Miele Cat and Dog

My Miele Cat and Dog vacuum cleaner arrived today. The retailer, Peter Tyson, was excellent and did exactly what he said he would do when he said he would do it and I'd certainly buy from him again. The website is here

I was less than pleased with the courier service, which was a different company entirely. I was told to expect delivery on Tuesday between 07h30 and 17h30. I checked on the web and saw that the vacuum cleaner had been loaded onto a van in Ashford, which is a half hour drive away. I waited and waited, but no delivery. The following morning I checked the web and saw that delivery was 'unsuccessful' so I followed their links to try to email them. It was not permitted and I kept getting a message to phone an 0870 number which I strongly object to. Some of those numbers are more than £1 per minute and the call centre keeps you hanging on for ages before connecting you and even then the operators fob you off anyway, and I just wasn't up for it.

So I emailed Peter Tyson and Steve called me back. He had several communications with the courier company and discovered that on Tuesday the driver had run out of time and returned to the depot. The following day the delivery had been handed over to a subcontractor who did not come either. I waited as long as I could but I had to catch the 19h04 train to Tonbridge instead of the 18h04. Sean had prepared dinner and I could hardly mess up his evening because a subcontractor hadn't turned up when he was supposed to.

It was delivered at noon today. Thinking about my irritation with the courier company, it was because I did not feel that I had been dealt with fairly. Promises, promises, cancelling normal daily events in case they conflicted with delivery etc and no communication. If someone had let me know there was a problem, I would not have minded. I know things happen that are beyond people's control and I'm not unreasonable. What made me see red was the initial "delivery unsuccessful" note on the website when I knew I had stayed in specially, even getting up extra early so as not to miss the delivery because of bathing, and then to be confronted with the outrage of a blasted 0870 number! That really took the biscuit as far as I was concerned, and my patience is very finite indeed.

Richard very kindly assembled it and I used the turbo brush attachment for very hairy carpets and it was amazing. Using a slow and gentle sweep while I was sitting down in a chair because my health has been "down" today - it was effortless and the pet hair was just sucked up, just like that! The machine is quiet too. It has a long telescopic handle which is easily adjustable for the height of the user. It is light enough to operate from a standard NHS wheelchair too.

This is a picture you don't see every day. Michelle on the sofa with Richard humbly bowed down at her feet as the vacuum cleaning vassal!


This is the machine itself. Don't be fooled - it is far tougher and more powerful than it looks, yet is astonishingly lightweight.


What do I think of it now I've had time to get to grips with it? I wrote this to my sister:
I got my vacuum cleaner and truth be told, it works a lot better than the reviews suggested. It is quiet, light, comfortable to use and takes no effort. It just does its job. No sweeping hard across a grubby spot. It just effortlessly deals with it. Kate is determined to have one as are two of my friends. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself. What a pleasure to have a machine you don't have to fight with or which is such hard work that it leaves you trembling and shaking with exhaustion.