When mail ordering machinery

[Scott Vigder]

David,but when you pay Yugo prices, it's unreasonable to expect Cadillac service.....

How refreshing to see Yugo references alive and well!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Scott....I am surprised I remembered them.....they were around so briefly.

[Shawn Pixley]

I didn't respond to the poll as my choice wasn't represented there. I do order some equipment via the internet. I fully expect it to work to the particular items (not generically) expectations / tolerances, and be undamaged. In my experience they have all met this but one item that had a cracked cover which the OEM replaced.

Unfortunately the thread has deteriorated into a larger discussion of quality / performance vs price. I think that most people would acknowledge that both Honda and BMW make a quality car. They both perform the basic function of going down the road safely and dependably. Some people seem to imply that they should be therfore of equal quality and performance, regardless of price. The price and performance of an entry level Honda Civic (a fine car) is not equivelant to the quality, price and performance of a BMW M5 (another fine car). But to expect that these cars should be equivelant is unrealistic in my opinion. This to me demonstrates a lack of sophistication as a buyer to those who would like to apply a "one size fits all" standard to these types of discussions.

If we took this to the late night infomercial arena, is there anyone that really belives that the kitchen knives sold there are the equivelent of a good Messermeister? I would not expect the infomercial version to be as sharp, as good of steel, or as finely crafted as the Messermeister. But I could expect the infomercial version to come undamaged and the supplier be acountable to that.

[Sean Nagle]

Not sure your Honda / BMW is a very good analogy. BMWs are great while under warranty. After the warranty has expired I'd rather have the Honda.

[Neil Brooks]

Shawn:

I think there's a different point to be made:

PERFORMANCE is something that will clearly differ, and -- in a perfect world -- correlates with price.

Whether or not a thing lives up to its OWN promises of performance, though, is another matter.

I will NOT complain that my Yugo can't accelerate with an M5, but I WILL complain if it stalls at every stoplight.

I think this point may get lost in these discussions.

I don't expect my 1.75HP table saw to rip with the speed of a 5HP saw, but I DO expect the table and fence to be flat, and the arbor runout NOT to exceed the manufacturer's OWN tolerance range (, etc., etc.)

[Shawn Pixley]

Not sure your Honda / BMW is a very good analogy. BMWs are great while under warranty. After the warranty has expired I'd rather have the Honda.

The original post quelstion was on ordering equipment not the overall lifecycle of equipment. I feel my analogy stands to that test.

Maybe I've been either lucky or good with cars but in or out of warranty, my experience has been identical.

[Shawn Pixley]

Shawn:

I think there's a different point to be made:

PERFORMANCE is something that will clearly differ, and -- in a perfect world -- correlates with price.

Whether or not a thing lives up to its OWN promises of performance, though, is another matter.

I will NOT complain that my Yugo can't accelerate with an M5, but I WILL complain if it stalls at every stoplight.

I think this point may get lost in these discussions.

I don't expect my 1.75HP table saw to rip with the speed of a 5HP saw, but I DO expect the table and fence to be flat, and the arbor runout NOT to exceed the manufacturer's OWN tolerance range (, etc., etc.)

I think we are in violent agreement. But others in this thread seem to imply an absolute standard to an item (say a tablesaw to use your analog), my point being that a benchtop saw my be well designed and constructed for its particular niche, but still not comparable to a Unisaw. To expect the manfacturer to remedy "defects" that are the product of the consumer's subjectivity are an unreasonable standard.

[Rick Moyer]

Just curious:

The new "machinery" I have has mostly come from a certain "mail order" entity, but I am close enough to always pick up myself at their facilty; so I have a question about purchases of machinery from a local place.
Is it common for the machine to be out of the crate? Does the local place remove the machine from it's shipping crate and set it up? Do they then put it back in the crate, or do you take it home "naked"? I always assumed that unless you bought the floor model it would still be crated as it came from the manufacturer, but I don't know.

[Paul Johnstone]

I will leave you now....I have toilet tank to disassemble. I paid high dollars for it and it's been leaking into the bowl the last couple months. The LOML is gone and will be home in a few days. I promised I'd fix it before she got home. I contacted the manufacturer...ordered a repacement part.....Paid big bucks for the part as it's different and there are no generic substitutes. I need to buy a large sponge so I can get the last of the water out of the bowl before removing it.
.

This is a good example.. Suppose you went on a plumbing forum, and someone was soliticting opinions on this toilet, and you repeated just what you said here.
Your honesty was questioned and proof was asked for.. You take pictures of the broken part and pictures of you fixing it.. Then the post is removed because that toilet manufacturer advertises on the same website.. Honestly, you can't tell me that you'd still consider that plumbing forum to be a reliable source of information.

Hey, any website owner has the right to do whatever they want.. but that changes the perception of it. I am not here to pick a fight, but let's don't deny that negative posts are removed for questionable "reasons" to protect advertisers. It really insults our intelligence to deny it.. I can accept that advertisers are protected here. Like I said, the magazines do it to.. No biggie.. I just come here for WWing info, not product feedback.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Paul,

You can believe what you want but in this case you are wrong sir. Absolutely wrong....mistaken. No advertiser is protected. Of course there are those who believe in Big Foot too.