3rd-Party Repair ‘Good Policy’ for Competitive Pricing, Reducing Waste, Says ex-CE Retailer

Consumers should have the freedom to buy spare parts and “choose who performs repairs” when their devices fail, commented Californian Gary Linsky in the FTC’s Nixing the Fix proceeding, posted Monday in docket FTC-2019-0013. The agency is probing whether manufacturers’ third-party repair restrictions undercut the consumer protections in the 1975 Moss-Magnuson Warranty Act (see 1903130060). It’s accepting comments in the docket through Sept. 16. Right to repair is “good policy” for “keeping prices competitive and reducing waste,” said Linsky. As a former consumer electronics retailer, “I have seen countless examples of devices and equipment worth hundreds of dollars scrapped due to hindered access to repairs,” that easily could have been fixed “with a part that costs a few dollars at most,” he said. “Consumers think little about these impediments” when buying a device “but feel stuck when faced with a need for repair,” he said. “Without the access to parts and outside repairers the manufacturers are in effect leasing you the product until a fault occurs, at which time, by controlling repair access and price, they economically prematurely obsolete your device.” Most retailers have phased out repairs, and the “major national chains” tell their customers to fend for themselves with the manufacturer, said Linsky.