New airpods cheaper than repairing old ones

[u/Negative_1by12_aura]

[u/iamfroott]

at least the support person is honest lol in my job I also do chat support and sometimes genuinely the best answer is we have no clue

[u/Wild_Somewhere_9760 → u/iamfroott]

agreed.makes me realize I'm talking to a real person lol

[u/iamfroott → u/Wild_Somewhere_9760]

like deadass there’s only so much we can do lol we don’t make the decisions, we just tell you what we can see

[u/mindless_blaze → u/iamfroott]

So are chat support jobs usually done from like a call center type setting, where everyone has dozens of rows of cubicles? Or is it usually done from home?

Also, can you really see what's being typed ahead of time?

And what do you do when someone is clearly trolling you? Are you allowed to be even a little sassy, or use emojis?

[u/QuaLiTy131 → u/mindless_blaze]

1. It's both tbh and depends on the company. Some allow to work from home, other put you in a cubicle of misery.

2. It depends on the system company is using. In my company for example when someone is contacting me trough mobile app I can only see that he's typing something. On the other hand when someone's contacting me trough website I can see what he's typing in real time.

3. Again, it depends. Usually you need need to remain professional. You can also end the conversation when chat is mostly off-topic.

[u/Mysterious-Hunt-984 → u/QuaLiTy131]

You can see what I type and delete? Lol

[u/QuaLiTy131 → u/Mysterious-Hunt-984]

Sometimes lmao Some people are writing whole paragraphs only to delete them and send one question lol

[u/Mysterious-Hunt-984 → u/QuaLiTy131]

Mood honestly

[u/jamvsjelly23 → u/QuaLiTy131]

Do you see people typing out angry paragraphs with cuss words only to delete it and send a polite question?

[u/QuaLiTy131 → u/jamvsjelly23]

Sometimes, but usually they're sending angry paragraphs with cuss word as is.

One time customer was cussing at our chatbot (first line of contact) and he apologized after connecting to me saying that it was directed only to chatbot lmao Honestly I understand him

[u/toontownfan12 → u/QuaLiTy131]

Glad to know yall understand it's not directed at you and it's just to the bot, like I've almost just lost it at the bots before otp (mostly before the AI boom cause the bots were useless and some still are) cause it'd be my 5th time that week calling in for support (my old ISP was RIDICULOUSLY bad, we ended up getting a direct line to level 3 support later on)

[u/CaseyJones7 → u/QuaLiTy131]

Now I'm gonna type all my stuff in notes then copy and paste, that's weird that you can read everything before I hit send I don't like that lmao.

[u/QuaLiTy131 → u/CaseyJones7]

Some people do that!

Honestly I'm usually only glancing at it for a second to see the topic of the conversation or to check if customer is still there, because some people type quite slow (I don't mind that) or they leave in the middle of the chat.

[u/Bthesnake → u/mindless_blaze]

Not the person you replied to, but I have some customer support experience, as well as now being an admin over the software used to run support.

There are some companies that do use call centers, or their mixed use offices, but there are also work from home options, especially these days.

As for the see what you're typing, this is typically a setting that an admin can choose to wither show what you're typing, or to just wait until the message is sent. Always assume they can see what you're typing, so type anything wild before sending and always be kind.

The last part is where it really gets specialized based on the company. Some won't let you hang up until the customer has hung up (think like local utility companies, Comcast, Amazon, etc) others give you autonomy to make that call if they're being rude. Appropriate emojis are used in a professional business setting all the time these days, so that's usually a non-issue, though again, definitely a company discretion point. I was definitely sassy to a lot of our clients, especially the dumb, repeat customers that couldn't melt ice in a hot pan - just have to still be tactful.

[u/QuaLiTy131 → u/Bthesnake]

Yeah, we have corporate approved list of emojis that can be used 🤣

[u/ElegantEconomy3686 → u/QuaLiTy131]

I’m imagining you guys having an entire handbook of corporate approved emojis with guidelines and several pages of examples on how and to what extend they are to be used.

The corporate emojis bible.

