sick of buying lemons

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mickbr
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sick of buying lemons

Post by mickbr »

Fellas is it just me or does anyone else get tired of the poor quality of items these days. I'm talking guns, camping gear, tents, optics, GPS, flashlights, the works. I always seem to have something or other on warranty return. You see all the time folks on youtube reviews and the latest generation talk about "great customer service" being when something goes wrong "the company is quick and efficient at sending or replacing my xyz". Thats not customer service to me. Great customer service in my day meant the salesman was polite and accomodationg as he processed the sale. You never had to deal with him again because the item worked as advertised for the next 30 years.

I order something now, my first thoughts I are "hope I didnt get the one the guy fell asleep on the production line". Then you breathe a sigh of relief when it turns up and it works. if its still working past the 12 months mark its like you have won the lottery. Shouldnt have to be like this. Its seems to have gotten especially bad the last 10 years since the GFC, companies I guess cutting more and more corners to make a profit. I find I am going through my old 1990's and 2000's era equipment more and more these days and pressing it into service even if it is older spec because at least I know the stuff still works...
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Re: sick of buying lemons

Post by stretch »

As long as the focus is on making more money for the wealthy shareholders, and not
making a quality product, this will continue to be the way of things.

Sole proprietors or privately held companies stay in business because they provide quality products and/or
services for a reasonable price. This is not always the lowest price. We as customers have been trained to
shop for the lowest price, and not to look at what we're actually getting for that price. We're getting cheap,
ill-fitting jeans of thin fabric and American unemployment from China. We're not buying jobs for our neighbors,
good fabric from American mills, good tailoring, and a product that will last for that price. But it's CHEAP!

Dillon products come to mind as well-mad goods Lee Products come to mind as well-made goods.

Garbage made in China is garbage made in China.

The REALLY frustrating thing is that it's hard to find hi-quality made in America stuff in some categories.
Good American-made boots are harder to find than they used to be - but they're still out there at a price. That price is more
than the Chinese-made stuff at WalMart.

-Stretch
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ollogger
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Re: sick of buying lemons

Post by ollogger »

I try to buy USA but alot of times they change directions, my last carhart ranch coat was made in Mexico
couldnt even put a pair of gloves in the pockets let alone my hands, but they saved money going to
Mexico & skimping on material, you lost me on buying carhart ever again! Whites boots hacked me also
sent my 16 in. rubber bottom boots in for new rubber, they came back with new rubber all wright but
rubber made in Korea, not happy about that & i have 4 pair of Whites that some ive had since the 80s
most likely they will out wear me for the time i have left, but a year ago i bought a new pair of smoke jumpers & they just are not like they used to be, the same way as every thing else!



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Scott Tschirhart
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Re: sick of buying lemons

Post by Scott Tschirhart »

I think that there are a lot of manufacturers who felt like they had to produce in foreign countries and otherwise cut corners. I'm really not happy hearing that about Carhart because one of these days I need to replace my 20 year old barn coat.

This may get worse before it gets better.
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earlmck
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Re: sick of buying lemons

Post by earlmck »

Dang! I'm just about needing to replace my 20 yr old Carhart insulated coveralls. Maybe I'll see about if little more patching will keep them going.

I'm with you on the quality of stuff, mickbr; constant irritation. Used to be I figured I'd pay up to 3x for "made in USA" vs. "made in China". Ended up buying a lot of stuff "made in China". Now I give no limitation on dollar difference. Still end up with a lot of "made in China". A few months ago I needed a new battery for a little pocket camera; went online and found 'em for about $10 but all "made in China". Then found the same battery sold by "Duracell USA" for $30. So I ordered the $30 Duracell and it shows up here. You guessed it: "made in China". :evil:
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Re: sick of buying lemons

Post by hondo1892 »

I've found that some carhart coats, same style just different colors are made in different countries. As far as jeans go I can't find a pair that last more than three or four months if I use them for work. I've been looking for some new camo hunting cloths and can only find one made in Vietnam, China or Bangladesh.
As far as electronics go it's always been a stuff shoot for me. Some work some don't.
I try to buy old guns most of the time but have bought a couple of Colt comanders in the past ten or twelve years and both have run like champs. But I prefer buying older firearms for looks as well as quality.
I did buy a cheap trail camera this fall I seen on a youtube review. It was pretty much a bust with photo quality and night photo's but I hate having a $100+ camera stolen. I can tell if the deer is a buck or doe in day time photo's but not always in night photo's.
mickbr
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Re: sick of buying lemons

Post by mickbr »

earlmck wrote: Thu Feb 11, 2021 3:57 pm Dang! I'm just about needing to replace my 20 yr old Carhart insulated coveralls. Maybe I'll see about if little more patching will keep them going.

