Sacramento, California (KGO) — When your devices break, do you get them fixed or just buy new ones? According to a report by consumer group CALPIRG, repairs are so expensive that we often choose to throw them away.
A bill to make repairs easier is nearing its first hearing in Sacramento.
Lawmakers proposed this so-called “Right to Repair” bill last year — and it failed. But now fans are more confident. Twenty other states are considering similar bills, and New York State has passed one. The idea is to bring back the old-fashioned repair shop – give them the tools they need to fix today’s devices.
“All of a sudden it started filling up with a bunch of water and it started beeping and we couldn’t really turn it off,” Toby Ngo said. He recalls how water kept flooding his family’s dishwasher – it seemed too difficult to fix. “We knew it was going to be very expensive to fix.”
Then there was the time Ngo’s smartphone went dead.
MORE: California lawmakers introduce series of bills to be disclosed and cut ‘junk fees’
“The camera was still amazing. But it was just one thing where my bottom half of the screen stopped working,” Ngo said. The repair costs were so high that he bought a new phone instead.
“That shouldn’t be the norm, especially on a $1,000 device, we should be able to fix that,” said Sander Kushen of the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) consumer group. Cake says companies are making it too difficult for customers to repair their own devices.
Now the California legislators are enacting a so-called Right to Repair law. Companies would have to provide tools and instruction manuals so that workshops could repair their devices.
“A lot of people if they had the opportunity they would just want to fix it, it’s just that people are being pushed to buy new ones again because repairs are so expensive, prohibitively expensive. Or the manufacturers simply encourage us to buy new instead of repairing and replacing,” says Cake.
Manufacturers have pushed back, saying modern machines are too complex for third-party repairs. And companies own rights to their patents and software.
MORE: A visually impaired Redwood City man left home for 9 months as scooter repairs stalled
Still, advocates say manufacturers shouldn’t stand in the way of consumers trying to fix their own stuff.
“They restrict access to the manuals that repair shops need to fix things like tablets or computers. And then there are software locks that they can use to electronically lock you out of fixing the thing. So actually we don’t have the right to fix in a lot of cases,” Kushen said.
According to Kushen, consumers are throwing away more devices than ever.
“A really scary fact is that in California we throw away 46,000 cell phones every day, just every day, just in California. And that’s crazy,” Kushen said.
CALPIRG found that Americans spend an average of $1,700 a year buying new gadgets — while throwing away nearly 7 million tons of broken gadgets and piling up in landfills.
A Right to Repair bill fell through last year, but proponents say similar bills could give California a boost.
CALPIRG listed bills in twenty states that would allow new access to tools and manuals for everything from farm equipment to wheelchairs to televisions and cars.
“By repairing your products instead of replacing them, the average household could save about $382 each year,” Kushen said.
And if workshops had new tools, it could be a return to the old days.
“You’re going to see a resurgence of these independent repair shops, and consumers will be able to take their TV, or whatever it is, to a repair shop down the street,” Kushen said.
The bill faces its first hearing in the State Senate on Tuesday. It comes as Attorney General Rob Bonta joined his colleagues across the country in pushing for national Right to Repair legislation. So how important is it to you? If you’ve had trouble repairing a device, contact 7 On Your Side.
Check out more stories and videos from Michael Finney and 7 On Your Side.
The 7OYS Consumer Helpline is a free consumer dispute resolution service in the San Francisco Bay Area. We assist individuals with consumer-related issues; We cannot assist with business-to-business cases or cases involving family law, criminal matters, landlord-tenant disputes, employment or medical issues. Please read our FAQ here. As part of our process of helping you, it is necessary for us to get in touch with the company/agency you are writing about. If you do not want us to contact you please let us know immediately as this will affect our ability to handle your case. Due to the high volume of emails we receive, it may take 3-5 business days for you to receive a response.
READY TO CONTACT 7 ON YOUR SIDE?
WRITE TO US AT 7OYS@KGO-TV.COM
Please note that the address uses the letter “O” and no zeros. Be sure to include your full name, email address, home address, and phone number.
If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live
abc7news.com
https://abc7news.com/right-to-repair-california-bill-home-appliance-cellphone/13110556/
