Perils of Price-Cutting

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 631, 6 April 1929, Page 9

Perils of Price-Cutting

CONSUMER ALWAYS PAYS

Serious Feature of Furniture Trade War

WHEN rival retailers start a price-cutting war Mr. Consumer sits up and rubs his hands. “That’s the stuff, ' he says, “now we shall get something cheap. No more exploitation.” As a matter of fact there is not very much “exploitation” of the public in any branch of business and commerce to-day, even though the consumer refuses to believe it. There is keen competition everywhere and no business has been harder to make a living in during the past year than the furniture trade.

rpHE manufacture of furniture was seriously affected by 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 clothes; but furniture is not so vitally necessary. Furniture-makers finding their business through the shops and auction rooms falling off, started to sell direct to the public. Price-cutting then commenced in earnest, and brought the usual evils in its train. In order to beat a competitor's price, some manufacturers resorted 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 in Auckland 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 shirt. Four other old shirts. One singlet. One cushion. One pillow. Four curtains. 151 b of paper. Including Auckland newspapers, copies of the "War Cry.” English magazines, and old songs 201 b of hay. The clothes were in the filthiest possible condition. The garments | looked as though they had been I taken from city dustbins. No beggar i would have worn them.

In addition to hoodwinking the buyers, the maker of this furniture has also broken the health regulations, which require that furniture must be packed with tow and flock and that the flock must be sterilised before being used. The required number of springs were also missing from the couch and the easy chairs. In the Chesterfield there were only 25 springs when at least there should have been 81, and each chair had only one spring instead of nine. Coarse pieces of wood had been used instead 'of springs. When new and covered with shadow tissue the suite looked as good as any genuine article, but after it had been in use it began to go out of shape. The furniture was a gross example of fraudulent manufacture. Other instances were reported of couches in which there was found quantities or banana skins in the hay with which they had been packed. In another a quantity of filthy old clothing, almost alive with vermin. It is impossible for the genuine manufacturer to compete against a fraud of this kind. When the best of materials are used, and the health regulations complied with, the genuine furniture-makers cannot sell furniture at the low price obtained by the man who is breaking the law. The worst of the story is that th» consumer always pays, and price-cu ting is an unmixed evil. The only l remedy open to the public is to deal with reliable firms whose name is a guarantee against fraud, and if they 1 charge a little more, the purchaser has the satisfaction of knowing that :he is getting quality goods for hi* [ money.