Hi Bob (AH7I):
As an aside, I'm a 'cheap ham'. I use surplus RG6 and RG11 coax. I reuse antenna wire until it's only good for scrap. I buy my parts when Allied, Avnet, etc discontinue and discount them. I pick up "free" stuff at the hamfest for parts...
"being cheap" is not really a virtue. In means "...of little account; of small value; mean; shoddy..." in the context you are using.
Perhaps "being frugal" (knowing when and where to spend your money for most bang and least frills) might be, if you have to and your family, etc. depends on it (been there, done that). No shame in it - you do what you have to do to get by.
For many, cost of personal time in fixing issues, out of the box dependability and decent performance has becomes more important than a price sticker that does not reflect the cost of potential issues.
The MFJ topic is VERY divided - some can't afford better (but their prices are rising) and some have been lucky with their purchases. The former can be identified in their reviews by comments like these: "...started out with a some problems but once I got the soldering (etc.) sorted, it works great." The latter simply say "...I've NEVER had a problem with MFJ gear...". And they've either purchased very little from MFJ and gotten lucky, don't really use what they've purchased or, in some cases, have only purchased the gear used and sorted - by somebody else.
Then there is the other side of the opinionated crowd of MFJ customers - actual customers - who've had big disappointments, often on multiple occasions - and point out to others that MFJ quality, both in production and design, can be a real crap-shoot. I've been burned, on an antenna (A3S), grid dip meter, RF current clamp meter and antenna analyzer. Fellow club members have been burned on many items, especially power supplies - some of which I've helped fix. I could NOT fix the antenna (bad trap design iteration - now changed, I think), sold the useless dip meter at a swapmeet (yes, I KNOW how to use one) and fixed the antena analyzer and current clamp. Still have the last two and they still work, more or less. But they're not on my "favorite" list.
The Rigexpert AA-600 antenna analyzer I purchased works much, much better than the MFJ-269C. And did - right out of the box. It cost more, but then I use it MUCH more than the MFJ-269C. It's more useful and accurate and can quickly generate repeatable plots of antenna performance. I paid 2-1/2 tiem as much and got 10x the utility. 'Nuff said.
As Glenn pointed out above, any QA at MFJ seems to be accidental rather than part of their process. This is consistent and seems to be built into their business plan.
But if MFJ works for you, it's your money. Enjoy. I'm not really a gambler, though.
Brian - K6BRN
BTW - I do buy stuff and Harbor Freight from time to time and their business practices are somewhat similar to MFJ's. Small cart wheels, bungee cords, moving blankets (actually made out of paper). But not anything I have to rely on (generators, tools that could cause damage, etc.) A friend recently purchased a metric socket set from HF. Unfortunately, the sizes marked were more or less approximate and the tools began to round off some of the bolts and nuts he worked on with them. Those tools went straight into the dumpster. Not so cheap, in the end.