Hello all just wondering how everybody else feels about the quality of products today?
I am looking for the good the bad and yes the ugly in your stories here.
A little info on me..... I am fifty years old and reside in Ontario Canada and I am getting so upset with the crap they are selling in the stores now I want to scream, but who will hear me?

My bitches are the following, extension cords that go all twisty after one year or so( fight these guys in the winter and you will lose your mind and wife too)

Cookware that used to last years now you might as well buy tinfoil pans as they don't have handles that fall off every time you take then off of the stove top.

Garbage bags that don't hold garbage till it gets to the road/curb......and no ties now.....about one tenth the thickness they used to be about 5 years ago.

Tinfoil wrap that breaks when you try to wrap up a dish or plate.........see above (sans the ties)

Pepper mills that work for three weeks and then it is garbage time for them.

Battery charger for our cars here...just bought it and inside the box the warning is that if you touch the wires (which you must do) wash your hands because they are heavy in lead content! I had to read this twice to believe it.

Bought a lawn sprinkler that had a warning on it that lead may leach out during use, don't want to use that over our fish pond or tomato plants.

Toilet paper that your finger goes through, at the worst possible moment.
Plastic food wrap that is "microwave safe" but melts if it comes into contact with the hot food or dish.
Cookie sheets that warp and twist when they get hot, but at least the cookies don't stick to them and get tossed around.
Snow shovels that the plastic handles break on them, try buying a replacement when you REALLY need one.
The plastic packaging that is so thick and completely sealed around products that you can't get them opened.
Cans with pull off tops, but the little ring you need to use breaks off in your hand.
Vinyl shower curtains that tear at the place where the hooks go through, after only a few weeks of use.
Supposedly "pure rubber" garden hoses that do not last one season.

Good/ Toro Snowblower saved my back for the past 18 years. Not a problem (new belts)
Honda Lawn mower......13 years old runs like new
1986 GMC half ton works good.
2003 Grand Pix works fabulous
Picnic table made here with solid hard wood....25 years old and in fabulous condition.
Broil King BBQ Made here and about 12 years old....(lots of dead cows on this grill) :-)

That should get my point home I hope.....I am really looking forward to any stories The good, The bad, And ugly that you might have to ad to this thread.

People speak out when you feel that you have been ripped off and are sick of it.

I think you have to:

1) Change the places where you are buying your stuff, or,
2) Stop being cheap, buy only high-quality products, from reputable brands

P.S. » As for car batteries, or any other sort of industrial materials you must handle, you do know that there is a requirement, at least for professionals, to use high-duty gloves, and other protective items, when handling these items?...maybe that should have given you a hint.

I'm also 50 and have noticed a few things of interest to this thread.

We are now at the stage of becoming grumpy old men, when we see the insanity around us, when we know there is not a thing we can do about it and it then peeves us off even more.

I try to talk with people about many issues in our current society but all of those people only see it as an old guy having a rant... someone who needs to get up with the times. And yet they do not see the things I speak of because they are blindly following their Indoctrinations. Something breaks down you replace it and not complain about it, service is bad so you just accept it, something happens and no one asks questions, your new clothes last less than a year.. go buy more, etc.

Much of what we can buy these days is built to have a lifetime of months to a few years depending on the product. Even cars are not designed to last a person for his lifetime.. it is designed to become less serviceable over the first 10 years of it's life.. if it gets that far.

Clothing is not made from Fibre Hemp so that our clothes outlast us.. instead things were manipulated in order to force us into buying cotton and plastic relatives as clothing that can not last long at all before we have to spend more money on more clothes.

This same scenario applies to all consumer products today..even electrical items.

I read your rant, and I agree with it.

Tell me all about it!

phones cost hundreds, and last a year. I just bought a 2010 car, and the clutch was a joke (luckily they fixed it for me). 0-60 in 4 seconds, but you destroy your clutch and void your warranty. Nothing that costs a significant amount of money, last for a considerable amount of time. PS3 crashes quickly. My ceiling fan, 3 years old, is shot (not as bad though, 80$). Everything is way, way too much money.

Two Words: Planned Obsolescence.

Originally posted by CerBeRus666
I think you have to:

1) Change the places where you are buying your stuff, or,
2) Stop being cheap, buy only high-quality products, from reputable brands

P.S. » As for car batteries, or any other sort of industrial materials you must handle, you do know that there is a requirement, at least for professionals, to use high-duty gloves, and other protective items, when handling these items?...maybe that should have given you a hint.

