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An opinion on German manufacturer attitudes.

Lons

Lons

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I read this on a none woodworking related forum where discussing well known, longstanding quality issues with premium mainstream products (air rifles). I encountered similar denials from Mercedes years ago over a known fault that they insisted was a "characteristic" for 18 months before quietly offering an "upgrade" but only to those who complained. It isn't just German companies who are guilty of course.

"I've probably had dealings with the Germans more than most . I was senior service engineer for Festool , apparently the best hand tool makers in the world . I (we) found lots of faults with their products , some of which could have been easily fixed . But, every time we told them of a fault with a particular tool the reply was " there are no faults , it is an English problem " . They were even arrogant enough to suggest British workmen didn,t know how to use the tools properly. One tool had a problem with armatures literarily blowing themselves to pieces . They didn,t believe us and sent an old guy over to check it out . Unbeknown to them we had saved a box full of said armatures . Should have seen the look on his face when we showed them to him. I,ve learnt one thing about the Germans and that is , they will NEVER admit they are wrong , especially to a Brit . And , before anyone thinks I have a downer on the Germans , I have spent 23 holidays in that beautiful country . Great people but not to work for."
 
If you think the Germans are difficult to work with then try the Japanese, they just cannot accept something is below par and don't mention terms like mean time between failures because apparently they engineer out such issues. A problem with German engineering is often complexity and living in the past, the once mighty German world of engineering has taken a stumble and they have had to become more cost effective and work with other companies to be cost effective, who would have though BMW would work in partnership with the French PSA group on engines and that they get there fair share of duff products. As for Festool they are living like VW and think a past good reputation is forever but if you have a product without any competition due to copyright like Festool then product development will stall, why spend money making something better if you have no one else trying to take sales from you. I can understand why they denied any problems if they were getting something so basic like an armature so wrong, there is no excuse apart from poor engineering and manufacturing.
 
Personally I don't have any real complaints with German manufacturers. My Weihrauch air rifle is excellent quality but clearly others aren't so good from the various reports and complaints.
As far as my Merc is concerned that one issue which was a poorly designed suspension arm was denied even though it caused problems with every R/H drive model and the company initially and quietly supplied full sets of wheels and all season tyres as a "fix" which only masked the problem slightly until eventually designing a new unit. I was one of those in the know so got it replaced but only because I pushed hard. The dealers were told to deny the modification existed. :rolleyes:
I still have the car and it's been excellent otherwise.
 
The VW thing went beyond resting on laurels into full scale deceit with the emissions scandal.
Even blue Bosch has the likes of Evolution snapping at its heels if some of the product reviews Ive seen are anything to go by.
Cost cutting is inevitable of course.
I have a Metabo metal cut off saw which has a distinctly oriental aroma...
 
That does not reflect my experience with Germans. At all. The few times I had a complaint about a tool it was taken very seriously and much effort was taken to understand and correct the problem. This goes for both the customer facing and product development side of German organisations. Maybe I was just lucky?

There was one notable exception to the above when I got an anemometer from Trotec that was missing its blade wheel (not sure this is the correct term). I sent them a photo and a copy of the invoice as proof. But nope. No chance in hell I would get a refund or, better yet, the missing wheel. They didn't even want to communicate about the issue. Needless to say I will not buy from them anymore.
 
My German made Hegners are excellent machines (1980's)
They were very helpful (Germany) in resolving some maintenance issues. Hegner UK totally useless.

Out VW Polo was made in India. Nice car.
 
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