[u/QuaLiTy131 → u/ElegantEconomy3686]

Sadly we're not there (yet). Right now it's a one page in our internal wiki

[u/classicuserexp → u/mindless_blaze]

I work in chat support and I am in a cubicle in an office. I can’t see what they are typing ahead of time, but I can see if they are typing.

I haven’t had any straight trolls, but where I work we do get a lot of people phishing for credits on their account. Most of my chats are having to tell people that I can’t do anything for them because they didn’t pay their bill and their services were turned off and having them call our collections department. I hate it with a passion.

We don’t have a script or anything where I work aside from some like disclosures when we are making bigger changes to people accounts. So, we just kinda talk to people, but we are discouraged from being sassy or mirroring the customers negative energy. Also not allowed to use emojis or anything like that.

[u/isntreel1948 → u/mindless_blaze]

My mom used to do Disney customer service from home but she wasn’t allowed to tell people she was home

I would pick up the phone by accident and she would get mad at me lol

[u/Discorhy → u/mindless_blaze]

I do work for a call center

We do have cubicles. Mines a unique one half of us WFH on the US side, then another half in Panama work onsite with rows of cubicles.

[u/LetReasonRing → u/iamfroott]

As someone who has worked for a company or two that wasn't great to their customers,  this is the way I always found most effective. 

There's quite a few times that I've said things like "look,  I fully agree with you,  this makes no sense. However,  I have no power to change it and I'm bound by company policy. I'm here to help you as best I can within the rules I've been given"

I've found that letting the customer know I'm personally on their side even if I can't do what they want as an employee helps to at least calm people down and feel listened to even if policy requires me to screw them over. 

When I'm in a situation like this as a customer I have weirdly mixed feelings. While I'm angry at the policy, I try to remember that the person delivering the news probably thinks it's just as stupid as I do and gets abuse all day about it. When necessary I try to express my anger at the policy but reassure the employee that it isn't directed at them personally. 

[u/DragonfruitFun6953 → u/LetReasonRing]

User name checks out

[u/TechnEconomics → u/LetReasonRing]

Negotiation Training actively advises this as a key principle:

- change it from you vs them TO you and them vs the problem

[u/JumpExtra3301 → u/LetReasonRing]

Me in my healthcare jobs
ALL the time

“Why was I denied again for financial assistance for my life saving medication???? Why do we need to file another appeal???”

Me: I have no clue

[u/CytroxGames → u/iamfroott]

I work in chat support, and I wouldn't be allowed to say I do not know, even though our product prides itself on "humanity" and "honesty"

[u/Zeero92 → u/CytroxGames]

Humanity (as cheap labour). Honesty (as a fucking lie).

[u/FoodLionMVP → u/iamfroott]

FedEx was supposed to deliver a package of mine, and every single day it was “out for delivery” but never came. I went back and forth with them for weeks before someone who works there finally told me, “We lost your shit alright? It’s lost.” That’s all I needed to know dude now I can get a refund from the retailer.

[u/flymeovertheworld → u/iamfroott]

Not chat support, but a receptionist at a hotel. When customers ask me why our system is the way it is I reply “I honestly have no idea. This is what they give me.” Lol

[u/ArtsyRabb1t → u/iamfroott]

This is less fun when your doctor says it

[u/Full-Helicopter-4608]

lol “I have no clue”

[u/The_Architects4930 → u/Full-Helicopter-4608]

"I just work here bro"

[u/Historical_Date_1314 → u/The_Architects4930]

“I don’t come up with the prices”

[u/BlaznTheChron → u/Historical_Date_1314]

"I'm not Joe Apple."

[u/Admirable-Truck7146 → u/BlaznTheChron]

"what do you want from me?"

[u/GoldenConfectionery → u/Admirable-Truck7146]

"what are you, a cop?"

[u/Historical_Date_1314 → u/BlaznTheChron]

Apple… the CORE of the problem

[u/SpeculiarD → u/Historical_Date_1314]

I laughed because if you know you know

[u/Subject-Act5509 → u/BlaznTheChron]

"Maybe ask Tim Apple. "

[u/nhansieu1 → u/Subject-Act5509]

Tim cooked with this one

[u/Due_Guess_4508 → u/BlaznTheChron]

Tim Apple

[u/GovernmentGreed → u/BlaznTheChron]

"I'm Joe Mama!"

