Legally ok but it damages the reputation of the company in the eyes of the customer. I have now made a mental note of it and that is in the non-erasable ROM area of my brain. Just like my blacklist for certain manufacturers of electroni parts which has cost them beaucoup Dolares over the years, or now decades.
That results in three effects:
a. Customers demanding special guarantees. If they don't get those, then:
b. Customers unwilling to spend top Dollar anymore.
c. Customers looking for a cheap knock-off from Outlandia.
These days, that sort of appliance usually comes in sealed round the edges hard plastic bubble packaging - as long as its stored unopened until ready for use, its probably not quite that bad.
In the UK, smoke alarms are compulsory in rented accommodation whether you want one or not - I've no idea about CO alarms as I don't have any gas appliances.
In the UK - safety regs require non removable molded mains plugs so people can't muck up the wiring.
A number of years ago I found a microwave oven left in the corridor at the flats, some dumbass had fixed the earth wire to the fuse - with that put right I had a perfectly good microwave that worked flawlessly for a few years.
those odds are about the same odds as getting hit by lightning. Perhaps the government should mandate portable lightning arrestors?
Extra credit for dividing the annual CO alarm sales by 2,000 preventable deaths to determine the cost of prevention per life saved. I couldn't find any sales figures.
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Jeff Liebermann je...@cruzio.com
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Why yes, a portable lightning detector sounds sensible.
If you buy a Superman cape in a toy store, there is a government
mandated warning: "Warning: This will not make you fly."
Yes, these are timed to quit after a few years. It's business genius, as the recurring revenue is very profitable, and it can be justified as necessary obsolescence for a critical medical application.
No way, then some econazi will have the sensor declared as hazardous waste. Then you would have to take it to some specially licensed outfit and pay twice the price to dispose of it.
Measuring current uses one cheap resistor. Which has to be there anyhow because the alarm works by sensing the fuel cell current. So it's all firmware, costs nothing in the BOM. If the 1/2c for the resistor is too much it can be done in the IC a well.
Business genius? This stuff can backfire. Consumers soon wisen up and research the web for products without such "features". For example, I did that every time I needed a new printer. I do not wish it to quit with an out-of-toner fault just "because it's time". So the companies that think they can pull this off have to do without my business. And that of relatives. And that of friends.
I haven't seen any deterioration in Apple's reputation due to its practice of following the letter of the law and also producing unrepairable products. I guess style and promotion win over longevity and service life.
Here's a simple test for you to try. Ask several people with smartphones how long they expect to keep using their phone. I've done this (randomly) so I have something of a clue of what to expect. The average teenager will give you a totally blank look, not having any idea why this is important. People over about 50 tend to expect decades of service as in "my XXXXX brand TV lasted 40 years so I would think my smartphone could do at least as well". Those between 20 and
50 vary depending on background. Those towards the lower economic scale tend to be more frugal, and might answer 10 years. Those with more disposable income probably less but still around 10 years. A few answered "when the contract is over" which means 2 years. Then I tell them about Calif 1793.03 7 year warranty limit, most are rather shocked (or confused).
Given sufficient time, buyers experienced with products that last more than the warranty period will have died out, leaving the general public accustomed to short lifetimes, designed obsolescence, and throw away electronics.
Yeah, that sometimes works. The problem is when you run into an area where there is exactly one supplier or vendor, who just happens to be a monopoly. Vendors that have competition take blacklists and their reputation seriously because those tend to propagate easily and tend to ruin the vendors all important image. Monopolies don't care.
Actually, it has no results at all because the State of California doesn't seem to be interested in enforcing the requirement. I was involved in a rather irritating exchange with an un-named equipment vendor over this issue, who had no idea that there was a 7 year warranty requirement in Calif. I sent them the necessary links and was soon blessed with several phone calls from their attorneys trying to determine if I was associated with some consumer rights organization or if I was soliciting a bribe to not turn them in to the Calif Dept of Business Oversight. The fun isn't over yet, but amazingly they did manage to find the parts I needed at a good discount, probably to make me go away.
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Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
The new guy better have a grand idea about a new must-have gizmo, and soon.
The warranty usually does not interest people. For example, I bought my car not for the 6-year warranty or whatever it was but because I had thoroughly researched out its construction details and build quality. Just like I did before deciding which mountain bike to buy. The car is now 17 years old and not even one lone light bulb has dared to fail.
Not me. I generally know which brands and products to trust. For example, there is an electric tool maker whose products I will never, ever, buy for the rest of my life.
Tell me about it. our Missy Bell is now back in its old omnipotent glory I last week I experienced a dose of their old monopoly behavior. I have the impression the FTC is sometimes asleep at the wheel lately.
Hmm, interesting. So I could have gotten the motor for our swamp cooler that didn't even last 3 seasons for free? Or is this not truly a warranty requirement but rather a support requirement?
It's a cult. I do have an iPod, mainly because I couldn't find any other MP3 players that were any good. I tried several but they didn't last more than a few months and I hated them every time I used them. The iPod is still far too complicated but it works.
I'm well over 50 but would answer "two years, plus enough to find what I want to replace it with". At least so far, the newer models are enough better than the old models that the upgrade to the newer model is worth it.
As long as the pace of the technology doesn't slow down remarkably, it's not going to change. I don't *want* the computer I had 20 years ago (or the phone service).
You mean like the DMV (governments)?
Does sound like fun. Perhaps you should take their advice and find an ambulance chaser who wants to take on a big fat class action suit.
The tiny strips of radioactive in smoke alarms were among what some high school kid gathered together to build his own pile in the garden shed.
He got busted when it started to go critical and he decided to bury it in the nearest desert - cops pulled him over because he looked suspicious and found the device in the trunk of his car.
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