What Irked You Today?

[bobthehobbyguy]

Hey for those willing to accept substandard merchendise because its cheap you get what you paid for.  Also understand that its is costing you a lot more in the long run for that decision. .  Until people wake up to that fact thats all you are going to get. 

You also have to consider costs of not doing manufacturing. Workers that don't pay taxes and adding to a trade deficit.  Then you have companies like Danbury Mint that moveto China really ddidn't work out so well for them.

Edited June 27, 2016 by bobthehobbyguy

[iamsuperdan]

What irked me today? Let me frame that with some advise.

 

If you have horrible credit, and you're trying to get financed on a vehicle, don't get angry with the vehicle supplier when you get declined.

Had a customer in over the past few days, dealing on a new truck. Found exactly what they wanted, put together a lease package that everyone is happy with.

Red flag number 1: customer didn't want to fill out the credit app in full. Look...if you don't fill this out, I'm not even going to submit it to credit.

Red flag 2: didn't want to provide proof of income. Oh, so we're going to provide a $50k truck based on promises and feelings? No.

Customer finally gives us the info we require, which let's be honest, isn't asking for much. Credit immediately comes back with a decline. Not a tentative approval with some conditions, but an outright decline. Upon inquiry, we discover that the customer declared bankruptcy three years ago, and has since had several missed payments, and has three unresolved claims with collections agencies totalling over $8000.

 

And then we're the bad guys because we won't provide them with a vehicle?! They even pulled out the threats to get a lawyer and dispute this, and then threatening to go to the media about how we deal with people. So I explained very calmly (which I think angered them even more) that I would be happy to meet with their lawyer, and with any media they wished to send our way. 

 

Ugh, some days...

[High octane]

What irked me today? Let me frame that with some advise.

 

If you have horrible credit, and you're trying to get financed on a vehicle, don't get angry with the vehicle supplier when you get declined.

Had a customer in over the past few days, dealing on a new truck. Found exactly what they wanted, put together a lease package that everyone is happy with.

Red flag number 1: customer didn't want to fill out the credit app in full. Look...if you don't fill this out, I'm not even going to submit it to credit.

Red flag 2: didn't want to provide proof of income. Oh, so we're going to provide a $50k truck based on promises and feelings? No.

Customer finally gives us the info we require, which let's be honest, isn't asking for much. Credit immediately comes back with a decline. Not a tentative approval with some conditions, but an outright decline. Upon inquiry, we discover that the customer declared bankruptcy three years ago, and has since had several missed payments, and has three unresolved claims with collections agencies totalling over $8000.

 

And then we're the bad guys because we won't provide them with a vehicle?! They even pulled out the threats to get a lawyer and dispute this, and then threatening to go to the media about how we deal with people. So I explained very calmly (which I think angered them even more) that I would be happy to meet with their lawyer, and with any media they wished to send our way. 

 

Ugh, some days...

You did a great job Dan, as there will always be someone who tries to pull stuff like that. I had someone threaten me with an attorney and I said bring 'em on, and of course they never did.

[Tom Geiger]

Ok, then, Vietnam. Or Cambodia.

Didja notice that much of our new furniture is coming from these two places?  When we bought our leather couches in our den there was a closeout of the style, because they had just shut down the US plant in the south and were going off shore with new styles.  That was six years ago.

Anyone else notice that's when we got the stink bug infestation?  Yea, beetle like bugs that eat crops and stink like heck if you step on one.  They can hibernate up to a year.... as in sleeping in furniture in ocean containers.   AND they are used in local cuisine..   used to give dishes a spicy taste, beware!  

Five years ago they were everywhere.  We are fortunate that the last few winters have been cold, which has killed a lot of them off over winters since they are a tropical bug.

 

[peteski]

Didja notice that much of our new furniture is coming from these two places?  When we bought our leather couches in our den there was a closeout of the style, because they had just shut down the US plant in the south and were going off shore with new styles.  That was six years ago.