I appreciate your reply and #1 we only shop at good stores if you can call them that now.
#2 Please read my good part of the thread and you will see we do just that, but it is becoming very difficult to just that.
#3 I think you misread my post, please read slower as I said "in the box the instructions said if you handle the wires you must wash your hands as they are lead contaminated"
Thanks for your input, Regards I Winder

My tin foil hats don't last near as long as they used to, cheap, thin, bad reception..you know. Seriously, I feel your pain, trying to find quility products made from any country is tough nowdays, when you do it's usually not cheap and money's tight for most. Sad the lack of pride in workmanship from the top down in todays world, for the most part quality sucks.

Originally posted by sonofliberty1776
Two Words: Planned Obsolescence.

Bang on the bucks with that statement........thanks
Regards, Iwinder

Originally posted by mtnshredder
My tin foil hats don't last near as long as they used to, cheap, thin, bad reception..you know. Seriously, I feel your pain, trying to find quility products made from any country is tough nowdays, when you do it's usually not cheap and money's tight for most. Sad the lack of pride in workmanship from the top down in todays world, for the most part quality sucks.

Yes almost every part of the big "Quality" sucks and it is just getting worse by the day.
Regards, IWinder

Good rant..... twisty cables lol, nice.

I bought two Altec Lansing speaker systems 1.5 years ago, one seldom works and another makes annoying buzzing sounds when it feels like. These things always break after 12 months of use, they're designed to annoy the f#$#@ out of you AFTER the warranty period so you buy a new one. Thing is they don't just break, they cause various annoying problems and simply don't work as they should.

In past 4 years I had about 6 DVD drives, one was even "made in USA" (I kid you not) but I later found out on forums that its only actually assembled in US, specifically its casing is assembled, the rest is made in China. Its Plextor if you guessed.

Then there's the windshield fluid which says it freezes on -30 but it will freeze on 0 degrees celsius lol, then you have the 400 euro service bill after the pump gets broken because of it.

Don't get me started on computer software quality... . People who shouldn't even be allowed to use any digital device end up making your GUIs .

My Sennheiser headphones are already cracked on both sides after 1 year of use, noticed just recently, they'll break up completely eventually but I already have experience with gluing headphones because I also have overpriced bang & olufsen ones which are glued about 8 times.

That's just some of it, I could talk about this all day... I have daily experiences with crappy gizmos at my workplace. I still have a HP printer that works after 20 years and godly amount of pages printed, but new ones won't last a year.

Originally posted by SassyCat
Good rant..... twisty cables lol, nice.

I bought two Altec Lansing speaker systems 1.5 years ago, one seldom works and another makes annoying buzzing sounds when it feels like. These things always break after 12 months of use, they're designed to annoy the f#$#@ out of you AFTER the warranty period so you buy a new one. Thing is they don't just break, they cause various annoying problems and simply don't work as they should.

In past 4 years I had about 6 DVD drives, one was even "made in USA" (I kid you not) but I later found out on forums that its only actually assembled in US, specifically its casing is assembled, the rest is made in China. Its Plextor if you guessed.

Then there's the windshield fluid which says it freezes on -30 but it will freeze on 0 degrees celsius lol, then you have the 400 euro service bill after the pump gets broken because of it.

Don't get me started on computer software quality... . People who shouldn't even be allowed to use any digital device end up making your GUIs .

My Sennheiser headphones are already cracked on both sides after 1 year of use, noticed just recently, they'll break up completely eventually but I already have experience with gluing headphones because I also have overpriced bang & olufsen ones which are glued about 8 times.

That's just some of it, I could talk about this all day... I have daily experiences with crappy gizmos at my workplace. I still have a HP printer that works after 20 years and godly amount of pages printed, but new ones won't last a year.

Good points and funny you should mention the HP printer mine here is about 10 years old and like you said it is just cranking out the paper with no problems ever and I mean ever......I dread the thought of having to buy a new all in one printer with about 500 parts in it. I wonder which one will break first? #1 part or somewhere to #500 part?
Thanks for your input and Regards, Iwinder

And when you buy a quality item and maintain/repair it people think your crazy.

We have a Sony TV, that's about 15 years old and paid $250.00 to have it repaired a few years ago. Works great, sure it's big enough to be a boat anchor and just as heavy too, but why throw it out and buy a new one??

We live in such a "disposable" society now it actually feels good to keep things running as long as possible.

I also had a Pontiac 6000 that was 20 years old, even considered fixing it when the engine went...but decided to buy another car instead (used of course).

Namaste,
YogaGinns