Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: ToeTag on March 13, 2011, 12:52:09 PM
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Anyone notice that items you buy and expect to last a few years before needing maintenance (not replacement) usually breaks within a year. Then you look at the country of origin and it says China. I might be a little extreme here but if you spend money on something and it breaks just after warranty it makes my dollar worth less. What happened to quality items? (My examples are) I bought several door knobs and a ceiling fan for our back patio (screened in and covered). The fan does not spin anymore and yes it was an out door fan. The door knobs no longer work and it has been only a year. I'm talking about door knobs that maybe get used 10 times a year. Secondly we had a son 6 months ago. We bought a $250.00 stroller and the dang thing is already broken and the wheels are about to fall off. Sold by a European company and (wait for it.....) made in China.
Should we just start boycotting China and thier inferior manufacturing? :bhead
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My iPod touch 2G, bought it last year in august. Crashed alot when i got it, but now its super fast even tho its memory is at max capacity. I have lots of things made in China, i think its more a matter of if you take care of it well enough or not.
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Secondly we had a son 6 months ago.
Huh I was waiting to see you say the son broke down too already. :rock
The stock market is causing it all.
You see, companies no longer base on pride on quality of work and serving clients. With the stock system the only goal of a company is now to create as much profit as possible.
This has lead to following: Product prices have been dropped in order to sell more products. In order to achieve that, build quality and materials have been dropped even more, outsourcing to China is part of it. Since profit is all that matters, engineers have calculated the bare minimum level of functionality that can be achieved so that manufacturing is as cheap as possible and product lasts at least a few days. So now manufacturing cost is 10% of what it used to be and sales price is still about 80% of what it used to be. Stock owners get rich. Product breaks down, consumer is forced to buy an another one -> more profit for the company.
If they did things the right way and products would last 10-20 years like they used to, sales would plummit, expense would be multiple times higher and returns sunk.
So your only route is to find a small independent craftsman that will build custom made door knobs etc. at 10x the price. They most likely won't break. Back to old school.
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Glad to see sombody else gets it.
Huh I was waiting to see you say the son broke down too already.
:rofl
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Anyone notice that items you buy and expect to last a few years before needing maintenance (not replacement) usually breaks within a year. Then you look at the country of origin and it says China. I might be a little extreme here but if you spend money on something and it breaks just after warranty it makes my dollar worth less. What happened to quality items? (My examples are) I bought several door knobs and a ceiling fan for our back patio (screened in and covered). The fan does not spin anymore and yes it was an out door fan. The door knobs no longer work and it has been only a year. I'm talking about door knobs that maybe get used 10 times a year. Secondly we had a son 6 months ago. We bought a $250.00 stroller and the dang thing is already broken and the wheels are about to fall off. Sold by a European company and (wait for it.....) made in China.
Should we just start boycotting China and thier inferior manufacturing? :bhead
Thats what happens when you and everyone else before you demands for things to be cheaper. Everything is made in china because it costs them 5 cents an hour to produce it there. If they arent going to pay their workers anything meaningful, then what makes you think they would make the product so it actually lasts a while like the products everyone used to buy that were made in the US?
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It's called 'Planned Obsolescence'. Sell you something that will last a few months past the warranty date then you have to buy another. Doesn't work all that well in the light pole business. Strangely people don't want them to fall down.
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Thats what happens when you and everyone else before you demands for things to be cheaper. Everything is made in china because it costs them 5 cents an hour to produce it there.
Actually the reason is not that but the returns demanded by the stock exchange market. A product that costs 5 cents to produce still costs 1 dollar or more in the shop. One example everyone can see is happy meal toys at McDonalds. Minimum of 99% profit there.
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My iPod touch 2G, bought it last year in august. Crashed alot when i got it, but now its super fast even tho its memory is at max capacity. I have lots of things made in China, i think its more a matter of if you take care of it well enough or not.
I understand about taking care of things. What I am talking about is "normal use"...nothing extreme. Just walking my son, flipping a switch to get the fan going and turning a door knob. Thats it..
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there is no such thing as pride in workmanship anymore...$$$ trumps all things including safety...amazing that it costs less to import something than it does to manufacture in the u.s....and our economic structure is forcing it to happen...wouldn't be like this if the people could afford to actually buy the goods they manufacture but that hasn't been the case since the late 70s.
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And this:
(http://fixedincomeinvestor.selftrade.co.uk/article/2009-07/341-696/Dollar.PNG)
Of course, it's not just the dollar that has seen this sort of real value decline, but it is one of the major reasons that you have to spend much more for quality items, even with all the advances in manufacturing and distribution technologies.
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I understand about taking care of things. What I am talking about is "normal use"...nothing extreme. Just walking my son, flipping a switch to get the fan going and turning a door knob. Thats it..
