Existing consumer right to repair protections are not enough: ACCC

ZD NET ^ | 11 Feb 2021 | Aimee Chanthadavong |

[DUMBGRUNT]

Meanwhile, both IGEA and John Deere believe existing protections under existing consumer law work just fine.

"As more products are computerised, and the information and power imbalances between manufacturers and consumers grow, the incentives for premature planned obsolescence that harms consumers is likely to increase. It is important that regulators are equipped with an appropriate legislative framework to investigate new emerging practices that may harm consumers," the ACCC said.

In September 2018, the Equipment Dealers Association signed an agreement with John Deere in which the company would begin voluntarily making repair tools, software guides, and diagnostic equipment available for ordinary farmers to purpose beginning January 1, 2021. We’re now well over two months into 2021 and, as a new report details, John Deere isn’t keeping up its end of the bargain.

There are up to 125 sensors in a John Deere tractor, and an error code on any of them can put a device into Limp mode, where it can be driven, but not otherwise operated. It can take up to a month for a piece of equipment to get a simple error code cleared, and it can cost a great deal of money. According to Kansas farmer Jared Wilson, he lost an estimated $30,000 -to$60,000 in income one season because it took 32 days for the dealer to repair a mechanical valve that failed on his fertilizer spreader. Had the failure occurred on an older piece of equipment, Wilson is fairly certain he could have done the work himself.

Back in 2018, John Deere boasted that this agreement meant right-to-repair legislation wasn’t necessary. Three years later, the company is demonstrating just how necessary it is by failing to abide by its own voluntary commitments.

[DUMBGRUNT]

Coming to a car near you, soon!

[dynachrome]

Probably get tips from tesla and musk.

[ConservativeMind]

If you can’t repair it on your own after your warranty expires, the heap of metal is worth much less.

John Deere is rapidly accelerating depreciation.

[BipolarBob]

There are a bunch of Youtube videos on the lengths companies go to to keep you from working on stuff. Printers won’t let you refill your own ink cartridges because they are only making 10,000% profit on ink. John Deere and Apple (poor broke Apple) are very aggressive to keep your paws on their stuff (wait a minute I paid for this fair and square).

[Seruzawa]

Henry Ford supposedly said that he would give his cars away free if he could force everyone to come to him for repairs and maintenance.

[TexasGator]

Genesis is including lifetime warranty and servicing.

[DUMBGRUNT]

“Probably get tips from tesla and musk.”

Yes, I’m familiar with “Rich Rebuilds” and his engagements with Tesla.
Also, note that he has completed a considerable amount of Tesla work.

And the third-party performance upgrades...

That said, Tesla is light years ahead of John Deere.

Some say the Tesla parts shortages are due to the priority to production for parts?

[wally_bert]

CAT is good about making repairs out of reach too.

[redgolum]

Used deeres from the 89s are going for a lot

[moonhawk]

I’m sure our Chicom overlords will get right on it.

[DUMBGRUNT]

Genesis is including lifetime warranty and servicing.

I’ve been hearing good things about the Genesis GV80, drove friends for a bit...VERY NICE.

I’m waiting for FSD (Full Self Driving), yes a few years off.

I actually like Musk, but Toyota, Genesis (Hyundai), Honda currently have better build quality.

So I’ve been watching them for my next car????
Gotta have FSD!

[nascarnation]

Genesis is including lifetime warranty and servicing.

I hear that one Eldrick wrecked is available with a substantial discount.

[wjcsux]

My brother owns an excavation company and depends on his equipment to work all the time. He gave up on Deere and Cat several years ago, he had the same problems. He has Volvo and Komatsu equipment now with very few problems.

[TangoLimaSierra]

Henry Ford supposedly said that he would give his cars away free if he could force everyone to come to him for repairs and maintenance.

I have owned several Porsches. And have said that Porsche could give away their cars in exchange for exclusive repairs on them.

Ran out of gas once and cost me $500.

[ridesthemiles]

That is the main reason why I will NOT buy a John Deere tractor, if I can afford one.

You CAN NOT do any repairs yourself.

[nascarnation]

I bought a JD garden tractor 12 yrs ago. After having several other brands, I thought I was moving up to top line equipment.

It’s been unreliable and their repair parts are priced like BMW and Porsche.

Very over-rated brand IMHO.

[SunkenCiv]

Lemme tell you all a story 'bout a man named Jed...

Fixing electronics is something that isn't practical to do thanks to the ever-increasing miniaturization that has more or less followed so-called Moore's Law (by the way, he's in his 90s now and a billionaire). For the money, it only makes sense to swap it out for an identical replacement.

Luke Miani: This HUGE problem threatens MacBook repairability for YEARS [Feb 21, 2021]

Luke Miani: Here's why old Macs last forever... and how to make them last even longer [Aug 14, 2020]