Court rulings on repairs just after Warranty finished

Your equipment breaks down just after the Warranty runs out, if it's not happened to you; it might soon. In conversation with an 'Electronics repair department' man in a Major Department Store recently he said; " it's amazing just how often this happens".

A Japanese technician told me a few years ago that their manufacturers were already doing research on how to make components fail after a set time. Some years ago the government here stopped light bulbs having the filament 'indented' to make them 'fail' early. So this activity already has a long (and obviously secretive) history, it's called ' Planned Obsolescence '.

Breakdown just after warranty has just happened to me yet again. It' a laptop computer, and O.K. so this time it had a 'two year ' warranty, but should not expensive kit last more than two years three months? Who decides how long a warranty should last? A short warranty must be extremely handy and lucrative for the Manufacturers' Shareholders.

I've been told that sometimes Judges in the 'Small Claims Court' consider expensive equipment should last very much longer than the one year warranty. And it's sometimes reflected in their ruling against the retailer. (Since a purchase is a contract with the Retailer and not the Manufacturer).

Is there any way I can find out what rulings there have been made in court cases, where people have been awarded compensation for the repair to electronic equipment that fails well before the generally expected life of the product? Or does anyone have experience of this situation please.

Reply to
john east
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I would say this is a slightly grey area. As an example, generally speaking you can expect that any computer produced today will not be in service in (let's say) 15 years time, tops. This will be so simply because people will in 15 years time want something faster, lighter, with more capacity, and lower energy consumption.

Yes, yes I know there'll be some odd bods to whom this does not apply, and it applies much less so for cars and bikes. I'm not talking about them.

For those computers, therefore, there is no benefit to the manufacturer to make them that reliable that the unit's mtbf is 20 years. It costs him and probably uses up more of society's resources. Better then to make the mtfb be ten years, give a five year warranty, and accept some level of claims. (adjust these figures for best commercial sense).

So there's bound to be use of cheaper components in a "planned" way.

Reply to
Tim Streater

yes, the ideal is the whole thing disintegrates into its component elements a 15 years one day.

I repaired a 60s vale radio the other year. Just capacitors gone, that's all. dried up.

Shame the only thin it could reasonably receive was the Long wave beeb station.. or did it have VHF?? it may have done.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

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