After a couple of bad experiences with GE products I'm wondering... what is it that makes it the largest company in the world? What are the areas in which GE excels? I am just mystified by the apparent success of GE as a company when I know, at least some of, its product lines cannot compete with the state of the art products from other companies.
Being a previous user of GE electronics and in the transformer repair industry for the past 20 years, I can tell you that GE products are some of the most cheaply made products on the planet. I now refuse to buy any GE electronic products. If I have a choice between GE and Wal-Mart's Durabrand, I'm going with Durabrand.
The appliances our current house were GE when we moved in. They are approximately 7 years old. The only problem we've had is that the microwave/hood circuit that controls the lighting fried. Can't seem to fix it without sending it to a GE repair center which isn't going to happen. I'll buy a new Whirlpool unit first.
In my transformer repair business, we have repaired more GE transformers than any other brand. Using measurements and calculations, I have found that GE designs their transformers to meet the bare minimum requirements to operate. For example, we choose wire or strip conductor to be sufficient for approximately 700-800 circular mils per amp. I have seen many GE units below 500 circular mils per amp. They are designed to last beyond the warranty period and that is all.
GE is a big name because of their longevity. But their attention to quality is sorely lacking.
Steve Lockridge Manager Alfa Transformer Company
spasmous wrote:
Instead of general observation,it would help if specific example as to which of GE products cannot compete with the state of art products, and how these are not meeting the required specifications? This will also help GE as a feedback, to make improvements where necessary.
On 2 May 2006 21:40:57 -0700, " snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com" Gave us:
I am not quite so diplomatic as you with idiots that spew the crap he offered to the group... Oh well...
G. E has never impressed me. My experience is that their products are rather short-lived, compared to most other brands. I installed quite a few Zenith transfer switches for a period of about three years. They were a decent, reliable product. Nothing stellar, just "meat and potatoes". Toward the end of that three year period, G.E. purchased Zenith. Just like clockwork, the last two switches we bought, which were the only two that were manufactured under G.E.'s authority, were lemons. We had to call on the factory rep for a warranty claim on both.
Thanks for the input. My employer bought several expensive medical devices made by GE. The service engineer is out almost every week to repair something or other. It seems the hospital loses money from so much downtime, GE is losing money from having to replace every part of the machine and the end users get a machine that doesn't ever quite work right.
The other item I bought was a clock radio - it was cheap, but the speaker broke after a few months. The fridge in my house is also GE and it does appear to be working fine. So my record with GE is a 1 in 3 success rate.
I had problems getting support for a couple GE inverter drives. They were building them in Spain and had no English speaking technical support staff. Never used any of their stuff since.
sQuick..
GE is one corporation, but actually many of those companies owned by GE operate independently from each other.
I think they might have some quality issues because the big bosses only deal with numbers. So if you design and manufacture for GE you are required to make things cheaper and better in a short amount of time. - in order to get that bonus.
Cheaper - maybe. Better - no.
I'll bet Roy was raised in a single parent household by his mother, or some other female figure. He has no clue how to act like a man. Something to ponder, Roy: "Rudeness is the weak mans immitation of strength". I'm sure that hits home with everyone that has endured your childishness here, but it's probably lost on you, huh?
Actually, GE has "sold" the "GE" name to French/Korean interests.
The American corporation is definitely out of "consumer electronics." I don't know about "white goods" (stoves and other large appliances). The American corporation has done quite well for itself by selling off product lines (and trademarks) where there is too much competition and concentrating on areas where it has an "edge" and can make lots of money.
As I said, the American corporation doesn't have anything to do with the cheap stuff made in China. They have effectively "leased" the trademark.
>
About 20 years ago, my daughter and son-in-law, bought a house and bought some brand new appliances. A lot of them happened to be GE. As I recall, they had a TV that kept going out and they kept taking it back to the repairman who by then was giving then a "special deal" on repairs.
They also had a washer or dryer go out (I can't remember which) and there was a third item that I can't remember. After their experience, I made it a point not to buy anything from GE.
While my daughter was having all those appliance problems, by the way, I wasn't having any problems at all and never did. My wife always bought Whirlpool appliances and they seemed to last forever. The TV that we had at the time was an Hitachi, as I recall, and we never had any problems with it either.
PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.