Re: So Samsungs supposed repair program was all for show
"It's the same game, but with different nuances in different sectors."
True, but I don't begrudge people making money. What I begrudge is when they do or try to make excessive profits either because they won't supply parts, or they charge too much for them.
"The only washing machines designed so the bearings can be replaced (bolted drums, not welded) is Miele, and their machines cost 3x more than rivals."
I'm not sure that's true, a search for washing machine bearings pulls up plenty of makers selling them, including for my current machine. I'm sure it's true at the bottom end of the market, but that's because many customers buy purely on price, and its cheaper to make.
"Hotpoint readily charged me 20 quid for a small injection-molded door latch which melted, despite my protestation that a door latch on a hot thing should have been designed not to melt."
Hotpoint. 'nuff said, that's the company who had to recall around 600,000 washing machines because of a fault where the door locking mechanism can overheat and catch fire. Was yours one that should have been recalled and fixed at their expense? If this is recent, perhaps worth contacting Trading Standards to report it, see if it's covered by the recall, or its a new problem that Hotpoint need to fix.
"A Hitachi circular saw can be repaired for 60 quid, a new one from Lidl is 50 quid."
Hitachi power tools are comparable quality to Makita and DeWalt, and whilst the Lidl and Aldi power tools are good for the price, you're comparing very unequal products. If my Makita breaks and costs £60 to fix, that's probably a better investment for me than buying a new but much cheaper product.
"Building a car from the spare parts catalogue will cost you at least 3x the forecourt price of the car"
Of course it would, and it should. Maintaining a spares inventory and distribution system is incredibly expensive, far more so than most people recognise. There's a need for take a risk on the volume of parts that go into spares inventory, there's a separate timing risk that the maker has to pay to make the parts but they may sit in inventory for a decade or more before a customer pays for them, a need for IT to track the inventory and people to operate the IT and to keep systems alive for many years, for storage in warehouses to hold the parts for years, for some poor beggar to go and check the inventory from time to time, for security to protect the warehouse 24/7, for logistics processes and contractors to distribute the parts, for intermediaries to retail parts and take their own cut, there's risk that a part gets superseded by eg a safety or regulatory change and all the existing inventory becomes scrap, that the inventory contains parts that aren't working from new, that long term storage results in corrosion, dried lubricants, perished seals, or even that the handling of inventory results in mis-location of parts in which case they're probably lost forever, yet still occupying expensive warehouse space somewhere.....a long time ago I worked for a motor manufacturer, and all that I've described is the reality for the materials handling team of a manufacturer. And every new product, minor or major manufacturing change means additional parts need adding to the inventories.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
