Such product complaints and returns are often caused by poor design, A wave of versatile electronics gadgets has flooded the market in recent The average consumer in the United States will struggle for 20 minutes from Reuters<\/a><\/p>\n And a study done by a Harvard-trained social scientist found No, seriously, what is the solution to this conundrum? Simpler gadgets? AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Half of all malfunctioning products that are returned stores by consumers work just fine, if only the customer knew how to operate the device, a scientist said on Monday. Such product complaints and returns are often caused … Continue reading ![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/cyclot.jpg\")
AMSTERDAM (Reuters<\/a>) – Half of all malfunctioning products that are returned
\n stores by consumers work just fine, if only the customer knew how to operate
\n the device, a scientist said on Monday.<\/p>\n
\n but companies often dismiss them as "nuisance calls," Elke
\n den Ouden found in her thesis at the Technical University of Eindhoven
\n in the south
\n of Netherlands<\/p>\n
\n years, ranging from MP3 players and home cinema sets to media centers and
\n wireless audio systems, but consumers still find it hard to install and
\n use them, she said.<\/p>\n
\n to get a device working, before giving up, the study found.<\/p>\n
\n that the average consumer in Amsterdam will struggle for THREE minutes to
\n get a device working, or until he forgets what he was trying to do, whichever
\n comes first, unless
\n the device in question is some type of drug paraphenelia or sex toy.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n Smarter consumers? Better-written instructions? In-store assembly? Still,
\n we agree that the predominant tendency is if it doesn’t work right out
\n of the box, take it back.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"