Forum Discussion
- The problem is that there is no established standard of quality. It's a "put out the cheapest product for the best profit" industry.
With vehicles, things changed for multiple reasons in the 70s, most importantly, imports and legislation. These turned the auto industry on its axis. They could no lobger produce garbage.
For RVs, there is no real competition and no legislation for safety/quality standards. And auto lemon laws rarely apply to RVs. So, there is no reason for them to change. If you buy an RV today, and it falls apart in 3 years, you just go out and buy a new RV. The manufacturers aren't held accountable.
I think a few class action lawsuits against the RV nanufacturers might help change things. Especially if those lawsuits involve safety issues (like water tanks falling off, etc).
But until the public starts holding the manufacturers accountable, they will continue to sell cr@p. way2roll wrote:
You get what you pay for. This is applicable to employees as well. All relative though, you pay more for employees then you pay more for the end product.
Nope.
That is not how that works.
My now former company paid twice the minimum wage for entry level assemblers for a high tech robotics system..
What we got was druggies, drunks, no shows, random call offs because they were hungover from partying all night.. A few of them managed to skirt around attendance points system for 5 yrs or a bit more.. Once a half a point rolled off they were back at calling off..
There work ethic was the pits, delivered sloppy and incomplete work and had the lowest daily production numbers..
Just because you pay more for labor, does not always turn into "better" labor and products.
So, if a RV manufacturer paid twice as much wage, they WILL have to raise the price of your new RV by twice as much to cover the added labor expense.
RV manufacturers just like any other business must take into consideration the entire cost of the employee.
Doubling the wage, means the employer pays double their part of SS, plus means any 401K matches must increase and any other benefit costs that the company incurs for each employee.
Now, if every business must increase the wage, that means everyone will in the end pay more for all goods and services which in the end results in eating up every penny of that increase.
So, would you be willing to pay $50K for a RV that used to cost $25K with the exact same level of current quality? That is what in fact you and many others are proposing.- From Reuters 4 Years Ago
Like JC observed, many assembly workers are paid a low hourly wage. The "piece rate" or production incentive likely explains the fine craftsmanship, in addition to high employee turnover.
The RV industry is the manufacturing equivalent of migrant farm workers or the hospitality industry down here in Central Florida. ol Bombero-JC wrote:
jdc1 wrote:
Imagine what kind of employees you get for $7.25/hour. Yes, that's Indiana's minimum wage.
Are all RV assembly workers paid an hourly wage?
Thought -at least some- were "piece workers".
:@
I have worked piece work all my life. Most times, with that kind of pay structure, if the quality of the product is below standard, you do it again for no more money. Just trumping here, but I imagine management gets a bonus for higher rate of production. This would cause a rush to put them out the door, quality could suffer.
As for the dealers, for at least a decade they have been selling RVs with quality issues, then making money when manufacture pays for building the unit to acceptable standards. If people where not willing to buy, then be without both money and RV while repairs are made they would of been shipping them back. Nobody will build something that will not sell. And, if people are willing to buy junk, there is no reason to build better.- I commented on RV quality several years ago. We went to the Hershey RV Show, I was surprised at the junk & shoddy workmanship the factory/dealers sent to a major show.
Things were missing, broke, loose and didn't fit properly.
We need someone to show us how to build RV's, like Japan showed us how to build cars in the 70's. jdc1 wrote:
Imagine what kind of employees you get for $7.25/hour. Yes, that's Indiana's minimum wage.
Are all RV assembly workers paid an hourly wage?
Thought -at least some- were "piece workers".
:@- There is no doubt that there are quality problems but I suspect the dealer complaints are “crocodile tears”. If they were really concerned , they could easily put pressure on the manufacturers to improve by using their association strength to press for it. They are making money and as one of the quotes in the article says “You take what you can get, and you move on.”, shows they are not serious on getting changes made. The dealers are well known in many situations to pass off problems as coming from the manufacturer. As long as there is money to be made and the dealers continue to turn a blind eye in telling the buyer of issues; nothing will change.
- “Faced with many of the same kinds of supply chain and labor issues plaguing most industries over the past year, the RV industry has overcome these challenges and produced a record number of RVs month after month,” said Jeff Rutherford, President & CEO of Airxcel and RV Industry Association Chairman.”
In Jeff’s RV World everything is perfect! - You get what you pay for. This is applicable to employees as well. All relative though, you pay more for employees then you pay more for the end product.
- If they are paying minimum wage I don't think they will even get high school drop outs to apply. Menards is starting stockers at $16.50/hr with no experience here in Wisconsin.
