Why the race to the bottom....?
- Thread starter Maine Sail
- Start date
I just wanted to add a photo with snowblower that has some significance to a Sailboat Owners Forum. The attached image shows me clearing our driveway while taking the first ever opportunity to wear my HighSeas foulies. The foulies worked great...kept me dry and warm last March.
Thanks for reminding me why I left MA. after I was discharged and moved to Fl.
Boy, I swear that looks just like my automatic dishwasher.
Your American made snow blower was possibly designed by a fabricator that brings together multiple universal components from different manufacturers and fits them to work together as well as possible while the Japanese still design and manufacture components from the ground up for their specific purpose.
Sorry if this has been expressed above in this thread, but I believe it is worth saying again and again. Corporations build exactly what their customers tell them they want by spending their dollars. If there were enough people like you and me who wanted quality goods and were willing to pay for them, we would have more manufacturers building that kind of product. If corporations don't build what consumers want they wont be in business....
Worthy of comment is the fact that frequently there is a big divergence between what consumers say they want and what they actually buy. After 30 years of building with the best materials I could find, I am now looking at another line of product to suit the needs of the biggest part of our market, the middle-low end. I will have to use off-shore hardware, sand less and use spray stains instead of more labor intensive wipe stains to get to the price point. I will have to get to the price point because that is what these customers will be buying from someone else if I don't!
Dan
Worthy of comment is the fact that frequently there is a big divergence between what consumers say they want and what they actually buy. After 30 years of building with the best materials I could find, I am now looking at another line of product to suit the needs of the biggest part of our market, the middle-low end. I will have to use off-shore hardware, sand less and use spray stains instead of more labor intensive wipe stains to get to the price point. I will have to get to the price point because that is what these customers will be buying from someone else if I don't!
Dan
Before the internet was a thing I bought my first (and last) new snowblower from a local mom and pop store down the street. It was built less than 50 miles from where we lived at the time and was a well known (and I thought respected) name in power equipment. Within the first year the paint started peeling off in sheets, and it regularly shed nuts and bolts as they vibrated loose. It was a miserable experience through most of the years I owned it, and I ended up buying a smaller used Toro that I used for 20 more years. I gave the original blower to a neighbor when we moved from that house. Hopefully the maker of my original machine has improved their quality - they are still around, but that experience would give me a lot of pause before I would purchase another of their products.
We are on the MaineSail plan when it comes to vehicles as well. My wife's current car is an older Lexus GS400 that we purchased with 140,000 miles on it from the second owner for $2,500.00. It has been dealer serviced for most of it's life, is in beautiful condition and goes like a scared rabbit. It has cost us nothing but a set of tires since we have owned it. Even the leather interior is still pristine.
We are on the MaineSail plan when it comes to vehicles as well. My wife's current car is an older Lexus GS400 that we purchased with 140,000 miles on it from the second owner for $2,500.00. It has been dealer serviced for most of it's life, is in beautiful condition and goes like a scared rabbit. It has cost us nothing but a set of tires since we have owned it. Even the leather interior is still pristine.
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I get what you are saying, but there is another way to look at it: Customers buy exactly what is available. There are lots of products that don't have quality alternatives. Take tools, for example. Where I live, one can buy tools at Lowes, Home Depot, Harbor Freight, Walmart, and Dollar General. In other words, my options are junk and worse junk. And if I want to buy parts for tools? Forget about it - they are not available. Just throw the tools in the garbage and buy a new piece of junk.
Fortunately, there's the internet. But how do I assess quality online? Amazon has devolved into mostly scam products. The quality tool makers aren't getting their message out to guys like me - that's a marketing problem. I'm using 50 year old tools that I inherited from my father, but even they wear out. If I need a new tool, I can spend agonizing hours trying to research online, then order and wait and hope. Or I can just hold my nose, buy what's available at Lowes, and do what I can to get the job done today. Therefore, I seem to be reinforcing the idea that I prefer cheap crap. That's an illusion that is far from the truth.
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I suggest you practice with Amazon a bit. For instance, I have ordered Snap-on tools from Amazon. Sears Craftsman hand tools have always worked well for me. No moving parts, though. And not electrical tools either.
Exactly! It's a throw away world. There was a time when small appliances were repaired, now you can by a toaster for 9.99, who's going to fix anything at that price?
and this is the reason why the Honda (or Toyota for that matter) are superior in quality to anything American made. Also it is not where it is made, it is the philosophy behind the making that makes the difference. I think Ford is finally understanding that.
I had a 1987 Accord that had 420K miles when I traded it in. It was because the AC and power door locks quit and my mechanic told me it was time to lay it down. The engine still ran well and used a quart of oil every 6 months.
Honda's do break. I can also tell you that a Honda SUV is not as technologically advanced as my Jeep is. So just an outright claim is not a fair comparison.
Not really. What you are not factoring in is marketing. If marketing can make you believe you are buying quality of a specific level, then you will buy the product, regardless of the quality you desire. A company may start out making a quality product, but if the competitor markets a similar product with perceived similar quality, then the quality goes down in order to compete. Quality is subjective enough that it can be difficult to compete.
Here my Ohio built Southerner Snow Plow...
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Troy-Bilt-XP-Colt-FT-XP-208cc-24-in-Front-Tine-Tiller-CARB/999977084
High Quality too!
Jim...
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Troy-Bilt-XP-Colt-FT-XP-208cc-24-in-Front-Tine-Tiller-CARB/999977084
High Quality too!
Jim...
Dave, I agree that we can be victims of positioning by marketers with respect to quality levels. I would also suggest you know in your heart when you fall for it. I watch clients every day wrestle with the various bits of "knowledge" bestowed upon them by various competitors, and I sympathize with their plight....I just ordered a sail so I know how difficult it can be! We as consumers have made the value of price paramount and are getting just what we want from the manufacturers.