Chinese manufacturing and you: a cautionary tale.

[Wolf3101]

Japan was once in the same possition and faced the same reputation...They faught it by producing BETTER goods than were available elsewhere...not worse...

 

[Dr_Shakalu]

Not sure I get the Chinese coal mine gag... Keep it internationally P.C., guys.

For those who don't know, Chinese mines are one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. July 29th, 2007: 69 miners trapped by massive flood. Bodies never recovered. August 18th, 2007: 172 miners trapped by flood bodies never recovered. September 4th, 2007. Mine collapses, 12 bodies recovered, 181 miners never recovered.

That is why I was upset. It doesn't matter if it was in China or anywhere else, tragedies are tragedies and shoudn't be made fun about. I hope I don't come off like an ***, but I just feel bad for all the miners families in the world whose son's bodies were never recovered.

 

[Ianab]

Bottom line is you bought the cheapest unit you could find, and it wasn't actually what it was described as. It just happened to be made in China, where manufacturing standards aren't that great. The Chinese manufacturers can build decent quality stuff, but then it's not cheaper than any other decent stuff.

Your real beef is with the online seller thats passing those pieces of junk off as proper stainless steel units. If you bought it through a normal shop you would just take it back as 'not fit for purpose' and get you $$ back. With an online transaction it's not so simple

Cheers

Ian

 

[rob0521]

You get what you pay for.

 

[prophets]

Its all about the money. Major corps in america are looking to make more money so they outsource it other countries...pay them cheap and push the item off as top notch. But the problem is, same as the american corps, the manufacturing country whether its china, malaysia, india, romania...etc...the company that is contracted by the US wants to make more money him/herself...so they cut corners on their end too.

The one's that suffer are the consumers and the workers of those contracted companies. We as the consumer get crappy wares and the workers there get crappy wages.

The same goes for if it was produced here. You hire workers and pay them crap...the workmanship will not be up to par. The real culprit are and always will be the Major Corps here that sell the items. They should have a few of their own personnel oversea the quality control of these wares in which ever country that manufacture them on a full time basis...not a montly or yearly visit.

Imagine yourself getting paid 3.50 an hour for a job that another gets 15.00 an hour...do you think you'll do your job to the fullest and best?

 

[hatorihanzoe]

Here's a cautionary tale of merit:

I bought a UV sterilizer online, mostly for the benefit of my loaches. It looked good, the price was right, and it looked like a sturdy piece of kit because it was build out of stainless steel. Rather, that's what I was told it was. Win? No.

Got it today and opened the package? No, it's not stainless, it's nicely chromed cold rolled steel (but only on the outside), and it's already rusted like crazy, especially where the fittings were welded in. The ballast has electrical tape on the inside of the case as well, covering several "cold" solder joints.

Perhaps aware of this irony, the manufacturer ("WTS", by the way) has kindly placed several stickers on the case advising their membership in the "water quality association".

Moral of our hero's story?

Online, caveat emptor means DON'T BUY CHEAP CRAP FROM CHINA unless you've a death wish and money (and maybe your house) to burn.

The end.

Great lesson, I think its safe to say, "don't buy online period." All my ebay products so far are totally crap and unreliable. Not a single one. Its cheap, you get what you paid for.

 

[Viverr]

Ianab: Actually, I bought somewhere in the middle of the price range, because it was supposed to be stainless. My beef with the supplier is that he didn't look closely at the product, but then again, it does say stainless on the packing slip.

My beef with the mfg. is that it's unsafe to plug into the wall.

It sticks in my craw to say it, but you get what you pay for. Even if it's at the moderate end of the range.

-V

 

[Buckdog]

I try to buy US as much as possible. Unfortunately, it has become very difficult. Because of the work I do I need dependability and durability in the materials I use. There's NOTHING like pushing or pulling on a cheapo tool, have it break and send your knuckles slamming into a wall or the rest of the machinery.

US consumers clamoring for lower prices is a boon for Wall Street. As long as they are willing to go cheapo then there will be someone ready to give it to them. Craftsmanship and quality is not a course in a business school. It is now viewed as a liability, time consuming and not cost effective in most corporations. I have seen it firsthand. I actually saw in a recent major project where the company kept the standards man away from the project until it was done. They did this because they knew he would hold up the project because standards were not kept. They only let him in after the project was done. Now he has this huge task of bringing stuff up to snuff but cant because "there's no money in the budget for it". Amazing.

Buy the best you can afford. I've been doing it most of my career and it has paid off tremendously.

 

[fishtankdork]

Funny enough, I didn't buy a JEBO because they're prone to cracking and generally not worth the time. There's just something about Chinese companies who's head offices _and_ mfg. are in China...

i wish i knew jebo lights sucked before my 4ft jebo white/blue cracked down the center filling my room with smoke and my poor 75g with shattered glass

 

[Abi88]

thanks for the tip!