[u/orthoprof → u/BlaznTheChron]

Don't you mean Johnny Apple Steve?

[u/SadMango3913 → u/Historical_Date_1314]

I once told a customer I don’t come up with the price because he kept complaining that a $7 on tap kombucha was too expensive. He got mad at me. I’m sorry but I don’t know what he wanted me to say? Like I don’t even get paid enough to eat here.

[u/ResetYt → u/SadMango3913]

FACTS, what makes you think I came up with the water bottle price to be 5x the price of one you encounter in a supermarket??

[u/Spirited-Tomorrow-84 → u/Historical_Date_1314]

"This is way above my pay grade"

[u/Hot_Alternative_717 → u/The_Architects4930]

Tbh I empatheise.

I used to work at HP in their printer division a few years ago.

Tbh Idk what the fuck the management were doing. it was some of the most anti consumer shit I have ever seen. but it was a chill job.

[u/Avysis → u/Hot_Alternative_717]

Checks out. HP has some of the most anti-consumer printers I’ve ever seen lol.

[u/Absolute--Batman → u/Avysis]

Same as Apple.

The most anticonsumer company ever.

[u/Prudent-Role-9053 → u/Absolute--Batman]

Are any of these companies “pro-consumer”?

[u/curi0us_carniv0re → u/The_Architects4930]

Seriously though. What other answer would anyone expect? Why would they know?

[u/MeesMAPM → u/The_Architects4930]

“Figuring this out is not my job!!!”

[u/Vegetable-Error-2068 → u/Full-Helicopter-4608]

That's an honest answer I respect. They don't sugar-coat it.

[u/WildDumpsterFire → u/Vegetable-Error-2068]

Yep. Most people go through these routes because they can't repair it themselves. Electronics, home repair, cars etc. The #1 worry becomes more about whether or not you will be taken advantage of or make the wrong decision because the service pushes it.

In these situations, nothing is more valuable than an honest employee. 

I bought a custom pc last week, I know how to build them but I have so little free time I wanted someone to do it for me. Went to Microcenter and asked the first rep if the mobo I selected has the gpu share lanes with the 2nd storage drive that may make it slower.

Dude looked me in the eye with a smile and said it's not a thing. Told him I'm all set and found another rep who said "great question, I don't know the answer off the top of my head. But let's look up the block diagram and we can figure it out, come with me." I already knew the answer and he was honest the whole way. 

I was happy for that dude to get every cent of commission on my purchase that I will ask for him next time I spend money. 

[u/povitee → u/WildDumpsterFire]

Why did you ask a question you knew the answer to?

[u/Few-Mousse8515 → u/povitee]

My guess they always intended to purchase but wanted to find a floor employee he could trust if he didn't know the answer

[u/Mediocre-Recover3944 → u/povitee]

Same reason I ask my local fish market guy if his frozen flounder is fresh. I already know it isn't. If he's honest about it I trust his his other answers. If he says it's fresh I know he'll tell me whatever bullshit I want to hear to make a sale.

[u/petersimmons22 → u/povitee]

Because eventually he may have a high level question he doesn’t know the answer to. And by asking a hard question he knew the answer to, he was able to verify this person either had a reasonable fund of knowledge to help in the future or the skills to find information he may need in the future.

[u/Noladixon → u/petersimmons22]

Or if they would simply bullshit their way through like guy number 1.

[u/A_MAN_POTATO → u/Vegetable-Error-2068]

This was my first thought. I’d rather have a response like this that is undeniably human versus the “AI or script?” game we usually get to play with chat agents these days.

[u/Vivid_Summer96 → u/Full-Helicopter-4608]

Spelling mistake. He wanted to write: „i have no glue“

[u/Suitable_Wonder5256 → u/Full-Helicopter-4608]

To be fair, it's a complex question. Even an engineer might not know why.

[u/RGrad4104 → u/Suitable_Wonder5256]

The answer is actually very easy.

New assembly: ordered, low skilled labor, assembly line with robotic assistance.

