Mehenga roye ek baar, sasta roye baar baar - Your Stories

raksrules

Elite
For those who may not understand the title, it roughly means that a person who buys quality product albeit at a higher price cries once (because of high cost) while someone who keeps on buying inferior quality and less priced products to save money cries always since he has to deal with issues or quality problems with the product.

So if you have such a story and do not mind sharing here please do so.
Also may be cases where you bought repeatedly worse quality lower priced product and got disappointed but then bought a better quality one and have been satisfied with it.

PS: Sorry if this thread idea sounds dumb :p
 
I remember replacing my AC fans' capacitors regularly after 2-3 months of usage until I took time and found a Nippon capacitor that costs roughly 2 times the price of desi-capacitors but lasted for 1 year and still going strong.

Other cheap components I used to get were PSU and spike guards, replaced them both with a corsair vx450 and a belkin spike guard respectively and I've been living in peace since the past 3 years.
 
I got 2-3 Of those wall adapters to plug electronics of US / UK plug type and they were like 25 Rs or so but not good quality at all. They work but still plug keeps falling out and their Internal metal plates bending and all.
Then got a bit costly (40 Rs or so) one of anchor company which is very sturdy and it works really well.
 
I, for one, am a firm believer in this idea of buying the top quality products and using them for very long times.
I also try to buy products of companies who specifically excel in those or companies whose basic reason of existence is that product.

My laptop has been running for six years now, the only thing that conked off is the dvd drive which is pretty common with laptops.
I used my last cellphone (Nokia 1100) for seven years before switching to SGS2 which I bought on launch and have been using since without any issues (still got so much dev support).
I got two Swatch watches for mom and dad 6 years ago and both of them are still working flawlessly, never required any maintenance or adjustment till now.
The last PC I got assembled lasted a good 12 years without a single upgrade/maintenance, it is still very much usable but I have upgraded now (will donate it to somebody, I guess).
The last jeans that I bought was like 5 years ago, cost me 7K at that time.
My 2 year old, heavily used Targus backpack also looks like shiny new.

The only product that let me down is my APC inverter which has had two PCB replacements in a year and I strongly suspect that it might have been a refurbished one when sold to me.
 
Hell, if I had a GF, and the same jeans for 5 years, and if she grumbled, I'd just say, fine come to my house, I'll take them off.


Problem solved. :p
 
The first time i witnessed this was with the Video Game that we attached to the TV. The adapter used to last 2-3 months even with moderate usage. Then my brother got a branded adapter and it lasted 2 years! I was in class 1 back then :p
 
Nice title. I always keep saying the same to my mom, and now I have a classier way of putting across the point :D Thanks @raksrules

Buying cheap products is a vicious cycle that never ends; it's a trap to keep buying regularly.
 
Well it depends, I never assume that branded means quality.

I spend money where it is critical e.g a Car ( spent huge money for this). Why? Because safety does not have a price. Plus I prefer more mechanical car rather than a car with gizmos. Yeah, call me stupid.
Never spend less on critical stuff like electrical wires, plugs, MCBs etc etc. Always try to get a costly 45 Rs Cona three pin holder rather than a cheap plastic one for 15 Rs.

On the other hand, there is no point in spending Thousands for replacing keyboard on laptop via Dell/HP/*, when I can do the same myself at a fraction of cost. Just order OEM part via ebay and iFixit in tow.
Why donate thousands of Rs to Samsung to fix GSM module for my S3, when I can do it myself by ordering the Module myself and little DIY session.
Why spend 500-600 for those Diwali lights, when I can get one 15 Mtr one for 100 Rs and it will last me 2-3 Diwalis and couple of functions.

I follow the same principle when buying groceries.
I usually prefer spending money on raw stuff rather than package branded junk.
Prefer spending money on exotic sea food and cook it myself ( Well I am good cook, especially non-vegetarian ) rather than spending in costly restaurants.
I prefer eating out only once every 2 months or so. Rest of the time, I cook at home. By exotic I mean real deal like crabs, squid, exotic fishes etc etc.
Sure it costs lot of money, but trust me after eating in star rated restaurants I can assure you, you save atleast 10 times the money you would spend in a star rated restaurant.

