I've had a little run of Killer Whales a.k.a. Orcas, in the last week. Remember Free Willy? Yep. That sort of seal-pestering if comical-looking aquatic fella.
I bought a battery-powered (seriously effective little turbine motor- driven) approximately 15cm-long Orca to add joy to the bathtub and swimming pool routine of my grandson, Siphesihle.
Only to discover that the mainland Chinese manufacturers had messed up this not inexpensive toy by getting the centre of gravity totally wrong. He moves forward OK but in a chronic 'must catch that seal' nose-up position. Disappointing. Not worth the petrol and hassle factor of taking him back to Pick'n Pay in Hyde Park either. I suppose it could have been worse - the Orca might have turbined along with his bum in the air. I can't help feeling though, that had this been a toy purchased from Woolworths, it would have been 'test-driven' by their quality assurance people before reaching the shelves.
Yesterday, in response to a veritable cacophony of demands, I bought an inflatable killer whale from Dion stores in Sandton. 
He's about two metres long and promised to add hours of joy to swimming pool time. The picture on the box is seductive and looks like this would be a stable and safe pool toy - although obviously still requiring adult supervision when being ridden by a 3.5 year old, built in grab-handles notwithstanding. Imagine our huge disappointment and my chagrin when we found that the whale goes belly-up in response to the slightest movement of the kid sitting on it. The inadvertently submarine Siphesihle was rescued with everything except dignity and composure intact. The packing box contains a slew of info about the safety and compliance of this product, but I'm beginning to have serious reservations about any longer buying anything that is mainland Chinese manufactured. The producers seem to have two thoughts in mind: 1) Get it to market. 2) Bugger the quality and safety, just bring in the bucks.
If mainland Chinese manufacturers want to build product and reputation credibility in global markets, they're going to have to do way better than they presently are. Maybe they should skip across the strait to Taiwan and instead of sabre-rattling, take a few lessons in quality assurance, safety and consumer satisfaction. Or are we forever going to deal with the same 'don't give a toss' mindset that seemingly prevails about safety and quality, with disastrous (almost daily) consequences in their mining industry? Methinks it's wake-up time lads!
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