I was in my friend's electrical shop yesterday afternoon, picking up some hifi repair work. In strode a lady carrying an electric clothes iron. "I'd like this looked at please" she bellowed. "It's blowing fuses."
My friend looked at it and explained in his kindest tones that the cost of having the bench engineer strip it and check the problem, plus adding in any new parts such as a replacement element, if even available, would exceed the cost of relieving him of a shiny new one.
"What ?" she squawked "It was working absolutely fine before I dropped it !"
The non-plussed looks on my friend and the other lad behind the counter's faces, were an absolute picture ... :-)
Arfa