Intermountain no longer servicing non-warranty items

[x600]

The same thing you do with your car!

Drag it out back and mow around it. 


Greg O.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

... which is take it to a dealership or a 3rd party repair place.   Nobody is asking IM to fix this stuff for free.  To cut everybody off who owns an IM product that is out of warranty is a bad idea.  If the problem really is that they cannot get parts anymore, especially for the cab forward, then they should openly say that.  Unlike a dealership, which can probably source parts for your car even if it's 20 years old if they really have to, IM has to rely on what they have on hand.   I realize the situation is more difficult for them.   They say, "We are no longer able to accept returns for non-warranty repairs."
"No longer able" ... why?  Because they don't want to?  Because they don't have the technicians?  Because they can't get the parts?  Because they want to save their parts for warranty work?   They should just explain.   Issues like this go much better for everybody, with less wrankled customers, just by being open with customers about what's going on.

I don't think it's reasonable to expect a company to fix things it made over a decade ago. I don't know of many other industries where that is the case, actually. And when it comes to small business resource allocation, I'd much rather they devote those assets to making new stuff.

Is it a nice convenience? I suppose, but there are plenty of options available.

[Mark5]

FWIW, all of the importers seem to be having serious difficulties getting parts from "the factory".

[nickelplate759]

Yeah, getting parts for anything more than 10 years old is tough these days.  I have a 15 year old stove - a hinge broke, and the manufacturer said all parts are no longer available.    The broken part of the hinge is literally a  single piece of sheet steel about 4" long.

The appliance "repair" people I called said that since the manufacturer wouldn't supply a part they wouldn't repair the stove!  For a few days I though I'd have to spend $5k on a new fairly high-end stove because of a broken $150 part.

Turns out you can buy aftermarket parts, not made by the manufacturer - from Amazon even (or ebay).  Got one and installed it ourselves.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

The appliance "repair" people I called said that since the manufacturer wouldn't supply a part they wouldn't repair the stove!  For a few days I though I'd have to spend $5k on a new fairly high-end stove because of a broken $150 part.

As weird as that sounds, it makes total sense.

Right now, if your stove blew up and burned down your house, your insurance company would likely sue the stove manufacturer to recoup what they could.
If a repair company makes an "unauthorized repair" they now insert themselves in the liability chain.

You might be able to convince a Chuck with a Truck to do it, but even then they probably know better.

[peteski]

Really Ed?  Replacing a broken hinge in an otherwise properly functioning appliance is a bad thing? 

We sure live in litigious society, and most people seems to accept that.  We are also living in a planned obsolescence "throw away"  society. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Really Ed?  Replacing a broken hinge in an otherwise properly functioning appliance is a bad thing? 

We sure live in litigious society, and most people seems to accept that.  We are also living in a planned obsolescence "throw away"  society. 

I'm not saying it's a good or a bad thing, but I'm saying that it makes sense.

In a complex society, with many interacting forces and interests, I don't see many other ways to be.  If you want to live in a house without the fear that a fire would destroy several hundred thousand dollars of your worth, you've gotta have insurance. And if you're gonna have insurance, that insurance company is going to do its best to make sure it's left holding as few bags as possible.

It may seem insane at its face, but when you start digging into stuff like that, it starts to make sense, even when irrational outcomes may be the result of many rational decisions.

[Chris333]

I buy old parts for my washer and dryer, you can get them parts just about anywhere.

[Mark5]

I buy old parts for my washer and dryer, you can get them parts just about anywhere.

This is true. I repair stuff until it is unrepairable.

In a lot of ways we have become a disposable culture (disposable cars, disposable phones, etc). Very wasteful.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

In a lot of ways we have become a disposable culture (disposable cars, disposable phones, etc). Very wasteful.

Yeah, but also profitable! Think about how many people make a living by making, transporting, selling and disposing of "disposable things".

Is it sustainable? Probably not, but I think we all tend to benefit in one way or another.

[nickelplate759]

Well, at least with our trains we don't have failure modes that are as dangerous as large home appliances.

I do try and keep old parts from dead engines around so I have half a chance of repairing the ones I want to keep running.

[Mark5]

Yeah, but also profitable!

Definitely not sustainable. Yeah somebody is making a buck off this dumbness. We could do a lot of things better as a species - but all too often we don't.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Definitely not sustainable. Yeah somebody is making a buck off this dumbness. We could do a lot of things better as a species - but all too often we don't.

True. But then again, we are just apes with opposable thumbs.

[Mark5]

True. But then again, we are just apes with opposable thumbs.

^

[x600]

I buy old parts for my washer and dryer, you can get them parts just about anywhere.

Then I drag it out back and mow around it. 

Greg O.