Product quality

[banjobj]

Is it just me or is the quality of products in general poor? It seems many of the things I have bought lately have been defective. Things just don't seem to be made like they used to be.

 

[Gary_in_Indiana]

Congratulations! You're now officially sounding like an old guy. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif I know the sound well because I hear it emanating from my mouth quite often. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Nothing wrong with it. Just a part of the process. Enjoy. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[beenthere]

Depends on what it might be. For example, just had the plugs changed on my van at 96,000 miles, first time. 50 years ago that engine probably would have been in the garage for the second valve job, and maybe more.

Now, we get more features in our CUT's than 50 years ago, with less weight (plastic, aluminum, etc) and 4wd, and hydrostatic, and many attachments that didn't even exist 50 year ago. Gas is cheaper than then, as well.

So, I am not complaining, but there are now some things made to 'throw away' rather than fix. Still, tend to agree with your feelings, only a little bit though. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I'd like to be younger too, because this 'product' quality in this body isn't what it used to be. But I'm havin' some fun anyway. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[GerardC]

I don't have the first refrigerator that I bought (1992), but my mother (in her 70's) still has her parents fridge?! Things just aren't what they use to be /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif. G

 

[slowrev]

More things today are designed to be disposable and not repairable.

 

[DaveNay]

I don't know if I would say that the quality is really poorer, just that the products are designed "differently". It's hard to put your finger on it, though. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Dave

 

[rozett]

I agree! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif About 20 years ago, I had a friend and coworker that was originally from India. He always said that Americans had a f***** up sense of value. And I have come to agree with him. Generally, Americans shop by price.... as evidenced by the meteoric rise of WallyWorld and other big box stores. We tend to whine about quality, but continue to insist that we shouldn't have to pay for it.

Even my local welder insists that things just aren't built to last any more.

 

[Richard]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( We tend to whine about quality, but continue to insist that we shouldn't have to pay for it.)</font>

Bingo, my sentiments exactly. I was in the market for some ratcheting binders and went to numerous places INSISTING I was going to buy US made, verses made in China. (seems US made are more & more difficult to find /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif)

Without comparing (or recalling the prices 2 years later) I think I probably spent an extra $150 or so because of my CHOICE to buy US and do my small bit to create demand for someones job.

Part of me felt stupid choosing to pay extra, but another part felt much better because my money was where my mouth was.

 

[slowrev]

Has anyone ever thought about the fact that if you buy good used US farm equipment you are often giving the money directly to a consumer like yourself without the several layers of middlemen or foreign corporations involved ?
You are not boosting the trade deficit with a foreign country. You are also usually getting a product that was engineered to last ( with normal repairs) and not be disposable.
Also any repair work you have done on the equipment supports your local economy more than a multinational corporation. You are providing a living for your neighbor, not a bonus for a CEO someplace else.
It is also common in rural America to swap out services. ie swapping hay for labor involved in a repair. This is local / where you live economic support.
I do buy some cheapo Chinese stuff, but try to support my local economy as much as possible and sometimes there is no choice, try to buy some items that are not made outside the US.
I buy my gas and many of my groceries at the locally owned country store. Sure I pay a few cents per gallon more, but I know whose pocket it is going into, vs buying at a chain gas and go where the only money staying local is the minimum wage the clerk is paid.

Thanks for putting up with my rant.

Just my thoughts, but then I am just a rural small farmer with more time than money, but not a lot of either /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Enjoy life and help your neighbor, they might even help you back someday /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Man this is double sided coin subject. I do believe it's more about different than quality on most things.

However just yesterday I had a conversation with a potential customer in the throes of deciding whether to go with my quality or the other guys price. And there is a substantial difference. Two of the bidders were less than half of my price. Of course they were the ones booked up for six months and no examples of their work they wanted to share that was over six months old. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I imagine they'll go with me, cry like abused children during the process, and then be prouder than a two tailed pup afterwards.

My biggest complaint on the price versus quality issue is the companys that enter into a market emphasizing price and then cry like big dawgs when no one takes them serious on quality. Or someone else is willing to drop the quality bar a little lower and cut them on price. They really squeal like a pig in a poke then.