slipped disc said:
I agree with you. for the money and state of technology today, we deserve better.
YES, but what you/we deserve and what the BIG boys want us to have is not always in alignment
slipped disc said:
Is there a P/p that isn't made in Asia ?
NO Same as almost every thing you use today... Lots of wording about MADE IN, but even when the raw product may be only found in x and Y it all ends up where the $$$ dictate the best deal can be done... SHAREHOLDERS are what it is about..
slipped disc said:
while they could be made to a better standard, it is the companies that dictate built quality and cost.
YES... Cheep rip offs are just that. Some of the best quality comes from China, but it will cost and subject to the requirements of the company that wants the item
FFP or Fit For Purpose.
slipped disc said:
The return -exchange policy of some of these companies is cheaper than building a better quality product ?
Not always, much of it is about risk management and the cost of labour. A pointer that has a broken switch is cheaper to replace No Questions Asked. Than to have postage both ways and then 30min to repair and then add in all the paperwork and other background activity.
Thus using statistics and if you make enough units; the landed cost to ML or Garrett is maybe $10 tops... Hence, you have a fail, you get a new one under warranty. After warranty, you PAY
But it also keeps you locked into that brand.
In addition, the supplier of the Main purchase, can often toss in a Pin Pointer and that helps to manage PPCD (see my other posts Post Purchase Cognitive Dissonance)
slipped disc said:
that is an indication of the product quality, and that is also built into the product's price !
A high Quality item can still be FFP as defined by the Manufacturer. and not always the price... As we are a Through Away culture, no longer Repair.
Planned obsolescence or built-in obsolescence in industrial design is a policy of planning or designing a product with an artificially limited useful life, so it will become obsolete, that is, unfashionable or no longer functional after a certain period of time. The rationale behind the strategy is to generate long-term sales volume by reducing the time between repeat purchases (referred to as "shortening the replacement cycle").
The ML Pro pointer for eg has good build quality but is glued together
such that repairs are NOT POSSIBLE, even for the smallest problem.
= Planned obsolescence 8)
slipped disc said:
there is an allowance for product failure. when you consider I-phones and similar technology, a P/P is child's play. imo. :|
YES, that is the Stats and Planned obsolescence and the Cost of the item to the Supplier...
IMPORTANT: 99.9% of Suppliers
never make money on Service and Support where the item
Does Not use a consumable.
Detectors and pin pointers do not use any on going consumable that is only supplied by the manufacturer. Batteries can be had any where.
Thus they get one shot at the cherry to bank a few $$$
Buy for $10 sell for $185 and if Quality is Good, then a few returns under warranty will allow a good profit and the SHAREHOLDERS will be happy...
And most if not 99% of users will be happy...
That is good business and great returns.
You have Super / Money in a Bank etc. then your a share holder in the big picture, just that you only get a small chunk, while the others gobble...
PS. If you think the I-phone 6, costs Apple more than $25; your mistaken..
But as a small player; I would suggest that it costs me much more to land an X-pointer in Australia, than for ML to land an X-TERRA 505.