Mistakes which I did - I trusted a Desi brand and purchased IFB microwave, worst decision ever. Conked off couple of times. Now it is 4 year old and technician took some parts away from it and is delaying to fix it. On top of it, it was not cheap. Scumbags have no clue about quality. It is the most complex piece of machinery in my house, which also is most shiny and good looking *but* is one of the most unreliable possessions I ever had.
Thinking of buying a second hand Microwave (LG or Samsung) for half the price replacement parts would cost.
Another mistake :- Branded is good turned sour with Whirlpool. Spin tub conked off in 2 years, replacement started showing signs of wear in 3 months flat. Finally purchased a fully automatic front loading LG washing machine.
Never been more happier, works like a charm with lesser manual work and less back breaking.

In my experience reliability is subjective but I think Japanese > Koreans >>>> Europeans > Americans > Indians when it comes to household appliances. In fact, Americans and Indians are equal poop.
Exception to these rules are V-Guard and Havells. Haven't used any Havell's appliances in the long term though.

I did a mistake of buying my first mattress from a branded showroom and I was ripped off. Couple of months later when I went to smaller shop for some other work, asked the price of the same mattress and realized that I paid 4K extra for that stupid branded showroom lights :(. Lesson learnt for rest of my life.

OT: I work in software industry and I can tell you this "chalta hai" attitude in ruining the Indian software industries. Managers and higher ups always push for fixing symptoms and never encourage elimination of root cause resulting in a blow up down the line. No wonder such people also work at IFB and Tata Motors.

One piece of advice to future Husbands and Family starters - Never ever show up in a showroom and buy like a dummy. Research online and take along your quotes. You can save money even on MRP in big brand outlets. Oh yes, I have done it :D. I managed to get @home to reduce a massing 7K on my Solid Dining table. Managed to save 4K over discount on my LG washing machine. Use that smartphone and 3G connection to good use.
Consumer awareness and knack to understand your requirements is very important.
You do not have to be pushy or outright cheap to negotiate, all you need is data and hard facts. That is all.
 
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Yes, you are absolutely right that branded doesn't mean quality.
That's why I said in my post that I prefer companies that excel in their own field.

Researching around is the most important thing to do before making a big purchase.
I research my proposed purchases well in advance and when I go to buy I just ask for it and pay.
That way you don't have to depend on the usually scheming sales people.
 
Bought Macbook Pro around 4 years ago and its battery is still going strong after all that time, I can manage 3-4 hours of backup time easily. Compared to my friends who bought Dell/HP 1 year later than me, their battery doesn't last even 10 minutes. Although it hasn't been trouble free totally and been in repair two times once for trackpad developing issues and other time for SD card reader not reading cards. Fortunately I had bought Apple Care extended warranty so got them fixed for free :D, still great experience with Apple.

Although I'll don't follow the rule that if a product is costly it will necessarily be of good quality. It is especially true for branded clothes I feel. Best is to do your research and get the product which gives most VFM.
 
Purchased a Karbonn A15 last year. It was an impulse buy while HS18 was offering at 4k. Now the phone is dead and the service centre guys are refusing to repair the mobile stating since you bought the mobile online, it has to get approved by company for servicing. And every time i go there they say approval has not come. Even emailing, posting on FB doesn't seem to work one bit. Lesson learned!
 
Purchased a Karbonn A15 last year. It was an impulse buy while HS18 was offering at 4k. Now the phone is dead and the service centre guys are refusing to repair the mobile stating since you bought the mobile online, it has to get approved by company for servicing. And every time i go there they say approval has not come. Even emailing, posting on FB doesn't seem to work one bit. Lesson learned!
Oh well, another Indian Company showing its true color.
All have this short term goal of getting money and then leave you stranded in middle.
I had a unpleasant experience of purchasing a Spice smartphone from their online site. It came without a battery, like I am supposed to run it on Duracell.
Took a lot of noise on their Facebook page and emails to get a bloody battery in 3 weeks.

Never ever going to buy Spice phones. Adding Karbonn ki tatti in the list.
 
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