Yorkie,
Bottom line is, the 'established suppliers' have to survive too
I totally agree with you on that point, but it has now got to the stage that the customer is paying good money for a product that isn't up to the mark.
Imagine having put a lot of hours into machining a casting, then you hit an insurmountable problem of say a large inclusion or blowhole.
All you get from the suppliers is, send it back and we will send you a new one. Postal costs back to them and your wasted time are never reimbursed in any way. No gestures of goodwill, nothing.
If they had the castings made by a reputable foundry, rather that the cheapest one they can find, then this sort of thing would be a rare occurance.
It seems at times, if the castings look to be about the right shape, they class it as 'that'll do' and pass it off onto the unsuspecting customer.
There is a fine line between a good supplier and a rip off merchant, and the larger suppliers are usually the worst, as they seem to have the attitude that because they are the only supplier, they can charge whatever they like, even for very substandard goods, in the knowledge that they have already made a load of cash on the initial sale, and it will cost them very little to replace a defective part.
In other words, 'I'm Ok Jack', and 'the customer will always keep coming back, because he has to'.
Bogs