I'm with you on the quality of stuff, mickbr; constant irritation. Used to be I figured I'd pay up to 3x for "made in USA" vs. "made in China". Ended up buying a lot of stuff "made in China". Now I give no limitation on dollar difference. Still end up with a lot of "made in China". A few months ago I needed a new battery for a little pocket camera; went online and found 'em for about $10 but all "made in China". Then found the same battery sold by "Duracell USA" for $30. So I ordered the $30 Duracell and it shows up here. You guessed it: "made in China". :evil:
earlmick, I almost need a secretary for the stuff I have under warranty claim at times. Also get tired of cheap rubber marketed as impact proof housing etc on binos, spotting scopes, GPS bodies, watchbands. Some of these things have 10-30 year warranties but the rubber fails in hard use a lot faster. My younger brother pulled out an old box of toys and stuff from the late 70's or early 80's which included the first digital watch I ever wore. It still worked AND the hard rubber/plasticcy watch band is fine. I joked we need to reverse engineer this mystery substance and sell it to Casio and timex.
Last edited by mickbr on Fri Feb 12, 2021 11:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Sixgun
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Re: sick of buying lemons

Post by Sixgun »

One of the very few products that has improved with time are vehicles.....ain't nothing to get 150-200K out of a car anymore, as long as you maintain it......my dad told me cars in the forties were good for about 40K before a rebuild, then in my time in the sixties 100K....

It's all pretty simple.....if it's made here and seems to cost a lot, it's good.

If it's cheap it's junk and junk is junk and always will be junk.....generally speaking

But you know, Americans are addicted to material items and want more than their neighbor so they buy junk things for the house and spend fortunes on vacations.....

The internet has a lot to do with it....it's why I like brick and mortar stores.
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earlmck
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Re: sick of buying lemons

Post by earlmck »

Yep, cars are made to last much better. And with the electronics in them these days I am not the least bit tempted to work on them. That's a large improvement in my automobile situation I'll guarantee you.

On the other note; I hope there is a special place in hell reserved for the sucker who came up with plastic zippers. And maybe the fellow who invented the huge rolls of narrow-gauge gossamer they put in public toilets as butt-wipe could accompany him.
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mickbr
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Re: sick of buying lemons

Post by mickbr »

:lol:
yooper2
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Re: sick of buying lemons

Post by yooper2 »

I'm endlessly frustrated by the low quality of things I buy, particularly clothing. Socks fall apart in no time, t shirts fail at the armpit, and I blow out pockets so often that I have saved an old pair of Carhartts to cut up and sew in heavy pocket liners. Also, most flannel shirts are little better than handkerchief material.

I'm also in total agreement with Earl on plastic zippers. They are garbage to begin with and get worse in cold weather.

Harumph!

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KWK
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Re: sick of buying lemons

Post by KWK »

Sometimes companies are short sighted and cut quality to maximize short term profits (and CEO "incentive" bonuses). Other times the consumer selects the lowest cost product every time and so pushes down the quality.
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marlinman93
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Re: sick of buying lemons

Post by marlinman93 »

It's getting almost impossible to get anything made well these days! And it's not a case of having a choice to pay more if you'd prefer a quality product vs. junk. In most cases it's just a choice of high priced junk, or bargain priced junk for choices!
I've found that even trying to rebuild older stuff is a problem, as the rebuild parts are all Chinese or India made, and you can't buy parts worth putting into a rebuild! Really irritating!
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mickbr
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Re: sick of buying lemons

Post by mickbr »

What annoys me too is we get told to 'go green', recycle, watch carbon emissions etc, while big business turns out 10x more disposable junk. They make quallity stuff again, they can kill all birds with one stone.
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Re: sick of buying lemons

Post by jdad »

It humors me to hear "it's the greedy shareholders", "it's the greedy union labor", etc. If we didn't have cheap imports to compare our stuff to no-one would be complaining right?

LIke Six said, that with the exception of some US made vehicles (and some hand tools) a lot of "our" stuff is built to planned obsolescence, forcing us to replace it.
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Re: sick of buying lemons

Post by AJMD429 »

mickbr wrote: Sun Feb 14, 2021 12:03 pm...They make quallity stuff again, they can kill all birds with one stone.
....but...I thought we were trying NOT to kill birds... :D
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mickbr
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Re: sick of buying lemons

Post by mickbr »

:lol:
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