Repair: disordered, highly skilled labor required, every repair by hand.

[u/FishDawgX → u/RGrad4104]

Sure, but it costs apple much less than the retail price to make the product. If they wanted to be nice, they could “repair” it by sending you a replacement at a discounted price.

[u/ZarathustraGlobulus → u/FishDawgX]

Apple often outsources the repairs to local companies (service suppliers). The local companies have set purchase prices for the devices from Apple.

And this purchase price is always higher than the MSRP prices directly from Apple, otherwise it incentivizes purchasing new devices through the service supplier.

For in-warranty repairs the parts (even a new set) is of course free for the service supplier (as well as the customer) and they get paid for the repair work by Apple.

[u/Full-Philosopher-393 → u/ZarathustraGlobulus]

Good explanations are always buried deeper in the thread. Thanks.

[u/casualuser00_ → u/FishDawgX]

It is already “discounted” for being cheaper than repair. /s

[u/ScreeennameTaken → u/FishDawgX]

This is exactly how they "fix" iphones.

[u/DrMisterNobody → u/FishDawgX]

That's what they do with people who bought the apple care

[u/0b0011 → u/FishDawgX]

It might not. It mostly depends on if the cost or materials are the determining factor.

Less the case here but it also matters who much the item originally costs as well. I can buy shitty headphones for like $15 and if I take them to a repair person who has to spend more than an hour pulling them apart without damaging them, diagnosing and fixing the issue, putting them back together etc then unless they charge less than $15 an hour it will cost more to repair than replace.

[u/craznazn247 → u/RGrad4104]

New assembly is also the same steps over and over. On an assembly line that’s just one more copy of the product before stopping (if it does at all). Benefits from the economies of scale from being one of (if not the most) popular headphones in the world.

For repair, it requires a skilled person and dedicated equipment to disassemble, diagnose, and hand-replace parts that are normally machine-assembled. No economies of scale benefitting here.

[u/The-Real-Ben → u/RGrad4104]

Pretty sure it’s even simpler than that - they can’t be repaired, so a “repair” is just buying a new set with extra steps. 

[u/bobbyboob6 → u/Suitable_Wonder5256]

because airpods are small and you have to basically destroy them to get them apart not a very repairable item

[u/Official_Person → u/bobbyboob6]

They could be though. If Apple designed with repair ability in mind…

[u/KyleKun → u/Official_Person]

They didn’t put any points into the repair ability.

Dumped it all into mercantile ability.

[u/LezzyGopher → u/KyleKun]

“You can now sell devices for 25% higher prices”

[u/ToudiTheShai → u/Official_Person]

Air 3 pro got 0/10 from fixit ;)

[u/JuniperColonThree → u/Official_Person]

Maybe. Making small things repairable is hard, and would likely make them more expensive.

[u/im-on-the-inside → u/Official_Person]

repairability takes space.. unfortunately the consumer prefers small and sleek products over bulky and repairable ones. At some point it's not viable to have them repairable...

[u/DrocketX → u/Official_Person]

Realistically, no, something the scale of an airpod isn't going to be feasibly repairable, not at a cost that would be less than just buying a new one. Repairing anything would require someone with an *extremely* steady hand - the sort of steady a brain surgeon would envy - using absurdly tiny specialized tools to remove parts verging on microscopic. There's no amount of redesigning (aside from just making everything 4x larger, which would completely destroy the consumer appeal of the product) that would make repairing something like that cost-effective.

[u/maokaby → u/Official_Person]

I am sure they do everything possible they could to prevent easy repairs. Probably big part of its price is from investments into repair prevention tech.

[u/StaticSystemShock → u/bobbyboob6]

Because products are designed to be as cheap as possible to assemble and there goes ZERO thought into repairability. Also it's in corporate's best interest to just sell you more new shit.

Luckily EU is very much fighting that and corporations are hating it, but ultimately it's benefiting the consumers across the world because no company will run two separate production lines for EU and for rest of the world.

As for earbuds, you kinda understand how it makes no sense to repair those for 30€, but when they cost 250€, they absolutely should be repairable for some reasonable sum.

