...to think stuff isn't made properly any more

[MissM]

In the last week I have had to return:

• a jumper (bought two weeks ago) that shrunk in the wash, despite the care label saying it could be washed at 40 degrees
• the brand new hard drive for my computer which just basically doesn't work
• my son's coat to M&S cos the zip was constantly coming undone from the bottom up
• a sports watch to the camping shop because the face was smashed when I opened the box

None of these things was cheap (although watch was reduced to a fiver and son's coat to 12 quid), so why am I having to return them so quickly? Are things just not made well any more?

No they are not.

There was a thread on here about monsoon recently and the decline in quality.

I'm getting really irritated by it. I feel as if I spend more time taking things back to the shop than actually buying them!

I agree. Have just returned a pair of not cheap leather gloves as the stiching came apart. My previous ones had lasted for my whole adult lifetime i.e. years and years.
It depresses me a bit.

I was thinking about this just this morning as I was trying to make my coffee. The coffee machine has died after 2 years. The previous one lasted 3 years. The one before that about the same. The instant coffee making kettle sat next to it is 30 years old and still going strong.

I have been wondering about this, too. I now save receipts for everything in case a problem develops in the first week/month of use. I never felt the need to do that even 5 years ago. I can't decide if I'm fussy because I'm older or if indeed, stuff is just crud quality.

I just replaced my toaster - the last one lasted "only" three years, however it did cost less than a fiver! Replacement was £4.97 (they probably costs me a fortune in leccy though)

I think it's partly because we expect to pay less for stuff these days, so there is a massive downwards pressure on prices, and quality is cut.

Looking here at prices for kettles in the 1976 Argos catalogue - £7.60 (the price of the first kettle - and there are some that are more than twice that) is over 10% of average weekly earnings in that year (£72 p/w). In todays terms that would mean about £50 (or more than twice that for a "better" model) on a kettle but I reckon we expect to pay about £10 for a cheap model.

I think you're right. I've noticed a real decline in quality with clothes & shoes - I bought some boots the other week (reduced from £75 to £20) and the bottom of the heel fell off the first time I wore them!

Well of course. everyone needs a kettle but if they lasted forever then no one would buy them after a while. So they make them cheap and with a short lifetime so you have to replace them.

It is called greed and must be fairly new because a really old washing machine has been passed around our family for years but newer ones last a few years before some sort of problem develops

Another one here that's nodding.

T-shirts from M&S for instance. They used to be twice as thick in the Blue Harbour range. They also stretch the fabric so much that after a few washes little holes appear and if you didn't know about this you'd swear you had moths

It's called built in redundancy, I think.

I will soon have to replace my microwave...but it's over 25 years old (it was a wedding present), so it hasn't done badly. It still works well, but I want a grill...

Buy cheap, pay twice...

People want to pay £200 for a washing machine that lasts 3 years, rather than £600 for one that lasts perhaps 15-20 years.

The aim of most manufacturers is to get the price of every stage of production down, and never have any component better than it needs to be. For "has" read lasts just long enough for the guarantee/warranty to expire .

(Was it Henry Ford who, wanting to cut production costs for his cars, asked his engineers, which part of the Model T Ford never goes wrong? They said that the "H pin" never failed. He then told them to lessen the quality of it in order to save money.)

Should have said, For "needs" read lasts just long enough for the guarantee/warranty to expire

I think another factor is stores are trying really hard to keep costs down these last few years as times have got tougher. But they have to make ££ somewhere so prices stay low, but the quality of fabric, design, labour, quality control etc reduces - so they increase profits etc that way instead.

I agree, everything I have bought recently I have had to take back!

I agree with the above but I still think there are a lot of items that are overpriced for the level of quality. I know when I am buying cheap and cheerful but I still balk at fashion shoes that are £75 and last a few weeks. The brand effect tends to the the worse for this. Take an average cheap pair of flip flops and put say the words 'quicksilver' on them and they are £45! Still the same crap cheap ones but hey they have a brand on. I avoid stuff like that like the plague.

I think Bramshott has a point. Manufacturer's are pretty much competing on price alone these days, so have to cut their costs to the bone if they are to sell their wares. Economies of scale can only go so far, so quality will inevitably suffer through cheaper components/materials/ingredients.

Appliances are also more complex these days (e.g. my tumble dryer has sensor drying and timers, rather than just two heat settings as in the past) which means there is more to go wrong.

you're right, everything is just throwaway tat these days- even the expensive stuff

Do the more expensive items actually last longer though? Genuine question.

I agree. I have just paid £79 to have the element replaced on our 13mth old cooker. Having paid £699 for it in Dec 2010 this seems rather shicking. The oven is used almost daily (excluding holidays 3wks last year) so our cooker lasted one year!!!

Read this "Constructed as solidly as you might expect from a premium brand like Kenwood, the stainless steel CK404FS FSD Dual Fuel Range Cooker is sure to serve any discerning cook long into the future!" Ha!

I do think Miele appliances are good. Pricey but they seem to go on fo ages. Eg last washing machine, dryer and dishwasher all lasted around 18 years, although they were repaired a couple of times.

Bought new ones about 5 years ago and still going strong, no problems so far!

£99 for a hard drive isn't cheap! And yet it simply doesn't work despite me setting it up entirely correctly (when I say it doesn't work, the 'on' light just doesn't come on when you switch it on so it literally doesn't work). If I'd paid £7.50 for it I'd think 'oh well, that's what you get when you spend £7.50 on a hard drive'. But I spent 99 quid!