is that inventory? It is out at the end of the supply chain, at your service centers sitting on shelves waiting for a potential customer to have a unit serviced while you are offering other customers new products because you are stocked out in your central location. These Goldratt books are business novels; both are easy reads like The Goal and full of knowledge. The first thing you should determine is whether Dyson is in the business to make money or if Dyson is in the business to save money? If you are too impatient to read a book then go to the TOCICO website and there are many free videos on the basics of TOC supply chains. Find and view them. I hope this criticism is far better than any survey that you might ask customers to fill out. We have used the vacuum twice; the vacuum works fine. What do I give Dyson as a rating on Amazon? A 5 star for the vacuum or a 0 star for the customer service. You already know the answer if you read this far. I hope Dyson has read this far!