Is it true that service is a thing of the past? Few items can
be serviced these days.
I once owned and operated a service company that provided
maintenance on home appliances — it was named, Home Appliance. Service was provided for washers,
dryers, refrigerators, ranges, etc. My company served the tri-county area and
myself and employees were factory trained for authorized service on many brand
appliances.
Each year manufacturers would make changes, even if the
ones they had produced were doing a good job and selling
well. With each change came a whole new design,
and a whole new way to perform service. The
new designs also required new parts which would call for
new tools to perform service.
Added features usually came along with the new designs.
During over 20 years, I operated my business, the
changes in appliances became very technical and
the schooling was extensive to keep up. Soon the special
tools and equipment to perform service became a truck full. Techs had
to
design electrical
boards to test and repair timers, to repair motors and valves required
additional
tools. Ice makers went from flexible cube trays to sophisticated automatic
ice cube makers, followed soon by a lever on the door to allow you
to fill a glass
with water and ice without even opening the refrigerator.
Washing machine development led to various motor speeds,
variable water temperatures and a timer that allowed
you to select time for soaking,
washing, rinsing
and spinning.
With the newest style washers, you barely need any water.
Throw-away (because the price was soon so low to purchase
one of them) microwaves were introduced for fast cooking.
Ranges went to
smooth
tops with multiple
ovens. The smooth top cooking area on the electric ranges made
cooking easy. You could
set burners at different temperatures. Ovens could be set to
self-clean. Gas ranges came with rotisserie features
and a gas oven could even
have wood chips
to enhance flavor.
All household appliances kept drastically changing over
a short period of years until there were few more changes
that could
be made. The
service trucks,
now
loaded with tools, parts and a good tech could arrive at your
home and remove parts and repair or replace them all in one
trip. This
type of
service called
for better trained techs with very expensive equipment. Once
the techs were available, it was time for yet another big change – the elimination
of them altogether.
Throw-away parts and appliances became the new way for
households to equip their kitchens and laundry rooms.
Today’s appliances are usually
good for a few years, and then you simply toss them out and go buy a new
one. It started with
toasters, mixers, coffeepots then graduated to the bigger items.
Not at all unlike many other industries, we have reduced
a trade — just
about to extinction and created another problem — how to dispose
of all the throwaway appliances? All the new-style appliances greatly reduced
any need
for service techs and sadly added to the mountains of trash, steel and
plastic that will take years to degrade in the land fills. The components
also add poisons,
such as refrigerants and lead to our atmosphere and waterways.
If you are puzzled about how I came to write this column
or what my point is, I will tell you. We are now reliving
a similar
cycle
of disposability,
this
time with office equipment and electronics. Today’s office equipment is the
latest in throw-a ways. (How cheap can you buy a printer, and who ever repairs
them?) They are piling up in the landfills daily alongside the “buy-it-cheap” computers.
My point — As I see it, how much will the landfills hold?
Capt. Fred Davis is a retired charter captain and nationally
published author of boating articles. His “As I See It” appears Fridays
in the Tribune and Boat Smart articles are published in each edition of
the Thumb Resorter plus
on line at www.captainfredsboattips.com.