I ordered a quite deluxe Cross Ballpoint Pen and mechanical pencil set from Amazon, priced in the $85 range. Per Amazon the MSRP was $120 and per Cross it has now risen to $168 for a direct order. So an expensive writing set intended as a gift.
On arrival I noted that the box was nothing special for such a set and I opened it up to check the contents. The pencil was incomplete. It was missing the internal lead holding and advancement mechanism as well as the eraser. With the rear cap off, hold it up to the light and see a big hole completely through the pencil. DUMB! At this price range a pen and pencil set should be 100% inspected and tested in my opinion. In the process of returning for a refund and I will never buy another Cross writing instrument as long as they are made in China.
I have written an email to Cross raising hell with them, asking that it be forwarded to the CEO, and I have also given the set a 1 star review on Amazon. I note per Amazon reviews of current Cross products that the quality of their Chinese made products is destroying what used to be a great reputation.
Lets hear about the dumb and/or dangerous problems you have had with Chinese made versions of what used to be high quality products.
Was it purchased direct from Cross?
It more than likely was from an Amazon retailer who may foot the blame.
Could be a returm item being resold without proper inspection.
Mistakes can happen regardless of country of origin. Don’t get me started about the things we found wrong in my parent’s brand new 1988 Lincoln with up side down switches and various other QC issues. This was a new from the dealer $40-$50k car that a factory worker couldn’t be bothered to check if a switch was insalled correctly and nobody else through the delivery chain did either. They could’ve gotten a lemon, just like you, but it didn’t automatically sour us on all domestic products. Although, we’ve never bought another Lincoln in the family since then, so I can understand you being cross about Cross in this instance.
Cross prides themselves on being America’s oldest manufacturer of writing instruments.
Cross are an American company with American management and American shareholders. They greedily chose to move American manufacturing jobs to China to make more money. They remain responsible for quality control. Amazon is the American company who took responsibility for selling and delivery. Hopefully they do not deal in counterfeits. Check your warranty.
Rather than knocking Chinese workers, you should be knocking the American Cross company executives & shareholders who moved American manufacturing jobs offshore while failing to maintain product quality. It is the responsibility of the American company to ensure that adequate inspection and testing procedures are in place. Most premium Cross products are supposed to be under lifetime warranty, which you should have looked into.
Americans need to take responsibility for the American management and shareholder class that chose profits over the American working class who used to have those manufacturing and inspection jobs.
Blame the American money men not the Chinese workers. The American congress rewards unpatriotic American companies rather than taxing them appropriately for the harm they have done to good American jobs. The blame lies with unpatriotic American owners and bosses not with foreign workers.
Oh yes, because increased socialism will make America _and _Canada great, right?? Since American corporations pay the highest taxes in the world, what you you consider appropriate?
Actually Japan taxes even more heavily than USA. We’re in 2nd place.
Has trickle down economics improved the economy, the poor work more and more hours to make ends meet (or suffer more poverty instead), increase productivity more then double 40 years or so ago and make less today then they made then, while the rich are worth more then triple, all the gains went to the top, work harder and earn less, is that the american way?
On the plus side Walmart, McDonalds and others teach employees how to get government benefits while employed so they can pay even less and demand more productivity.
Even though they sell for $168, that’s mostly marketing… their manufacturing cost in China is likely less than a dollar.
They make hundreds of thousands of them, so one can’t expect much attention to detail and a certain percentage of defective units will fall through the cracks.
Has nothing to do with America. Look at the poor versus the rich in any country at any time from the dawn of man. The few control and live very well off the many. It is what it is. We should blame ourselves instead of blaming others. We let others control us, because we do not want to do it ourselves.
But, that has nothing to do with the complaint in the OP. And, his complaint is just venting, as nothing will be done about it. He gets a full refund and moves on. That is one of the perks of this country. Amazon, Wal-mart and most of the rest of them offer full return, no questions asked and return shipping provided to boot.
Our parents, (grandparents for younger folks), used to talk about how terrible anything from Japan was made. Now it's the standard on what we judge Chinese made. Funny stuff really.
Better off to buy a hand made pen/pencil set from an artisan. Better chance of getting something that works and looks better too.
