A few decades ago we bought a washing machine, a vacuum cleaner, you name it, any appliances and they would last for years and years. We buy something like that now and they just last a couple of years... Why do you think this is happening?
Well today, production cost is fairly cheap, it's no surprise if the quality of the product is affected by these cheap labor. The refrigerator in our old house, believe it or not, is now 35 years old and it still functions well, I bought one for my condo just a few years ago and it went dead after 4 years of use.
Things like that only last a couple years because they are made like that - they want you to keep buying appliances more frequently. The appliance makers know that people need these things and will buy them no matter what. Ugh, don't get me started on vacuum cleaners! Mine NEVER last.
It's the same thing with cars these days, it seems. They just aren't making high quality products like they used to. They want you to have to buy new ones every few years now.
I agree with the above comment, yes they are making these appliance so that they last so long and make sure that you buy more. It the way the industry is set up. I believe that if the appliance lasted longer it would be big drop in sells for companies. Another thing that happening is that they are upgrading the appliance also this gets customers attention and liking new items such as I do I go purchase them. Its all a cycle of rotation.
True, but it's sad that it's legal. They increase the prices, they decrease the quality of the product, they get richer and we get poorer. I think they should make the best possible quality and not a quality that holds on for a few years, it's not a respectable way to work!
It's not just appliances that don't last these days. Virtually everything including tools these days are of such a poor quality that you can't use them more than three years before they stop working [for a machine] or for something simpler [getting damaged beyond repair] not because you used it badly but because it's made that way. The annoying thing, as you note, is that much as the quality is rather poor, the prices keep going up. But what can the consumers do about that? Report the matter to the BBB?
Yeah, exactly. I remember talking to my dentist and he said that is machinery was like 20 or 30 years old and these days those equipments don't even last half of that. The same with cars, cars are not as durable as before. What's BBB by the way?
The quality of appliances product nowadays are lower than it used to be in the past. What is more annoying about it is the prices are also higher than it used to be. My younger sister recently bought a rice cooker and it was working when she tried it before paying for it at the shop. But as soon as she arrived home, she found out that it was not working well when she tried using it. It didn't even fall and break or something, nothing happened to it all that could potentially damaged it. Seems like manufactures are only thinking about making money nowadays.
So true, when I look at my 30 years old water heater that is starting to malfunction right now, I wonder that if I buy a new one now it will be super-expensive and for sure that it won't last more than 10 years and this is me being optimistic... They seem they forget that our wages are not getting any bigger.
Nail on the head firmly hit. Things today are so cheap to put together that the manufacturers don't care how long they last because they know you will buy a new one as it is cheaper rather than keep having the item repaired. I suppose the upside to this is that the price to buy the item has dropped a lot from the old days.
The sad part of it dean is that they do care and they probably use the exact material they want to respect the deadlines given by the law (meaning, they need to last at least a couple of years), but not much longer than that because they want to sell us more after that period.
There is a massive difference between REALLY caring and PRETENDING to care. And in my experience it is normally the people who sell the items in the shops that care more.
That's true, of course that people in the stores care, many, but many people return to a store because people there are nice to them rather than for the quality of prices. It's insane I know, but it's a fact, people prefer that they are nice to them over a good deal.
I would say appliances are designed in such a way that they break down after a certain amount of time, so that we start thinking about investing in more expensive products, as we are made to believe, through clever advertising and conditioning, that they will last longer and perform better. Of course, one must not overlook the inferior quality of the materials and cheap production. Plastic has taken over everything and creates enormous problems.
I think it's pretty much like what you say Dora, brands don't care if their products are produced optimally, they just want to optimize profit and not our relation with their product as clients. So, be careful when buying something, do your homework so that we don't buy something that won't last long because I really feel that's not the goal of the producer.
