Right to repair rules ‘make sense’, engineer says

An engineer who works for a company in Co Donegal which offers repair services for large domestic appliances has said new EU product repair rules make sense.

The ‘right to repair’ regulations, which came into force today, are designed to encourage consumers to repair rather than replace products to tackle the estimated 35 million tonnes of waste the premature disposal of consumer goods generates across the bloc.

Under the rules, manufacturers must provide easily accessible information about repair services, as well as access to spare parts at a reasonable price – a move which engineer Barry Temple said “makes sense”.

Mr Temple works for Domestic Appliance Services in Letterkenny and is one of eight engineers on the road across Donegal every day.

Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, he said a few manufacturers started to comply with the new rules a couple of years ago.

“They’re giving customers access to technical documents and stuff for simple jobs, obviously for replacing door catches and things like that,” he said.

“Obviously if it’s any more serious then the customer is always going to need a trained technician out to help them out,” he added.

“But as long as there are laws in place that can allow a feasible repair, that would make such a difference to this ongoing waste problem that we’re having with appliances in the world, especially in Europe – we’re throwing out far too much that we should be repairing.”

Mr Temple said he feels the majority of his customers would be keen to repair appliances instead of replacing them, adding: “They themselves do not want to be throwing this machine out, but between me and the customer, we have no choice.”

“It’s a shame because years ago – and I’m sure you had your grandmother or your mother – they had that one washing machine or dryer, a typical appliance in the house that lasted 30 years with five or six children – maybe going every day as well. And there’s no reason why we can’t return to those days,” he added.

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Mr Temple said his day consists of fixing washing machines, dryers, dishwashers and general items in the household where people cannot do without them if they break down.

“So we go out on a daily basis, we’re out constantly fixing new appliances that are under warranty and we also do appliances that are out of warranty as well,” he explained.

He said that the cost of repair is definitely a factor that puts householders off fixing an appliance.

“If you take a washing machine for instance, if the bearings fail on a modern washing machine now, they have what’s called a sealed drum.

“The bearings inside the component that has failed might only be €20 to €30 but because the manufacturers now are plastic-welding these washing machine drums together – meaning you can’t physically open them to change the component – the price of that tub alone is around €250, give or take, and then our time, obviously, and fee on top of that, to replace that.

“And when you take now a new washing machine can start from anywhere from €199 up, it doesn’t make any sense that that’s happening,” he said.