[TheForge] Brand Loyalty?

[Ron Childers]

I hope Scuba-Pro doesn't cheapen their diving equipment...

Ron C

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Ries Niemi
Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2006 5:27 PM
To: Sponsored by ABANA
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Brand Loyalty?

Elucidate, please.

My experience has been that in industrial tools, brand loyalty is still 
somewhat valuable.
For example, I have never had a problem with any of my Miller welders 
being less than satisfactory.
I was somewhat disappointed in my $2500 Miller Spectrum 500 Plasma 
cutter, which I bought in 1992- I feel that Miller is not as good a 
plasma cutter producer as they are a welding machine producer, and 
certainly not as good as Thermal Dynamics or Hypertherm- but I would 
have brand loyalty to either of these companies, as I trust anything 
with either name on it to be a quality machine.

Similarly, I trust inherently Starrett precision machinist tools, or 
Lenox blades, or Peddinghaus anything, from a hammer to a half million 
dollar beam drilling and shear line. I trust BPR, which is an Italian 
company that I own a set of power angle rolls from- I have toured their 
factory, and would trust any of their products. All the Emglo 
compressors I have ever seen were a good buy. Never seen a bad product 
from Klein tools. Jancy, Scotchman, Ellis, and Hardinge are all 
goodun's as well.
Off Center Tool- Grant can be trusted to make the highest quality stuff.
In fact, I could easily come up with a list of 50 or so industrial 
suppliers of tooling, machines, and equipment that I can recommend 
without reservation
- with one caveat-
and that is that many of them, including Starrett, have a new, low 
priced, made in China, teaser line of products, which I would avoid.

In any purchase, particularly one involving serious simoleans, research 
is a must- and I would not recommend blind purchasing based solely on 
name. But there are still plenty of very upstanding companies that you 
can trust- in the industrial field.

Consumer goods, and consumer electronics, well thats another thing 
altogether. Although I must say I have never had a lemon from Apple 
Computer.

ries