Spare Part Consumer Annoyances

ejmaztec

The price and availability of all manner of spare parts has rattled me over the years. When something has dropped off, or a small component needs replacing, the manufacturers tell you "No, you can't buy that on its own, you've got to buy the bigger part to which it's clipped, or you've got to replace the whole thing".

If anyone's familiar with a Dyson, they might know that there is a plastic catch at the bottom of the "cyclone" where the rubbish is emptied. We think that it must have fallen out with the contents when it was emptied.

Scouring the internet, I could find lots of Dyson spares, but no sign of this damn clip. I emailed Dyson and was told that the clip couldn't be bought separately, and that if I paid them €45.74 plus €4.63 postage, they would send me a brand new cyclone bin. They did say that they were sorry to hear about my problem, to which I replied "Not half as sorry as I am to be asked for €50.37 to fix it"

Would anybody in their right mind hand them that money?

Anyway, I've just bought 5 second-hand clips off an Ebayer for 7 quid and Dyson can go and screw themselves, instead of screwing me.

wmpdd3

Yes I agree completely.

So many items have to be dumped because the missing or broken item can't be replaced. I worked in a phone shop and when cordless phones were returned to the shop it was usually because the battery cover or the clip was broken missing.

When I contacted the manufacturing companies for a replacement, I was usually told they were made in china and the company has no ongoing relation ship with the manufacturer.

The only company that could supply every nut and bolt was Siemens.

With Weee the emphasis seems to be to recycle items rather than fix them, sad really.

antoinolachtnai

It's great that you were able to get them second-hand though. I'd imagine these are sourced from cleaners that are put in for recycling.

Handling spare parts for loads of different models is actually quite an expensive business. You end up with a lot of inventory which you might never sell.

Well-designed products shouldn't really need non-standard spare parts.

Is impressive that Siemens could do the business with mobile phones. But look where it got them?

bmaxi

I bought a table top oven the other day. The missus loves it, does what it says on the tin and all that. Supplied with it were two wire racks, like what you would stand a cake on. It turned out one of these racks had a leg broken so I rang the shop to see about a replacement. They rang back, having been in touch with the supplier. "Bring the oven back", they said, "but the oven is perfect", I said. "Doesn't matter, bring it back we'll replace the whole thing". This would tend to suggest that the idea of not carrying spares is correct but then I say, what will they do with the oven I brought back?, it's been used so is likely not saleable. Someone is losing out big time and I've a pretty good idea who it is.

ejmaztec

I wasn't so lucky on a couple of previous occasions.

We had a Breville kettle with a plastic water-level bubble on the side of it. It was outside the guarantee period when it started to leak, so I contacted Breville in the UK. All that they could tell me was that "We bring them in from the far-east"

I had the same reply when I tried to get a replacement key-pad for one of those waste of space Vtech kid's "laptops", after one of my kids drowned it in some mysterious liquid.

Somewhere in the middle of some jungle clearing, thousands of miles away, these spares are probably stacked up in a heap, rotting away.

babaloushka

This is where the internet really scores for me. I've managed to fix quite a number of items and keep them going for longer than usual - saves me money and saves the environment too, so win-win all round.
Not being very technical, the big advantage for me is being able to take a picture of the bit that's broken/damaged and upload it so that someone can identify what I need. There are some great sites out there for spares and those who run them (in my experience) are wonderfully helpful. Examples I've been lucky with are the door holder on a tumble dryer, an internal part for a lawnmower and the stylus replacement for an old record player.
So my advice to anyone is to search Google - as with the OP, the manufacturer's site is not always the best bet for value.

wmpdd3

bmaxi wrote: »

I bought a table top oven the other day. The missus loves it, does what it says on the tin and all that. Supplied with it were two wire racks, like what you would stand a cake on. It turned out one of these racks had a leg broken so I rang the shop to see about a replacement. They rang back, having been in touch with the supplier. "Bring the oven back", they said, "but the oven is perfect", I said. "Doesn't matter, bring it back we'll replace the whole thing". This would tend to suggest that the idea of not carrying spares is correct but then I say, what will they do with the oven I brought back?, it's been used so is likely not saleable. Someone is losing out big time and I've a pretty good idea who it is.

The oven goes back as faulty, probably recycled, I am glad your so understanding. I have had returns after a year for similar problems, people demand that each part of an item lasts for at least 1 year. If not they want money back or a new 1.

I know a few television and electrical repair people and they are barely surviving. People just want a new shiny 1.