Last Gasp For Maytag?

[arrrooohhh]

Hi Pete!

Ronson is a el cheapo brand. I find their vacuums in particular yuk.

I dont know what the history or connection of the Ronson brand.

I think companies like Haier want to make a name for themselves these days. But a collaboration with Samsung is what my prediction is.

 

[petek]

Breville then?

I'm seeing a lot of Breville small appliances here now.. I even bought a Breville Panini press, made in the PRC as usual but it's pretty good if not somewhat sturdier than most of the stuff coming out of there.

 

[arrrooohhh]

Aussie small appliances

Ohh thats better.

Breville and Sunbeam are our biggest brand name small appliances. They are good quality and value.

Then there is Kenwood. Russell Hobbs is very popular too but more upmarket. Then you have De Longhi for the style freaks.

Kambrook is a value brand but still decent.

Then you have cheap horrors like Tiffany, cheap to buy but also cheap looking and flimsy feeling and also poorly rated in every Choice magazine report. The fact that so many people buy them in proof that people are stupid.

 

[petek]

Kenwood and Russel Hobbs

can be found in Canada..they were at one time sort of the tonier "UK imports" no one I ever knew had the stuff and it wasn't common... it's more common now that Walmart sells it..I guess that's not saying much for them, the brow ain't so high no more.
Delonghi seems to be everywhere...a huge variety of styles from a name no one really heard of that long ago. They bought Kenwood didn't they.

 

[alr2903]

ending $9.69

about what i waste in a week on Lotto tickets LOL.

 

[kenmore1978]

Chevettes/Cimarrons

"So long as they don't do a GM ploy, taking a Chevette, giving it power windows and leather seats and calling it a Cadillac Cimarron"

I don't know about Canada, but Cadillac Cimarrons here were based on Chevrolet Cavaliers, not Chevettes. Chevettes were REALLY crappy.

 

[petek]

Chevette/Cavalier

Yes it was the Cavalier but you get drift..er fraud and not a very well disguised one at that.

 

[kenmore1978]

drift

Oh, yeah, I got the drift. GM was really bad with the "clone" thing in those years. Sharing bodies is nothing new, has been done for many years but at least in the "Old Days" each division did a much better job of "disguising" the use of the same old body.

 

[petek]

So regarding Hoover

Does anyone think it's possible that they could take something like their Windtunnel, rebuild and redesign it in mostly lightweight metals so it's really sharp looking then put it on the market for somewhere around $300-400 dollars list or less. It seems like everyone prefers metal these days...there are more chrome metal small appliances than ever. There are plenty of all metal exterior and interior small microwaves selling for less than $90 Cdn.(Danby/Sharp). If done right I think they could have some winners. It would certainly sway a lot of people who were looking at plunking down +500 for a plastic Dyson when they see a sharp looking metal Hoover IMHO.

 

[alr2903]

Petek

I was thinking the same thing, that little mexican co Koblentz (sp) ought to pluck them up and sell sell sell.

 

[david]

Re: my two cents

Arrooohhh, I couldn't agree more on your last statement that appliances are something we all need; only food and medicine would take a higher priority. Unfortunately between the shareholders wanting to make more money and a fickle public who don't give much thought to their consumer goods, this is the end result. I see some things starting to improve. I will gladly pay a little extra to have a nicer appliance. My wife and I were looking at a furniture ad today and she remarked that the beautiful furniture displayed was way too expensive. I said to her, "Penny you get what you pay for. If I had it to do over, I would buy good pieces even if it meant less furniture until I was able to buy more." I bought a lot of cheaper stuff years ago and should have been more selective.

 

[mayken4now]

Keep the Stocks posted

Launderess, thanks for all this information! I will email you under seperate cover.

Thanks to lightedcontrols for the letter titled Dear Maytag: If you need postage, I will send it to you. The comment(s) you made a 100% correct. They need to adhear to what your letter states.

Steve

 

[gyrafoam]

While the unions are no help to the situation, I am sure the excessive pay and "golden-parachute" clauses of the senior management do nothing to help either the bottom line or morale within the rank and file.

The last few times I have contacted Maytag, both the executive offices and the so called "customer service" people were pathetically careless, uncooperative, and made no secret of their contempt towards those who do not "conform" to their lack of service. (No doubt they are burned out from an angry public who is displeased with a product line that is promoted and sold as HIGH quality, when the designers and management know otherwise!) Using the (former) quality level of the company as a sales tool is a "sham" on the buying public----and they are quickly becomming wise to it!

