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posted by chromas on Saturday October 13 2018, @10:10PM   Printer-friendly
from the an-industry-group-of-notorious-for-lobbying-to-protect-is-repair-monopolies dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

When you buy a game console, smartphone, dryer, vacuum cleaner, or any number of other complicated electronics, there’s usually a sticker or a piece of paperwork telling you that trying to repair the device yourself will void your warranty. That’s illegal under the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. Companies offering a warranty on their goods aren’t allowed to void that warranty if the user attempts to repair it themself, but that doesn’t stop the company from scaring customers into thinking it’s true.

It’s such a huge problem that US PIRG—a non-profit that uses grassroots methods to advocate for political change—found that 90 percent of manufacturers it contacted claimed that a third party repair would void its warranty [pdf]. PIRG researched the warranty information of 50 companies in the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM)—an industry group of notorious for lobbying to protect is repair monopolies [sic]—and found that 45 of them claimed independent repair would void their warranty.

Source: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/9k7mby/45-out-of-50-electronics-companies-illegally-void-warranties-after-independent-repair-sting-operation-finds


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  • (Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Sunday October 14 2018, @04:49AM (2 children)

    by bzipitidoo (4388) on Sunday October 14 2018, @04:49AM (#748504) Journal

    Had an LG front loader washing machine with a lifetime warranty on the stainless steel drum, and a 10 year warranty on the motor. Of course it was the part that connects the drum to the motor, the "spider", that was made of cheap pot metal and which corroded and broke after 8 years. I called LG and they said the spider was not considered part of either the drum or the motor, and so was not covered at all.

    But even if the spider was covered, the terms of the warranty made the coverage worthless. You have to have the repairs done at an LG approved shop, and, the kicker is that the warranty covers only the cost of the parts. Labor is not covered. The LG approved shops all had such inflated labor rates that it was cheaper to pay for the part and the labor at an independent repair shop. But even that may not be cheaper than just buying a new washing machine.

    We bought the part and spend $0 on labor because we did the work ourselves.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 14 2018, @09:22AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 14 2018, @09:22AM (#748539)

    Enjoy being able to do things yourself while it lasts. In the future, everything imaginable will be a digital restrictions management-infested piece of junk, which the stupid masses will gladly eat up in the name of 'convenience'.

    • (Score: 1) by Goghit on Monday October 15 2018, @04:57AM

      by Goghit (6530) on Monday October 15 2018, @04:57AM (#748832)

      There's a shop in town that specializes in refurbishing old (i.e.: repairable) appliances. Given the 8 year life expectancy of current appliances I'm expecting to be paying them a visit sometime in the next couple of years.

      When we bought our new LG washer and dryer we had a problem with the dryer about three months in - no response to any of the controls, the only sign of life was the convenience light in the drum which would turn on when the door was open. Called Sears support and the first thing the rep asked was "Did you try rebooting it?" Uh, no, I wasn't aware of a Cntrl-Alt-Del key set anywhere. Turns out I needed to disconnect it from the power line and let it sit for 15 minutes.

      Still no joy, so they sent a technician out who fixed it by replacing THE MOTHERBOARD.

      I have no idea how old our previous dryer was - I picked it up dead on the side of the road on Big Garbage day. Replaced one wire and it continued working for 25 years with the occasional sensor and heating element replacement. It was still working when the washer (also picked up from the side of the road) died and we replaced the set.

      Fuck Capitalism, or at least this aspect of it.