CHEAP EASTERN LOCKS

[prag]

AT my work we service all classes of society. A trend we have been noticing is that clients, increasingly across the board, are using cheap Chinese mortice locks. This use to occur more, understandably, in the poorer neighourhoods before.

The handle, key or the levers break( yes we have seen some very nasty lever and spring damage). I think that the customer is not properly informed about why the lock is so cheap. This occurs mainly at the big chain store level where no advice is offered to the customer about quality of lock or the price of replacement keys. For instance yesterday a customer brings in a M12H, which is a Union 2 lever key. This keys profile was totally different to the Unions profile and it cost her almost the price of the lock. Actually about US$ 50c cheaper duplicating the keys as compared to the price of the cheap lock.

We try, without success most times, to explain that buying the better lock will be cheaper in the long run because it will last longer and the key is cheaper too. There is a US$ 2 difference but cheaper they will go for.

[vitti]

The chinese knock off locks are only $2 cheaper than the quality lock? How much do these locks sell for that such an insignificant amount of money would sway people to the inferior product?

[prag]

vitti Stated

The chinese knock off locks are only $2 cheaper than the quality lock? How much do these locks sell for that such an insignificant amount of money would sway people to the inferior product?

When the Dollar is Converted to Rands, (our currency), its almost R15. This is quite a bit for the poorer community is S.A. You could almost feed a family of 4 with that kind of money. So although it is a small US$ amount when converted it means something to the poor.