Nothing lasts forever though. Like in the russian eremitage the door handles have a real round ruby the size of a golf ball at the end of the handle - and wouldn't you know it the bugger has grinded edges smoothed round from all the hands opening the door. What did it take, couple hundred years? Must be made in China :P
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Somethings are designed to fail over time, this way you are more likely to buy the product again, giving the company more money. :bolt:
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People demand Cadillac quality at Chevrolet prices then act all surprised when things don't last.
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People demand Cadillac quality at Chevrolet prices then act all surprised when things don't last.
problem is, that chevrolet now costs more than a mercedes did 20 years ago at half the quality...so now we're paying top dollar for yugos.
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That's because the dollar has lost 90% of it's value while no one was looking.
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Why would you make something with quality when you can make something more cheaply AND force people to buy it over and over again?!
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au contraire...i've been watching and feeling the pain every step of the way...i now make almost 3 times what my father made when i was in high school and he made high union wages...but i can't purchase half of what he could with $20.
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Anybody ever stop and think that monetary 'value' is now theoretical and subject to speculation?
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Bought an LG (lifes good) 5.1 blueray home theatre set up.
The thing is great!!
When it works.
Getting ready to send it in for repair on Monday for the FOURTH time.
It wasn't that cheap either!!
I've owned this thing for about a year and a half.
Lifes Good!!
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Hopefully you bought a service plan because it is ot of warranty.
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Anybody ever stop and think that monetary 'value' is now theoretical and subject to speculation?
As opposed to before when the economy collapsed when economic expansion outpaced the production of gold...
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Hopefully you bought a service plan because it is ot of warranty.
Labor is not warrantied after 90days!!!!
I paid them 60 bucks to fix it the 1st time.
They've asked for nothing since.
There gotta be some type of lemon law.
Just replaced the original speakers with a Definitive Technologies Pro Series 800 speaker system too!!
Now i have these nice speakers with no blue ray or sound system.
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As opposed to before when the economy collapsed when economic expansion outpaced the production of gold...
we produce gold? i thought it was a natural metal like copper and iron...someone finally perfected alchemy.
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we produce gold? i thought it was a natural metal like copper and iron...someone finally perfected alchemy.
On further research, gold magically appears in vaults, it doesn't have to be mined.
Carry on.
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On further research, gold magically appears in vaults, it doesn't have to be mined.
Carry on.
lol...if you had said mined or mining production instead of produced i wouldn't have said anything...aside from the fact that you're statement was wrong.
but, please carry on...
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Geeze Gyrene,
We know what he was saying. Don't pic at his choice of words. BTW there is gold production in the form of smelting and forming. So what he said was correct.
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Ah days when you could go to Mickey D's get a real beef (fed without hormones) burger, fries and a coke.
Give'em a buck and get change.
Gallon of gas -71 cents
City bus ride- 25 cents
Home PC - 79 cents (Abacus,lol)
Pack of smokes -35 cents
33 1/3 record album- $ 5.00
Monthly home phone bill $9.00
4 Finger oz. of Columbian- $20.00
<S> Oz
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Bought an LG (lifes good) 5.1 blueray home theatre set up.
The thing is great!!
When it works.
Getting ready to send it in for repair on Monday for the FOURTH time.
It wasn't that cheap either!!
I've owned this thing for about a year and a half.
Lifes Good!!
There must be a reason why some jokingly call LG with letters 'EL' and 'GEE' which sounds awfully lot like the dialect word 'elkee' which in turn means 'DO NOT' lol.
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Designed life time of the product.
More sales, profits & waists.
Our child and so on will be very proud of us :ahand
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Anyone notice that items you buy and expect to last a few years before needing maintenance (not replacement) usually breaks within a year. Then you look at the country of origin and it says China. I might be a little extreme here but if you spend money on something and it breaks just after warranty it makes my dollar worth less. What happened to quality items? (My examples are) I bought several door knobs and a ceiling fan for our back patio (screened in and covered). The fan does not spin anymore and yes it was an out door fan. The door knobs no longer work and it has been only a year. I'm talking about door knobs that maybe get used 10 times a year. Secondly we had a son 6 months ago. We bought a $250.00 stroller and the dang thing is already broken and the wheels are about to fall off. Sold by a European company and (wait for it.....) made in China.
Should we just start boycotting China and thier inferior manufacturing? :bhead
I would not buy anything for a child from china.
Made in china = gearbage.
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I would not buy anything for a child from china.
Made in china = gearbage.
problem is, we don't have much choice these days...by the time you look at all the tags to see where it was made it says..."made in china, assembled in mexico"
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same as its always been, except you get a much wider range of price/quality these days, especially at the low end.
theres always been cheap tat that doesnt last, you just dont have it anymore because ... it didnt last ...
