Pride in Product

Pride in Product

Recently I had to replace the detachable key board that I had been using with my I-Pad mini for the past year.  Several over-used keys went kaput: "SLTNR-E" in particular...the "Wheel of Fortune" letter suite that they always include with the final puzzle. At first they would merely stick and appear on the screen after a few agonizing seconds.  They just completely disappeared from the screen all together.  Time to get a new keyboard.

So I returned to the AT&T store in the Staten Island Mall when I purchased it in the first place.  Well, to my dismay I fell three weeks outside the one year guarantee time, so I did not qualify for a cost-free replacement.  However, the young salesman did get me a copy of my receipt and the phone number of the manufacturer of the keyboard.  I would have to contact them and see if I could get a suitable replacement.  The salesman was a bit confused when I mentioned in passing that I was reluctant to purchase another keyboard at $89 from the same company whose product conked out a little over a year after I purchased it.

So I went home and made the call. A very sweet salesgirl on the other end was more than happy to sell me the same model at the hugely(?) discounted rate of $85 plus tax and shipping.  She did not seemed concerned when I mentioned that I would not be buying the same model since it died a premature death after a year's use. She then offered me one of what she claimed was a "better quality"
for twenty dollars more.  I said, "No thanks"' and decided to return to the mall to check out alternatives.

My first stop was at one of those middle-mall kiosks that was run by the same company, just to check out what this newer model looked like. I explained my dilemma to the young man, a sales representative for this company who asked me why I just didn't say I did not remember exactly when I bought said keyboard....in essence he told me to lie to his employer in order to get a free keyboard...a faulty one in my opinion.  When I said, "So, you are telling me to lie?"  He replied, "I am telling you to bend the truth."  I may be getting older, but I think "bending the truth" is still lying.  He also admitted that the keyboard I bought had "issues", but was willing to sell me another one for $99.  I said, "No thanks".  He shrugged and turned away.

Next stop was the Apple Store.  I was directed to a nice enough young salesman who told me that Apple no longer sells the model I had purchased a year ago. "Too many problems.", he said.  Ya think!? He showed me another one they were recommending this year that cost $100.  I indicated that I would not pay that much, and I left the store...a bit frustrated.

I went back to AT&T, only to be chastised by their young sales manager: " If you want the best keyboard for your mini, you need to get a stand alone"' he admonished me. "I am very fussy about my technology; it has to be fast and the key board has to be portable so I can carry it around.

I told this guy that I wanted one that could be folded with the screen.  He also implied that the one I had purchased from his store the year before was, well...crap.  He recommended the same one the Apple guy wanted to sell me for $100.  I was getting a headache.

I went to another mid-mall kiosk where the young salesman told me that he did not have an appropriate one3, but another store in the mall was having a sale on the keyboard I was looking for.  I went there and discovered a very nice Bluetooth keyboard reduced from $89.00 to $9.80 including tax!!!

He said they were changing models, and the new ones would be in by the first of  December...and at this price, I should think about buying two in case one stops working. I bought one.  At least this sales guy did not try to convince me to buy a "superior" model.  He only had one. 

But one thing that has caused me concern is the  overwhelming opinion that shoddy workmanship is a built-in factor in all pieces of the consumer economy and the deliberate early obsolesce of all technological devices is an expected part of that part of the economy. I remember a time when manufacturers were actually proud of the durability of their products.  I remember when "Made in
America" meant that the tool or dress or television or car you were buying was made with quality materials by skilled craftspersons.  I understand that we live in a world economy.  I understand the Wal-Marts of the world have made this globalization of shoddily made products too cheap for many to pass up, and they pay their workers third world wages to boot.


Sigh, I wonder if this is the "Brave New World" our elders dreamed about....I doubt it.