MK brand

[ebee]

Well a customer (old pal of mine) gave me some KM sockets to install for him.
Despite my warnings he bought MK.

Well if you choose MK you deserve what you get.
Expensive absolute crap.
Looks very nice but far more returns than on any proper make.
Tosh

 

[Echo the husky]

Agree, the quality declined rapidly when Honeywell took over the brand. I have an old magazine article here somewhere where MK are proud to have most of their products manufactured in the UK, of course only a few of their products are still made in the UK now. It's such a shame that a company that used to manufacture such high quality products now sell mostly expensive garbage.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Its because, even now, after all the high-profile stories of cheap/counterfeit Chinese carp, people refuse to make the connection between what they pay and what they get. It's as if they look at a money tree (magical or not) and think that they can prune it as hard as they like and it will still thrive and bear fruit.

 

[JohnW2]

Its because, even now, after all the high-profile stories of cheap/counterfeit Chinese carp, people refuse to make the connection between what they pay and what they get.

If, per the comments above, they can pay a lot for an (e.g. MK) expensive product and get 'garbage', what do you think that teaches them about "the connection between what they pay and what they get"?

Kind Regards, John

 

[aptsys]

What's garbage about them? I don't rate the consumer units all that much, but I've never had any issues with the accessories.

 

[Iggifer]

The terminal screws are like chocolate. You get better screws in cheap 99p wholesaler brand sockets/switches.

MK seem to claim they tried putting more steel in their brass mixture but it stripped the threads on the socket/switch. I think it’s just them cheaping out personally.

Hager accessories are twice as good and about half the price, and tbh, I think they look better.

Fitted some polished chrome MK for somebody last week and they look awful. So dated now

 

[ban-all-sheds]

If, per the comments above, they can pay a lot for an (e.g. MK) expensive product and get 'garbage', what do you think that teaches them about "the connection between what they pay and what they get"?

Maybe it's the buyers for MK who have disregarded the possibility of a connection.

Did MK cheapen their products to increase their profits?

Or did they do it to lower the price so as to appeal to those who buy only on price?

 

[JohnW2]

Did MK cheapen their products to increase their profits? ... Or did they do it to lower the price so as to appeal to those who buy only on price?

The latter seems unlikley, since (although I may be wrong) I don't recall having seen their prices falling significantly. Whether that means that your former suggestion, or some other reason, is correct, I don't know.

Kind Regards, John

 

[chappers]

The terminal screws are like chocolate. You get better screws in cheap 99p wholesaler brand sockets/switches.

MK seem to claim they tried putting more steel in their brass mixture but it stripped the threads on the socket/switch. I think it’s just them cheaping out personally.

Have to agree recently completely renovated the house at home, so thought I would replace all the switch plates sockets etc. as I had some MK gear knocking around from ages ago(maybe 10 years) I got some more to match. the difference was noticeable. Terminal screws missing, most don't line up very well with the access holes in the casings, needed to be a gorilla to get some moving and some were even cross threaded. plastic seemed much more brittle too.

 

[stillp]

MK seem to claim they tried putting more steel in their brass mixture

Steel in their brass mixture??? Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc.

 

[Iggifer]

Steel in their brass mixture??? Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc.

Maybe it was more zinc then!

 

[phatboy]

I've kitted our whole house out with MK Logic Plus, I did have some issues but generally it's been fine:-

- The Euro plates are plastic and have discoloured within 18 months
- 2x 2-way switches had 1 of the gangs with a non-operational L2 - even more strange, they came from different suppliers, more than a year apart!

The rest has all been fine though - I like how the terminal screws are open out of the box, and the terminals are angled to make them easier to use, particularly in light switches

 

[Echo the husky]

The euro plates recently changed are now made of a crap soft plastic that does discolour when exposed to UV light. But product quality isn't important when designs are changed, as long as production costs are reduced and profits increased. This is 2017 after all, where the aim is to produce as much waste as possible, products that last only a few years and can't be repaired, products that are obsolete even though they still work, products that can't be reused or recycled.

 

[aesmith]

When would you say the reduction in quality happened? Our house was rewired in 2011 and all accessories are MK Logic Plus white, and I've not seen any issues. I bought the same for the outbuildings. However I now need some more parts, sockets and switches. If I hadn't seen this thread I'd probably be buying MK again, now maybe I should look at Hager. The electrician who put power into the garage fitted a Hager double socket so I can see what they look like first hand.

 

[Deleted member 18243]

I've got a couple of the Logic Plus sockets that are difficult to get a plug into. It seems the earth receptacle / spring contacts are not quite in line with the aperture in the face plate. I wouldn't buy them again; I prefer Crabtree stuff.