Quality of merchandise (NOT)

[stinkbug]

I am so discouraged. Lately, everything I have purchased has been so poorly made and just.....junk :-( Or such poor workmanship. I bought new bras....Maidenform....and I am taking them back. Wore one for 1/2 day today and the wire was poking me so bad, I have a bruise! Bought dh new dress shirts (same as always) and couldn't believe when I took them out of the package how thin the cotton was!! I bet he goes throught the elbows in 6 months....
Then yesterday I bought some new curtains for my bathroom (63" length, very hard to find) and one panel was about 4" shorter and sewn completeley wonky....at an angle!! So tired of taking stuff back!!

I really dislike shopping in general, but these are things we needed to replace....not shopping just for the sake of shopping.

[bumplett]

I bet you all three examples you mentioned were made in China.

[Spirit Deer]

Being made in China doesn't have as much to do with it as the wholesale buyers not insisting on better quality. I'm the first to agree a lot of Chinese stuff is pure crap, but I've seen some things that are good quality, and that's because those whose company names are going on the products are insisting on better quality.

I was reading an article about the tricks they're using to save costs on producing clothing and then raising the prices, like the styles now are using less fabric and the fabric isn't as good.

I've been noticing the poor quality of both ready-made clothing and yard goods for several years, and that's why I'm buying a lot of vintage fabrics at GW and garage sales and sewing more of our stuff.

[Libby]

I agree that China is known for making 'crap' b/c they offer cheap labour but thats what the North American companies want and are ordering and supplying them with materialwise. This goes along with the lower pricing that us North Americans seem to want and tend to gravitate to first.

My dad would rather pay $1 from the dollar store repeatedly for light bulbs that burn out after a few weeks vs $3 from Home Depot that will last the entire year. Both the same brand but different 'levels' of quality and made in China.

[Spirit Deer]

The ones from Home Depot are probably made in China, too.

It won't change till Americans stop buying crap and start demanding better quality even if it comes with a higher price tag. But most people won't, and so now it's become 'buyer beware'.

I also buy other vintage stuff, for this exact reason. I bought a new, expensive food processor several years ago from Sears. It quit the third time I used it, and Sears did not want to honor the warranty. Since then I buy older, better made things at garage sales.

I can think of several companies, such as GSI Outdoors, Mountainsmith, Camp Chef, Mair, and some others whose products are excellent quality and made in China. I can only assume it's because the company demands that level of quality for their products. Unfortunately, it seems like that's the exception rather than the rule.

I'm old enough to remember when a Made in Japan label meant junk. Japan wised up over the years and most of the stuff that comes from there now is pretty good stuff. Maybe China will improve its products eventually, too.

[shoiji]

Have to agree that fabrics seem to be a lot thinner nowadays. Especially the cotton fabrics. So I no longer purchase them if I think the fabric is to thin. Would rather purchase something at a thirftstore with better quality material than at a name brand store.

[Nishu]

Men's Shirts, Casual Men's Shirts, Men's Dress Shirts, Men's Tee Shirts | Hlaska

The hubs was talking about this company the other day. I'm thinking I'll probably order from this place next time the man needs new shirts. They're crazy expensive though.

[lottaLove]

I've been having quality issues with small kitchen appliances/tools. I've just burned through so many blenders, coffee makers, even my cannisters won't seal properly anymore. I keep hearing the saying 'they just don't make them like they used to', so I've been on the hunt for vintage replacements for my broken kitchen things. So far my very very old looking blender that I got from the second hand store has lasted longer than any walmart blender I've tried over the past few years.

[nuisance26]

~That is very irritating. I don't blame you for getting disgusted.
I remember reading about a cotton shortage so it didn't surprise me how thin everything was when I shopped for t-shirts this summer.
I'd rather they just raised the prices and kept the good workmanship.
It's like how food products keep shrinking the packages to keep the price somewhat consistent. It's really irritating having to open several so called "family packs" for just a few people. Who do they think they're fooling? Soon a "family pack" will come to mean anything that has more than one serving. :/ ~

[bumplett]

My mixer is a hand me down from my mom & dad, it was one of their wedding gifts in 1964!!!! It's still going strong!

It's UGLY, but it WORKS great!

My mom laughs that I still have it, she doesn't understand why I don't buy a new one -

Why would I? this one still works!!

I always thought it would be funny to give it to my son as a wedding gift! (I guess that would depend on the personality of who he marries though) :giggle:

[Spirit Deer]

I don't drink coffee, but my husband does. For years, he kept buying those drip coffee makers and having to replace them every few months when they'd start leaking or quit working. It got to be just ridiculous. I finally told him to get the old percolator out of the motorhome and start using that. We got that for fifty cents about ten years ago now. He's been using it twice a day for at least five years now with no issues. As a bonus, it even has a cord on it that's long enough to actually be useful and convenient. I think that was the beginning of the idea of buying vintage stuff instead of the new stuff that is built to fail.

[frugalfranny]

Who do they think they're fooling? Soon a "family pack" will come to mean anything that has more than one serving. :/ ~

This cracked me up............but is so true!! It is like they
think we are all idiots!

And have you noticed how SMALL the squares are getting with the TP???????? My rolls go just a little past the mid-way point in my holder!!! Guess they figured they had cut the number of squares far enough.........now they are cutting the size. I saw one brand the other day that had now gone to a TRIPLE roll..............they might as well, they don't have much on a double any more!!

Same with tissues........... don't shake the box......they now rattle ................plenty of room in there!

[ladytoysdream]

I really like the older appliances. They are made so much better. Appliances today have smaller moters on them. So they wear out faster. They're energy efficent all right...they're smaller

I been doing more returns lately. This all happened in the last couple of weeks. Had to take a pkg back to Walmart of their boxed hamburgers. Had no receipt but got the $ back on a gift card. Took a pkg of hamburgers back to Sav a Lot. Got the money back on the few groceries I picked up. I now will save all grocery receipts in a envelope so I can find them quicker.
I should but haven't yet...take the remains of a Chinese lunch back. Don't expect a refund there but I want them to be aware of the low qualiy, bad cooking we received. That was a rare treat for us to get Chinese. Won't be going back there again.

He got a box of suet for the birds this weekend at TSC.
Supposed to be 10 in the box. There was only 9.

And TP if you check some brands...the inner core is getting bigger................

[Swoosie]

I have to agree with you , things just don't seem to be made as well as they used to be.
Swoosie

[cab54]

Yes, I noticed the last bras I got were poorer quality. Began to unravel along the bottom edge, and just felt---crummy in general.

Food too-----my fave sausage links, I picked up a package one day at the store and thought 'why are these so pale?'-----more fat added and less meat!

ugh.