My friend at the Expo Design Center (a division of the Home Depot) says the Maytag rep is nearly invisible, when she does come around, is no help whatsoever and really doesn't know her product line AT ALL, and doesn't even have a business card (and never has had any) to give out----constantly looking for pieces of scrap paper (fishing some out of the trash is a common sight) to write her information on for sales people!

Oh yeah, Maytag is in bad shape all right. And there is plenty of blame to go around. The old folks had a saying "the fish rots from the head first". The stockholders should DEMAND major changes beginning at the top. In my opinion the company should draw back to its core business---which it excelled in at one time, and go into MAJOR repair mode for its reputation of "customer dis-service". The repair of morale among the rank and file will have to come first though.

I wish them all well-----it will be a terribly difficult task to turn the thing around. AND the sharks are circling---------

 

[alr2903]

Misery Loves company

I just cruised thourgh sears.com, maytag comes up first instead of the kenmore products. Your sure can't miss that big ole K-MART pharmacy "K", on the Sears site. hmmm Strange times indeed.

 

[mayken4now]

Stock of the Day

Laundress what is the close of today. Wondering if the company will look for financial help like most do these days. They tell their employees that an investor is taking some stock in the market. Yea right, bull....!

Steve

 

[alr2903]

mayken4now

$9.97 you can search for "maytag stock" and get the open and close. alr2903.

 

[cehalstead]

maytag/unions

Sorry if I am stepping on any toes here, but here's my two cents worth...What's wrong with unions? I'm a proud member of a union, and I make a decent wage working for a communications company. I also have fully paid health care, and five weeks vacation per year. That's what I "get" for carrying a union card, not because my employer is kind and generous. If most people have their way, we will all be working part time for minimum wage. I'll gladly pay more for durable goods that are indeed "durable". Right now, I would not even consider another Maytag product. I have watched the decline of their appliances from a personal perspective...a '97 Dependable Care washer that is a piece of crap, and my '80 washer....sold when I bought the new one...and still running. A Maytag JetClean dishwasher that has had to be repaired 6 times in 6 years...the list goes on. Right now, if I had to buy a new appliance, I don't know what I would buy, but it wouldn't be a Maytag. Maytag does indeed need to focus on quality, and customer service, not the dividend paid to the stockholders and unimaginable salaries to the CEO and his/her cronies. Give an American worker a decent job, stress quality instead of "move it on down the line", and you get a good appliance, and a worker who can afford to live in a way that the rapidly diminishing American middle class deserves to live...not in poverty, working two or three minimum wages jobs, exhausted and broke....That's my vent for the day, and if I stepped on anyone's toes, so be it...

 

[petek]

re Unions

Glad you stepped in with your perspective. Having been on both sides of the table within the same organization for many years my own personal conclusions are that if it were my business I would be much farther ahead hiring most of the unionized employees over many of the non-unionized ones. Again in my own personal experiences while there are just plain rotten people on both sides of the table the union workers, many who are long term, down the line family members, have more of a sense of company committment and pride in their work than non-union people. Again, not all, but overall they do. For having stepped over to the mgmt side and thinking I could make something of a difference in the way the system works you may as well be begging for your head to be kicked in. What really perturbs me is the concessions that the union workers have won fairly and with sacrifices are when finally implemented just handed over carte blanche to the non-union employee's, who have no idea where they came from.

 

[mayken4now]

Deny or Accept

Well, well , well.

I know two Maytag dealers personally, just on a friendly note when I stop in. The one place I often frequent caught me off guard! Then the other Maytag dealer, almost the same story.

Ok here it is, I go to the Maytag dealer yesterday, and start haveing conversation during a LuL in the store.

After fussing about the new neptune etc, and some of the other new items coming out, I mention some of the information I have read on Maytag recently.

THEY WERE SHOCKED, THAT DOSENT'T EXISTS. "WE HAVEN'T HEARD THAT"

Ok guys, will folks start to protect their illfated businesses with positive energy that will only create debt, or will they accept the situation?

I always thought of these business folks as nice honest people.

Steve in Pensacola - give me your feedback [email protected] or post here

 

[cehalstead]

deny or accept

When the Neptune TL was introduced, I called a local Maytag dealer (not a box store) and asked the salesperson about it. He had never heard of it, and disputed my knowledge. I referred him to maytag.com and told him to look there. The store must have had Caller ID, because he called me back within the hour and apologized......