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The point isn't to make it easy to register warranty for a product. The point isn't to make it easy to talk with customer service. The point isn't to make it ea

The point isn't to make it easy to register warranty for a product. The point isn't to make it easy to talk with customer service. The point isn't to make it easy to communicate with the company. The point isn't to make it easy to obtain service or replacement parts. The point is to "technically", and therefore legally, offer those things and minimize the cost of offering those things. All of these things are working precisely as intended. The company is not optimizing for customer experience or product quality, they're optimizing for profit.

Printerisreal 1y ago
YES and I feel like "Planned obsolescence" needs to be taught to every engineer and web developer and tech people. They will understand why or how some corp. decisions are made and what is the aim.
- nativeit 1y ago
  I agree with you, but is awareness among that cohort really the problem? “Planned obsolescence” is engineered by tech people, after all. It certainly wasn’t divine intervention that came up with internal Li-Ion batteries (IMHO the most brazen example, where manufacturers effectively stick a 3-year timer inside your gadgets).
  - HPsquared 1y ago
    It wouldn't matter so much if they were standardized. With all the billions of devices sold, there could easily be a standard set of a hundred sizes. Someone petition the EU...
nativeit 1y ago
100% Customer support representatives, with very few exceptions, are just going to tell you whatever they think will get you off the phone. In I.T., this is generally accomplished by blaming whatever adjacent equipment/services they can plausibly pin the issue on.
- mooreds 1y ago
  Huge competitive opportunity here. All you have to do is hire customer support who is empowered, knowledgeable and actually cares. Source: support is a competitive differentiator for $CURJOB.
  - mschuster91 1y ago
    that can work out in large scale b2b or expensive consumer goods... but in mass market goods? forget it. people vote with their wallet and only their wallet, as evidenced by the shiploads of (sometimes life-threateningly defective) crap Temu and Alibaba have flooded most Western countries with.
    - datadrivenangel 1y ago
      Zappos got a huge exit by having exceptional customer service. Enough people notice.
      - mooreds 1y ago
        Yeah. You can win both ways, by racing to the top with service or racing to the bottom with price. I know which strategy I'd rather be part of.
  - MathMonkeyMan 1y ago
    > All you have to do is hire customer support who is empowered, knowledgeable and actually cares Those people you have to pay, because they can do well in other positions. But paying them contradicts the goal of minimizing cost. I'm not saying there isn't an opportunity to invest in top notch customer service as a product differentiator, but it's probably a safer bet to have barely-existing support and lower the sticker price.
    - mooreds 1y ago
      > it's probably a safer bet to have barely-existing support and lower the sticker price. Depends on the product and the size of the company selling. Sure, in certain circumstances it makes sense to skimp on customer support. In others, it absolutely does not.
username135 1y ago
Its amazing to me that people still dont get this. A business is in the business of making money. Full stop. I dont care what the service or the product is. The goal in a capitalist society is to make profits. Some are more socially conscious than others, but the goal is the same. All decisions derive from this goal.

Printerisreal 1y ago

YES and I feel like "Planned obsolescence" needs to be taught to every engineer and web developer and tech people. They will understand why or how some corp. decisions are made and what is the aim.

nativeit 1y ago
I agree with you, but is awareness among that cohort really the problem? “Planned obsolescence” is engineered by tech people, after all. It certainly wasn’t divine intervention that came up with internal Li-Ion batteries (IMHO the most brazen example, where manufacturers effectively stick a 3-year timer inside your gadgets).
- HPsquared 1y ago
  It wouldn't matter so much if they were standardized. With all the billions of devices sold, there could easily be a standard set of a hundred sizes. Someone petition the EU...

nativeit 1y ago

100% Customer support representatives, with very few exceptions, are just going to tell you whatever they think will get you off the phone. In I.T., this is generally accomplished by blaming whatever adjacent equipment/services they can plausibly pin the issue on.

mooreds 1y ago
Huge competitive opportunity here. All you have to do is hire customer support who is empowered, knowledgeable and actually cares. Source: support is a competitive differentiator for $CURJOB.
- mschuster91 1y ago
  that can work out in large scale b2b or expensive consumer goods... but in mass market goods? forget it. people vote with their wallet and only their wallet, as evidenced by the shiploads of (sometimes life-threateningly defective) crap Temu and Alibaba have flooded most Western countries with.
  - datadrivenangel 1y ago
    Zappos got a huge exit by having exceptional customer service. Enough people notice.
    - mooreds 1y ago
      Yeah. You can win both ways, by racing to the top with service or racing to the bottom with price. I know which strategy I'd rather be part of.
- MathMonkeyMan 1y ago
  > All you have to do is hire customer support who is empowered, knowledgeable and actually cares Those people you have to pay, because they can do well in other positions. But paying them contradicts the goal of minimizing cost. I'm not saying there isn't an opportunity to invest in top notch customer service as a product differentiator, but it's probably a safer bet to have barely-existing support and lower the sticker price.
  - mooreds 1y ago
    > it's probably a safer bet to have barely-existing support and lower the sticker price. Depends on the product and the size of the company selling. Sure, in certain circumstances it makes sense to skimp on customer support. In others, it absolutely does not.

username135 1y ago

Its amazing to me that people still dont get this. A business is in the business of making money. Full stop. I dont care what the service or the product is. The goal in a capitalist society is to make profits. Some are more socially conscious than others, but the goal is the same. All decisions derive from this goal.