... I bought several door knobs and a ceiling fan for our back patio ...
did you look for the best quality, or the best price?
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As they only get used 10 times a year I went with price.
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I would not buy anything for a child from china.
Made in china = gearbage.
I don't know the child toy brands in US, but I bet, the major of them are made in China.
Why? Just because of the profit, and the profit is all about capitalisms.
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What shuffler said. I hope it all sorts it self out soon. I just hope we are prepared for when it does.
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There are still good domestically made products out there, you just have to be willing to go somewhere other than the big box stores to find it. And pay the price. You really do get what you pay for.
So many products are outsourced to Asia due to cheap labor, as well as a lot less red tape for manufacturing. No EPA in China, no one protesting that the local factory is giving frogs upset stomachs, etc. The real fault IMO is the consumer, the average person wants products at the lowest possible prices regardless of overall quality. They also sit idly by and let the politicians and the union bosses destroy what is left of our manufacturing infrastructure for their own power and profit.
Where did you buy the doorknobs that failed? I can go down to my local hardware store and buy doorknobs and locks that would survive WW3, the ones I see at Walmart I wouldn't trust to survive my dogs jumping on the door wanting in. The local small businessman needs your help. I avoid Walmart for anything I can buy from a local small business. I don't really pay that much more for better quality items, and my money stays in the local economy. I am not saying to be fanatical about it, like sew your own clothes and make soap out of your wood ash, but if this country keeps going in the direction it has, we may all have to :)
The other problem is from an engineering standpoint. We have become a throwaway society. Not only because of cheap quality products, but because so many are designed to be unrepairable. I have had to replace a number of items over the years because I couldn't repair them due to design, or the replacement parts simply are unavailable. This for even some simple items.
I was raised to use it up, wear it out, and reuse it for something else. These days they use fancy terms like "direct recycling" and make it sound like it's something they just came up with. But until recently in this country it was a way of life. Your grandparents couldn't just go down to the store and buy another when something broke, they fixed it until it couldn't be fixed again. But then, it was designed and built to be fixable, and the parts were generic enough to be used in other ways when the original item was just shot through.
Cars are a great example. I didn't need a computer, thousands of dollars in specialized equipment and a degree in engineering to fix my truck. I could set my points with a matchbook cover if I had to. If I was stuck on the side of the road, I just had to go through the "big three" to analyze the problem, and could usually fix it up enough with my toolbox and some odds and ends from behind the seat to get me home to where I could fix it right. The motor could be rebuilt with pretty basic tools when the time came, and when all else failed, parts could be used on something else, like a tractor or field pump, or the engine could be used to drive stationary equipment with a simply pulley. Speaking of which, a lot of trucks had that pulley already on the drive shaft to run equipment!
Despite it all, consumer demand still runs the show in the end. If the majority of people in this country would make a stand, and refuse to buy the crap products, and demand quality and repair-ability in products, the manufacturers would do it, because that is where the money would be. I just don't see that happening, as most folks seem to want cheap and easy too much. We can't even get them out form in front of the TV long enough to vote.
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This is why we can't have nice things
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You get an iPhone, get the warranty. Had to rebuild mine.
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Went to replace my coffee maker today.....couldn't find one (4 stores later) manufactured in the USA. Anyone have a USA only consumer site for American made products? I don't care if its bad, the crap I am curently buying is bad too.
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fairly certain bunn is made in the u.s. (with chinese internal parts)...you will pay a premium for it but it will last a lot longer than a $20 mr. coffee.
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Wow, searched "made in the USA only" and found several useful sites....very cool to know that there are like minded people on top of this. But sadly even bunn coffee makers have imported parts and assembled in the USA.
•Bunn-O-Matic (Springfield, IL): Some Bunn Home Coffee Makers (BX and GR models) are assembled in Creston, IA from domestic and imported parts. Other models imported.
I will certainly be purchasing my stuff from now on from one of these sites vs. just spending my money in another country. I wonder what would happen if everyone did this? It might be the first line of an actual offense.
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i don't know toetag...i'm almost 50 and the decline has been so slow the average citizen doesn't even realize what's happened...we did it to ourselves...the whole concept of supply and demand priced the american worker out of manufacturing jobs, we are no longer a major producing export nation...
then in the futile attempt to "create a competitive open market" the government deregulated the very industries that are putting us in the poor house now...air transportation, telecom, oil, public utilities...and the only deregulated industry that hasn't claimed financial hardship is the oil industry...oil production hasn't gone down, yet the price for petroleum products continues to rise which is increasing transportation costs, which in the end increases consumer costs...
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Very true.