Are some companies famous for their cost cutting reaching the point of doing more harm than good? Megan McCardle has sworn off Dell because of their low cost support. I was in the Wal-Mart in Kirkwood the other day, and even though the store is newer than the one near me in Town & Country (where I haven't had a bad experience other than their refusal via red tape to honor tax exempt status for the Boy Scouts), it is poorly lit and dirty, the staff is surly and unhelpful. My wife observed we always have a bad experience there - this time it was the clerk in the Photo department who told my wife she had no idea where the film drop off was and then ignored her.
Don't get me wrong, cheap is good, but there comes a point in cutting costs where service and quality suffer far more than the price comes down. And it may be that at certain companies, the drive to cut cost above all else may have become counter productive.
