Quality control lacking
Quality control lacking
Quality control has never been one of Indonesia's strengths,
but the saga of my Daihatsu Feroza is a particularly sad example
of Indonesian companies shooting themselves, and their customers,
in the foot by failing to monitor the quality of their products.
The good thing about my Feroza, bought in June 1998, is that
it came with a two-year warrantee. A very good thing, given that
in only 10 months the garage has had to replace the battery
(after only a few weeks, the suspension (after only two months)
the gas tank, and now it looks set to replace my clutch, which
has broken down as well and left me carless for the past few
days. All these replacements must have cost Astra, which is
struggling to restructure its debt, more than Rp 5 million or
more than 10 percent of the purchase price at the time.
In addition, the Astra garage has spent dozens of hours,
largely unpaid, on my car. The car revealed 15 problems on the
first day, all of which pointed at sloppy or absent quality
control. The steering wheel was installed at an angle, the breaks
were not balanced, the left door did not open and the right door
did not close properly. Later on the air-conditioning and the
locks failed as well, unfortunately just after their more limited
warranties ran out.
Companies like Astra cannot afford to hand out free spare
parts like that, and I cannot afford the wasted time and stress.
Although I actually like my Feroza when it works, and the Astra
staff have been very courteous, I'm never buying an Astra car
again. I highly doubt cars of such quality can ever be exported,
making it difficult for Astra to export its way out of the
crisis.
Such stories also raise questions about the commitment of
foreign investors such as Daihatsu to delivering equal quality to
all of its customers. Astra is no exception -- my LG Electronics
air-conditioning has broken down a dozen times and was replaced,
free of charge, just before the warrantee ran out. It now leaks.
The Toshiba fridge and television, the General Electric
telephone, they all proved shoddy. It is about time that
Indonesians, and the occasional expat like me, are given the
chance to buy affordable quality goods.
SANDER THOENES
Jakarta
Quality control has never been one of Indonesia's strengths,
but the saga of my Daihatsu Feroza is a particularly sad example
of Indonesian companies shooting themselves, and their customers,
in the foot by failing to monitor the quality of their products.
The good thing about my Feroza, bought in June 1998, is that
it came with a two-year warrantee. A very good thing, given that
in only 10 months the garage has had to replace the battery
(after only a few weeks, the suspension (after only two months)
the gas tank, and now it looks set to replace my clutch, which
has broken down as well and left me carless for the past few
days. All these replacements must have cost Astra, which is
struggling to restructure its debt, more than Rp 5 million or
more than 10 percent of the purchase price at the time.
In addition, the Astra garage has spent dozens of hours,
largely unpaid, on my car. The car revealed 15 problems on the
first day, all of which pointed at sloppy or absent quality
control. The steering wheel was installed at an angle, the breaks
were not balanced, the left door did not open and the right door
did not close properly. Later on the air-conditioning and the
locks failed as well, unfortunately just after their more limited
warranties ran out.
Companies like Astra cannot afford to hand out free spare
parts like that, and I cannot afford the wasted time and stress.
Although I actually like my Feroza when it works, and the Astra
staff have been very courteous, I'm never buying an Astra car
again. I highly doubt cars of such quality can ever be exported,
making it difficult for Astra to export its way out of the
crisis.
Such stories also raise questions about the commitment of
foreign investors such as Daihatsu to delivering equal quality to
all of its customers. Astra is no exception -- my LG Electronics
air-conditioning has broken down a dozen times and was replaced,
free of charge, just before the warrantee ran out. It now leaks.
The Toshiba fridge and television, the General Electric
telephone, they all proved shoddy. It is about time that
Indonesians, and the occasional expat like me, are given the
chance to buy affordable quality goods.
SANDER THOENES
Jakarta