Repair or replace?

There are 21 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 2,270 times. The latest Post () was by Rice.

1st Official Post

    Tangent from your latest DCT article, Splinter - -


    I’ve always admired the Argentine practice of repairing rather than automatically replacing appliances and equipment. I hate the Use & Discard culture prevalent in the US, but we are almost forced into it.


    Seized with a crazed moment of domesticity earlier in the month, I was in the middle of making peanut brittle when the (relatively new, but naturally no longer under warranty) microwave oven stopped dead.


    We spent more than an hour doing an internet search for repair shops and calling all in the city, finding that only three would do microwave repairs. One could give us an appointment in 4 weeks, and a second, in 3 weeks. The third gave us an appointment the next week, but then called and canceled altogether. All three have a US $95 charge just to come out, then the meter starts running on charges. Two bluntly told us it would be cheaper to buy a new microwave than to repair it (purchase price around $600).


    Hooray for Argentine repair people! Although I realize it’s not by choice that Argentina isn’t a Use & Discard culture, I hope the attitude of repairing broken appliances, worn furniture, ripped clothing, tired shoes, etc. is never lost.

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    Oh, always repair down here and even if I moved back to the UK, I would do the same.

    By the way, what's this? I don't understand how this trading works on TikTok. (similar subject)

    Hairpin-to-house trader plans to keep on swapping
    TikToker Demi Skipper made headlines when she successfully traded items until she got a house.
    www.bbc.com

    From what I gathered from news reports, she traded a hairpin for something slightly more valuable, then repeated with that object, etc etc etc, gaining value with each trade until after 28 transactions, she reached her goal of trading for a house.


    I’d like to know 1) what the intermediary trades were and 2) what extraordinary powers of persuasion she employed!

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    You know how plastic film (cling film) has a life of its own and is impossible to control once you've torn a strip off the role? And aluminium foil that needs to be cut exactly?

    Anyway, we've had one of these clever German dispensers for 15 years and Adri had it for at least 10 years before that. I've repaired it numerous times, but in the end there's a limit to how often you can repair plastic, so we bought a new one and the old one may even find a new home when I put it outside the house.


    Quote from daniel

    Like the old saying "their is a fool born every day"!!!! I smell a scam!!!!

    I don't. I find it completely believable. Have you never paid over the odds for something because you really, really wanted it?


    I paid over the top for a vintage item that I desperately wanted. It's now probably worth twice what I paid for it but that was never part of the equation at the time - I just wanted it! Badly!!!


    Likewise, there are some objects that I like to collect - but I will only ever buy them if the selling price is low enough. So I tend to search eBay and the like for misspellings and misdescriptions and for auctions that end at times when nobody else is likely to be paying attention.


    If you combine those two traits - only trading when the other person wants what you have more than they want the more valuable item they already own - with a determination and a defined goal then I can see how you could accomplish that sort of thing.

    I had the same problem in the USA. One od my boots were damaged and I went to a shoe repair shop. The damage was in the shoe sole, it needs to be replaced.

    I could do this easily in my country, but here the employee said that he could not. I need the boots because of the incoming winter.

    Yes I have, and so I am the fool!!!!

    I think the chuck it and replace culture has become more the norm here now compared to even 20 years ago. Back then there always seemed to be someone who could repair your item...they usually worked from their garage at home. However I've noticed most of them are now gone.

    All depends what you want repaired of course. If spare parts are still available then there's a good chance of finding someone who can do it at reasonable cost. We used to get stuff repaired but now tend to chuck it out and buy a new one. Less hassle and spare parts and labour costs are no longer cheap here.

    Quote from Carlos

    I had the same problem in the USA. One od my boots were damaged and I went to a shoe repair shop. The damage was in the shoe sole, it needs to be replaced.

    I could do this easily in my country, but here the employee said that he could not. I need the boots because of the incoming winter.

    Shoes repair shops are hard to find in the US, I hate to say. But in Buenos Aires there are TWO in the same block, just 3 blocks from us. We take our shoes to Argentina for repair!

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    Quote from UK Man

    I think the chuck it and replace culture has become more the norm here now compared to even 20 years ago. Back then there always seemed to be someone who could repair your item...they usually worked from their garage at home. However I've noticed most of them are now gone.

    All depends what you want repaired of course. If spare parts are still available then there's a good chance of finding someone who can do it at reasonable cost. We used to get stuff repaired but now tend to chuck it out and buy a new one. Less hassle and spare parts and labour costs are no longer cheap here.

    Maybe where you are, mate, but I'm still repairing stuff at home and for other like mad.

    Well, our microwave repairman came and went. Verdict was that it wasn’t worth repairing, because the magnetron was bad. Having blown US $95 to hear that news, we are now searching for an appliance store with a microwave oven of the same dimensions, either in stock or expected to be in stock before 2424.

    Quote from Rice

    Well, our microwave repairman came and went. Verdict was that it wasn’t worth repairing, because the magnetron was bad. Having blown US $95 to hear that news, we are now searching for an appliance store with a microwave oven of the same dimensions, either in stock or expected to be in stock before 2424.

    I suspected that would happen. It's the way the modern world works unless you're willing to pay OTT prices for a product. Here, unlike the fist world, they continue to overchage for products that are basically crap.

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    I'm on a repairing streak at the moment, so when Adri told me that one of the straps on a relatively new bra had broken, I grabbed the sewing kit and fixed it with a few strong stitches.

    Then I went to put on a brand new shirt I'd never worn before only to find that two of the buttons were coming away, so back to the sewing kit...


    However, for further sewing jobs, I'll need a thimble and a threader. Those needle holes are damn small!