T&T: Kudos to EarTec, NOT!

[m/v MOJO]

-- snip --
 Imagine my surprise when I called the company today to
ask them to assist me with the repair or replacement of a headset that broke
after a very few number of uses.  The tech said "it's a $25 headset, what do
you expect us to do?".
--- snip ---
As fewer and fewer young people choose to become repair persons and/or
maintenance technicians, industry tends to lean toward the replace rather 
than
repair philosophy. It is often cheaper and quicker to throw away the old 
unit and
substitute a new one rather than attempt a repair. Try to fix the
microprocessor on an electrically controlled diesel. Have you had your car 
repaired
recently? What did they do?

Larry Z
--- snip ---


Larry is spot on regarding the conflict between reliability and 
repairability in terms of manufacturing techniques, but failed to add that 
reliability also increases as one moves down the manufacturing curve and 
"works out the bugs."  Many marine products are manufactured in such small 
quantities due to the inherrent small size of the marine market that it's 
difficult to reach desired reliability levels before the technology changes 
and forces the manufacturing process to change!  To add to the mix, not only 
must the company who chooses the repairability route maintain an inventory 
of parts and hire skilled techs to handle the repairs, but the techs must 
also either have or be trained in the appropriate customer skills to 
interact with their customer base.  The tech who asked Scott "it's only a 
$25 headset, what do you expect...?" was being perfectly candid and asking a 
reasonable question, but he didn't necessarily ask it in a manner that 
prompted dialog rather than negative customer reaction!  (It's like the old 
adage of which statement gives better results when approaching a lady in a 
bar..."You have a face that could stop a clock,"  or "You have a face that 
could make time stand still." ??)  But the reality is, the actual cost to 
replace a $25 headset is likely significantly more than the headset is 
worth - figure in the techs time, phone costs, inventory cost to carry the 
replacement headset, the cost to pull it from the shelf, package it up, 
label it, and ship it, as well as reconcile the shipping bill against the 
accounts payable, etc. and the company would probably spent $100 to replace 
the $25 headset.  That's 1/3 of what the customer originally paid for the 
entire product, much of which likely went to the middle men for handling, 
distribution, etc.  Let's face it, $300 is not a lot of money in today's 
world.  It all comes down to what the tech asked originally - "what do you 
expect?"  Maybe it's not realistic to purchase a $300 product and "expect" 
the company to spend as much or more than they made in profit to repair the 
produce under warranty.  Sure, the company can probably afford to do that 
every now and then, but if it happens too often, either the comany 
discontinues the product of closes the doors (assuming they are 
conscientious about reliability.)  (Scott, you said the headset "broke" - 
did it malfunction, or physically break, and if it physically broke, was it 
possibly due to rough handling? - you didn't say what failed.)

Our boating community often laments that the cost of everything is measured 
in "boat units" of $1,000, and that everything "marine" carries a 
significant mark-up when compared to non-marine products of the same or 
similar function.  And yet, the expectations of most of the members of our 
boating community are that products manufactured in relatively limited 
quantities for a relatively small market must meet the same or often higher 
standards of reliability and repairability  than a non-marine analog.  To 
meet this support expectation requires a minimum price tag of about one boat 
unit, and it's still difficult to meet the reliability expectations due to 
the small numbers involved in the manufacturing process.  I don't know 
anything about the headsets Scott has or about the company EarTec, but I do 
know in detail the costs and realities of operating a small business.  I 
also believe customer service is, or should be, the number one priority of 
any company, as this series of posts demonstrates.  No doubt EarTec has been 
damaged by Scott's experience to a greater extent than what it would have 
cost them to replace the headset.  On the other hand, if he had raved about 
the product quality and customer support for this $300 item, I suspect 
others would have still jumped in with their recommendations for a $59.95 or 
$49.95 "equivalent" product, and those comments may have cost the company 
just as many lost sales.  For the relatively low dollars involved in these 
sorts of products, it's very difficult to provide the level of support that 
we all expect - it's always a balancing act, and that balance often relies 
on the support person on the other end of the phone.  Good technical and 
customer oriented people are difficult to find, train and keep - just one of 
the many challenges of running a successful business!

Ray B.
m/v MOJO