Why Asian countries will never overtake the US...

[aquaknight]

I am into radio control stuff as another hobby of mine, this topic deals with electric airplanes. I'm not sure who all knows, but the 14th (of Feb) was the Lunar New Year, the new year celebrated by China, and specifically Hong Kong. This one particular online retailer is based in Hong Kong, and is far and away the cheapest place anywhere to get stuff for my planes. They are huge. Probably over 5,000 online orders a day.
Anyway for the "Lunar New Year" they were closed for a week, and didn't really mention it on their website. A tiny hidden line. Well, I placed an order the about the 17th, the day they returned back to work. I have no idea how many thousands of orders they were/are behind, but mine just got shipped out today.
I tried to compare this to an American retail situation. The day after Thanksgiving? All the stores open. The day after Christmas? I can go buy a new car if I wanted. If China wants to compete on a global scale, this "tradition" is a pretty sizable roadblock IMHO. They didn't loose me as a customer, but their online forum is a nightmare.
And oh yea, for a laugh, one of the moderators on that forum posted this "if you want to complain about our Customer Service"

http://biertijd.com/mediaplayer/?itemid=6500
Granted, that's Japan, not China, but I didn't think even the most congested L.A./NY rail/sub would ever have this happen. It's be on the national news in a few hours...

 

[jackri]

So.... a business can't decide to take time off for a holiday (that doesn't coincide with your life)?
I know of some smaller US companies that use that time to do inventory for the year in preparation for tax season.
On another note I think the US's drop in literacy from #1 to #18 would be more of an indicator of future global domination (or lack thereof) than a specific business in that country being closed because they want to.
Sorry I'm tired and crabby

 

[aquaknight]

Nah, it has nothing to do with my order (well yea it does).
I am simply pointing out differences between countries. Yes plently of smaller companies do take time off, but the big ones don't and this is a large company. Their Order Support is littered with "refund my money and delete my account." And it's not just this company, virutally everything shuts down for the new year.
I am just pointing in order for these companies to truly get to the top, some of the "tradition" might get in the way. Does Amazon take off? Staples? Etc? Pointed out that even the day after Christmas the vast majority of retailers in the US are open.

 

[jackri]

And yet you didn't order from Amazon, etc.
I find it interesting that I have co-workers who complain about American jobs being lost overseas and then they go on the bay and order knock off brands vs American company items for 1/4 of the price and brag about it and how it's the same product -- they just ripped off patents or trademarked items (actually probably all made in the same factory in China in reality).

 

[bionicarm]

I imagine this plane shop you purchase your parts from would be comparable to a Mom and Pop shop in the US. They probably have the one plant, and also use it as their distribution center. The reason you can go out and buy a new car the day after Christmas is because there are multiple dealerships that have the same excess inventories that will do anything to get a sale. Most American auto manufacturer's shut down for a week to two weeks in the summer, and almost always the week of Christmas. They can do this because they have built needed inventory prior to their shutdowns. Staples, Amazon, and other chain stores have multiple distribution centers that they can ship their merchandise from. That's why it appears to you that they're never shut down. This Chinese company is no different from any other small independent company. They're actually on the same level as the vendors you buy fom on The Bay. Which from my experiences, I know several sellers on that site that posts things like, "I'll be on vacation next week, so if you don't get your money to me by 'this day', it'll be the following week before I ship it to you."

 

[t316]

What was up with that video?

Was that a staged joke, or for real. Looked like something off of the Amazing Race

 

[bulldog123]

That video is what is known as efficiency

 

[stdreb27]

looked like they really cared that their customers made the train to me...

 

[cranberry]

Originally Posted by T316
http:///forum/post/3235913
What was up with that video?

Was that a staged joke, or for real. Looked like something off of the Amazing Race

Definitely NOT staged. I have a few Japanese friends and they say it's JUST like that every day.
Had some other whitey friends who went over there and they said it was something you had to do once to experience it.

 

[socal57che]

wow. not a good time to have gas, huh.

They do that daily? Holy cow. I think I saw one attendant using a shoe horn.

 

[cranberry]

Daily.
They are rushing to their jobs that can fire them if their measurements get too big. They measure peeps all the time, and if you gain weight, you are given an allotment of time to loose it.
If you don't..... "Bye Bye".