So many things we buy, in this day and age, are shoddy. It is true that much as improved in some areas, but there is still enough poorly made items around to drive us all crazy. New cars seem to be an area where there has been tremendous improvement but that doesn't mean that you still can't get stuck with a clunker. Another area that has problems is home building and home improvements. It is true that some of these problems can be attributed to fly by night builders and repair men that either don't care about their workmanship or just don't know what they are doing and are in business only to fleece you. The electronics industry seems to have improved it's quality of products, yet there are still problems.

One may wonder what I am talking about, so let me expand on this. A few years ago I decided to purchase a famous Japanese brand stereo. It was the type that looked like a big boom box with detachable speakers. It played very well for a few months and I had hooked up a computer to it and the sound was very acceptable. One day while doing some work on the computer, I smelled something that reminded me of a burning smell. I traced it to the stereo. and bent over it to get a really good smell and make sure this was the device that was in trouble. Just as I bent over it, it burst into flames. I was very luck not to get burnt. Nothing about the way the stereo. was setup could have caused a fire. It must have been a short in the unit itself.

A friend of mine purchased a famous name camcorder. He used it for a few months and it took pretty good videos. The unit was one of those that used to be an American brand but was bought out by a Korean company. After he charged the battery he used to put the camcorder on his dresser in the bedroom. One day, one of his children was doing something that he and his wife considered very cute and they wanted to get it on video. He went into the bedroom and picked up the camcorder. which exploded into a flaming mass burning his hand very badly. He won a law suit over this, but that is not the point. The point is that some of these devices, if defective, can be very dangerous. A battery, for example, sometimes contains a lot of power and can heat up to the point of causing a fire.

You would think that all cars would be made to be almost fool proof by now, wouldn't you? Ah if this was only the case. There are some brands that are way better than others, repair wise. I have been driving Hondas for many years now and I have yet to experience a part replacement or repair of any kind, except for a tire repair and the usual replacement of brakes. I am talking about a total of about 16 years. I also had a toyota a while back, it was prone to tail pipe replacement but except for rotting out those pipes about every 3 years, it too was never repaired except for tires and brakes. Then there was my American car. First let me be honest with you, the repairs were all done under the new car warranty but were very inconvenient since the dealer would keep the car for weeks at a time and not supply a replacement. First it was the automatic transmission, then it was the alternator, then the transmission again, then the alternator again, then the transmission again and then the alternator two more times. You wonder how this company can't figure out why it can't compete with the foreign companies. As stupid as this sounds, I liked the car, it was very sporty and that is why I didn't try and enforce the lemon law on it. Just because you buy a very expensive car doesn't mean it is any better mechanically than some of the cheaper ones. One brand of auto has so many engines blowing up that a website is dedicated to the problem. A class action suit has been filed against the company. Many years ago I actually knew someone who purchased a brand new American car and the engine fell out on the road, it had never been bolted in.

A family in New Jersey had just moved into a new condo. They were very happy at first as are most new home buyers, then bad things began to happen to them. The cement in the foundation began to crumble. Aside from the crumbling cement, bricks began to fall out of the structure. Then it happened, their basement flooded. Apparently the contractor hired people that didn't know what they were doing and didn't mixed the cement properly or the mortar for the bricks correctly. They didn't seem to know about plumbing either. What was the building inspector thinking that passed this structure or did he or she have some ulterior motive? New homes are not the only problems. Home repairs can be one of the biggest scams going. One should make sure that the company they hire is reputable. They can do this by looking at previous jobs that they did or by hiring a well know company like Sears or Home Depot to do the repairs. These companies usually stand behind all repairs and only contract with the best repair people in the area. Don't get fooled by price, it may cost a little more to get a good company, but in the long run it is well worth it. I had my roof repaired by Home Depot and after coupons and a sale they were having, I only paid $300 more than the average quote I was getting from companies that were giving me estimates.

There are so many stories of shoddy practices by contractors that ii is downright scary. Even when they do a good job it can take months because some contractors only work on your home between other jobs, dragging out the work. I know someone who hired a contractor to redo their kitchen. By the time the job was finished, they had been without a kitchen for almost four months. They were pulling out their hair. This contractor did a good job though and the kitchen did look beautiful, but the inconvenience was tremendous.

Even appliances can be defective. I purchased a gas dryer from a famous store chain and had THEM hook it up. Immediately after they left, I smelled gas. I called them but they said that they couldn't come back because they were busy. I couldn't believe it. I shut the gas off myself and went back to the store with my wife. I went to the department where I purchased the appliance but the salesman said he would have to get the manager. I waited for almost an hour for him to appear. He told me I would have to purchase another dryer and then they would refund the money for the first one. Angrily I told him that I was not stupid and demanded my money back and told him that I would cause him so much trouble if he didn't do it, that he might even lose his job. He reluctantly gave me a refund and picked up the dryer. I think that it is needless to say that I have never made a major purchase in that store again.

I guess nothing is perfect and you can get a defective item or service at any time. Sometimes this can't be avoided but sometime it can, by careful investigation into the product or service provider. Good luck with your purchases.