by Dale Chessey
Last October, Brian Stiger, Chief
of the Bureau of Electronic & Appliance
Repair (BEAR), reminded the service
repair industry of the Bureau's
diligence in helping shops with
incidents of not receiving parts
in a timely manner. Last year
complaints regarding slow delivery
or no parts being available caught
the Bureau's attention.
The article emphasized remedies
by having shops report manufacturers
not abiding by the law. As
you may know, the Song-Beverly Consumer
Warranty Act, Civil Code Section
1793.3, requires manufacturers to
supply parts for at least seven
years after the manufactured date
of a product.
The law provided recourse for
service people, but the frightening
reality is there seems to be another
story coming from the industry.
Retention of old parts are not practical
or cost effective for the manufacturer.
A distributor who wanted to remain
anonymous said the industry changes
so fast, product lines and models
realistically are supported for
only about 2 to 3 years, then a
new model replaces with new part
stock. The old parts last
until supplies run dry, then the
market of refurbished parts kicks
in primarily from cannibalized old
scrap units - used parts sold at
premium prices!
Obviously, part stock issues
have been going on foryears with
less expensive products. However,
this illegal practice of a manufacturer
not supporting the product has apparently
crept into high-end items as well.
How are we to combat this new
trend and enforce the law?
A critical component is by reporting
these manufactures to the Bureau
to investigate! Repair shops
submitting tips to the Bureau is
vital to help ensure compliance
in the industry.
Be assured, the Bureau is committed
to resolving issues that create
unfair business practices, impacting
the repair industry and ultimately
the consumer. We all know
that a consumer should not have
to wait 2 months for a television
part and pay exuberant prices; which
possibly makes the product not cost
effective in being repaired in the
first place. Therefore, the
repair industry has an economic
interest in preserving the trade's
reputation with having compliance.
With that, the Bureau has made it
easy for reporting practices and
are vigorously enforcing laws through
issuing violation notices and levying
fines.
If you have difficulty in obtaining
replacement parts or service literature,
the Bureau recommends the following:
· Make sure you follow the manufacturer's
specific ordering process when
obtaining parts.
· Ask for an estimated delivery
time of that part.
· Identify a contact person with
whom you can follow up.
· Document, confirm and track your
order status.
· And, as a courtesy, keep your
customer updated on the status of
the repair order and service.
Please visit the BEAR website
at
http://www.bear.ca.gov/ to download
the industry tip form and fax your
complaints, tips, or concerns to
(916) 574-2120.
Questions and comments can be
emailed to Dale Chessey at
Dale_Chessey@dca.ca.gov
