The good/fast/cheap rule

chuck norriss · #1 02-06-2013, 04:57 PM

You can't have all three. Just two. Good & fast--won't be cheap. Cheap & fast--won't be good. Good & cheap--won't be fast. I found that out for myself recently, as buyer and seller. I think it's true, especially good cheap won't be fast.
But what's become of the customer-service-culture in the USA? I think some people just don't give a damn; it's especially evident at some restaurants & fast food places. Maybe it's not as important as it used to be. I'm speaking from an American perspective. I know some of you aren't in the US but most here are. At work we also have a lot of groups that may have been outsourced labor forces at one point, who now find themselves in the building & not overseas. I have a feeling they don't give a rat's ass about customer service or manners in general. Not racism just evident. I'm ranting. I'll stop.

MatticusMania · #2 02-06-2013, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuck norriss

But what's become of the customer-service-culture in the USA?

Fast & cheap.

Indiana Mike · #3 02-06-2013, 05:07 PM

Fast and cheap is what people want ...

I have all but quit eating out as I am disgusted spending $$$ on crap food served by those who don't give a sheet....

I deal with it everyday ,,,,customers wanting it NOW for next to nothing ,,,only to complain if it has issues in the near future . I have refused some work because the grief it brings isn't worth it .

Bloodhammer · #4 02-06-2013, 05:14 PM

There's also the problem with companies only hiring temps who know they'll be let go the moment they pick up any experience. No one wants to pay people who can do a job well what they're worth, they want warm (as in not clinically dead), replaceable bodies to occupy the space allotted and do minimal-to-no thinking for minimum wage or less.

Garbage in, garbage out.

chuck norriss · #5 02-06-2013, 05:20 PM

Squier stuff seems like it's in demand but as someone who's trying to sell 2nd hand squier stuff, people aren't paying a lot for it. the supply outweighs the demand. Chain stores & Hello Music don't help the independent seller. Ebay is expensive to sell through plus shipping costs--out of luck. Squier--cheap fast & pretty good.

You may or may not know this but the Korean bbq/restaurant culture is get in pig out get out. And it ain't cheap.

I'm sleepy.

chuck norriss · #6 02-06-2013, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bloodhammer

There's also the problem with companies only hiring temps who know they'll be let go the moment they pick up any experience. No one wants to pay people who can do a job well what they're worth, they want warm (as in not clinically dead), replaceable bodies to occupy the space allotted and do minimal-to-no thinking for minimum wage or less.

Garbage in, garbage out.

This is a big problem. & temps don't give a damn. I think it really hurts our culture.

MatticusMania · #7 02-06-2013, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuck norriss

This is a big problem. & temps don't give a damn. I think it really hurts our culture.

There is a lot worse hurting our culture than temps who don't care about their temporary positions.
Like, the reasons such positions are temporary.

chuck norriss · #8 02-06-2013, 05:54 PM

Agreed, and I'm not in favor of businesses exploiting labor or outsourcing. It's not new--replacing people with others willing to do the same job but to a lesser degree, and not providing benefits. I'm going to go the other way and slow down.

duff beer · #9 02-06-2013, 06:59 PM

You can't get good, fast, and cheap in a restaurant. But you can get good, fast, and cheap cooking at home.

Learn to cook and you'll never go to a fast food restaurant again.

Bloodhammer · #10 02-06-2013, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duff beer

You can't get good, fast, and cheap in a restaurant. But you can get good, fast, and cheap cooking at home.

Learn to cook and you'll never go to a fast food restaurant again.

If I make good food at home for little money, it's usually not fast as I am making whatever it is from scratch. Produce is cheap (compared to pre-fab food), but you have to chop it.

agent77 · #11 02-06-2013, 11:04 PM

Don't you guys have Little Caesars over there on the west coast?

MarkMgibson · #12 02-07-2013, 03:28 AM

I'm not sure I understand this post (since I'm Australian), but whenever I've visited the States, I always thought the service to be far superior to here. I always thought this is because of tipping waitresses, which isn't done here except in expensive restaurants. Over here it's sort of like a self-serve: you have to go up, order and pay for you meal, and collect it when it's ready. I much prefer the American system: You walk in to a diner, cafe, etc, sit down, a waitress takes your order and she brings you food. That's worth a few extra bucks in my opinion.

