Dear LPG,

Things have changed so much since I was young when one of the major considerations a shopper would look at is how long the product they planned to buy would last.  It appears to me that everything is built to last only as long as the statutory guarantee these days. 

A new car loses its value the moment it is bought because if you try to sell it even a day  after it becomes second hand, and my grandchildren insist that their mobile phones are out of date and virtually useless the moment a later model is advertised.  People are so ready to replace rather than repair these days and most repairs cost so much that replacing is more cost effective in so many cases.  

I get the feeling that manufacturers are so busy trying to find new USPs (unique selling points) for their products that the obvious is getting lost on the way.  

I watched a television advert the other day which got me thinking.  It was promoting a hoover that bends in such a way that you can hoover under furniture, such as a sofa, without needing to see what you are doing.  While, as I get older, I can see the advantage of being able to clean up with minimal effort (after ALL, shoving furniture gets harder as we get older), I have to ask myself how many earrings and other trinkets have been found because a bit of furniture was moved to make way for the hoover, and if you can’t see what you are doing under there how do you know that you have not missed a bit?

KE, Lewisham.

LPG thought it would be a good idea to leave a little bit of information about what the term USP means

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