Anyone else notice that's when we got the stink bug infestation?  Yea, beetle like bugs that eat crops and stink like heck if you step on one.  They can hibernate up to a year.... as in sleeping in furniture in ocean containers.   AND they are used in local cuisine..   used to give dishes a spicy taste, beware!  

Five years ago they were everywhere.  We are fortunate that the last few winters have been cold, which has killed a lot of them off over winters since they are a tropical bug.

 

That is an unfortunate result of this global economy.  Here in the Northeast we have the stink bugs and even more destructive longhorn beetles. Both came from Asia.

Edited June 28, 2016 by peteski

[XJ6]

This is what irks me people who park so close behind so that you cannot open the back hatch on the SUV ?

[bobthehobbyguy]

Fire works stands opened yesterday. Very dumb. Then the idiots that allow have signs up saying fireworks are omly allowed in the city limits. Yeah like thats goingvto do any good.

[XJ6]

Fire works stands opened yesterday. Very dumb. Then the idiots that allow have signs up saying fireworks are omly allowed in the city limits. Yeah like thats goingvto do any good.

Totally agree with you ??

[cobraman]

Here they sell fireworks in the Frys grocery store and I'm not talking sparklers !

[crazyjim]

Fireworks are illegal in Florida but there's Crazy Dave Fireworks tents everywhere.  I don't get it.

[Tom Geiger]

Fireworks are illegal in Florida but there's Crazy Dave Fireworks tents everywhere.  I don't get it.

Same in Pennsylvania.  My favorite are the year around stores that sit right on the PA / NJ border.  The disclaimer is that only out of state buyers are allowed, but nobody ever asks for ID.  And fireworks are illegal across that border in NJ!  The fun part is that the NJ State Troopers are known to sit on the NJ side of the border and watch cars coming out of the fireworks store lot... and pull them over as soon as they hit NJ.  Not only do they have them for possessing illegal fireworks, but also for transporting them across the state border! 

Edited June 28, 2016 by Tom Geiger

[XJ6]

Same in Pennsylvania.  My favorite are the year around stores that sit right on the PA / NJ border.  The disclaimer is that only out of state buyers are allowed, but nobody ever asks for ID.  And fireworks are illegal across that border in NJ!  The fun part is that the NJ State Troopers are known to sit on the NJ side of the border and watch cars coming out of the fireworks store lot... and pull them over as soon as they hit NJ.  Not only do they have them for possessing illegal fireworks, but also for transporting them across the state border! 

Well that is a nice operation they have $$$ ? For them anyhow.

[Agent G]

Same in Pennsylvania.  My favorite are the year around stores that sit right on the PA / NJ border.  The disclaimer is that only out of state buyers are allowed, but nobody ever asks for ID.  And fireworks are illegal across that border in NJ!  The fun part is that the NJ State Troopers are known to sit on the NJ side of the border and watch cars coming out of the fireworks store lot... and pull them over as soon as they hit NJ.  Not only do they have them for possessing illegal fireworks, but also for transporting them across the state border! 

Yeah, that's just, uh, well .................................

Male bovine excrement?

G

 

[Darren B]

 

Yes you are. The fact is, a lot of TV garbage is very popular. That's why we keep getting more and more of it. Don't blame the TV industry, blame the idiots who watch the garbage and by doing so, are telling the TV industry to create more garbage! They will only create the programs that they think the public wants... and the public likes garbage on TV!

so true!!!

[Kit Basher]

Why have car designers decided it is a good idea to design cars that you can't see out of? My Focus is horrible. Everywhere you look there is a headrest or a post in the way. I have looked at a lot of other cars, and most seem to be no better. With the tendency of so many drivers to ride along in your passenger side blind spot, it would be nice to be able to turn your head and see them. The stupid "objects are closer" mirror, and the tiny "blind spot mirror" are no help. I realize they've started adding blind spot monitors and backup cameras, but those wouldn't be necessary if you could actually see around you. OK, rant over.

