[Brian]

There are defects, and then there are defects. Those of a cosmetic nature that do not affect the utility of the product, nor detract from the finished appearance of the coach are perfectly fine. Do I care if the inside of the mirror head on my coach is a rough casting and its appearance would not be acceptable if it was visible? No. However if the exterior visible part of my mirror looked like the inside it would be an unacceptable defect.

On the other hand if the mirror, when delivered had small bubbles under the plating, barely visible when you looked close, and virtually invisible from 5 feet, that is a defect that is totally unacceptable because it is a clear indication that in the very near future the plating will be lifting from the mirror head. That is a defect.

Whoever wrote the disclaimer is making junk.

[Archived]

Whoever wrote that is responding to the current trend of some customers expectations being exceedingly unrealsitic. It is a combination of the final quality never being good enough or price being cheap enough. Let’s break those two down:

1. The “never good enough” is an unrealistic expectation for quality in today’s small-batch, lean-manufactring environment. In the old days, companys cranked out 300,000 toasters that the design didn’t change for 10 years. Today, companys make 5,000 toasters and change design 4 times per year. Tooling and processes are expendable from the start, and therefore repeatability without defect of 100% of the batch is not possible.

2. Some people have “Wal-mart-ized” pricing in their own minds to the point of unrealistic. Because Wal-Mart is driving the price so low on their Chinese import products, EVERY business should be doing that (even American-manufactured products). It’s a “pricing is never low enough” idiology that can go too far.

Although not relevant to the question in this thread, some customers simply can’t financially afford a product even though they want it. Some of those people publicly critique the very smallest of quality details and/or pricing, but psychologically the cause behind it is their inability to truth-up to themselves that the reason they aren’t buying is because they can’t afford it. The critiquing is just blame-shifting for their minds to justify why they aren’t able to buy the product.

The retailer should never publicly acknowledge this with a sign or statement online though. It is still a very small percentage of customers, and should be dealt with on an individual basis. The fact that they publicly post something shows the very high level of frustration that retailers and manufacturer’s experience when dealing with these types of customers though. It’s one thing to want a deal like a coupon or sale might provide…and something totally different when a price is absolutely never low enough in their minds. The natural next step is to pick apart the products quality as an excuse to justify that in their minds.

[Jackson]

I don’t think the buying public is that bad. I fully agree some people are not happy unless they can steal something below cost. That has a tendency to drive quality down at a faster rate than the price.

But speaking for myself I adjust my standards as influenced by certain factors. I know for sure to do a lot of the work I do around the house or on my vehicles I need the correct tools. So if I buy a tool that I know is going to get very limited use I am heading to Harbor Freight when it is on special. Usually the quality is far below almost any similar product available through Sears or Lowe’s or NAPA, but far too often I find it is cheaper to buy the tool and get only a few uses out of it than to take my car to a dealer for the repair. So my expectations are very low, and if it works I am happy with the tool.

Conversely, we like to cook so my wife and I have a decent collection of tools and small appliances for the kitchen. Without exception we have had nothing but bad luck with every single hand held mixer that we have bought and used. We have spent a lot of money to get hand held power mixers that suggest they are superior because they draw twice the watts of almost any other mixer. We have spent as little as $10 for a mixer because it was dirt cheap and the expensive ones failed quickly. So now to us there is no such thing as quality regardless of how it looks or whose name is on the appliance. So as big and cumbersome as it is we continue ot use our big old heavy Kitchen Aid mixer that is so old when we bought it the only color was white. That is quality because it has to be almost 40 years old and it still continues to do everything asked of it.

Price also is a measure of what quality should be, not necessarily what it is. If I pay 2 times the cost for something it better be a whole lot better in every respect than something I can buy for 1/2 the price.

[Archived]

I don’t disagree with your points, but why do the majority of people buy Lucky Charms brand cereal when there is a generic equivelent? Is the quality for taste or staleness automatically less with the generic? If not, then why the price difference?

And sometimes it has nothing to do with quality. It has to do with design. Should a well-designed product cost the exact same as something with less styling even though the quality is the same?

