Quality of Imports from China

Although cheap, my experience has been that many of the products imported from China are worthless. The products are usually so cheap that I usually just throw out defective items rather than making the effort to return them.

Over the last month, I have thrown out 2 pedometers. One had instructions in such poor English that I could hardly read them and the reset button which was supposed to just zero out the number of steps from my last walk reset the entire unit which wiped out the settings (date, time, etc.). I recently tossed out rechargeable batteries that were shorted out, a mop where the metal rusted out in less than a month and a small garden shovel where the metal handle bent the first time that I used it. I also returned two closet doors purchased from Home Depot that were badly warped and smelled so bad that I didn't want to keep them in my condo. I suspect that these molded closet doors were made out of the same toxic waste that the Chinese drywall recently in the news was made from.

I have been wondering why it is that so many products imported from China are so poorly made. I recently came across a recently published book entitled POORLY MADE IN CHINA by Paul Midler that explained why so many Chinese products are poorly made. Mr. Midler speaks Chinese fluently, has lived in China since 2001 and works as a consultant who assists western businesses with establishing subcontracting relationships with Chinese manufacturers. Basically, Mr. Midler attributes the low quality to the following reasons:

1. Chinese manufacturers will frequently bid less than the cost required to make a product to the customer's specification in order to win the contract. The Chinese contractor will then focus their efforts on reducing the cost of production by cheapening the packaging, modifying chemical formulas, substituting lower grade materials and/or subcontract out the work to job shops that do not meet the environmental, sanitation or work conditions contractually required by the customer.
2. Some Chinese manufacturers will bid less than cost for a contract to manufacturer a name brand product. The Chinese manufacturer will then make copies of the product and sell in countries with less rigorous intellectual property rights enforcement.
3. Product testing to ensure compliance with the specifications is spotty. The customers are concerned that product testing will require an expensive recall so are reluctant to look too closely.
   
4. Shoddy Chinese manufacturing methods are widely recognized to be the case in China. However, the press is largely controlled by the government which does not want to jeopardize export earnings, there are no rewards for whistle blowing to someone who reports a deviation from the specifications in the contract and job safety and environmental protection laws in China are not enforced where they exist.

China is not going to jeopardize their export earnings by addressing the practices that lead to poor quality. One option might for an independent American Company along the lines of Consumer Research or Underwriters Laboratory to test and affix a seal of approval to Chinese imports which meat the design specs of their US customers. I would be willing to pay a little more to ensure quality.

It is ironic that China is making so much money making such shoddy merchandise.