Phalex · #13 02-07-2013, 06:28 AM

Fast and cheap is the rule.

My company took a pretty good line of equipment and engineered every last bit of quality out of it that they possibly could.

When I mentioned something about this trend to the head of engineering who was gutting all of the quality components for cheap flimsy crap, he said to me: "People don't buy quality, they buy based on cost."

That really ticked me off at the time, but in the ensuing years I see he was right to a point. If the components are cheap enough, you can make enough off of the initial sale to cove replacing a few cheap components over the warranty period and still come out further ahead.

I think the industrial machinery industry has been castrated by the proliferation of purchasing agents that just look at price as opposed to the old guard plant engineers who looked at construction.

I keep all the cheap crap running, so I have job security.........

**Pacman** · #14 02-07-2013, 07:16 AM

When I lived and worked in Japan, I was explaining this rule in the office one day (it's commonly called the triple constraint). After I summed it up, our interpreter thought for a moment and said "In Japan we have all three." He was right, too.

zachoff · #15 02-07-2013, 07:58 AM

The good/fast/cheap tradeoff is especially prudent to the software world. Far too many companies want fast & cheap... Hence the propensity to outsource. It might get done, but probably won't get done well.

MatticusMania · #16 02-07-2013, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duff beer

You can't get good, fast, and cheap in a restaurant. But you can get good, fast, and cheap cooking at home.

Learn to cook and you'll never go to a fast food restaurant again.

I agree, though the "fast" part depends on what the meal is. I generally spend 20 to 30 minutes making my own food, which isnt really a long time, but its not fast as compared to getting my order from Del Taco in under 5 minutes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by agent77

Don't you guys have Little Caesars over there on the west coast?

Some people might question the "good" aspect of that statement.
Personally, I dont mind a large cheese pizza for $5, but some may not consider that pizza.

zachoff · #17 02-07-2013, 09:08 AM

I worked at Little Caesars in high school. It's definitely not good.

**baba** · #18 02-07-2013, 09:26 AM

Sounds like my musician rule:

Responsible
Talented
Cool

Very difficult to find a band member with all three qualities.

1958Bassman · #19 02-07-2013, 09:44 AM

Forgot about 'more'. Americans want it fast, cheap and a lot of it. More, more, more! VHS won the battle because people wanted to record 8 hours of video but they didn't care that the video quality was far worse than Beta. The porn industry had a lot to do with the format winning, too- same as they determined that BluRay would be their format for HD video discs. Looks like plasma may suffer the same fate as Beta- people are being told that a 1080p/120Hz display is the best, when plasma has ALWAYS been 600Hz, which is 5 times faster than 120Hz and motion looks far better. The energy issue is BS, too. We may use less energy per device but the cost per KW/h keeps climbing because the utilities need to cover their costs and we end up paying for it.

More DOES NOT equal better. The US decided that cost would be the determining factor so long ago that most people don't remember being able to buy an American-made low cost, high quality product used for daily life.

chuck norriss · #20 02-07-2013, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1958Bassman

Forgot about 'more'. Americans want it fast, cheap and a lot of it. More, more, more! VHS won the battle because people wanted to record 8 hours of video but they didn't care that the video quality was far worse than Beta. The porn industry had a lot to do with the format winning, too- same as they determined that BluRay would be their format for HD video discs. Looks like plasma may suffer the same fate as Beta- people are being told that a 1080p/120Hz display is the best, when plasma has ALWAYS been 600Hz, which is 5 times faster than 120Hz and motion looks far better. The energy issue is BS, too. We may use less energy per device but the cost per KW/h keeps climbing because the utilities need to cover their costs and we end up paying for it.

More DOES NOT equal better. The US decided that cost would be the determining factor so long ago that most people don't remember being able to buy an American-made low cost, high quality product used for daily life.

Right--good fast cheap more, especially when it comes to food.