A lot of people watch Pawn Stars and think that the way to get a deal is to point every little defect. That’s fine on used items, but believe it or not, it is not uncommon on new items as well. I know exactly what the intent of that sign was for that business. I sense their frustration because I know it all too well. Fortunately it is a small percentage of the buying public.

[John]

Brand marketing is a whole different issue because we all have been conditioned to use something with a familiar name on it.

If a well known US company marketed a product under their name, and the offshore manufaturer of the product sold it under its name even with a reasonable price difference the brand name product would fly off the shelves.

Where we once lived there was a large food processing company. I knew people that worked there and when they were canning brand name tomatoes as soon as they met the quantity requirements the only thing that changed was the store brand label went on the can instead of the brand name label. Same plant, same process, same tomatoes, different label. Having said that I can tell you the loyalty to a brand is strong. For over 50 years we were only allowed to have one specific brand of hot dogs in our house. On a solo trip in the bus I bought the food I wanted and the hot dogs were not that brand. I did get a chewing out for that, but she got past it.

When I mentioned the hot dogs I bought were really good she reluctantly allowed a package of them in the house and as a result she was so happy about how good they were she has not gone back to the ones we ate for 50 years. A brand name is another way of making a lesser quality product more acceptable. Look at the uphill struggle Kia and Hyundai have had to get where they are finally accepted.

[Brian]

One final thought I’ll add…

Some customers are in this mindset from the 1950’s that the customer is always right. Actually, no. Sometimes the customer is a PITA and not worth the hassle. Most online software for eCommerce today provides the ability to ban people, including eBay. It’s not that businesses don’t want their money…a business just doesn’t want the hassle for the little bit of profit they might make from them.

I’ve never believed in “the customer’s always right” (even when I’m a buyer). The best transaction is when it’s fair and both parties feel they’ve benefited from each other. That’s a good way to do business, regardless of which side of the equation you’re on.

[Rick]

On another note but with similarities. I once worked a job with the state department of transportation and averaged 300 interactions per month with the public. Many of these were in reaction to a crash and the need for the DOT to take actions, and the public always knew what action needed to be taken.

One of these calls was from a lady requesting a traffic signal. Toward the end of the conversation the lady clearly defined my primary job responsibility. “Your job is to anticipate our stupidity and take action before we hurt ourselves.” Now IF I could anticipate the stupidity seen by all of us while driving, especially in a Prevost conversion, I would probably be qualified for a much higher line of work.

Another call was from a mother of a nine year old. Seems she was concerned for her child’s safety and posting a lower speed limit on a no outlet, less than a half mile, sand clay road would do the trick. Now remember my clearly defined primary job responsibility on this one. I inquired what exactly was creating her concern. OK, sit down and buckle up. The source of the problem was her son had nothing to do when he got home from school. To eliminate his boredom, it was the Mom’s practice to give her son the car keys and let him drive the car up and down the sand clay road. Her concern was for someone else hitting her car and injuring her son. Now that logic clearly fits my defined primary job responsibility. So I inquired what time in the afternoon could I expect to find her son home and behind the wheel driving the car. My question was answered and I terminated the call as quickly as possible. My next action was to call our local SHP First Sargeant and relay this information to him. I don’t know what action they took but he was dumbstruck that a Mom would do this. I agreed and asked if she couldn’t perhaps entertain her son with something constructive say HOMEWORK!

So as it has been said, “They live amongst us.”

[Archived]

So as it has been said, “They live amongst us.”

And many of them vote.

[Archived]

Disheartening ain’t it. Geo.

[Archived]

” So as big and cumbersome as it is we continue ot use our big old heavy Kitchen Aid mixer that is so old when we bought it the only color was white. That is quality because it has to be almost 40 years old and it still continues to do everything asked of it. “

Damn, my wife must be getting old. Same experience: we have that same exact mixer; weighs a ton or two, always works.

[Dick]

Ken, I hope Gwen doesn’t read your posts. You might be in trouble.

[Corey]

Wasn’t me.

[Archived]

You know that disclaimer is not going to work. Good try though.