"Mark Anderson" wrote:
Zootal wrote:

Moral of the story. Never buy
cheap plastic made in China (or made anywhere else for that matter)
crap. Fork out the bucks for something good so it doesn't bite you
later.

While that may true for complicated equipment with motors like tillers,
lawnmowers, and snow blowers that's not the case for simple things like
hoses. Pity the fool who buys the cheap snow blower and spends space
storing it all summer only to have it crap out during the first blizzard.
A hose is kind of hard to screw up manufacturing wise and if it does break
they're trivial to fix with splices. I only buy the cheapest hoses sold
and my hoses go through the most brutal environmental conditions on my
rooftop garden. They stay up there year round and suffer intense heat
sitting on a flat rubber roof in the summer to intense sub zero cold
during the winter. Only twice in seven years did a bubble appear in the
middle one of my main transfer hose that needed to be cut out but that
only costs a few dollars each time. Sometimes leaks pop at ends of
tributary watering garden hoses due to stress from changing out watering
wands but then again, that's trivial and cheap to fix as well. Why spend
$50 on a hose when there's one for $20? The thing I do buy quality are
hose splices, new ends, and splitters, I only get the copper stuff. The
plastic splitters and splices never lasted more than a week in my garden.

I can't believe some of you people get warranties for something as simple
as a hose and are organized enough to keep track of your hose warranty.
I'd rather fix the damn hose myself than even drive to some big box store,
stand in line, and explain to some bored clerk that my hose is broke and I
want a new one. Actually, I'd be kind of embarrassed doing something like
that. Some people, however, have no shame LOL.


That they have no shame is right... 99.9 percent of garden hose failure is
due to user abuse, which is very easy to ascertain, at least you are honest
enough to admit that you abuse your garden hoses. When the big box stores
replace garden hoses (and other merchandise) under warranty no questions
asked it's really for customer good will. The big stores have an agreement
with the manufacturers to share the loss., and they know that the products
are abused but they sell enough volume that the loss is spread amongst all
who buy those products by selling at higher prices. The honest consumers
get hosed in all orifices, wealth has been spread around for many years,
losses have also been spread around for just as long, if not longer... such
policies are nothing new but of late the greed factor has crossed the line
and so there'll be hell to pay when it all backfires. Only individuals can
decide what level of charity/good will is comfortable and a good cause, but
when people are forced to give charity to the undeserving they simply stop
giving anything. It's by no accident that Democrat and Depression begin
with the same letter, same as Republican and Revolution.