[High octane]

Why have car designers decided it is a good idea to design cars that you can't see out of? My Focus is horrible. Everywhere you look there is a headrest or a post in the way. I have looked at a lot of other cars, and most seem to be no better. With the tendency of so many drivers to ride along in your passenger side blind spot, it would be nice to be able to turn your head and see them. The stupid "objects are closer" mirror, and the tiny "blind spot mirror" are no help. I realize they've started adding blind spot monitors and backup cameras, but those wouldn't be necessary if you could actually see around you. OK, rant over.

I hafta agree with you as the headrest in my wife's car get in the way of seeing objects in the rear view mirror, and my new truck has a head rest for the so-called center seat which is also in the way. The owners manual says it cannot be removed on page 149, however the service department had no problem removing it for me. I was glad about that.

[Tom Geiger]

I've already stated that the typical Chinese-made model car would cost only approximately 15% more (based on extensive research and LONG conversations with people in the US injection molding industries) if it were made here and could avoid many of the scale and accuracy issues we're all familiar with.

Only 15% more. Think about it.

If you remember, Dave from Moebius said that there is no company in the USA that could do the entire process, from design to shipping sealed cases to market. 

Yes, there are injection molders.  There are packaging companies who could produce the boxes(one of my friends is a sales mgr for one in Richmond),  I know of a great decal company in the USA who did our NNL East decals for us... but a company like Moebius or even Round 2 doesn't have the staff or facilities to manage and handle the materials that may come from up to maybe ten different suppliers, then assemble it all into boxes.  

[SfanGoch]

Three high-rises going up simultaneously on my block. Nothing but construction racket six days a week.

[SfanGoch]

If you remember, Dave from Moebius said that there is no company in the USA that could do the entire process, from design to shipping sealed cases to market. 

Yes, there are injection molders.  There are packaging companies who could produce the boxes(one of my friends is a sales mgr for one in Richmond),  I know of a great decal company in the USA who did our NNL East decals for us... but a company like Moebius or even Round 2 doesn't have the staff or facilities to manage and handle the materials that may come from up to maybe ten different suppliers, then assemble it all into boxes.  

Chalk it up to outsourcing. It could be done here if the companies really wanted to do it. There are plenty of injection molding and and mold making companies in the U.S. It all comes down to the bottom line - money. None of the American model companies want to spend the money on equipment to manufacture kits here because the operating costs in China for these facilities is much lower.

[Ramfins59]

Chalk it up to outsourcing. It could be done here if the companies really wanted to do it. There are plenty of injection molding and and mold making companies in the U.S. It all comes down to the bottom line - money. None of the American model companies want to spend the money on equipment to manufacture kits here because the operating costs in China for these facilities is much lower.

And "operating costs" here means salaries to workers, various taxes and/or fees, electric & gas utility rates, materials & equipment costs, and freight & fuel costs.  Everything costs more in this country...

[Tom Geiger]

Chalk it up to outsourcing. It could be done here if the companies really wanted to do it. There are plenty of injection molding and and mold making companies in the U.S. It all comes down to the bottom line - money. None of the American model companies want to spend the money on equipment to manufacture kits here because the operating costs in China for these facilities is much lower.

For the very small US kit market, the start up costs for a company that wanted to produce kits for any of the three manufacturers in the USA would be cost prohibitive. And kit runs now are a sporadic business, and you're asking them to rent a large manufacturing type facility and pay for full time employees who would be idle some of the time. Right now they pay for a service and managing that facility and workforce is up to others and not their concern.   If you remember the photos of kit manufacturing in the USA,  even the old Johan shots of a room full of ladies assembling and packing the promos, back then even Johan produced more models than any of the companies do today.  Model companies were moving millions of kits,   versus runs of 5,000 where 25,000 kits is a big success.  It's just not there anymore.

