Better than Home Depot!

[Farwell]

Think I will dig through my tool box and put the new warranty change to the test. Nearest Sears store is 75 miles away so it may be a while before I do it but will post the results when I do. I remember one time about 10 years ago I ran into an attitude at a Sears store in California. I went to another Sears store and had no problem with the exchange so it may still be the individual employee/manager attitude rather than the over all store policy.
Farwell

 

[PILOON]

A few facts re: made in USA and /or Canada!

A lot of the USA/Can firms own factories offshore.

To qualify for MADE IN status (generally speaking) the mfg has to have 50% Can/US content.
Included in that content is profits and overheads etc.
All the North American company therefore has to do is double the raw cost to achieve a 'suggested retail price' and then qualifies for made in status.

For instance on a power tool such as a table saw, all the castings, machining etc are imported from China/Tiwan for maybe $60.00 then painted in US ($30 ea at US labor rates), electrics added (another $30.00 say) and it is qualified for 'made in status'.
This is then furthur qualified because the saw is wholesaled for $199. and retailed for $395.00.

Black and Decker is all offshore, so probably is DeWalt as they are 100% owned by B&D, so how much % of DeWalt tools do you think are made in USA?

Add to that the other hidden profits made offshore by the China/Tiwan factory that the USA company owns, and in all probability those profits are in an offshore bank that pays no taxes. The board of directors of the NA firm are also on the boards of the offshore firm and get their bonuses from the offshore banks (tax free naturally)

If you want proof of what I say, have a very close look at power tool castings and general configurations.
You will see that even the mould marks on a 'made in ' tool are identical to the 'offshore model'.

On power tools we are down to maybe 2 companies that are actually US. (Millwaulki and PC) and even there I wonder how much is imported raw , refined and assembled in NA.

In electronics.I'd venture to say that 99% is offshore.
Big brand names that we always identified as NA are even owned by offshore companies. Example; RCA.
Just recently Maytag came close to being offshore owned.

Another trick used by some of those mega corps is to have the patents owned offshore so that all the real profits are from royalties that get paid offshore into non taxable corps.
Those firms then say that the operations are not profitable and they can't pay decent wages while all the time the net profits go offshore.

 

[jgh]

20051015

On Bird's and one other point:

Some of us are a little older so we can recall "Japanese Junk" transistor radios from back in the 60s, trashy looking Japanese cars in the 70s (have you seen the early ones? Yuk!), etc.

As Wm Windom said in The Doomsday Machine, "...Not 'ny more!"

My point is that not everything from overseas is (or continues to be) junk but it sure seems to start that way. And would anyone disagree that such competition fuels innovation, lowers costs, etc, as it has in the domestic auto industry. Maybe a little too much, but it works.

And one poster's point about variations in stores due to management personnel is ever true these days. I think, personally, that it is due to too much pressure on local management for profits rather than achieving good customer service, employee retention, etc, goals. Thus unpredictable is the result on the people we the public deal with.

You just get better service in stores with happy employees.

I know the bean counting end as a CPA formerly of Price Waterhouse and Arthur Andersen (the once great). I tell my employees at our retail establishment that the top line is most important (sales, getting customers in and back), and with reasonable attention to expenses, waste, etc, we'll all be happy, things will turn out OK.

Just my 2¢ worth as a retailer for 20 years (restaurant), also!

[/Chalkley mode]

Jim

 

[Jagmandave]

I returned an old 1 1/8 " 12 pt socket to Sears this weekend that I had broken using a 5 ft cheater bar on my 1/2" breaker. It was in two peices! They didn't even blink, just handed me the new one and receipt. The only thing they asked me was if I wanted a 6 or 12 pt to replace it. I did notice that they don't carry as many individual sockets anymore, tho. I tried to buy an impact version of the same socket (for obvious reasons!) but all they had were sets.

 

[Tim_in_IA]

I always buy crafstman sockets and wrenches from sears. I use torx bolts on my JEEP, and the drivers are always breaking. I don't know how many times I've gotten free replacements for these. Also, if they didn't have the individuals they would pull them from sets for me. I don't think I'd get a craftsman power tool though. It's no different than any other. For those I either get the cheapest so it's easy to replace, or I get a good name like DeWalt.

 

[JeffRey30747]

PILOON,
Not so, at least by US (Federal Trade Commission) standards. US regs state that for a product to be labeled as "Made in USA" it must be all or virtually all sourced from the US. They will also allow qualified claims such as "assembled in the USA" if they are in fact true. You can visit the FTC web page for additional information. There are probably quite a few folks skirting the law in this area as it can be difficult to enforce but there have been several high profile cases that were prosecuted.

Jeff

 

[erich]

Tim in Ia.

Thanks for the web-site.

<font color="red"> </font> NOWFOR ALL YOU TRUE TBNers! <font color="black"> </font> ] Check out the wedding registery info at a true farm store. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif If only they would have had that 27 years ago!


Eric

 

[JRP]

What could this possibly have to do with Build it Yourself?

I was glad to see jeje's post this morning on his FEL forks and boom pole so we can get back to building.

 

[TruChaos]

"Better than Home Depot!"? Almost anything is.


With respect to the previous comments about Home Depot, I stand firm in my utter dislike of the store.

I'm not union member but, it really irks me that they put Americans out of work by installing those "self checkout" lines. Then they only have one checkout register open with an actual human. Because only one line is open, it's usually 10 to 20 customers long.

Ever tried to scan in a handful of nuts and bolts at the "self checkout" line?

They claim they're doing this to ensure lower prices for their customers, hmmm, haven't seen the prices drop since they started this. Their prices certainly aren't any lower than the LOWES down the street which doesn't use "self checkout".


I have written at least 5 letters to Home Depot about this problem and have never received a reply. So, I stopped shopping there.

My father is up in years, 75, but he likes buying old destroyed town homes and rebuilding them. He spent $60k+ on his most recent project. Home Depot lost all of his business because after walking around the store shopping, he can't stand in the long lines caused by having only one register open.

In my area, Lowes is making out like a bandit. As they should.

Personally, I do my best to do business with the local mom and pop owned Service Star and True Value stores. I pay a little more but at least they don't utilize anti-american business practices.

 

[DavidVT]

When I first encountered HD, it was like going into a candy store. The variety, the stuff and the sales folks were very helpful... That was years ago in either Phoenix or Mass somewhere....
Recently HD 'finally' arrived near where I live now. It was long anticipated and many were optomistic to have access to the same 'stuff' I recalled from years gone by.....

The 'new' HD can't seem to find knowledgable staffers. Those automated registers are a huge mistake and the pricing on lumber is really not much better than where I've shopped local to my home.

I'll still go there for ideas and the occasional 'stuff' I can't find elsewhere in rural Vermont. However, my local hardware and lumber guys won't forget what I look like.

 

[LBrown59]

They were one of the higest priced places to buy 15'' culvert.