Source
r/unpopularopinion•
gets_that_reference_

Major appliances should come with a 20 year minimum warranty.

Back in the day, it was possible to buy a washer and dryer that cost a small fortune and ensure that it would still be kicking when your grandchildren came to visit. With the staggering amount of waste that's produced when manufacturers engage in planned obsolescence and engineer appliances to break every 1-3 years, just so it's possible to keep selling newer ones, we could probably cut down on a large amount of waste by forcing manufacturers to ensure that their appliances last, one way or another. I guarantee if Samsung or GE had to pay for the repair or replacement of every device that's broken or worn out over the last two decades, we could probably count on two hands the number of failures that would have occurred.

We all know it's possible to build devices that last next to forever, because we've all seen them in action. With a climate crisis looming, why shouldn't we start forcing manufacturers to build products that last?

Posted Apr 5, 2021, 6:40 AM UTC

219
Oma_Bonke•

France outlawed planned obsolescence, as far as I know.

7
veggiebuilder•

Yeah and there was even a court case (I think within EU) that held apple to account for purposely making software updates designed to slow their old phones.

2
[deleted]•

there's this thing called capitalism. If the manufacturer can make more money selling cheap products without a warranty then they will do that. If there is a big enough market demand for high cost long lasting appliances (which are definitely out there) then the gap will be filled and the market satisfied.

5
Regprentice•

There is one company that does the opposite, Miele still advertise their products as being good for 10 -20 years. But the price of their products is seen as prohibitive. It is telling that there isn't really any competition at that end of the market.

4
ddbbaarrtt•

I completely agree that appliances should have a longer warranty, but that isn’t the whole story

Back in the day appliances didn’t have computer chips in them. It’s much easier for a washer to last if it just has a button to turn it on than if it’s also programmable

4
xldiv•

Indeed. A key to longevity is simplicity. The electronics are the weak part.

2
Regprentice•

Just now the EU are bringing in laws for devices like these to have an expected life of 10 years.

https://www.euronews.com/2021/03/01/eu-law-requires-companies-to-fix-electronic-goods-for-up-to-10-years

4
Limp-Reaction-3131•

The only people that think this is an unpopular opinion are the manufacturers.

3
[deleted]•

[deleted]

3
jaxtech84•

It would be nice, but they’d be prohibitively expensive

1