Right To Repair legislation

[Lawrence]

On the horizon is the new consumer right to repair legislation, this has instigated the WTA putting together the attached document in response, we really need anecdotal evidence of how restrictive technical info hinders the repairer, Whilst we know that most of us have back door means of getting some info, in an ideal world we shouldn’t have to.
This document and the anecdotal evidence will be placed before the relevant people including manufacturers and consumer organisations in due course.
UKW are dealing with the spares side of things, WTA is going at it from the Repairers perspective
The document is available here

http://www.ukwhitegoods.co.uk/downloads/WTA_Right_To_Repair.pdf

If the contents could be kept in here that would be appreciated

[electrofix]

Well i for one have emailed lots of engineer information that they should be able to access on their own merit. For the engineer involved there is a cost as the job often involves 2 or 3 visits after having to ask for help from myself or other members. With access to the info the job can be sorted quickly with the minimum down time for the customer
The other problem is some manufacturers wont supply circuit board pre programmed. the result is a lot of machines get scrapped because the cost of calling a manufacturers agent exeeds a sensible budget for repair. It also stops dead any diy repair by thr customer

Dave

[kwatt]

Ultimately…

This has to happen.

You can argue the sky is pink, green, falling… whatever. It doesn’t matter. You can say global warming is a conspiracy, untrue or even created by an alien reptile race that has taken over… whatever.

It’s irrelevant.

Fact is, we use too much stuff. We dump too much stuff. What stuff we do have we (in the West especially) take not enough care of it as getting new stuff is too easy and too cheap, which feeds the cycle of using too much in a consumerist driven society.

And that eats resources.

We only have so much resources and, they ain’t making no more. Well, at least till we find another planet(s) to wreck, we only have this one.

If that sounds too hippy or Extinction Rebellion for you, soz, you’ve not been paying attention as I’ve been saying this since long before it became a fashion statement as anyone that ever got me started on the topic will know well and, likely have my “colourful” commentary of the topic ringing about in their head.

And, I have long said that this is good for you guys, repairers. Not just for appliances but for pretty much anything.

Fact is that many a business has chosen to restrict the ability to effect repairs and some maliciously have done so and, for me, that’s just a big no-no. I don’t mind them doing a lot of things they do, they have to and I get it but to deliberately prevent repair or hinder it, for me, is toxic and all the more so where others may be able to when they cannot or, don’t want to.

All the fluff, barriers like the programmed modules and so forth are symptoms of the disease, not the disease itself.

I could wax on for hours on this topic, or days. But I won’t.

The solution is appliances (in our world) that products are made to perform the function they are intended for and be durable and repairable. You know, like many used to be.

Which gets you back to, the parts and information have to be available to ensure they are repairable as one aspect of that.

K.

[Author]

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