Caymen said:
Do some people see it as a lame excuse? Maybe. Until you are in those same shoes and truly understand what it is like and what manufacturers sometimes have to deal with, you just won't get it.
I get it, trust me, I get it.
You continue to assume you know me. You do not. I have worked on a factory line. I have worked QC. I have worked as a union laborer, and I have put myself through college to work as an engineer. I design computer systems by day, develop usable websites and web applications by night. I have led teams of dozens of people, and I have oversite and direction for products that are used by tens of thousands, including a primary Japanese customer. Quality and customer satisfaction have a whole new meaning when serving the Japanese, trust me.
So, I've walked such shoes and more.
There! I didn't want to resort to whipping it out and being part of peeing contest as I have nothing to prove, but my subtle comments before stating that I understand and appreciate the trade-offs seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.
So, you can see, I appreciate the trade-offs, but what I cannot appreciate is the all too often excuses, whether they be "WAD", or "you can't please everybody all the time."
As far as the seatbelt assembly not being "a little thing", and there being aspects of the problem (suppliers, govt regulations, safety testing, etc) that are outside of Ford's control, I am not sure why you have to mention that. I understand all that. But manufacturers that seem to get this right (or should I more fairly say "do it better") have to deal with the same issues; right? So really, unless the issues are unique to Ford, they really don't matter as a reason for why Ford has failed to deliver a seatbelt in an ST that meets expectations.
I frankly DO NOT agree that it is too costly to develop/procure a seatbelt assembly that isn't too tight (by most people's account), and retracts better than the one in the ST.
So to summarize:
Ford had complaints that the seatbelts were too tight, so to
fix the problem they made them looser to the point that they often don't retract properly. Furthermore, and seemingly in defense of Ford, they don't actually manufacture the seatbelt assembly.
I get all that.
What I don't get is why that seems acceptable...or "good enough", when there are so many other makes and models that don't have this issue. The other manufacturers are up against the same issues.
TJR