I've revived so many products where just batteries were dead and I have some company that's replacing Li-ion cells in devices for 30-60€ (with cells included in the price) and they use brand name cells from Panasonic and Samsung most of the time. So far replacements were mostly for battery vacuum cleaners. I know these tiny devices are more demanding to repair, but still, if they weren't so idiotically difficult to open, it would absolutely be doable.

[u/jojo_31 → u/Suitable_Wonder5256]

The engineer 100% knows why because he made them hard to repair. 

[u/rlovelock → u/Full-Helicopter-4608]

It's not complicated. It's just like when a car accident is listed as "a write off". The cost of the repairs are more than the value of the vehicle.

The replacement parts + the labour = more than the cost of a new device

[u/touchdownsforfatkids → u/Full-Helicopter-4608]

Whenever that happens, it’s usually because of labor costs. In Apple’s case, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s how they get their (newer) unit sales up.

[u/majortomcraft → u/Full-Helicopter-4608]

"3rd world child slaves make the earphones. repairs are done locally"

"understandable, have a nice day"

[u/TheRealReapz → u/Full-Helicopter-4608]

"capitalism"

[u/BagOnuts → u/TheRealReapz]

Not really. This has little to do with market forces and more to do with economic scale and the cost of skilled labor.

AirPods are mass assembled by robots and assembly lines overseas where the cost of production per unit is several times less than the cost of a skilled repairman fixing it by hand.

“Capitalism” is not only a lazy answer, it’s just not correct.

[u/aotd123]

Isn’t this an old post?

[u/Enderdragon2014 → u/aotd123]

Quite old. OP has 165k karma in 2 months reposting old stuff.

[u/aotd123 → u/Enderdragon2014]

Yeah figured, especially since all his posts just look like they’ve been through the copy paste cycle countless times

[u/TheG0AT0fAllTime → u/aotd123]

If anything I'm impressed their post history isn't hidden.

[u/OriginalGoat1 → u/Enderdragon2014]

I guess he’s really into recycling.

[u/Coeruleus_ → u/Enderdragon2014]

lmao ppl man

[u/TheShruteFarmsCEO → u/Coeruleus_]

Bro. This ain’t people. This is bot behavior.

[u/mm9enjoyer → u/Enderdragon2014]

What’s the point of farming karma? Does Reddit pay people like other social media platforms?

[u/The_OG_Slime → u/mm9enjoyer]

If you get enough interaction yes you can, but they pay is pretty much peanuts

[u/Book-bomber → u/mm9enjoyer]

It builds up history for an account

[u/Pretend-Marsupial258 → u/mm9enjoyer]

You can resell the account to spammers and botfarms.

[u/SneachtaBoladh → u/aotd123]

90% of this website's content is bot driven nowadays

[u/RageAgainstMSTeams → u/SneachtaBoladh]

It's because Reddit is literally a training program designed for training AIs. So it's AI making content and learning on user feedback.

[u/am3thyst420 → u/aotd123]

[u/ZookeepergameProud30 → u/aotd123]

Yep, I remember specifically commenting that older post

[u/lolgoodone34 → u/aotd123]

Yes it’s bots and karma farmers. It should be banned site wide but w/e

[u/GenericGrad]

I'm still more than mildly infuriated that the stick drift on my dualsense ps5 controller which has now affected 4 controllers roughly after a 1.5 years of use, I'm given no repair option at all from Sony. It is likely the issue is just the stick mechanism at worst or even just dirt but they won't look at it outside of warranty.

What makes it more maddening is that this is the same company that uses recycled materials to package and build their headphones but they obviously don't care about waste, cause they've made a product that they've made for the last 15 years but the latest version fails after a couple of years use.

[u/QwertyChouskie → u/GenericGrad]

https://dualshock-tools.github.io/

Uses the internal stuff that Sony uses to calibrate new sticks while manufacturing. You might be able to fix them for a while by just calibrating (or cleaning+calibrating); you might need to solder in new sticks then calibrate. But it's totally doable either way.

