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One day, my printer acted up. With my blood pressure spiking, I went on Google and quickly discovered that I had just been the victim of what is considered a classic error that would appear roughly after two years on the dot. I phoned the hotline and spent about 30 minutes in hold music limbo until I finally reached a noticeably tired support agent. In these moments, I like to remind myself not to blow my top but to stay calm and explain my situation with facts. Maybe it was because she was so tired but she was surprisingly blunt and honest. "The error occured in the warranty period? That's not supposed to happen!"
Shortly thereafter, she must have become aware of the ambiguity of her statement and went on to explain how to proceed in the most professional terms possible. I would only have to pack up the device, fill out a ridiculously lengthy form, pay for the shipping and then I would receive my repaired printer in about 4 weeks time.
That’s was the look I had on my face when I learned the truth. Well, maybe not quite as cute.
The great conspiracy?
After the call, I didn't know what was more infuriating. I stared at the form in disbelief (a PDF for me to print out, very funny) that was about as long as a tax return bundled with a petition for naturalization for the Vatican. They were probably counting on me giving up but far from it, things like that only motivate me! Still, I couldn't get her statement out of my head. The error wasn't supposed to occur in the warranty period so it was half a year premature? I'm not into conspiracy theories, I don't believe Paul McCartney died in 1966 or that aliens are running our governments and I don't wear a tinfoil hat. Yet, I smelled a rat and began to investigate.
Toothbrushes in agony
If you think of ways to increase your profit margin with different kinds of products there aren't that many options available. Innovation is rare and often expensive, not every product is a lifestyle accessory and sooner or later everyone will own a TV even in emerging nations. So isn't it a natural conclusion to design products in a way that predictably shortens their lifespan? With some products, this approach is quite obvious. Many electric toothbrushes feature built-in batteries that you can't get to and replace unless you destroy the device. Considering that all batteries have a limited lifespan this may significantly dampen your joy of buying. I might grin and bear it if this was only the case with low-cost products but many brand products are being made in the same way and come with a hidden expiration date.
A tank in the laundry room
Things get more complicated with technical devices that involve building parts, software and different construction methods. An engineer once explained to me how all of this plays together. "If you construct a device you may want to place heat-sensitive capacitors in a way that makes overheating less likely. But you could also deliberately position them next to heat sources to reduce their lifespan. And what about ball bearings? Will you be using cheap resistors for 2 cents a piece or proven parts for 10 cents? The line between quality and planned obsolescence is being blurred more and more." Planned obsolescence, an ugly name for an ugly phenomenon. I couldn't help but think of my grandma's sturdy washing machine that's has been running for more than 30 years, with a noise level comparable to a Leopard 2 tank, admittedly.
Debated since 1920
Consumerists and politicians have tried again and again to put an end to this practice or find ways to detect it reliably. It's hard to determine whether companies are doing it on purpose or by accident. Neither case would be reason to be proud. The idea itself is nothing new, back in 1920 the CEO of General Motors found it a good idea to get consumers to buy a new car every 3 years. Judging from this angle, my alarm clock that I have been using since 1991 might be considered faulty design.
When no one else is willing - help yourself!
But we don't have to take this lying down. There are multiple organizations that take a critical look at this practice and publish black sheep. Websites such as https://www.ifixit.com provide tips and hints on how to repair various devices and more and more DIY sites with similar goals are being created. Finally, there are many neighborhood groups that help consumers find and fix errors for a small fee. We need to consult Google before we buy our devices. Some companies (printers, cellphones even cars) are notorious for selling products that break down once the warranty expires with unholy precision.
Junk products with big names
Many companies that have spent years to establish their brand are at crossroads. Why buy products that will break down just as fast as generic, cheaper alternatives? Aren't companies shooting themselves in the foot while crying out in pain at the same time? To us as customers this means: Buyer beware! Base your purchasing decisions on research and facts and don't instantly throw out everything that stops working. Maybe you're just a 25 cent part away from a successful repair.
