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In my case it was. The washing machine died, the repairman said the circuit board died, a new one is say 120, plus 80 for his work (all numbers approximate). Hi

In my case it was. The washing machine died, the repairman said the circuit board died, a new one is say 120, plus 80 for his work (all numbers approximate). His recommendation was to buy a new one. I found somebody on ebay that repairs the boards for 35 (same developed country), popped the hood, took the cables off and sent the small plastic enclosing by post. They probably just replaced a capacitor or so, sent it back to me and voila. So I don't think the legislation is perfect, but I'm happy there's some movement in the right direction. I think it's obscene to throw away the whole thing because of a tiny repair. Everything still depends on having people skilled to do repairs, but that's maybe also part of the problem. Why is a repair person's job these days to take a manufacturer's part in a plastic enclosing and connect the cables? I can do that myself. If it was some advanced technology fine, but it isn't for a lot of things.

magduf 7y ago
Repair technicians who show up at peoples' homes aren't highly skilled electronics technicians. If they were, they wouldn't be working as appliance repair people and driving to peoples' homes. So those repairs just entail swapping out entire circuit boards or assemblies, because that's all those repair people can handle (and all the repair companies or manufacturers are willing to warranty). The guy on Ebay is someone with electronics skills who discovered that that particular machine had a very common problem with that board, and offered a service to fix that one thing. It's too bad that can't be done more. It is done some: smartphone makers frequently will repair their devices, usually by having you ship the phone to a repair center. But an appliance is harder since you still have to have the on-site technician take the machine apart and get the board out for shipping, since you can't rely on consumers to do that. It's too bad consumers aren't smart enough to use a screwdriver and take simple things apart, but that's just how it is.

magduf 7y ago

Repair technicians who show up at peoples' homes aren't highly skilled electronics technicians. If they were, they wouldn't be working as appliance repair people and driving to peoples' homes. So those repairs just entail swapping out entire circuit boards or assemblies, because that's all those repair people can handle (and all the repair companies or manufacturers are willing to warranty). The guy on Ebay is someone with electronics skills who discovered that that particular machine had a very common problem with that board, and offered a service to fix that one thing. It's too bad that can't be done more. It is done some: smartphone makers frequently will repair their devices, usually by having you ship the phone to a repair center. But an appliance is harder since you still have to have the on-site technician take the machine apart and get the board out for shipping, since you can't rely on consumers to do that. It's too bad consumers aren't smart enough to use a screwdriver and take simple things apart, but that's just how it is.