What brand of anything-food, appliances, vehicles, stores or clothing have seriously gone downhill?

[debm55]

Last edited Fri Aug 11, 2023, 10:42 PM - Edit history (1)

I would have to say my local drugstore-Rite Aid. Never answer the phone. pills are not available, etc, If you put too many items on the shelves of my refrigerator the plastic shelves buckle in.-----Maytag. Levi's--use a dry cleaner On jeans. No way.

[hlthe2b]

1. Pretty much all household appliance brands, IMO. Built to self-destruct.

[debm55]

3. I know, it's like they have a 3 year expiration date.

[GreenWave]

5. I think the guy they love to hate around here coined the phrase: planned obsolence

It was about cars, now they just don't care about anything. Through food quality in there too.

[hlthe2b]

8. That is when he was respected. The fall since was rather steep...

[debm55]

15. Yep, it is planned that things will need to be replaced. Or are of such low quality that no one

will buy it.

[ProfessorGAC]

26. It's More Complex Than That, Though

The cost of a typical washer/dryer pair in 1969 was around $320.
At average inflation over these 63 years it would be nearly $3,400 today.
According to the Lowe's & Best Buy websites, you'd spend between $1,100-1,900. So, half as much.
Also, most of the posts here are anecdotal. While my wife & are also just anecdotal, our Whirlpool washer & dryer were purchased in 2010, our Frigidaire downstairs fridge in 2012, and Kenmore freezer in 1990.
So, I remain unconvinced, without hard data on product life, to assume a planned obsolescence strategy.

[debm55]

27. Professor, it's our own experience with purchases we made then and purchases we have made recentlly.

For example. I bought a pair of Levi's . Instructions on the type I bought said to dry clean them. No way in hell am I going to take a pair of jeans to get dry cleaned. Yes, I just wanted to have people who have experience with a brand before, make a comparison to the brand now. Most brands are not up to what it was previously. Sort of like comparing apples with apples instead of apples with oranges. I see your point.

[ProfessorGAC]

33. Still Anecdotal

Our anecdotal information contradicts your info.
Which is typical? Don't know without seeing the numbers.
Jeans are still made of cotton, so dry cleaning is just silly.
Then cars, which DID operate on a planned obsolescence strategy, are WAY higher quality than 50 years ago.
Odometers didn't have a 6th digit. Now, somebody getting 250,000 miles on a car is nothing to be surprised over.
The whole manufacturing sector, worldwide has, by & large, adopted those same quality methods.
My experience through my career suggest that much of this concern is not solidly based on data, but is distorted due to a bad experience. We tend not to remember the things that worked out just fine.
And, the economics of replacement, as I mentioned in my first post, is ignored when something breaks at the most inconvenient time.

[debm55]

34. I see what you mean.

[Lulu KC]

20. Bernard London

Is credited with creating the term in 1932. I had to look it up because I thought it was Vance Packard in 1960. Both of them saw it all coming.

[lastlib]

9. My parents had a Zenith chest freezer that lasted 52 years....

Last edited Sun Aug 13, 2023, 03:55 PM - Edit history (1)

(I played in the box as a 3-y/o kid.) Try to find ANYTHING that lasts that long today!

Manufacturers figured out that if they made things to last--no repeat sales, ergo no $$ coming in. So they build them to die in a few years, and reap the profits.

[debm55]

12. My parents still have their chest freezer and it is about that old.

[hlthe2b]

13. My grandmother's Frigidaire is now commemorated as a mini retro refrigerator...

Hers was still going strong when she passed after 50 years. It was quite the "tank."


Here is the retro version which looks amazingly like it:

[debm55]

16. That looks like the little Freezer we just bought.

[BigMin28]

2. GE

The refrigerator and washer and dryer bought in the last 4 years have already needed repairs. The handle on the freezer repeatedly breaks.

[debm55]

4. I got rid of my large freezer and bought a much smaller one. It was only 99 dollars. The large one

died after 30 years of use. bought at Montgomery Wards. Also, trash pick up here, will not take freezers or refrigerators. because of the Freon

[global1]

10. You Won't Get Any Appliance That Will Last As Long As Your Montgomery

freezer did. Planned Obsolescence is king these days.

I watched a program the other day where they talked about a light bulb that was built so good that it is still working today - in a fire stations somewhere in the U.S.. The company that made that bulb went out of business because of lack of repeat sales.

They went on to say that a group of businessmen that ran companies that made light bulbs - had a meeting - and decided as a group at that meeting to make the light bulbs less robust - so that they needed to be replaced over and over again.

This was the first acknowledgment of "planned obsolescence" by businesses.

[debm55]

17. So true for the "it will last a lifetime" . It won't and doesn't.

[soldierant]

29. There are a lot of things

that trash here won't take. But if I get a replacement from Lowe's and have it delivered, the delivery folks will take the old one. (I won't buy from Home Depot, though thet also might.) You may not bave either near you, but you're bound to have someone that will.

[debm55]

30. I found a neighbor who said he could fix it. so we gave to him.

[soldierant]

32. Well, that works.

[global1]

6. I Nominate Two Brands - GE (General Electric)Appliances & Pella.....

I've had bad and unresolved issues with the quality of both companies products and have steered away from them ever since.

Customer Service is suffering in general overall - as that many companies are not paying heed to their customers.

The mindset of many companies is that - we need them more than they need us. As a result - I believe that in the end - it will be those companies with that attitude that will ultimately lose business to those that provide excellent customer service.

[debm55]

18. Customer Service--try getting some advice from Best Buy.

[Ptah]

7. Studebaker

[debm55]

19. HAHA that was a tank.

[Permanut]

21. Ah, the Loewy coupes..

Gone but not not forgotten. They make great hot rods!