What I would like to know: Which of your devices broke down way too soon?
Built-in Obsolesce isn't so important to a "throw-away" society.... BUT... there are some of us who are justly offended by the practice. Even some ink-jet cartridges have an "expiration date"... imagine! My discovery of BIO was in the early 80's and I decided that I would try to avoid the BIO devices as best I could. My 1952 Easy washer still works fine but a friend with a "new" Maytag just spent over $250 to replace the PC board in his new modern $1,200 machine! BIO and unrepairable PC board got deep into his pocket. My 1965 GE refrigerator still works like new altho not that energy efficient as a new model... but the trade off is worth it! Has ice maker, swing out solid aluminum adjustable shelves, a BIG freezer down below where it belongs and 3 lights inside!! And all porcelain inside! I find that it is mostly USA brands, altho made elsewhere, that are the most BIO intense. So you can become "old-fashioned" and rely on your appliances or be new-modern-fancy and have the numbers of the repairmen tattooed on your arm! Oh, did I mention my 1940 Kirby vacuum cleaner that I still use every day? Well, yes, I do have a sorta modern car... an 87 Subaru pick-up that passes emission test every year! and has never left me on the side of the road. So keep in mind that BIO will have an important effect on your life... if you demand "modern".
As a sales representative for MarketSource-HP, I always tell my customers that HP wants to hear from them.
They spend tens of millions of dollars every year to improve their
products, & discover what it is that the customers like & do not like in them.
After all this, does it make sense that HP wants to manufacture products that break down more quickly? I don't think so.
By the sheer volume of say, printers, that they manufacture yearly, yes, there may or not be a small percentage of them that will have issues. HP goes to great lengths to correct them, if there are, & offers far more support online, as well as by phone, than most of their users realize.
They have been at the forefront for innovation in technology from day one, & will continue to be so for years to come. Call them. They really DO want to hear from you.
And NO, I am NOT being paid to write this message. I believed in HP long before I ever represented their name.
Thank you for the article.
I think manufacturers, in general, are creating a level of obsolescence into their products. If they weren't, warranty periods would be longer than the usual 1 year. Confidence in a well-made product would push the warranty period much further than that, but that would affect the extended warranty market, which suddenly popped up in retail outlets a number of years ago.
I think that anything that is in a warranty period should simply be swapped for either a new or refurbished product immediately after determining the fault was a manufacturing defect.
In writing articles, is in necessary to mention the same search engine? Why not promote Bing, or DuckDuckGo, or other search engine, or no search engine at all, i.e. 'An Internet search revealed that...'? There is more to Internet search than 'that' search engine.
All the best.
My first choice would be Windows - it's never worked properly, is in an infinite update mode, and cannot perform even the simplest of tasks, such as start my windows explorer in a sub-directory, already expanded in both windows, and color coded.
Anything Chinese manufactured.
cellphones, every dam one.
Watches - refer to "Anything Chinese"
Most hard drives.
Most multi-card readers.
PC fans - I finally bought a liquid cooled system, which is out of warranty soon...
Any promotional pen.
My marriages.
and so it goes...
I've stopped buying HP products for this very reason. I've had four HP devices fail, a prnter, an all-in-one, and two lap tops. On the other hand, my Compaq laptop still works, although it's no longer my primary computer.
My wife's Dell all-in-one had a disk failure after only six months. Dell promptly fixed it, but wanted me to purchase a warranty to recover the data from their proprietary back up system. Fortunately I had a backup USB drive, but this left a very unsatisfactory taste in my mouth. Just sayin'
I use HP printers and sure enough everybody years I have had to buy a new one. Happens like clochwise.
I know which manufacturer you DO NOT have. I have used one brand for 27 years. They have usually worked just fine, but when there was a problem, under warranty, FedEx was at my door the next business day, and would return to pick up the device the same day, if I asked. The device has been returned in as few as 3 days and when it was not able to be fixed a brand-new device of equal, (if not better) was shipped.
Sorry for your problems.