Dyson Medic

There have been several items recently on television and in the media, and statements made by Trading Standards and Dyson themselves that “Dysons do not need servicing”.

This is a very general and broad sweeping statement that as a stand alone statement is patently untrue in that it cannot be applied to all Dyson vacuum cleaners, of all ages, irrespective of usage, in all circumstances.

In this article, we seek to correct this misnomer before it becomes common parlance.

This line has passed into common usage in the media of late as a result of comments issued by Dyson on the subject of the case of Excel Servicing of Leeds who Trading Standards recently prosecuted for cold calling many elderly and vulnerable people and talking them into over-priced “servicing” in their own homes.

Now let’s first be clear on this: NOBODY who is a reputable trader engaged in honest business of repairing and servicing vacuum cleaners condones or supports in any way what the people at Excel Servicing and others like them do.

Indeed, some reputable companies who service Dyson vacuum cleaners have items on their websites specifically warning people about the cold call servicing scams.

Trading Standards in York started this in this article where they make the claim “Dyson vacuum cleaners do not require servicing at all”.

This is untrue. Risible in fact.

Here for example is a Dyson DC07 cyclone unit that is blocked up and very definitely in need of a service.

As a result of the Trading Standards article, the Guardian then ran the story and again repeated this untruth:

The Guardian is no stranger to making things up and propagating fake news, and in this case, they didn’t bother to fact check at all, they simply repeated the line that Dyson told Trading Standards.  An understandable mistake, but still very shoddy and inaccurate journalism that doesn’t even pass the common sense test.

Perhaps the Guardian would like to explain how this brushroll full of hair is not in need of a routine service?

Dyson have been making the spurious claim that “Dysons don’t need servicing” to any media outlet that will listen, and the Trading Standards and the newspapers have been faithfully parroting it as ‘fact’. However, here in the real world, here is a DC25 with a totally blocked cyclone that needs….. a service no less.

Indeed, if Dysons didn’t require servicing, why do Dyson offer, er, servicing?

Dyson service centres and mobile service agents would not exist if Dyson vacuums don’t require servicing. Indeed, here is a Dyson van.

And look what it says on the door…..

A service engineer? Surely not! Didn’t someone say Dysons don’t require servicing? Hmm…..

Already here we have a contradiction. Service engineers for machines that don’t need servicing?

Dyson’s answer to this is that only their own engineers are capable of working on (and servicing) Dyson vacuums.

This is also untrue. Any capable vacuum engineer or practical DIY enthusiast is capable of working on a Dyson vacuum. There are no dark arts involved. Where do you imagine Dyson recruit their engineers from? They don’t clone them in the laboratory. Indeed anyone can apply for a job.

Above is a screenshot from Dysons site here offering a service job. It says:

Repairing and servicing all Dyson products within customers’ homes within your designated territory, you will show them really professional customer service and after-sales support.

So we have by now established beyond reasonable doubt that the line “Dysons don’t require servicing” is untrue.

But that isn’t all, bear with me here…….

By repeating these claims and encouraging others to do so, Dyson seem to be attempting to tar all the the reputable Dyson repair businesses out there – of which there are many – with the same brush as the Leeds company who were prosecuted for dishonesty and sharp practice. It is a cynical and disingenuous attempt to discredit the entire aftermarket.

The BBC gleefully involved Dyson in an item on the programme Fake Britain recently that covered the dodgy Leeds company that Trading Standards prosecuted. You can watch it below.

On the surface, the BBC pieces above may seem all very well, and “Charlie” from Dyson lends a touch of faux credibility to the underlying theme – already debunked above – that “Dysons don’t require servicing”.

Worryingly, no reference at all is made by the BBC that many honest and capable Dyson vacuum cleaner repair businesses exist and only a small handful are sharks.

The BBC, aided by “Charlie” from Dyson and the bloke from Trading Standards in Yorkshire, also move to attack what they refer to as “cheap copy parts”, implying that any non-genuine part is a “fake”, and as the Trading Standards bloke claimed about a filter he was pawing, “poorly constructed”.

Again here we have blatantly untrue statements.

The filters held up on the programme are not “copy” or “fake” parts. If they were, they would be passed off as Dyson-made parts, and probably in fake Dyson branded packaging. They were not.

The filters shown on the programme are simply aftermarket parts; quite decent aftermarket parts made legally and legitimately by a British manufacturer as it goes.

Aftermarket parts are not “fakes” as the BBC assert, they are simply compatible parts made by alternative manufacturers that allow the consumer to save money.

Some aftermarket parts are indeed of poor quality, but some also are made to excellent standards and more still are OEM parts (made by the same manufacturer that make them for Dyson). Dyson may not like that the aftermarket exists, but it does and it isn’t going away.

The messages that Dyson want to get out here, and are doing so aided and abetted by the BBC, the media and the Trading Standards are these:

• Dysons don’t need servicing.
• If your Dyson does need servicing, it should only be a Dyson engineer who does it as nobody else is capable.
• Only genuine parts should be used as anything else is a cheap copy that may cause your machine damage.
• Dyson filters require “just a wash” (quote from the programme).

These messages are absolutely untrue.

Here is the truth:

• Dysons – like many appliances or machines – sometimes need repair and/or servicing.
• Any experienced and competent vacuum cleaner engineer is capable of doing this. A Dyson specialist is preferable as they will know the product better.
• If your machine needs spare parts, you can often buy perfectly serviceable aftermarket or OEM parts from sellers that are not Dyson for less money.
• Dyson filters are often too far gone for “just a wash”, many require more intense cleaning or replacement – this is very dependent on usage.

The purpose of propagating these dishonest and disingenuous messages is in our view to discredit the aftermarket in its entirety.

By fooling Trading Standards into believing that aftermarket spare parts are “fake” or “copies” and that “Dysons don’t need servicing”, Trading Standards have become useful idiots for Dyson. A cynic may suggest this is cunning PR by Dyson.

How long will it take them to start raiding normal, reputable vacuum cleaner repair shops who happen to repair Dyson vacuum cleaners?

What after that? Raiding legitimate UK spare parts manufacturers (some of whom turn over millions and employ hundreds of people) claiming they are making “fake” parts for machines that don’t need servicing anyway?

Public perception is gently manipulated using half-truths and misleading statements, the more a lie is propagated and the more it becomes “known” as a “fact”.

Dysons don’t need servicing? It must be true, that bloke on the BBC’s Fake Britain said so, right?

We suggest in this case, Fake Britain is actually Fake News.