[bucolic_frolic]

11. Now there's a question in my wheelhouse

You see, capitalism depends on innovation. New products, new companies, entrepreneurs. Venture capital, angel investors. Then they develop great products because they want to grow. Once they really start making money, there's not as much innovation so they focus on profits, and cheapen the product to make more money. One the new product pipeline is empty they level off into a cash cow where the product never changes, or they sell the company. The new owners have put millions of their expertise and MBA's to make the deal so they must cheapen the product to make any money.

This is an inevitable cycle. Shoes, power equipment, appliances, socks, cars. My 1980s fluffy socks are twice as thick as the watered down new ownership offers today. Some mechanics will tell you, for the money, for the physical inputs, for the quality, 3rd and 4th generation Hondas were best of breed. One even said so on YouTube.

Brands change hands. There are some superior companies that maintain quality and innovation. Electrolux, Husqvarna, Frigidaire, Eight O'Clock Coffee (now owned by the Chinese!). I'd buy anything from those four companies. Other companies license everything to outside manufacturers. Or sell under other brand names. If they won't put their name on it, there's a reason somewhere.

Rockports were developed by a shoe salesman who arranged custom shoes made in south America. The product grew and grew. Then it was sold. Same with Reebok.

There are companies who do nothing but buy brands and manage the products and operations. They tend to make good products that maintain quality.

What was the question? Oh downhill racers. My 1990s Asics lasted more than 12 years. Leather, thick vinyl, solid soles. Today, last years model is read for the junk pile. Thin vinyl, mesh fabric. These are "air shoes".

[debm55]

14. I have a very hard time buying shoes. How am I to walk the dog after it rains in mesh shoes? I agree

with your post 100% I have to buy shoes and socks every darn year. We have no sidewalks here, so I have to walk her in the street. Which results in "get the hell off of the road", by drivers.

[LakeArenal]

22. My 2001Nissan Pathfinder 170,000m runs. Our mechanic says he can keep it running forever.

[debm55]

23. Lake you found a gem.

[LakeArenal]

24. Yes but as they say above. It's 22 years old

Not plastic not like many made today. A crunch on your bumper and you have to replace the whole thing.

[gademocrat7]

25. Our 1983 Mercedes-Benz 380SL convertible

220,000 miles. Still running.

[LakeArenal]

28. Solid. Our Nissan ain't pretty. But it runs up a mountain like buttah.

[MOMFUDSKI]

31. Washing Machines.

Got one with the low water thingy and IT WENT BACK. Then got one with higher water but you have to outsmart the computer in order to get the higher water. I even sent an Email to GE to let them know they need to hire older WOMEN as consultants for their engineers designing these monsters. That is all.

[debm55]

35. I forgot what company made them , but one christmas my husband me a new up washer and dryer.. It was

very similar to what you see in a laundromat. Each was about 5 feet high.It was the rage then. About a year later the washer exploded. Company gave us 350 for each, though it cost a lot more. They also picked up. By exploded I mean exploded. There were metal shards all over the basement. I never see them advertised anymore. And I will never buy another upright one.

[drmeow]

40. If LG had hired

Last edited Sat Aug 12, 2023, 08:56 AM - Edit history (1)

some middle aged women, maybe I would not have vowed to never buy one of their dryers again if I can avoid it. You can't adjust the temp on any of their cycles. You can't dry a "normal" load on low heat. They have a "small load" cycle which only dries on high heat! I want to scream at them every time I do laundry. Its the most patronizing and insulting thing I've ever experienced with an appliance - "to protect your clothes!" GFY. I think it is because their moisture sensors suck.

[debm55]

41. Wow, that is strange. Do your clothes get dried?

[drmeow]

44. If I'm using

normal or permanent press it works fine. But if I need to dry something on low which is not delicate (like cotton with spandex or some blankets which, for some reason, say to dry on low) the only option is the delicate cycle which always leaves things still so wet that I end up having to use a timed dry. Which, of course, defeats the whole purpose of having a moisture sensor!

[debm55]

36. Here's a story. My husband bought a 3 pack of Cracker Jacks at WalMarts. He opens the one box---one

Last edited Fri Aug 11, 2023, 06:10 PM - Edit history (1)

peanut, He opens the second box --two peanuts , He opens the third one peanut. So he goes to the computer and writes the manufacturer of Cracker Jacks a rant. The company sends him back an apology and a coupon for a free box of Cracker Jacks. He doesn't know it but I kept the letter. PS No prizes were included.

[tazkcmo]

37. Dewalt tools

Black and Decker bought Dewalt a few years back and BD has been nearly one use and kaput fir a while now.

Had a coworker bring in a BD snow blower he had used once and it lasted about 30 seconds before it died. Paint sprayer, weed eater and sander have suffered similar fates. Just had a Dewalt drill die on me after 4 months of light use.

They have also purchased Stanley. Buyer beware.

[debm55]

38. thank you for posting about your experiences.

[WestMichRad]

43. I've had good luck with Dewalt drills and an impact driver.

Abused the heck out of my first Dewalt drill and finally killed it. Bought a replacement a couple years ago and it’s still humming. The 20V batteries seem to last quite a while, too.

I didn’t know Black&Decker bought Dewalt. I always have had poor luck with B&D tools. Cheap crap.

[Scottie Mom]

39. Kenmore appliances for sure.

Used to be reliable and long lasting.

IMO, pieces of sh*t now.

[debm55]

42. Kenmore, for sure was very good brand. When we got married it was Kenmore. Not any more.

for Kenmore.