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0 pointsjaclaz8y ago0 comments

Apple aside, there is anyway an issue with a broken market for spares and repairs.

A single data point:

I recently went shopping for a replacement pump for a (professional) dishwasher, and while I was at it I was looking for a spare "programmer" (which is an electromechanic thingy, a motor with reduction gears and three cams that operate switches at a given timing).

I was given an estimate from the local repair shop for the repair between 500 and 600 Euros (the machine, new, can be bought for around 1300 - 1500 Euros), the actual machine being some 9 years old (though just fine, apart the pump sometimes not starting at first try) it plainly means "get a new dishwasher".

The pump (which is common enough, used in some 8 or 10 brands of dishwashers) is made in Italy, the actual factory is no more than 150 km away from where I live (but of course they don't sell directly).

The parts were quoted (another local spare parts shop) around 400 Euros.

I quickly found the same parts on e-bay and similar in England or in Germany for around 350 Euros (+ shipping) and finally found a dealer in Sardinia (which is a large island, a region off the coast of Italy) from which I got the parts (including shipping) for 290 Euro (this fact alone makes no sense whatsoever, we are talking of the stupid pump traveling for more than 800 km, partially across the sea going forward and back from Sardinia).

BTW I found the same pump in Spain, Polony and Romania at a much lower price but when you added the shipping it was more or less the same total.

We are not talking of an "aftermarket" or "compatible" spare, we are talking of exactly the same pump made by the exact same factory.

Then it took me around 1 hour time to replace the parts, and I am not a specialized dishwasher technician.

0 comments

kqr8y ago

> the actual factory is no more than 150 km away from where I live (but of course they don't sell directly).

You probably tried this already, but in case you didn't: see if you track down and speak directly to one of the people on the factory floor. Ask them if there's any chance they have a unit lying around that's been used for demonstration purposes, testing, or maybe there's a cosmetic fault that made it unshippable, whatever. When things are used or manufactured at an industrial scale, individual units tend to end up in storage rooms and gather dust.

However, you have to be aware that the employee would probably have to jump through some hoops to help you (talk to their manager, ensure the right people are compensated, assist with physical delivery and so on), so

1. You may have to badger them a lot to get it done. Not because they don't want to help, but because if you're not showing initiative, they'll do more important things with their time.

2. And this should probably go without saying but they won't be sales people. You'll owe them, not the other way around!

jaclazOP8y ago

Well, yes and no, we are still talking of the diffence between 400 and 290 Euros, it wouldn't have been worth it, though for buying costly appliances I have done what you suggest in the past, of course.

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