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16-12-2015 22:24:17  #1


Business Practices 101

In a different thread, not so long ago or far away,

thetypewriterman wrote:

...It was a very sad last model for Imperial.  Obviously the bean-counters at Litton (by now the parent company) had decreed that the machine should be made as cheaply as possible - and it showed.  The fit and finish were awful.  Carriage end castings and ribbon covers came loose and rattled alarmingly when the machines were only a few years old.  They were mainly sold to the British government, who had been buying Imperial typewriters since the 1930's and maybe didn't realise at first how the product had changed for the worse...

Now that is a very interesting story. I've had the same experience more recently, and repeatedly, with everyone's favorite retail giant, Amazon. Several times I ordered particular products with glowing reviews only to receive some junked down product which seemed to have nothing to do with the reviews. Eventually I wised up an learned to sort reviews by "most recent" instead of the default "most helpful". If you were lucky, and product quality had not taken a nosedive just when you ordered, at least you would see the signs from other disappointed buyers. So the scheme, which must be ever fresh to economic sociopaths, is to draw down the equity in a brand or a particular product for a one time killing, counting on inertia to sell your junk at inflated prices before word finally hits the street. Imperial - or Litton - was actually somewhat less dishonest than more recent practitioners on Amazon: they drew down the brand but had the decency to change the model; the slick retail sociopath of today does not even bother changing the model - the better to leverage off past good reviews. I've seen it with earphones, high-end mops (yes Virginia, there are high-end mops), and who remembers what else.

Amazon is so huge they form virtually their own economy and could put tools in place to better protect their customers. But they don't... though they are awfully keen on getting customers to sign up for "prime", which is always more costly than it would be worth to me! So I don't buy so much on Amazon as I used to.

Yes. It was an awful rant. But it avoided politics and religion, and at least was moved to Off Topic. 


 


"Damn the torpedoes! Four bells, Captain Drayton".
 

16-12-2015 23:20:43  #2


Re: Business Practices 101

Good tip abut the reviews.  The one time I bought anything from Amazon, it was rubbish - a specialized hammer that broke (!) the very first time I used it.

For those of us who don't mind paying the proper price for things that are well made, options are becoming rather limited!


Sincerely,
beak.
 
 

17-12-2015 11:50:07  #3


Re: Business Practices 101

To be fair, I think the Imperial example needs to be reviewed in a much larger context. By the time the Imperial models of dubious quality were being introduced (late '60s), the typewriter industry as a whole was undergoing a paradigm shift. Back then, in terms of manufacturing costs, Japan was the current day China and budget Japanese-made typewriters had flooded the market. The resulting chaos (there were lawsuits too) forced manufacturers based in the west to change their designs in order to make up for lost sales, a switch to machines that were far less expensive to produce if they wanted to remain competitive. Take Litton for example, Imperial's parent company: at some point it finally adopted the 'if you can't beat them, join them' approach, and a number of Imperial and Royal typewriters were actually rebranded Japanese typewriters. I certainly don't see what Imperial did as being an example of avarice, but rather one of survival.


The pronoun has always been capitalized in the English language for more than 700 years.
 

15-3-2016 16:45:11  #4


Re: Business Practices 101

Business that substitute once high-quality items with low quality items and attempt to sell those under the reputation of the former generally go out of business eventually.  Once word gets around, not only does this particular line of products suffer, so does the whole company, because then no one will believe they can or will sell something that's worth the price they put on it.  Again, it's whatever the market will bear.  And it doesn't only apply to products.  Services are subject also.  Restaurants and hotel chains go in and out of business all the time because someone in the high-end management wanted to save a few bucks (or make a few undearned ones).


Underwood--Speeds the World's Bidness
 

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