To repair or replace, that is the question

An article regarding a meeting today of the Consumer Affairs Forum at which it will be proposed that Right To Repair legislation be introduced.

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OK, as far as it goes. I’d prefer “caveat vendor”.

Every retailer is responsible for what they sell. Every product will be either repaired or replaced by the vendor for a reasonable period after sale. At the end of a product’s life, the vendor will ensure recycling. Manufacturers would quickly find that nobody will sell products that aren’t durable, repairable and recyclable.

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Providing our wonderful State Govts and local councils refuse to also accept them for landfill after we recycle to the manufacturer?

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A Current Affair has a segment tonight at 7:00 PM on a person they say might be Australia’s rudest repairman.

I suspect that his former customers might just prefer to replace next time.

A follow-up article regarding this charlatan.

Their customer reviews on Product Review and Google certainly sums them up.

https://www.google.com/search?q=same+day+appliance+repairs&rlz=1C1SQJL_enAU794AU794&oq=Same+Day+Appliance+Repairs&aqs=chrome.0.0l6.10662j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Five of the six 5 star reviews on Google actually mention Brisbane Handyman Same Day, a different business, whilst the sixth review is actually at the bottom of Brisbane Handyman Same Day website.

Hopefully a great many consumers will be forewarned.

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The right to repair issue raised again:

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The ACCC has become involved in the “right to repair” debacle in Australia.

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ACCC + Farmers + National Party? = Movement at the Station?

Possibly, although the third ingredient in the above formula is yet to add it’s voice. It is a rather exclusive club though with the more sophisticated farm tractors and machinery found in the $500,000 to $1M price range.

It’s a similar situation to that of independent car repairers vs authorised service centres, albeit on steroids. Hopefully the ACCC will deliver a positive outcome for farmers. It could set a useful precedent for consumers and the automotive industry.

P.S.
It’s worth considering that Tesla is just of protective of it’s vehicle systems and software as the big agricultural machinery manufacturers. Is Musk any more likely to pay attention to the ACCC? :wink:

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Actually, they open-sourced years ago:
https://www.tesla.com/en_AU/blog/all-our-patent-are-belong-you

We believe that applying the open source philosophy to our patents will strengthen rather than diminish Tesla’s position in this regard.

Patents, true. The same is not so clear cut when it comes to software.

Which seems to contradict the principle.
Tesla are as keen to keep control of their software systems and accumulative data as any other business.

Yes, There are good reasons not to tamper.

However some features are purely additional code, with zero hardware difference. If the extra code is truely open source it would be free to all.

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Does it? Unless you can validate your misgivings, I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree.

ABC TV Landline at 12:30 PM today has a segment regarding farmers demanding the right to repair their tractors.

I just watched the segment. Well worth watching on ABC iView.

Hi Phil
Can you please describe how to remove the cylinder from the Carona toilet seat

Welcome to the community @Marcus1, apologies I did not notice your post sooner.

I don’t know if all the Caroma soft closes are the same, but on mine the mechanism slides out of the chrome surround although with minor difficulty. It is a tight fit but not a press fit. I put the chrome part into a vice grip and grabbed onto the shaft with a gentle vice grip and pulled. A bit of WD40 along the sides helps. The plastic insert is essentially a barrel with end pieces. I hope that makes enough sense so you can get it apart. The inside was a shaft with paddles and a heavy grease.

While this is a very different implementation than my Caroma, the inserts are somewhat similar and if you mentally replace the bit on the toilet seat in this video with the chrome Caroma housing, it should help you understand how it goes together. One hinge soft closes the seat, the other the lid.

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Thanks for posting that.

We have one that needs attention but I had no idea how to other than calling a plumber or buying a replacement.

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If they get ‘fast’ they can often be fixed with some heavy grease in the cylinder. If one of the internal ‘paddle scrapers’ breaks they are generally unrepairable.

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3 posts were split to a new topic: Right to Repair - Productivity Commission Inquiry

I would never buy an Asus brand laptop ever again. A number of years ago I purchased it online through dick Smith that was before they went bust and online. I cannot comment if I was buying a end of line product but it was being sold a bit cheaper. The. Minute I purchased it was a failure. Anyhow I finally purchased another laptop. Lenovo the current one seems quite good. But everything now is cut down in size and this current laptop does not allow for CD rom but I use my mobile phone to print it is very good through Canon print. Functionality it works well Lenovo. At least it has not malfunction unlike the Asus brand. I also had the washing machine replaced a, few years ago as it didn’t seem worthwhile repairing it as so many other brands are cheaper and just as good. The bosch machine I replaced was in use for just over 10 years roughly. I can never understand why manufacturers don’t have a, system in place to allow customers to get d appliances repaired. At least it saves on using more consumables.

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An old topic I know, but I thought my recent experiences worthwhile.

My big screen TV just died. No power. Originally $3000 and probably at least $1500 to replace with a good brand. Well out of warranty at 9 years old.

The manufacturer was understandably not interested when I called them about getting it fixed, but did give me a name of a local repairer. A small operation shop who did service jobs in my area. TV back up and good as new with a new power board, with warranty, for around $150, plus a very reasonable callout charge.

There are some repairers out there that do not muck you around and do a great service. Actually, I will name Service Scene in Eastern Melbourne.

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