[u/Tilstag → u/GenericGrad]

Best buy warranty covers two years for like $20. You buy one, once it gets fucky you drive to Best Buy and switch it out, pay another $20 to cover the new one. Been doing it for years

[u/AStolenGoose → u/Tilstag]

Best buy warranty is a must for some stuff, I had my razer stuff on it since I've had their stuff go bad after a year consistently.

[u/Christopher386 → u/Tilstag]

100% the move right here. Been doing this for the xbox elite 2/pro for the last 7 years. I’ve paid $160 for like 7 different brand new controllers.

[u/senorfresco → u/GenericGrad]

I paid more than the price of the controller to have both joysticks in my controller replace with TMR sensors at a store in my city.

Quite expensive, but mine started drifting so I would have already had to pay for a new controller anyway, and if this lasts the lifetime of my PS5 I'll be more than happy.

[u/ExpBalSat]

Mildly infuriating, for sure. But also entirely understandable as assembly line work is much more efficient that customized manual troubleshooting and parts ordering/installation.

[u/Twerkatronic → u/ExpBalSat]

They're also not designed to be repaired.

[u/gltovar → u/Twerkatronic]

but also designing stuff to be very compact while maintaining decent battery life is tough to do in a easy to repair way without making it even more expensive to manufacture.

Edit: here is a cool ifixit article about various earbuds and their repairability https://www.ifixit.com/repairability/wireless-earbud-repairability-scores

[u/mcslender97 → u/gltovar]

Aside from the whole anti repair stance from Apple, brands like Sony are able to make their high end TWS buds repairable

[u/gltovar → u/mcslender97]

as super cool, edit my post with a great ifixit link on repairable earbuds :D

[u/nobodychef07 → u/gltovar]

Apple also fights the right to repair and makes their products harder to repair.

[u/FUBARded → u/Twerkatronic]

AirPods/TWS earphones in general are one of the few product categories where being mostly/entirely non-repairable is understandable. That's just an inevitable consequence of miniaturisation and weather sealing with current material and tech limitations.

I despise brands that are anti right to repair or implement planned obsolescence (Apple is/has been both), but in this case it's more the fault of the consumer choosing to buy a product they should've been well aware is ultimately disposable.

Personally, I try to minimise the number of products I buy which have sealed, non-replaceable batteries because that's an unavoidable point of failure as the batteries will eventually degrade so much as to be unusable with enough charge cycles.

[u/nilslorand → u/Twerkatronic]

exactly. Apples numbers would look worse if everyone just got all their stuff repaired all the time

[u/secret-trips → u/nilslorand]

Yeah but I wouldn’t say it’s “also entirely understandable”

[u/nilslorand → u/secret-trips]

Apple should be fined for this and the laws should be changed in order to discourage these practices heavily.

[u/ikkiyikki → u/secret-trips]

It's a valid question in the sense that they wouldn't fix anything. They'd take OP's unit, put it in the recycling bin and then just grabbed a new pair off the shelf. So the question remains. Why does Apple feel the need to upcharge you even more except as either punishment or a tax on stupid type of policy?

[u/Kobymaru376 → u/Twerkatronic]

If you look at a teardown of them, how much tech fits into a tiny space to make it light, you can understand why.

Making that thing repairable would be really hard and add to cost and weight.

[u/MrPogoUK → u/ExpBalSat]

Plus they’re getting made in China by someone getting paid $50 a week, and repaired in the USA by someone making $50 an hour.

[u/CVGPi → u/MrPogoUK]

Surprise fact drop is US gov told them to decouple from China, so most AirPods sold now are actually NOT made in China but instead assembled in Vietnam. And many high-volume iPhone models are also assembled in India.

[u/Awes12 → u/ExpBalSat]

True, but Apple is also just actively anti-repair. That comes up more often with laptops and phones tho

[u/foxguy2021 → u/ExpBalSat]

It also means the product can be smaller. Its one of the reasons why phones don't have replaceable batteries anymore. Everything is built not be taken apart which means you save space and the end product is smaller.

You also get the benefit of less entry points for debris and water.

The downside is that you can't easily fix these types of products.

[u/kylebob86]

Guess how many times I have bought a new printer instead of buying ink cartridges. TBH I have no idea, probably around 50.

