Repair shop for electronics
kim
Can anyone recommend a repair shop for my magazine cd player where
they will do an honest job and not overcharge?
Thanks in advance!
Kim
Hugh
kim <ki...@akamail.com> wrote in message
news:92pvoso8i7mjo18vn...@4ax.com...
Unknown
>Hi,
>
>Can anyone recommend a repair shop for my magazine cd player where
>they will do an honest job and not overcharge?
Specific recommendation: Eltek Electronics. On Rupert St. near
Grandview Hwy. There's also a branch on Marine Dr. in North Van.
Check in the phone book. They don't charge much for an estimate.
Some comments based on my fleeting experience in the consumer
electronics service industry:
While I'm not sure how you define "overcharge", I assume you want to
pay $20 to get your $175 CD player fixed. It ain't gonna happen.
When was the last time you saw a TV repair truck driving around?
Twenty years ago? Maybe more? Guess why the consumer electronics
service industry has largely vapourised? Because everyone wants their
gee-gaws and gadgets for cheap. The "I'm not gonna pay a lot for this
muffler" attitude.
The main reasons are economic. A long time ago, consumer items like
TVs, stereos, VCRs, etc. were generally high-dollar items which meant
they were worth getting fixed. They had an intrinsic value. The
level of complexity was fairly low, and the variety of devices a
technician had to deal with was reasonably limitied. Today, you can
buy a perfectly decent CD player for less than $100. A 20" TV set can
be had for something like $200 dollars. They can be quite
sophisticated, and the variety of different manufacturers and models
is almost infinite. Even if the problem is something relatively
simple (in your mind), the guy that's fixing it still has to pay for
parts inventory (often highly specialized parts specific to a given
model of item, available only from the manufacturer), test equipment,
schematics and other service documentation, rent, phone, hydro, taxes,
tools, shop supplies, and all sorts of other overhead. Add to that
the fact that, to even have a chance of being productive, you need to
be a college graduate, plus you need to constantly keep abreast of the
latest product and technological developments. Consumer electronics
repair was never a get-rich-quick business, and now (unless you run a
very tight operation) it's a sure way to go broke.
Unless you take your CD player to a manufacturer's authorized service
depot, where they will likely have the appropriate parts and
documentation, the chances of Joe Blow down the street being able to
troubleshoot and repair it properly are slim. Manufacturers are often
able to repair your product for a marginal sum, because they don't
look at the service department as being a profit-making division.
Generally, they only offer service to support their marketing
operation. Quite often, they don't make parts or documentation
available to independent service businesses -- only dealers, if at all
-- it's simply not worth the hassle and expense for them.
Most consumers are under the impression that their VCR, or whatever,
is infinitely repairable, like a car. To a very limited extent, it
is. But how much are you willing to pay? For most people, not much.
Certainly not enough to keep a repair shop with tons of overhead in
business. My guess is most people's upper limit is maybe about 20% of
the purchase price of an item for a repair bill. 20% of your $175 CD
player is...uh, well, I won't even answer the phone for that kind of
money. Oh, and technicians really enjoy it when you try to
"negotiate" the repair bill! Thanks, I'd rather work on designing
better nuclear weapon detonators. It's no wonder a skilled,
well-educated technician would consider working in the consumer
industry pretty much the bottom of the career barrel.
So the decision whether or not to pay for having an item repaired is
fairly simple nowadays. Get an estimate (for which you should pay),
and compare how much it would cost just to replace the item. Nine
times out of ten, the thing will end up in the dumpster. Sad but
true.
And I bet that's a lot more than you wanted to know about what's left
of the consumer electronics repair industry!
Maybe I'm wrong, and you'll find that one supercheap repair shop with
a ten year warranty on all service and that fabled old-world
craftsmanship. Then again, maybe monkeys will fly out my ass! You
get what you pay for. You want cheap? I'm sure any number of rascals
will be glad to accomodate you. Try Eltek -- they're probaly not what
*you* might consider cheap, but they're competent and honest, which is
probably why they're still in business. Or just buy a new CD player.
-EK
Hugh
chip or electronic component. But repair shops order much less components,
and each component can cost them $0.10 to $80.00 per component. And that's
just for the components, what about labour expense, and other cost of
running a repair shop?
Some times it's cheaper just to buy a new electronic gadget.
Unknown
Of course. What the hell could I have been thinking?
Thanks for clearing that up for me, then.
