Bad Gear? Is There Such a Thing?

Earlier today I realised that I haven’t yet posted a proper blog this year so I thought I’d better get on with it in case any of you have missed me! It’s time, I think, for a bit of a philosophical ramble!

A couple of weeks ago I found myself reading a piece from a fellow blogger that asked the question as to whether there was bad gear. His argument seemed to be that there wasn’t (I go into this below) but many of the comments seemed to agree with me that, sadly, there is.

And this got me thinking …

The original piece seemed to be making two arguments. Firstly, the author argued, there is gear that doesn’t meet up to expectations because what has been bought actually has not been developed to meet the needs that the purchaser acquired them for. True, there are cases of people not really understanding what they are buying and therefore make a dud purchase. Hands up, I’ve probably done this myself. The second argument was that there is very cheap gear. You get what you pay for. Buy cheap gear and you can’t expect it to be durable. Well, I’m sure that there is some truth in that as well. But we’re talking about the margins here. In my experience there is bad gear around.

During the last year I wrote about three pieces of gear which I considered to be either poor or not up to the task that you would reasonably expect. The first two were both pieces of gear that were around the £200 mark. I still consider this to be expensive. For that much money I think I have reasonable expectations of quality. The third item was a computer product that — while a lot cheaper — simply didn’t really deliver what the outdoor community would want. I don’t want to go over the details of these again but it seems to me that, at least in the first two cases, the manufacturers were managing to combine both shoddy goods with dreadful customer service. The connection between the two is important. With even the best manufacturing systems a bad batch can occasionally get through and in these circumstances you should be able to expect prompt and efficient customer service, especially if the problem is with a premium priced product.

My first item was an expensive watch that exhibited a fault that I have previously experienced with the same brand, on a couple of occasions over five years or so. Thankfully, this was bought through a major high street dealer who was able to raise the problem for me. But even they had problems, especially when the company told them that it was way out of warranty on the day that it was bought. Several years ago, when I had the same fault, the goods were replaced without argument and I got the impression that everyone knew there was a fault. This time there seemed to be no commitment to a proper conversation with the retailer and the retailer was clearly getting annoyed. But as this was a major retailer they couldn’t be ignored. After a somewhat un-necessary gap the watch was replaced by a new model with lots of mutterings about changing the country of manufacture because of problems with the first batch. So, I got a result but I didn’t really feel — at any time in this set of communications — that there was any real sense of apology on offer and I was certainly not given the confidence that the problems would be dealt with  promptly.

The second problem was with a lightweight pair of walking trousers from a very reputable company who I have bought a lot from over the years, indeed, I’ve championed their products at various stages. Despite being an expensive product the build quality was very poor, and I’m not the only person to have noticed that. The seams, especially, do not seem to be that robust. I thought there might be a problem with fit as well and thought I may have bought the wrong size. So, unusually for me, I decided to purchase a second pair in a different size. The second pair — bought a year later — were just as shoddily made and the seams began to fall apart quite quickly. Both of these pair of trousers had relatively light use. I wore both on a TGO Challenge, but that was only for twelve days walking or so. In total neither pair had been used, in total, for more than twice this number of times. The second pair were unintentionally left behind in Scotland and so I’ve gone back to wearing pair one. These have seam that is coming apart and the outer fabric has torn rather too easily on a fence or something. I could send them back for repair — and may yet do. But a repair is not really going to deal with the large amount of bad stitching that can be found all over this product. I suppose I will grin and bear it, use these until they fall together and then quietly go and purchase replacements from another brand.

The customer service complaint comes in here as well. When I bought the second par I had a chat the the retailers about the problems. They expressed surprise as they’d not had any complaints in the past and the manufacturers had not informed them of any problems. There may have been some problem with an initial production batch but none since. As I’d dealt with this company for many years I was inclined to believe them. But as I began to wear the replacement pair it became quite obvious that the same problems existed — and again it is not just much that has noticed the same thing! There is a problem with this premium priced product and one which, seemingly, the manufacturer is not prepared to share with their retailer. The best that the retailer could suggest was that I sent the first pair back for repair.

Responsible Blogging

It is difficult dealing with these kind of complaints as a blogger. Firstly, you need to be sure that you are not at fault with the purchase in the first place. And secondly, you need to be able to have the clout to get manufacturers to treat you seriously. With the watch I did eventually mutter popular hill asking blog and bad publicity over the internet and I did get the impression that they logged this. But this makes me mad because that’s not how customer service should work.

As a blogger you don’t get any better treatment than anyone else which means you have to be very persistent. I suspect that should a similar complaint have come from, say, a gear magazine things would have been dealt with more efficiently and decisively.

To write about these experiences is difficult because it requires consistency and persistence over time and many of us really don’t have the time to do that in the way that a professional journalist might.

The third example is interesting because of the more positive line that the company takes in relation to customers. This product didn’t do what I had wanted to do but I recognised that I kind of knew that when I bought it. But what this company does have is excellent customer service. They talk to their customers, explain their upgrade path and are genuinely interested in you helping them in their desire to create a better product. And as a result of their customer culture you are more happy to forgive problems and more patient in waiting for the development of the end product.

Hard Times and Better Value

I think it was a shame that my fellow blogger decided to write in the way that he did. Times are hard and many of us are having to be more discerning about gear purchases than perhaps we once were. Yes, we might still shell out money for an expensive product but we kind of have even more of a right to expect value for money and quality.

A Manifesto for Gear Manufacturers and Retailers

During the year I’d like to feel that things were changing.

Firstly, I’d like gear manufacturers to be a bit more honest in the pitch of their products. If they are building ‘down’ in quality then they really should be more careful about claims of quality and suitability.

Secondly, I’d like to see companies really committing themselves to improving customer care standards. Even the most unreasonable of us know that things go wrong sometimes but a good and positive reaction from a manufacturer makes us feel happier and more secure in our dealings with them.

Thirdly, and it goes without saying, that retailers have to be prepared to stand up for their customers, and this is the same whether we are talking about high street retailers or online retailers. I will only deal now with those who I know have a real commitment to their customer.

It is hard to write a bad review

You do see ‘bad’ reviews on the net but not that many really. It is hard for an ordinary punter to really go through a process of being fair yet thorough. Yes I know you will see reviews on sites which effectively say ‘crap’ but sometimes this doesn’t really help take a debate on.

Do Better …

Our economy is likely to be — at best— flat lining over the next few years. Walkers will have less disposable income and will necessarily be more cautious in their purchases. Companies, too, face hard times. Those who are not committed to good customer service may well find themselves in trouble and I would hate to see some of our famous names going to the wall. At the very least recent experiences suggest that some famous names have some work to do to live up to their hard earned reputations.

I may still write some hard-hitting reviews about these products but the professional and responsible person in me knows that I probably have to spend yet more time going through the complaint systems. As a punter, of course, I might just simply give up, never use these companies again, and just tell all of my friends.

There is bad gear out there. Despite it being difficult to deal with the blogging community should not make things even harder by suggesting that there isn’t.

Perhaps we need an internet hall of shame. I’m genuinely interested in how you think we can deal with bad manufacture, and sub standard customer service, through the online community.

Thoughts please!