Really Pissed Off!

Panasonic has been using that slogan, “Ideas for life” since Hector was a pup, and it has brought them to the top of the electronics industry. Even I was smitten with what they produced, and considered them top of the line. Well, in today’s market, there is no “top of the line” any longer, as whatever you purchase, chances are that it’s going to crap out long before you expect it. The golden rule of manufacturing today is “can we make it last before the warranty runs out? Then the poor, dumb bastard will be back to purchase a new one, and even if he or she doesn’t buy ours, it doesn’t matter as we make most of the other companies products!”

On August 8, 2004, I purchased a Panasonic HDTV Monitor, which replaced an eighteen year old Sony that finally died. Eighteen years without a service call or any problem, that’s not bad at all. I had no complaints. I did my research, checking up on all the ratings on line and with Consumer’s Guide and they all recommended the Panasonic HDTV CT-32HXC14, as the best out there. I did not expect to get eighteen years out of this one, but I figured that I might get five or six years. Just in case, I bought the three year warranty through Circuit City, aware that electronic devices are not made nearly as well as they were as little as ten years ago. On October 8, 2007, I went to turn on the TV and I heard a strange noise from the set. The cable box was on, as well as the inexpensive home theater, but the TV was dead! My warranty had run out two months before and after talking to Service, it was going to cost me from $500.00 to $600.00 to have that TV repaired, as the power unit had died. The TV set was only three years old and it was now junk, leaving me to go out and continue the cycle of buying another TV. This time, I got a four year warranty!

Shortly after WW II, as the American Economy did a 180 degree turn from materials for war to consumer products, you could purchase most anything and it might possibly outlive you. As I remember, the only product that had problems living up to that standard was the electric toaster, which had a habit of burning up on occasion. A company’s reputation relied on their product giving the consumer their money’s worth, and you replaced it as new and better products were manufactured. Between then and now, the World has turned upside down and now we have reached the pinnacle of Planned Obsolescence, or……how successful can we be at screwing the consumer? In today’s market place, it doesn’t matter what brand you buy. Those old names are just that….old names. There are probably two or three manufacturers of that product and they are cutting every corner to get the most profit from a far inferior product.

What’s worse is that we’ve be conditioned to not only to expect it, but to accept it unconditionally as part of the “good life” that technology has brought us. How dumb are we? Corporate America, as well as the world wide conglomerates are laughing all the way to the bank, just before they have a bigger laugh at the stockholders meeting. “Keep producing that crap…..they’ll just go out, put themselves into deeper hock and buy more!” What kept the playing field even between Corporate America and the consumer was competition. Our Market Economy relies on competition….that’s what makes it work. Every company competes for your dollar, and the best product wins. Technology is thrown into the equation to get a “leg up” on the other guy. Real competition makes a healthy economy…..like the one we used to have! However, today’s competitive market is pure bullshit! Every time you turn your head, one company has bought out another, and the Economists and pundits applaud it as a sign of growth and point to Wall Street and the Stock Market as proof. What you actually see is the elimination of a competitive marketplace, which results in inferior goods and price control. Oh…I forgot, it also means a bundle of cash for the company, as well as their stockholders. We, the American consumer, has been sold out! We’re now a feeding ground for the multiplex corporations, who will offer us glitter and gadgets, rather than a reliable product.

I guess it’s time for me to write to the CEO, the President and the Board of Directors of Panasonic. (See the article below on getting even with Corporate America.) This time, however, I may be on the loosing end as I have little cannon fodder to throw at them. Actually, it doesn’t matter, as long as I really piss them off!