-EK
Serial # 19781010
They are authorized repair depot for SONY, SANYO,KENWOOD<
JENSEN<CLARION<CRAIG<ALPINE<YAMAHA, and BLAUPUNKT, and PPI
address is 4678 Main Street
Vancouver, BC
tel : (604) 872-0672
fax: : (604) 872-2199
hope this helps
jay
On Tue, 08 Aug 2000 03:44:41 -0700, kim <ki...@akamail.com> wrote:
>Hi,
>
>Can anyone recommend a repair shop for my magazine cd player where
>they will do an honest job and not overcharge?
>
>Thanks in advance!
>
>Kim
kim
>On Tue, 08 Aug 2000 03:44:41 -0700, kim <ki...@akamail.com> wrote:
>
>>Hi,
>>
>>Can anyone recommend a repair shop for my magazine cd player where
>>they will do an honest job and not overcharge?
>
>Specific recommendation: Eltek Electronics. On Rupert St. near
>Grandview Hwy. There's also a branch on Marine Dr. in North Van.
>Check in the phone book. They don't charge much for an estimate.
Thanks. :)
>Some comments based on my fleeting experience in the consumer
>electronics service industry:
>While I'm not sure how you define "overcharge", I assume you want to
>pay $20 to get your $175 CD player fixed. It ain't gonna happen.
I just don't want to see dollar signs in their eyes when I walk into
the shop. It is really annoying.
(snip to appease the bandwidth Gods)
>So the decision whether or not to pay for having an item repaired is
>fairly simple nowadays. Get an estimate (for which you should pay),
>and compare how much it would cost just to replace the item. Nine
>times out of ten, the thing will end up in the dumpster. Sad but
>true.
It *is* a shame because it is still in excellent condition except for
this one problem.
>And I bet that's a lot more than you wanted to know about what's left
>of the consumer electronics repair industry!
I asked. ;)
>Maybe I'm wrong, and you'll find that one supercheap repair shop with
>a ten year warranty on all service and that fabled old-world
>craftsmanship. Then again, maybe monkeys will fly out my ass! You
>get what you pay for. You want cheap? I'm sure any number of rascals
>will be glad to accomodate you. Try Eltek -- they're probaly not what
>*you* might consider cheap, but they're competent and honest, which is
>probably why they're still in business. Or just buy a new CD player.
Competent and honest IS exactly what I am looking for.
Thanks again.
Kim
Unknown
>On Wed, 09 Aug 2000 01:27:29 GMT, , (El Ka-Bong) sed:
>
>>On Tue, 08 Aug 2000 03:44:41 -0700, kim <ki...@akamail.com> wrote:
>>
>>While I'm not sure how you define "overcharge", I assume you want to
>>pay $20 to get your $175 CD player fixed. It ain't gonna happen.
>
>I just don't want to see dollar signs in their eyes when I walk into
>the shop. It is really annoying.
>
I hear you, but customers automatically assume when they're told it
will cost them $200 to get their $300 VCR repaired that it's a
"rip-off". They don't realise that the technician repairing it needs
to get paid more than the third-world assembly-line worker, who built
the thing in the first place. Nowadays its cheaper to manufacture
most products with unskilled labour than to repair them with skilled
labour. For example, I recently had a Palm Pilot with a broken
screen. I paid $150 to the warranty company for US Robotics in
Toronto, and they just exchanged it for a (probably) remanufactured
unit. They probably just tossed my broken one into the dumpster. I
can't remember exactly how much it originally cost, but it was around
$300. Still cheaper than attempting to fix it myself, or buying a new
one, as far as I can see.
>(snip to appease the bandwidth Gods)
And they thank you!
>It *is* a shame because it is still in excellent condition except for
>this one problem.
I can sympathise, but I guess that's just how things are nowadays.
I've got a few items in my house which I've intercepted from my
friends on the way to the dumpster. My circa 1989 VCR is one I got
from a friend. It may only have cost me $6 in parts, but when I think
of the ~10 hours of my labour and screwing around, I could have just
earned that money at work and bought a top of the line brand new unit!
Oh well, one less thing in the landfill, I suppose. It works great,
but I have to keep shoveling coal into it's steam boiler.
-EK
dxc...@mortimer.com
Centre. Give Raymond, a call at 430-3380. Just a satisfied customer.
Have also rec'd him to a good friend and his service was also good.
On Tue, 08 Aug 2000 03:44:41 -0700, kim <ki...@akamail.com> wrote:
>Hi,
>
>Can anyone recommend a repair shop for my magazine cd player where
>they will do an honest job and not overcharge?
>
>Thanks in advance!
>
>Kim