On Thu, 12 Jul 2007 05:22:13 +0100, " Peter"
wrote in :

snip
For me, an important issue is whether a company listen to the
customers. If they are unwilling to listen, before they have your
money, what chances will you have once they have your money?


Excellent point. I bought a Sierra Zip Ztove (zip stove) a while back.
Unpacked it, read the instructions, tried to put it together, but the
top and bottom pieces didn't fit together. So I contacted the company
(ZZ Manufacturing) who told me that the two parts were manufactured in
different years. Then they blew me off.

I guess the method is to keep it cheap. Years ago almost any TV
mail-order gizmo was sold at the "special price of $19.95", always
under $20. Several years later a marketing executive disclosed that
they did research to figure out the highest price they can charge for
a junk product before the buyer returns it for a refund (on a sales
versus refunds curve, I would assume). At that time the magic number
was about $20. No doubt it's higher now, and I'm sure the price of
Brian's processor falls below the current threshold.