Helping Ford to fail a little faster.

[jerkface11]

I once went with a buddy to a Honda bike dealership to get a jet for a carburator. When asked for the jet the parts guy actually said "is that on the inside?". Needless to say we didn't get one from him. Oddly the Harley dealer had one even though no Harley ever had that carb.

[ArcticChicken]

Each individual piece comes bubble wrapped in it's own individual box.

Reminds me of some of the shippers I get at work (shipper, in case the term isn't universal, meaning those cardboard display stands you get in the aisles, and which can be used for a nice, rousing game of grocery store slalom.)

Most shippers come with the product set up neatly inside them, and the best of these also make up their own box, the rest are set into another box before being shipped. This means I have to spend at most five minutes cutting open the tape, setting up the stand, and placing the shipper on top, maybe neatening some product that's gotten shaken about during shipping.

Then there is this one company. They send me a box. Inside that box is a second box, with the display shipper inside of it, padded protectively in paper. Next to that second box are four more boxes, each with some product in them. If I've explained my self coherently you'll realize that means that this company uses six, count 'em six, boxes where other companies need at most one. I can easily spend fifteen minutes to half an hour putting one of these up.

[Victoria J]

Cool. And what are the dimensions?
Sc: uh..........
Me: (shit) I mean, the length, the width, and the height? If you even know roughly how big it is I could give you a ballpark figure, but even one or two inches could make a difference in the price.
SC: Uh..... dimensions.... hmmm. Two?

Me: I need the length, width, and height of the package.
SC: Oh. .... (huffy) Uh, hang on. (insert another long pause and more muffled background noise). Ok its 19 inches by 19 inches.
Me: Ok, and how high is it?
SC: High?

I think you are being very unfair. You asked about dimensions, he said there were 2. He gave 2 dimensions and couldn't supply a height...

It's obvious they've created a 2d bumper. And I think instead of criticising we should all be in awe that they managed to create a physical object with only 2 dimensions.

It probably has safety implications. Or something. Maybe nothing can hit your bumper in one plane ?

Victoria J

[smileyeagle1021]

My Dad was hired as a consultant for Ford a few years ago, (worked 7 years on a 6 month contract) Repeatedly he told me stories about how, when shipping over seas, Ford would ship something the size of a bolt using one of the big shipping containers (About Semi-trailer size) that you see used on Ocean freighters. Nothing else in the container.

sounds a bit like the government... we often have truckers staying at the hotel (the fact that we are less than a mile from 3 different DCs helps), but one was telling me about how often he'll be driving a full size semi truck to carry a letter size envelope taped to the floor, inside the envelope was a piece of paper barely larger than a business card.

and we are surprised over $500 hammers

[persephone]

and we are surprised over $500 hammers

"I don't understand, where does all this come from? How do you get funding for something like this?"

"You don't actually think they spend $20,000.00 on a hammer, $30,000.00 on a toilet seat do you? "

[Chromatix]

I'm a *computer* person, and I know that size matters.

I suspect that the Harley dealer knew about how useless the other local dealers were, which is why he was cashing in on their rejected business. A Harley engine is basically a chopped-down radial, which is an unusual thing these days, so their people tend to be genuinely competent rather than fresh textbook-graduates. Being a premium marque dobtless helps.

I've heard that Porsche have an interesting policy regarding their clientele. Their sales people are specifically instructed not to discriminate against people who, at first glance, aren't dressed as though they can afford a Porsche. It turns out that a lot of people who *can* afford one don't habitually dress the part. As a result, they are among the friendliest and lowest-pressure dealers going. But Porsche have also made some very unusual designs in the past (in particular, they used to favour air-cooled engines in the rear), so their people will tend to be competent like Harley's. Worth remembering if you can't find a competent garage to fix your car, or need a second opinion.

[jerkface11]

Oddly enough the jet was loose in a shoe box with a bunch of other jets. Not only was it the only one for that carb in the box it was also the size we needed.

[Geek King]

and we are surprised over $500 hammers

Someone actually gave me a good (or at least reasonable) explanation for those. Much equipment used by the military is required to have more stringant standards than is usually available to the open market, or special sizes to fit just perfectly into a jigsaw-like kit pack. When they have to order those parts, the manufacturer has to re-tool the production line for an order that might run only a few thousand, or a couple of hundred. However, when listed on the budget, you don't see "Special fit hammer for Emergancy Apache Onboard Repair Kit," but just "Hammer -- $500."

Sure, it probably doesn't explain everything. It does make a little more sense for some of it, though.