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JACOB MASLOW2023-08-23 16:37:27LegalScoops
One of the greatest disappointments for consumers recently has been the dumbing down of products for the lowest common denominator. Not long ago, mobile phones let you remove and replace the battery, and laptops allow you to upgrade storage space, RAM, and other components.
Home appliances come with some degree of modularity, making fixing small issues possible without a warranty. Why has this suddenly become so rare?
Companies have their reasons for drastically reducing consumers’ agency over their products. Sometimes, these reasons are valid, such as when tinkering with the product might give away trade secrets and intellectual property.
However, most instances aren’t that critical, and customers ought to be allowed to work on or repair products they own by themselves.
This article explores why the right to repair is crucial and why we must advocate for it more.
Before we go into why this principle is so important for consumers, it can be helpful to understand the movement’s current status.
Pressure from the public, senate hearings, and other efforts have resulted in 29 states filing for the right-to-repair legislation. However, products that fall under the legislation vary from state to state. For instance, Georgia has legislation that covers all products, while states like Colorado only cover farm equipment.
Some believe that the right to repair is important in cases where manufacturers have shown a track record of failing to honor warranties.
This sentiment is why states like California have legislation like the Lemon Law. It allows consumers to seek recourse if a vehicle faces persistent issues.
Conn Law states that if a manufacturer cannot repair a vehicle, it has an obligation under the law to repurchase the vehicle or offer a refund or a replacement.
As one can imagine, many automobile manufacturers aren’t big fans of these laws.
Often, legal battles occur when manufacturers refuse to comply with such laws.
All this has created a growing dissatisfaction with the anti-consumer stance that manufacturers and companies take.
Consumers have reached a breaking point as products have become almost impossible to repair by oneself without voiding warranties. The right to repair is a movement and legislation that hopes to create a better consumer experience across America.
Several companies understand how profitable it is to take away agency from the consumer. The best example of this is the subscription model. In the past, when you bought a product from a company, you owned it and could do what you wanted with it.
Companies started using paywalls slowly, making it difficult to perform even basic actions. The mindset behind subscription services has seemingly made its way to every part of modern products and customer service. Want to upgrade the RAM in your laptop? Nope, you can’t do that. You need to bring it into a licensed store and pay way more than you would need to for the same repair or upgrade.
Repairing a product you have paid for saves money in the long run. Similarly, you have much more flexibility and freedom in finding third-party accessories or components you prefer.
Many people value personalization and the ability to customize a product to specific tastes. The right to repair helps empower you as a customer to do what you want with your products.
Certain companies, especially in the tech world, love using proprietary hardware. Sometimes, even the very tools needed to repair the product are proprietary. If more states file for legislation, it will allow third parties to offer repair services more easily through the availability of spare parts and components.
Companies like Apple have it so that you violate your warranty even if you successfully fix a problem.
The right-to-repair legislation helps out consumers in other industries as well. Farming, for instance, is one area where right-to-repair laws can be critical. John Deere tractors are infamous for making it difficult for farmers to fix simple issues.
The problem might be as simple as clearing an error code but nope! You can’t do that. You must transport the tractor to a service center, where a technician might fix the issue in a few minutes with a couple of button presses.
Farmers depend on tractors often, and ridiculous situations like this can cost them precious time and money. Thankfully, a compromise seems to have been reached in this specific situation. That said, it’s obvious that so much more needs to be done.
Repair your electronics instead of replacing them whenever possible
The right-to-repair movement is quickly becoming a powerful legislation across the country. This is partly because of the way people are pushing for it in a concerted manner. It shows that even when mega-companies seem to hold all the cards, average consumers who rally together for a specific cause can still create change.
Hopefully, more states will fully adopt right-to-repair laws and not just for specific instances.
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