Many owners ask us if it is prudent to have their
product repaired, which in itself is a perfectly reasonable question.
Of course everyone is price conscious to some degree so it is
useful to look at what constitutes a worthwhile repair, and what
factors influence the viability and longevity of the product in
question. Although there is currently a profusion of budget goods
around, a cheap replacement may not actually be the most economical
solution!
The main factors to think over when considering
the repair of your product are:
a) The make of product and its age
b) Its condition
c) Whether item will be reliable once repaired
d) Whether item is an integral part of existing equipment
e) Whether replacement will necessarily provide the
owner with an improved quality, performance and/or features
f) Whether owner is keen or off-put at the prospect
of sourcing a replacement
g) Whether the item has sentimental value
h) The owner's 'Green' credentials
Below are a few points relating to each of the
above.
a) The make of product
has a lot to do with its longevity. Hence a twenty year old Sony
is a far more promising candidate for repair than a ten year old
budget set might be. In general, the better a product's quality
(and in most cases the more it cost when new), the more likely
it is to be reliable in the long term, also the better the availability
of most of its spare parts. Also, higher quality products are
likely to perform more closely to original specification once
repaired than are their budget cousins because they show their
age less. Obviously this is a generalisation and we do see exceptions,
for example the elderly budget set which performs like new despite
the odds and the quality one that looks tired beyond its years
but
these are exceptions!
b) One factor here relates
to products kept in a smoky environment or one which may have
been subjected to dampness. These factors often lead to decreased
levels of reliability and the need for a more involved repair.
The long term reliability can be more difficult to guarantee.
c) Three factors combine
to influence reliability following repair. Please refer to (a)
and (b) above for the first two. The third and vital ingredient
here relates to the quality and thoroughness of the repair. This
process includes listening carefully to the owner, accurate fault
diagnosis (ensuring cause and effect are identified), employing
top quality spare parts, technical accuracy when dismantling/installing
new parts/reassembling, identifying and resolving potential future
problems, internal and external cleaning, setting up to specification
and thorough testing. This is our field of expertise.
d) With products that are
integrated into a system, eg audio components, I believe it is
best to consider the cost of the repair of a single item as if
spread between the units in terms of cost. This is because even
if the repair of a single part of the system is higher than one
might wish, its replacement would involve sourcing and installing
a new item which will not match visually and which will not respond
to the original remote control. Other parts of the same system
may never need attention!
e) When replacement rather
than the repair of a product is being suggested, it is worth mentioning
the common misconception that a new replacement product must be
built to a higher standard than that of the older counterpart.
In fact, very often the opposite can be true. In the face of ever
increasing competition and price reduction at the budget end of
the market, even quality manufacturers can be seen to have reduced
the build quality of some of their product range as a means to
maintain profit margins in an effort to survive the price war.
This actually means that it becomes harder for the customer to
be confident that he or she has found a decent product in the
high street. There are some truly appalling new products being
purchased which are immediately throw away because spares back
up is non-existent and under design means a much increased likelihood
of early failure..
Quality of performance is closely linked to build quality, hence
cheaper products generally under-perform in some way. For example
it is quite common for owners of S-VHS VCR's (the price of which
has recently fallen dramatically) to point out to us that the
ten year old VCR it was intended to replace actually out-performs
it, eg picture quality, quietness of operation, ease of use, features
etc. We have even been asked to confirm that such current machines
are really working to specification as the owner cannot believe
that his new VCR is not faulty. Then it hits home that it has
simply been 'de-engineered' according to the influence of market
forces and at this point the owner often has the older machine
serviced or repaired!
Finally it is fairly obvious that many products with bargain price
tags boast fewer features than their predecessors. This may not
seem important, indeed many owners feel that their product already
is over endowed with them. But it is surprising what may be left
off. Some of the latest VCR's are without Videoplus timer programming,
boast unwatchable picture search and have no clock or front display!
Cheap widescreen TV's which do not provide the means to change
the aspect ratio of the display and having a reliable lifetime
which only just exceeds their 1 year warranty, often possessing
an inadequate number of AV connectors. Budget 'hifi' systems with
sound so poor that it resembles that associated with a telephone
earpiece.
f) The above factors may
help you make an informed decision on whether to repair or replace,
based solely on the product you currently have. However many of
our clients feel additional concerns over the process of selecting
a product from the plethora of 'unrepeatable deals' on the High
Street. Of course, good quality items can be found, it is just
getting more difficult to identify them in today's information-free
retail environment! If you are particularly happy with the way
in which your current item worked and do not wish to install a
different one or indeed have to learn how to operate it then a
quality repair may be the simplest and best solution. If you do
opt to replace, it is our personal view that AV purchases are
best made from knowledgeable small independent retailers who have
the expertise to distinguish wheat from the chaff and who will
ensure that any new product is installed correctly.
g) If the product has sentimental
value this may well bias the prospect of repair favorably. Of
course, if the item really has had its day then we would have
advise you of this, but we are very sympathetic to cherished products
of all ages and qualities and frequently find ourselves involved
in what is as much a process of loving equipment restoration as
repair!
h) Lastly but hopefully
not least, an increasing number of our clients are expressing
dismay at the implications of the cumulative activity of the throw
away society in which (so we are told) we all live without question.
Well, if you have a product with which you are happy repaired,
it is clearly a more eco-friendly option than discarding it, buying
new and, relatively soon afterwards, scrapping that cheap replacement
to buy yet again! Electronics production is already responsible
for far too much pollution and may be seen as serving the needs
of the manufacturer rather than the planet and ourselves. If the
rate of replacement of these products could be, say halved, think
of the positive environmental benefits we could reap! Of course,
we don't advocate that every product is repairable ad infinitum,
but we might suggest that the failure of a good piece of equipment
need not necessarily result in its owner seeking to replace every
time without question.
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