Problems With The TV Reception

I'm gonna go off on product quality in this post...if you aren't interested hearing me vent, go elsewhere now.

What the hell is up with the way things are made today, specifically the quality in which they are made? Have we become such a disposable society that it doesn't matter how long things last, we'll just throw it away and get a new one when they no longer work? I see that attitude somewhat with the kids and frankly, I think we all have it to some degree. If we didn't, Wal-Mart wouldn't be such a retailing force. At the end of the day, price is king and if we get an inexpensive piece of crap, then at least it was cheap. For example, I know for a fact that Wal-Mart "forces" their suppliers to keep prices down. How can a supplier do this? There is only one way, reduce the cost of producing the product. More often than not, that means quality...use a lesser material, perhaps take out a couple of features, get the product from a cheaper part of the world, etc. I learned last semester that Nike decided not to do business with Wal-Mart because they couldn't meet pricing demands while maintaining quality standards.

So, that takes me to the title of my post...Angie treated me to an Emerson 32" flat panel HDTV for my office. We gave the 19" we had previously purchased to Justin for his new apartment. It was the final piece to my man-cave and I was very pleased with it - for about 45 days.

The other day, the TV wouldn't turn on. I unplugged it for a while, but that didn't help. I went online and found other people with the same problem. Some kind of defect in the TV. So, I call the Customer Service center. The rep took my details and gave me the number for a service center (the TV is covered under the warranty - 1 year, and 90 days on labor). The problem was that the number she gave me wasn't for the service center, rather their home office. After getting that straightened, I learned that the service center was a hour away by car. So, that means to get my 45-day old TV fixed, I'd have to basically take a half day from work.

I called Wal-Mart to see if I could get an exchange. Nope! 15 days is the limit there.

So, this morning I buckled my TV in the front seat and took the hour drive to the service center. They have my TV, and I currently have a 13" standby in my office.

I can't keep but thinking that had I spend a little more money on a quality TV from a quality retailer that I wouldn't have had to spend the morning, let along the $20 in gas, to service a BRAND NEW TV. If I would have paid a lot of more money (for like a Sony), would I have gotten better quality? It's why I still go to my dealer for maintenance on my truck...I've convinced that they know my truck better than anyone and by adhering to the manufacturers recommended maintenance schedule, I am prolonging my investment. You can argue that point, but my truck looks and rides like the day I got it.

I'm a little miffed by how far the service center was, as well. Truth be told, I'd pay a little more for convenience...and if I could have repaired the TV on my own for $50, I would have elected to do that locally. My time is just more valuable to me.

Any one else ever think about this? I think for now on, I'm going to buy the things I want to last for a while from somewhere other than a discounter.

I'm just so tired of buying garbage and having to accept it.

SL