It almost appears as though many marketers of clocks waited until after this past Christmas season to introduce and attempt to flood the American marketplace with cheaply made clocks products at much lower price points. This is a trend we have noticed, and seems now to be accelerating and becoming as prevalent for grandfather clocks as it has been for wall clocks and mantel clocks.
Whether shopping for a grandfather clock or a mantle clock timepiece, it is more important then ever to understand what exactly one is thinking about buying. Special attention should be given when tucked away in the language describing a clock it says something like some assembly required. Without naming names, we have started to see more and more of the larger Dealers peddling clocks as though they are comparable to ones made by such known makers as Howard Miller Clocks or Hermle Clocks, when they in fact may be cheap imitations, sometimes even using the same model names to sell entirely different clocks.
We have heard from customers who are confused by what they are seeing in the marketplace, and think one Company’s product was actually made by another leading and well known Company.
We welcome input from clock shoppers and the relevant experiences they may be having.
In the meantime, while caveat emptor should always be on the minds of any shopper, buyers of timepieces should carefully look at their options, and ask the hard questions to make certain they are comfortable with what they are buying all of the time.
It’s definitely something to watch for- I notice that a lot of home furniture stores are selling cheaply made furniture, not just clocks and passing it off as high end. The thought being you are getting a discount and that the consumer is getting something as high quality as the name brand it mimics. In fact retailers are selling junk and just using the brand names to confuse consumers into thinking that they are receiving the same merchandise and that all they would have paid for extra by buying brand name- is the distinction of having something with the brand name attached to it.