At 09:05 PM 11/23/2003 -0600, Keith Turk wrote:
>I still say you get what you pay for....
this is about the only thing in this debate I'd completely disagree
with. not in tools, shop equipment, anything, anymore. more expensive now
just means...more expensive. yes, some things are more expensive because
they're better made, more costly to produce, etc. some things are more
expensive just because marketing has managed to place the product in a
higher segment. snap-on tools, for example. hardley-ableson
"motorcycles", for another, which as of a few years ago cost a significant
percentage less to produce than a japanese crotch rocket selling for less
than half as much. and that's *including* overpriced (in this example)
american labor and the boat ride 'cross the pacific, etc.
anyway, the bummer is that you can't tell when more expensive to purchase
is worth it or not until after you've shelled out the coin. which is why
we have this list. in fact, a large part of why I'm on this list is
because I thought I got what I paid for in home contracting (and car
repair, and most every other service I can obtain locally from the
unskilled workforce equipped with two days' training and tamper-resistant
torx screwdrivers) only to be proven wrong. though I really don't have the
time, I'd rather fix it myself for free, then re-fix it when I learned what
I did wrong the first time rather than pay someone else to come out twice
(or more) for the same sequence of events. the van's been back to the
alignment shop thrice in six months--they seem unable to align it. now
I'll have to pick up that skill as well <sigh>.
the high bidder (you get what you pay for) for the bathroom remodel
provided a leaking shower. his expensive replacement (to fix the rotted
subfloor from the leaky shower) managed to replace the floor so that a
three-foot section wasn't level, and his tile guy couldn't/wouldn't attempt
a shower repair. *his* replacement was a 'handyman' old enough to be my
grandfather. he bidded low fixed it, for what worked out to be something
like slightly above minimum wage per hour. anymore, if I'm paying for you
to screw me over (and this must be assumed, at least locally), I'm paying
as little as possible.
my $7000 (yes, that'd be three zeros--you get what you pay for) air
conditioner was installed with the wrong parts and required a call from me
directly to the manufacturer (who thought I was mistaken when I described
the unit and parts used, because any licensed rep/installer wouldn't use
those parts in that configuration with that unit) to even start to sort it
out, and then a follow up visit from another rep. I had to threaten to
withhold entire payment from the first guy before I got his attention, and
even then was just happy to get him gone to get the second guy in. my
motto with home servicepersons now is get several and play them off each
other. and that's only if they're absolutely required. I'd have tried the
a/c myself, but I didn't have at least two spare days, don't know jack
about home a/c systems, and was told I couldn't purchase the unit myself
anyway.
our spankin' new dell p.c.s at work have the m.i.s. guy cursing mike dell
himself. they were purchased specifically for their reliability.
I can go on.
I used to think it was just me, but my co-workers and friends have the same
issues. the a/c thing makes me think at least for that sort of thing, that
to want what you pay for when you're paying a lot is to expect too
much. they're not used to the expensive thing (nobody buys them) so
they're not used to dealing with them, which means they'll screw it up, at
a higher price than the cheap thing. it seems to be thus with some other
durable goods as well--the high-end power stuff must be shipped off for
repair, the mid-line stuff, they've got the parts in stock.
>if you can't afford the best off
>the Snap-on truck.... try the pawn shop... you got a problem with it see the
>Snap-on man...he'll fix it...
> bout that simple... by the way he has no clue
>you bought that screwdriver there and will fix it too....
my current local snap-on guy (they're lasting about a year per driver now)
knows quite well what I bought from him and what I didn't. the only way
I'm sliding by anymore is that (like I said) they turn over so quick that
they think I bought it from their predecessor. well, that and I don't kill
too many snap-on tools, though a socket did, in fact, let go on me not too
long ago. split right down the side, just like a craftsman cheapie. that
one got swapped (after a *long* discussion about tool abuse...d/ck. do you
*see* pipe marks on the breaker bar I'm swapping? then let's assume I
didn't, in fact, use a pipe/cheater bar/etc. it is getting tiresome to
have more tool knowledge/experience than the professionals here) mostly
because I think he was afraid that someone else might see a split socket
with "snap-on" on it in my hand.
the stubby matco wrenches in my box right now have the "matco" stamping on
them off-center and twisted. those replaced a set on which the chrome
flaked on the ends of several of the wrenches--before I used them. the
first flaw was cosmetic and didn't affect their performance, though it
didn't give me warm fuzzies about any other aspect of manufacture. the
second ticked me off enough to quit the matco truck for a while after they
were replaced. those sold for very close to snap-on prices, as matco
considers itself a competitor to snap-on. which it probably is, in terms
of absolute quality. on the other hand, the chrome on my snap-on stuff is
pretty...
I think there was a point in time when "you get what you pay for" was true,
or at least more so than now. I think perhaps it was even as late as forty
years ago. now, I see almost no certain correlation between price and
worth. yes, sometimes. but not often enough to make blanket assumptions.
scott
|