On 24 Feb 2005 02:25:49 -0800, "Magician"
wrote:
Andy
To my mind the power tool market has split into three groups; top brand
manufacturers - Bosch, Metabo, Makita, Hitachi etc, cheap & cheerfull;
Power Devil, JCB, Performance Power, Nu Tool etc. But the third group
is those stand alone or own label tools like B&Q Performance Pro,
Ryobi, Kress (Wickes), Excel (Homebase) etc.
I think yes and no to that - probably more although there is a
continuum.
There are brands that I would position above Bosch, Makita, Hitachi,
Metabo.
For example, there is Festool, Lamello, Lie-Nielsen and so on. These
are top end products with prices to match. You get a precise and
good quality product expected to last a lifetime.
Then I see the next tier as the Bosch, Makita and so on in certain
areas.
I basically almost ignore the Power Devil, JCB (who have prostituted
their brand and the others as of some use at their price point, can do
some level of a job if one is on a tight budget, but to be honest of
little interest to me at all. Poor comfort, longevity and so on for
serious use. I see B&Q, PPPoo, Ryobi, Kress and these others as
slightly, but perhaps only slightly better than these others. The
distribution model and backup is the same. Numbers game through a
warehouse. I don't care to play those games because to me they are
not worth playing. Why would I want to waste half a day at B&Q,
titting around with a piece of broken crap tool? Total waste of time
and effort.
These are often very good quality and carry a three year warranty,
making the spares issue redundant.
I'm sorry but I don't think that it does at all. A warranty is no
more than a convenience and marketing tool, when used in this way.
It's a total scam which is simply to facilitate the hapless customer
in to having enough confidence or gullibility to pay money for this
crap, in that if it breaks they get another or sopmething else for
three years. On month 36 and one day, if it breaks, in the bin it
goes. There are skips for them.
The branded manufacturers are now largely offering 3 year warranties
because they have the quality and economic model to do so and this
becomes a non issue.
We live in a replacement society
because, as you say, time is expensive.
Sorry, but I don't. I would rather get something decent in the
first place, if need be paying more for it and getting better value
and likely not having a problem. This strategy has worked for me to
goo cost effectiveness for many years. If there is a problem (and
there very rarely is, then the supplier fixes it. Simple as that.
And they do.
Given that anyones time is expensive, it doesn't matter if you repair
something yourself or pay someone else to do it - you are going
backwards as soon as you start. Labour rates for repairing power tools
are upwards of £30 per hour in my part of the world. Add a few parts
and the time taken to get it there, plus the loss of use and
replacement is much more cost effective.
If I buy something decent, the problems are less likely to occur in
the first place. If I pay good money for something and it doesn't
perform, the supplier gets it back or fixes it, or refunds. I don't
care whether they think they have a one year warranty , three or five.
If I think they have provided poor value for money, they have to deal
with it. Sorry but I don't accept ****ing around and time wasting and
as long as people who promise to do something do it, we get along
fine. If they don't, then they have an opportunity to fix it.
After all, what is unreasonable about asking somebody to do what they
have agreed to do when the product was sold. The strategy works
well, but only if the rules are established in writing at the outset.
Are you also suggesting that cheaper (not cheapest) tools are incapable
of doing a decent job? If I put up a few shelves, is the result any
different if I use a £50 drill driver or a £200 one?
I'm suggesting that it depends on the expectations of the person doing
the job and what he is looking for in the whole exercise. This
includes looking at the entire situation. If that is only putting up
a few shelves as a basic job then it doesn't matter perhaps. If it's
something more substantial and a day's work then the discussion is
quite different.
I'd also add that the volume retailers you critisise so much have
brought down the price of the top brand power tools you prefer. Were
those top brands maintaining a brand or ripping people off?
I am interested in dealing with certain volume retailers. I don't
think that the forcing down of prices and squeezing of margins is at
all healthy for manufacturer, retailer and ultimately the end
customer.
The right thing to do is to have sufficient price and margin at all
points to do a proper job. All the time that retailers are focussing
customers on the cheapest price and what appears to be a good deal but
is actually a really poor one for all concerned, Rome continues to
burn.
--
..andy
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