You should try the UK if you want high taxes
A gallon of fuel at $11 plus (around 75% of that is tax)
It’s not just Chinese companies that mess up though, I bought an expensive item from Germany, the item in question was shipped back and fourth 6 times before I finally got a undamaged item, although to be fair on two of the occasions it was the shipping company ( UPS) that damaged it
Terrible state of affairs
I was not talking to the OP, i quoted the post i was replying to, and i agree, people vote for idiots who screw them, and the ironic thing is the current iteration does not try to hide it, they essentially gloat about their methods for screwing the public and they get voted for anyways.
People need to smarten up, but notice how intelligence is scorned.
Its ironic that in the past taxes were high on higher income because the founding fathers did not want america to end up like old england, today taxes are evil and the poor are expected to pay more and subsidize the rich, and the public supports this. Brainwashing is complete.
Unpatriotic American corporations chose to pay lower corporate taxes to other countries rather than have their taxes support the American government. This way they make greater profits. Sometimes the profits are brought home tax-free and sometimes they remain offshore providing additional support to the economies of other countries.
These American corporations are unpatriotic because:
They give jobs to foreign workers overseas.
They pay the cheaper corporate taxes to a foreign country.
They spend their profits overseas to support foreign economies.
They get the American government to borrow from these foreign countries rather than to raise taxes.
They encourage the average American citizen to blame the foreigner.
They take no responsibility for the mess they’ve created.
Remember that America owes more foreign debt than any other country by a wide margin, mostly to China. Blame the foreigner.
Cross Pens were once a proud American company that has become unpatriotic. Wake up America.
Cross isn’t the only company to do this. It’s a long list, and I can think of a bunch just off the top of my head: Buck, Schrade, Gerber, Craftsman, Husky, Kobalt, DeWalt, Oakley and so on. I don’t really care about politics so I’ll just put it simply:
These are mostly companies who sold their impeccable, long-held reputations for short term gain, throwing their customers under the bus in the process. These companies would say that they answer to the stockholders, not the customers, but how well can they be serving the stockholders when they are actively trashing positive perceptions of the company?
Some of these companies capitalize on the confusion over where their products are produced by having a few made-in-USA product lines. Craftsman! Proudly made in the USA, or is it? You’ll have to look at every single product individually to tell that, and they’ll just go on letting a few of the old timers believe that all of their products are still made in the USA. Now instead of proudly proclaiming where their products are made, some of these companies just strongly hint they make their products in the USA to muddy the waters and boost short term profits.
So I think you’ll see that all of these companies have one thing in common: short term thinking. Profit now, and f**k the future! The executives will pull the ripcords on their golden parachutes before the company goes under, so don’t worry about them. They’ll be fine when the company folds. And when nobody has any faith left in your company, just sell the whole thing to the Chinese and let them spam the world with your tarnished reputation, which may not have caught on to the rest of the world quite yet. Still plenty of mileage and coin left on your great-great grandfathers good name!
No one is forcing people to work for said corporation, but if your choices are work for below poverty wages or no job at all, how much choice is there?
It is very hard nowadays to find items made in USA. IT really sucks too because at one time so many good brands were and they built that reputation of quality and higher price for quality. Now they still have the high price with quality being so-so and made elsewhere. My one favorite example is Carhart which I like but getting more costly. They do make a few items stateside but the most are mexico or overseas with cheap labor and less cost for textiles. Levi’s, Wrangler etc also in this group. I have not worn Levi’s in about 30 years and buy as little as possible of Carhart and instead by from brands that can offer me a relatively same product for less of my money. You are still buying the name with the big boys not so much the product quality.
As far as the OP goes i use to use Parker pens but suppose they are made in china now too.
Value to me is the relationship between cost and quality. I don’t really care where a product is made or the politics surrounding it, but it’s extremely underhanded for a company to quietly lower the quality of a product while still charging a premium for the quality that is no longer there. It’s also insulting to me as a customer to show what is clearly open disdain for my business. Like I’ll just keep buying their products and enjoy it, like the sheep I am. I’ve spent decades in the corporate world and believe me, that attitude has been prevalent for quite some time.
At least there’s a few companies that ‘get it’ like Spyderco. They are very clear about where everything is made, and every one of their products is a good value, no matter where it’s made. And there’s plenty of companies world-wide that are seeing this as an opportunity to give us the value that some of the once-reputable USA companies are trying to screw us out of. Companies like Mora and Wiha.
Right now I think there are incredible opportunities for companies in the USA to fill what is clearly a gap. When people ask me what products should be brought back to the USA, I tell them “Not electronics. Basically anything the Chinese aren’t good at making” which is the reality of the market.
