I’ll be honest with you, the idea that something is “Made in America” doesn’t impress me anymore like it did before the Chevy -General Motors bailouts from the US Government/american people.
What Does impress me still about a product or a service, etc… is the Customer Service and Warranty ! If I know that a product I buy will be repaired quickly, in a location near me, and gotten back to me quickly, that is impressive! I spent a day last week sitting by this coputer I’m using now, watching as a person in India move my curser around and try to get my computer running correctly again. Granted, it’s impressive that someone in India CAN get in my computer virtually and fix things, it’s still frustrating when I have problems Again, with a 9 month old computer. I have spent several times the cost of this computer, if I added up the hours of work I have missed while sitting on the phone to India with computer repair problems, and the ammount of “warranties and virus protection” they have talked me into buying.
Again and again I have seen that a Low price does NOT equal a High Value. It sounds like if I had spent more money on processors and virus protection when I bought the computer, I might have lost less work time by not having as many repair issues.
With the sub-contractors I work with, I have found the same thing. On top of doing a good job, the ones who answer their phones and make my life easier are the ones I call. The idea of a person or business standing behind what they do or sell is SO important. I have seen many times, and especially after the Ham Lake Fire, that a lot of carpenters from out of the area were bought in to help re-build. I’m sure some of these buildings are fine, but I have seen a few of these “New” cabins with Major problems. And now where are the contractors who built them ? In Minneapolis? Iowa? Illinois? Are they driving up after work to fix a problem with the cabin they built?
I live and work in Cook County. But MORE than that, I stand behind the warranty on the projects I build in Cook County. I have found that price and value are closely related. Sure, there’s always someone who will work for cash, work without a license, or Insurance, or whatever it is they are doing to be able to work very cheaply. But the lowest price, in the long run, often does not offer the highest value.