It’s happened to all of us at sometime in
past. You buy something new, get it home and plug it in, only to find that it doesn’t work! Bad as this is, there’s something else that’s even worse and that’s when something doesn’t actually work quite as described. Frustration levels go through roof and you feel cheated!The truth of matter is that cost in real terms of consumer goods has been steadily declining over years. Things are cheaper now than they’ve ever been. The pertinent question to ask is how can this be? Manufacturers will tell you that economies of scale are responsible and we should all be grateful. From where I sit that doesn’t ring true.
Let me explain. I used to be a computer engineer. Ten years ago PC’s were very expensive items and, when repairing a PC, you would quite often need to open it up and inspect internals. The one thing that you could be certain of then was that quality of components was very high. Individual items were beautifully made and replacement parts would usually come with all “extras”.
Take a look inside a modern PC and difference is immediately obvious. It’s full of low quality high volume production parts quite often made in some country you’ve never heard of. And this is nub of matter. Sure production volume has something to do with it, but biggest factor in reducing costs is not economies of scale, it’s reduction in quality!
Over last eighteen months approximately 65% of every new thing I’ve bought has either failed just out of warranty or doesn’t work as expected. What’s worse is where an item has failed, it’s usually multiple failures rather than a single failure making it uneconomical to repair.
Making sure that item you buy new is going to last and give good service is now an exact science. No longer can we apply maxim “well, they’re all same” because put simply, they’re not! Avoiding buying something that is destined to fail is a tough task but I’ll show you how to avoid real rubbish. The first thing is to find out about product you are thinking of buying. Most manufacturers produce glossy brochures and sales material and this usually contains specifications of item in question. The internet is, of course, a wonderful place to find out about products. You are looking for material to make a comparison between different makes and model and a good proportion of on line shops have a compare feature. Make good use of it! Most manufacturers also have a web site and it’s worth checking there for specs and comparison data. Warranties are an important feature of any new buy. A manufacturer that offers a longer warranty than it’s competitors is saying something about trust they have in their own products.
