"Right to repair" appliances.

A few years ago I bought a very small and expensive pocket size Phillips DAB radio. I did not use for about six months towards the end of the 12 month warranty and when I came to use it it would not charge, I diagnosed a faulty charger socket and had a word with Phillips support to see if I could get a new one or get it repaired. They said the item  was not maintainable and if out of warranty, which it was by a couple of months, I would have to buy a new one. Not sure how right to repair would work if the item was manufactured not to be maintainable.


The problem I have with trying to repair appliances is the lack of any diagnostic information even a circuit diagram of some sort would be helpful. This also seems to apply to the manufacturers. A friend had a faulty washing machine under warrantee. Five visits by three different "engineers" who did various tests, all said there was nothing wrong and it was working as it should despite it not completing a complete washing cycle, leaving cloths dirty and wet. She was told they would charge for any further call outs as there was nothing wrong, she lost it at this point and explained the facts of life to the call centre in no uncertain terms. They sent out a senior engineer who said she was right it was faulty, he had not seen the fault before and changed a part he thought may be faulty, it worked for a week before failing again. The same engineer came out again and replaced another part, it still did not work so he authorised a replacement machine. If the manufacturer's engineers can't find faults and have to replace things until something works what chance do we stand. 


Often I can identify the faulty board but without some diagnostic information it is difficult to determine if the  failed board has damaged or was damaged by something else so replacing individual items can become expensive and time consuming. 


While I like the idea of "right to repair" given  the increasing cost of labour and the decreasing cost of components is "right to repair" the right way forward?

A few years ago I bought a very small and expensive pocket size Phillips DAB radio. I did not use for about six months towards the end of the 12 month warranty and when I came to use it it would not charge, I diagnosed a faulty charger socket and had a word with Phillips support to see if I could get a new one or get it repaired. They said the item  was not maintainable and if out of warranty, which it was by a couple of months, I would have to buy a new one. Not sure how right to repair would work if the item was manufactured not to be maintainable.


The problem I have with trying to repair appliances is the lack of any diagnostic information even a circuit diagram of some sort would be helpful. This also seems to apply to the manufacturers. A friend had a faulty washing machine under warrantee. Five visits by three different "engineers" who did various tests, all said there was nothing wrong and it was working as it should despite it not completing a complete washing cycle, leaving cloths dirty and wet. She was told they would charge for any further call outs as there was nothing wrong, she lost it at this point and explained the facts of life to the call centre in no uncertain terms. They sent out a senior engineer who said she was right it was faulty, he had not seen the fault before and changed a part he thought may be faulty, it worked for a week before failing again. The same engineer came out again and replaced another part, it still did not work so he authorised a replacement machine. If the manufacturer's engineers can't find faults and have to replace things until something works what chance do we stand. 


Often I can identify the faulty board but without some diagnostic information it is difficult to determine if the  failed board has damaged or was damaged by something else so replacing individual items can become expensive and time consuming. 


While I like the idea of "right to repair" given  the increasing cost of labour and the decreasing cost of components is "right to repair" the right way forward?