What's happened is that these new smaller players have found a way to compete in the tiny kit market and outsourcing and offshoring is the way it works. This is like comparing Time Magazine to Model Cars Magazine.

[Ace-Garageguy]

If you remember, Dave from Moebius said that there is no company in the USA that could do the entire process, from design to shipping sealed cases to market. 

Yes, there are injection molders.  There are packaging companies who could produce the boxes(one of my friends is a sales mgr for one in Richmond),  I know of a great decal company in the USA who did our NNL East decals for us... but a company like Moebius or even Round 2 doesn't have the staff or facilities to manage and handle the materials that may come from up to maybe ten different suppliers, then assemble it all into boxes.  

All I ever hear is "it can't be done", from "experts", and it doesn't matter WHAT field we're talking about. 

The very first company I talked to about this said they'd be happy to bend over backwards to work out the logistics and do the entire project from start to finish, including shipping out completed kits. Printing, shrink-wrapping and cardboard boxes just ain't rocket science.

Of course, I'm not entrenched in preserving the status quo and minimizing the effort I put out.

If car models could be made profitably in this country in 1960, they can be today. It's only a matter of having the will to do it. All that's lacking is the will...not the ability.

Whenever ANYONE says "can't", it usually means "I'm not willing to make the effort to accomplish it".

PS. I've done a lot of things that "couldn't be done", including developing a procedure to splice broken composite aircraft fuselages back together...when the factory that DESIGNED AND BUILT the airplane said it couldn't be done in the field, or without adding significant weight. Proved them wrong, we did. 

When you factor in costs of delays and re-dos and just poor measuring / scaling / wrong shapes because of the language and cultural misunderstandings, and also secondary costs like shipping, etc., it looks very much like contract manufacturers here could do the job at a cost competitive with the completed in-our-stores cost from Chinese companies.

 

Edited June 30, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[SfanGoch]

This is like comparing Time Magazine to Model Cars Magazine.

Nothing to compare. The latter is quality reading as opposed to the former. 

[Tom Geiger]

All I ever hear is "it can't be done", from "experts", and it doesn't matter WHAT field we're talking about. 

The very first company I talked to about this said they'd be happy to bend over backwards to work out the logistics and do the entire project from start to finish, including shipping out completed kits. Printing, shrink-wrapping and cardboard boxes just ain't rocket science.

Of course, I'm not entrenched in preserving the status quo and minimizing the effort I put out.

If car models could be made profitably in this country in 1960, they can be today. It's only a matter of having the will to do it. All that's lacking is the will...not the ability.

Whenever ANYONE says "can't", it usually means "I'm not willing to make the effort to accomplish it".

 

I'd love you to prove me wrong!  It would be a good thing to bring it all back to the USA.

You're a smart guy,  major opportunity here.  Go for it!   

[Ace-Garageguy]

I'd love you to prove me wrong!  It would be a good thing to bring it all back to the USA.

You're a smart guy,  major opportunity here.  Go for it!   

Not much of an opportunity for me. I'm sure I could make it work, or die trying...and for what? Probably not even a "thank you".

I say things the entrenched "experts" don't want to hear, and they don't often pay for anything that rocks the gravy train boat.

However, I WILL continue researching and talking with suppliers as time permits.

But here's part of the reality of the situation. I'm hardly alone in my opinions.

http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/why-donald-trump-is-wrong-about-manufacturing-jobs-and-china

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-flips-the-script-on-jobs-reshoring-finally-outpaced-offshoring-in-2014-2015-05-01

Granted, manufacturing has changed dramatically over the past few decades, and we may never see the JOBS in manufacturing that once were the mainstay of the middle-class, but manufacturing as a viable and cost-competitive industry may very well return.

But by all means, everyone believe what you've been told. Manufacturing in America is impossible. Period.

And don't forget, the Earth is flat.

 

 

Edited June 30, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy