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How to get stuff repaired when the manufacturer don't wanna: take 'em to court

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Re: How to get stuff repaired when the manufacturer don't wanna: take 'em to court

#261

Post by throwaway2037 »

usefulcat wrote: post #232
throwaway2037 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I lived in Hongkong, my oven failed after less than 10 years. When my landlord came to replace it, he told me that it was common due to the extreme humidity that eventually ruins the circuit boards. I'm still a bit skeptical of that explanation -- but he has probably replaced more "white goods" (refrig, oven, etc.) that I will in a lifetime. Weirdly, my washing machine by Bosch was tough as nails and never had a…

Did you not have air conditioning?

Unless you are made of money, you don't run air con in HK while not at home. Daylight hours, I am always out of the house. It regularly gets to 35C in the summer in HK with batshit crazy humidity levels.

Re: How to get stuff repaired when the manufacturer don't wanna: take 'em to court

#262

Post by madaxe_again »

valicord wrote: post #204
madaxe_again wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s trivial for companies to avoid complying. Meta don’t, for instance. They sell their quest headsets throughout Europe, but offer no warranty or support in many European countries in which they sell them, which is illegal under the EU CRD. I foolishly bought one, knowing the risk - and it stopped working after a week, and that’s the end of the story - they refused to do a return or exchange, said I could ship it a…

> offer no warranty or support in many European countries in which they sell them Do you mean that you can buy it from the manufacturer website and have it shipped directly to a country where it's not released officially? Or are you taking about third party retailers selling grey market units?

I’m talking about buying from a reputable third party retailer (Amazon) who reasonably passed the buck for RMA support to meta - and ultimately, if you sell your product in an EU country, or allow the sale of your product in an EU country via a retailer, you are liable to provide support for that product.

Re: How to get stuff repaired when the manufacturer don't wanna: take 'em to court

#264

Post by NeoTar »

delecti wrote: post #222
throwaway7ahgb wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ovens CAN last for 15 years, but should ALL of them? Who gets to decide how long something gets to last for?

As (ostensibly) our collective agent, the government seems like a decent candidate.

Here is some UK government-adjacent advice on the lifespans of appliances (expected lifespans for products in rental properties): https://www.tenancydepositscheme.com/wp-content/uploads/2024...

(Landlords in the UK are obliged to register their tenant's deposit with a scheme upon the start of an tenancy, and raise any objections to the full return within a short period of the tenants move-out (possibly as short as 14 days) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenancy_deposit_scheme_(Englan...

Re: How to get stuff repaired when the manufacturer don't wanna: take 'em to court

#265

Post by Dutchie987 »

kube-system wrote: post #259
seventyone wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is definitive proof. They over-drive the LEDs which is why they die so quickly. If they were under-driven they last much much longer. It's the heat that kills them IIRC.

That design doesn't prove anything about any malicious intent to decrease the lifespan of the bulb, any more than it proves that they're optimizing lumens/dollar for the customers who want it.

They are optimizing dollars extracted per customer. Either that, or they are so incompetent designing electronics they shouldn't be allowed to.

Re: How to get stuff repaired when the manufacturer don't wanna: take 'em to court

#266

Post by mrWiz »

IX-103 wrote: post #225
bell-cot wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[Took a look at my stove] Nope, all the easily-accessed wiring (under the stove top - which lifts like a car hood, for quick clean-up after a pot boils over) is in excellent shape. Insulation colors look a bit faded, but that's it. (Yes, all those wires bend a bit when you either remove a burner, or lift the top. But the design is such that the radius of those bends is extremely large, compared to the diameter of the…

Sounds like they really don't make them like they used to. Most things have moved to stranded wires due to their lower resistance per weight properties, despite their higher likelihood of breaking during bends.

Lower resistance per weight doesn't seem right to me. Spot checking a few values on a chart provided by a wire manufacturer[0] shows that stranded wire has greater resistance per weight. Stranded wire is much more flexible, easier to work with, and handles rebending much better than solid wire and I assume this is why it's more commonly used.

[0] https://www.calmont.com/wp-content/uploads/calmont-eng-wire-...

Re: How to get stuff repaired when the manufacturer don't wanna: take 'em to court

#267

Post by kube-system »

Dutchie987 wrote: post #265
kube-system wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That design doesn't prove anything about any malicious intent to decrease the lifespan of the bulb, any more than it proves that they're optimizing lumens/dollar for the customers who want it.

They are optimizing dollars extracted per customer. Either that, or they are so incompetent designing electronics they shouldn't be allowed to.

Unfortunately, electronics design does not operate outside the bounds of economics. Given a target retail price of ~$1.25/unit -- many of these bulbs are the best design possible.

The existence of poor quality products does not indicate malice -- many buyers demand low end products.

Cost/quality/performance is an engineering tradeoff without a "correct" answer. The answer is up to the opinion of the customer.

Re: How to get stuff repaired when the manufacturer don't wanna: take 'em to court

#269

Post by sokoloff »

bell-cot wrote: post #118
mschuster91 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

phew, at that age I'd really be worried about the seals for the gas oven and about the insulation of the wiring for the electric one.

[Took a look at my stove] Nope, all the easily-accessed wiring (under the stove top - which lifts like a car hood, for quick clean-up after a pot boils over) is in excellent shape. Insulation colors look a bit faded, but that's it. (Yes, all those wires bend a bit when you either remove a burner, or lift the top. But the design is such that the radius of those bends is extremely large, compared to the diameter of the…

Wires subjected to repeated flexure in normal use are very likely to be stranded copper rather than solid copper.

Re: How to get stuff repaired when the manufacturer don't wanna: take 'em to court

#270

Post by brianshaler »

SoftTalker wrote: post #238
surge wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The rule of thumb I've found with light bulbs is similar to the Boots Theory ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boots_theory ), which is you need to spend at least $8-$10 on a bulb to get something that will actually last. Feit is good but its hit or miss on life span, especially when I get them close to the same price and incandescent, often times its the little A/C to DC converter that dies (really need DC light circu…

Having lived most of my life with incandescent bulbs which you could buy at four for a dollar if you watched for sales, the idea of paying $8-10 for a light bulb is insane to me. I have probably close to 50 bulbs in my house. But yes, the reasonably-priced LED bulbs don't last any longer than incandescents. I am replacing a few every year around the house. The saving grace is that they generate a lot less heat. I was…

In a bathroom, a hot lamp is likely intentional. It's typically on its own circuit for use while taking a hot shower.
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