India needs a reality check

[Newc]

Ok, so my employer makes these vehicle parts which are primarily designed to go on the bottom of large, heavy-duty trucks and freight trains, and we ship them to India.

The customer in India has requested that the parts we send to them must not have any visible cosmetic flaws. Period.

Now, these parts are made of steel, and steel will always have some inherent cosmetic flaws such as light scratches from tooling/processing/milling, as well as small pits. Our rigorous testing over the last few decades has proven time and again these cosmetic flaws in no way negatively affect the performance of the product, yet they want only "perfect" parts, which costs us far more money than it should as we have to reject an entire 3 to 4-ton coil of steel if it is found to have these minor issues (or at least set it aside for use on another customer's order, who has never complained about such issues because they understand it doesn't affect performance).

We've also had to completely scrap completed parts the customer rejected merely due to these minor cosmetic flaws.


Now, before anyone says "if I spent $3K on a Les Paul/Jackson/Fender/PRS/etc it better be damn spotless and perfect", let me remind you these things go on the bottom of large OTR vehicles (18 wheelers, etc). We don't get complaints from our European or South American or even Pacific Rim customers, because they also understand it's going on the bottom of a vehicle. It's not the hood ornament, it's not going in the passenger compartment, and it's not a wedding present.

The U.S. Military doesn't deem these as unfit for use in war wagons, either. If they're good enough for the Marines, they're good enough for everyone else. Volvo doesn't complain, nor Scania, nor Mercedes-Benz, nor did Cadillac or Lincoln when we supplied them, nor do our railroad customers.

So what the fuck is up with India?

[Whoopu2]

Could just be that particular customer in India being a dickweed but I wouldn't really know.

What I do know is after all the pure, Grade-A crap I've owned that said "Made in India" on it (not counting guitars), the irony of this situation is off the wall.

[DonP]

Send back you Made in India Jacksons unless the trem spring cavity has no cosmetic flaws

[zeegler]

India is a shithole. There is garbage, sewage, and dead animals in the streets. I don't know why they care about a few scratches.

[Nightbat]

So what the fuck is up with India?

The same as with the USA

Where I work we need to submit testreports (don't ask me which, not my dept.) to export our products (that are used with foods) to various countries
the 'basic' report is accepted by every customer except some hard asses in US, they want a specific report which oddly has less demands for aproval
The basic report covers all issues/points as the one the US requests, but adds even more
(I must add that it isn't a government issue, so it's not the US dept. of commerce trying to sabotage imports to promote domestic products)

We took a hard stand, where we simply shove the basic report in their faces with the addendum of what is left out of their requested report
and simply state "This one covers exactly you want to know and even more"

[Rich#6]

Tell them to go fuck themselves and buy from china and let them see what shitty diecast metal crap they get from other places.

[emperor_black]

I'm from India. So, I know what shit goes on over there. Like others said, this might just be one dickweed customer. Mostly, Indians accept that the products they get in India don't last that long and just live with it. Hell on my trips back home, I think twice about buying anything!

The "best" products are reserved for exports. A common man shopping in the mall or a store will not get access to these "export quality" products. The only reason I can think of these rejections is that this Indian customer is reselling your parts to someone else at a higher price and hence he does not want his name tarnished. If you really want to screw this guy, get in touch with someone over there, and for the right amount they'll tell you who they are reselling to and you can work with that customer directly.

And China, WILL get the part done cheaper and better because they pay their employees next to nothing. So, don't even go there.

[Newc]

China bought a ton of steel from Cargill some years back, and even bought an entire steel factory and moved the whole fucking building to China, so I know they at least have the tools and materials to do it right.

Can't make cardboard worth a fuck, though.

And yeah, current speculation about the India issue is that they're making trouble for us so they can make these parts locally. Trouble is, they can ignore international copyrights and make shit with our logo, then when it fails we get the blame.

I hadn't thought about the reselling angle. Granted we sell to companies who sell to vehicle manufacturers, as well as direct to manufacturers (replacement parts and OEM), but I find it difficult to believe anyone seeing these on a shelf - fully assembled with the mounting hardware that would cover most cosmetic flaws - would reject them. Especially knowing they'll be driving over dirt roads and dead animals

I'd really have to speak face-to-face with the people who are rejecting them.

[lerxstcat]

Sounds like you need to come up with something that distinguishes your parts from copies that can't be seen, so you can expose counterfeit parts. If that is their scheme, not much else you can do about it.

[Newc]

We did, it's called "quality". :p

Maybe it's time for Plan B: a ham sammich inside every one

[Axewielder]

PITA customers like that can be found across the globe.