Can You Trust Home Appliance Manufacturers?

The main goal of a product manufacturer is to sell more products. Unfortunately, this can come with some negative consequences for you as a consumer. When it comes to buying or insuring a new home appliance, such as electronics or white goods, should you trust the manufacturer?

Probably not. Here’s why you shouldn’t totally trust a home appliance manufacturer and who you should trust instead.

Basically, a home appliance manufacturer wants to do whatever it takes to sell you a brand new product. They aren’t allowed to totally lie to you. However, they might fudge on the truth or tell you things in such a way as to sell you their home appliance products when you might otherwise have gone with another brand.

These days, many people feel that home appliance manufacturers intentionally construct their products to break down after a few years of use. While this may not be true for most manufacturers, it can certainly feel that way when the brand new laptop you paid a thousand dollars for just two years ago refuses to switch on one day, for no apparent reason.

While it not be true that manufacturers do this on purpose, if they are guilty of one thing it is of using ever-cheaper, thinner and lighter parts that cost less to produce and therefore allow more of a profit to be made from the same amount of raw materials. The old adage "the don’t make them like they used to!" is certainly true in this case.

Who should you trust if you can’t trust the home appliance manufacturer? Other consumers, of course. Other people like you who have bought a particular product will be able to tell you what it’s like, how it functions, and how long it’s likely to last. There are, in fact, entire magazines and companies structured around this consumer-to-consumer advice, as well as user-generated reviews of most products to be found all over the web. Just Google "Product brand + model number + review", and you’ll be surprised at how many people have seen fit to have an online rant about your particular item.

You need to check out the reviews that other consumers write about a home appliance before you actually buy it. This can help ensure that you make the best possible decision, in spite of what the manufacturer says about the home appliance.