PERILS OF PRICE CUTTING

Grey River Argus, 15 April 1929, Page 7

PERILS OF PRICE CUTTING

CONSUMER ALWAYS PAYS. SERIOUS FEATURE lOF FURNITURE TRADE WAR. (Reprinted from “Auckland Sun,” 6th April. 1929.) When rival retailers start a pricecutting war, Mr Consumer sits up and rubs his hands. “That’s the s uff,” he says, “-low we shall get something eheap. No more exploitation.” As a matter of fact there is not very much exploitation” of the public in any lanch of business and commerce to-day, even though the consumer refuses to believe it. There is keen eompe ition everywhere and no business has been harder to make a living in dur.ng the past year than the furniture trade. The manufacture of furniture was seriously affected l.y the slump and the reduction in the number of immigrants arriving in New Zealand .because when times are hard people must have food; they can also wear their old elo hes; but furniture is not so vitally necessary.

Furniture makers find ng their busi ness through the shops and auetum rooms falling off. started to sell direct to the public. Price cutting then commenced in earnest, and brought the usual evils in i s train. In older to beat a competitor’s price, some manufacturerresorted to dishonesty, and a shocking example came under the notice of “The Sun” yesterday. A Sun representative was shown a Chesterfield couch which was part of a. three-piece suite bought recently for £25. It soon sagged badly and was sent to a reputable upholsterer for repairs. When he stripped the covers off, this is what he found:— Seven pairs of old trousers. Three old coats. Four waistcoats. One overcoat. The remains of a dress suit. Four other old shirts. One singlet. One cushion. One pillow. Four curtains. 151 b of paper, including Aueklan-1-newspapers, copies of he “War Cry.” English magazine.-, and old songs. 201 b of hay. The clothes were in the filthiest possible condition. The garments looked as though they hail been taker from the city dustbins. No beggar woul 1 have worn them. In add,! ion to liood”'ink'iig 1 the buyers, the maker of this furnituie has also broken the hea’th regulations, which require that furniture must he peeked with tow and flock and that the fli ck must be 3 enlist.l before being u.-(d. The required number of springs v.ere also missing from the cvurl. and the easy chairs. In the Chester field there were only 25 springs when there should have been at least 81, and each chaii had only on» spring i stead of nine. Coarse pieces of word had been used install of s]‘j mgs.

When new and covered wlta shadow tissue the suite looked as good is ar>y genuine article, but after it had Kun in use it began to go out <f snnpe. The furniture was a gross example of fraudulent manufacture. Other instances were report?! of couches in which there was iouni Quantities of banana skins in lhe hay with which they had been packci. In mother a quantity of filthy oi l clothii g. almost alive with vermin. It is impossible for the gjnuin? manufacturer to compete against a l.aud of this kind. When ihi hot of materials are used, and the health regulations co’nnlied with, th” p< nuine furniture-ntakers cannot sell furniture at the low price obtained by the man who is breaking the law. The worst of the story is that the consumer always pays, and price-cut-ting is an unmixed evil. The only remedy open to the public is to deal with reliable firms whose name is a guarantee against fraud., and if they charge a little more, the purchaser has the satisfaction of knowing that he is getting quality goods for his money.