Quality control issues

Ed, I think the Newbies are thinking out loud.
I've heard each Detector has it's own personality.

Be it Good or Bad, it is up to the Manufacture to Find it.
Also some Dealers may want to Deal with the lesser units.
Dent and scratch Sale kinda Stuff...

My Unit works as Advertised right out of the Box, as with my Pinpointer.
My Dealer has been Dectected for 25 Years.
His questions, my answers, gave me my Ace 250.

At least in part I think kinda like wishooter said, it's just a matter of people getting used to their new detector. There are a couple who have had some problems with detectors that were bought used, or they have had them for a while sitting around. But it does seem like here recently there had been a couple who have had new detectors that have had some quirks to them. I bought am M6 from Whites and haven't had a bit of trouble yet. Knock on wood.

Some could be due to people not understanding the character of their new machine. But there are plenty of recent stories of people buying new machines which just plain didn't work properly or fell apart in a matter of days. They where shipped back to the manufactuer for repair. And it's not all one company, Garrett, Minelab, Fisher. I dumped a Prizm V last winter that seemed to have a 1 second delay - between the time the coil passed over a target and the time the machine finally signaled the target. (Thought it was just how the Prizm V worked until others told me their V's signaled instantly.)

Don't know how big a problem it is - overall. Could be the only bad ones ever shipped where purchased by members of this forum. Or it could be an every day thing; could be lots of newbees swinging machines that don't work right - how would they know?

Kind of makes you wonder how many walk-thru metal detectors and wands are defective from the start.

IMHO I think its the user expecting to find gold and silver the first day. Not reading instructions, no test garden, etc. Of course some machines are just junk. But I think the major manufacturers put out a dandy product...........