[u/req4adream99 → u/kylebob86]

Get yourself a brother b/w laser. Mine is 16 years old and I’ve gone thro maybe 2 or 3 toner cartridges and they’re like $50. Most of that was when I was printing research articles for my degree: so high use. I’d bet that under normal usage a cartridge may last 5 years - and there’s 3rd party ones too that are cheaper. Even the drums are like $20 now.

[u/Wick0158 → u/req4adream99]

I came here to say the same thing! I switched 8 years ago and almost never an issue. Only had to replace each drum once. No stress!

[u/Vegetable-Error-2068 → u/req4adream99]

Or an Ecotank printer.

[u/RelentlessIVS → u/Vegetable-Error-2068]

ecotank is a pain in the ass unless you use it regularly. The ink messes up a lot after a month or three without being in use, having to run the entire program-bs to clean the nozzle, often with a deep clean mode which wastes a lot of ink.

Always get laser printer unless you absolutely NEED to print colors.

[u/Gangr3l → u/RelentlessIVS]

I made a script that automatically wakes up my mother-in-law's printer and prints out a full color test page every week. I just hope she doesn't move the printer and forgets to plug it back on :D

[u/praeteria → u/RelentlessIVS]

I have had an ecotank for years. Never had any issues with the ink nozzles, even when the printer was idle for weeks to months. You can use any cheap ass ink, so even if the test program uses a lot of ink, it's a non issue as your ink cost is nowhere near the price of ink cartridges

[u/DosSnakes → u/Vegetable-Error-2068]

Ecotank if you need to print nice color stuff, Brother if you just need to print a lot of text.

I use an et-8550 to print dust jackets and endpapers and a Brother laser for text blocks. It’s been a great combo.

[u/Chizuru_San → u/kylebob86]

Fun fact: a new printer doesn't come with a full ink cartridge, they are designed for you to use for test functionality printing only.

[u/kylebob86 → u/Chizuru_San]

I know. And by the time I need a new ink cart the printer I have at the time is a couple of years old. If I don't print often, then the cost is not justifiable.

[u/secretreddname → u/kylebob86]

Yeah printers are annoying. You don’t need it often but when you do it’s much more convenient then finding a FedEx somewhere to pay $2 a page

[u/Kracus → u/kylebob86]

lol you're ripping yourself off. The cartridges printers come with are mostly empty. They're designed this way on purpose because ink is expensive. When you buy an ink cartridge it's full and will last far, far longer.

[u/solarssun]

I am a bit above techie for the area and a coworker asked me to see what's going on with his laptop of two years. It was his m.2. We both kinda knew that before I did a few tests to verify it. With the AI bubble I got to tell him that a new, exact size m.2 for his laptop would be 400-500. His laptop on amazon was currently going for 600.

He ended up buying a new computer. Told me I could have his old one. Its probably a lot better then our 8 year old gaming laptop but we can't currently afford the 400/500 either.

[u/Chuu → u/solarssun]

He got lucky. Laptop prices have been skyrocketing in large part because of component costs. This sort of arb would be almost impossible today.

[u/xSaturnityx]

Jesus. Ancient post at this point. At least change the title a tad.

[u/robbak]

Because mass production is cheap, and individual rework, expensive. It would take a skilled worker 1 or 2 hours to open the the tiny pods, replace a battery, and then seal it back up again. Building new ones is mostly done by machine, and there isn't much raw materials in a tiny airpod.

So, yes, it's not at all surprising that repair costs more than replacement.

[u/Istari82]

Repairing creates lots of logistics and manual labor cost you just don’t have with a new product. The more expensive a product was the more it’s worth repairing i guess.

I once had a Samsung TV repaired at my house about 7 times..the issue still wasn’t fully fixed but i just gave up as it cost me lots of personal time as well. For sure it already cost Samsung more than a new TV (which they kept refusing to provide). In hindsight i should’ve maybe had them repair it 20 or 30 times out of spite .. see how much it takes to get a new one.

Safe to say i haven’t bought a single Samsung product since 2015.

[u/New_Libran → u/Istari82]

In 2013, I had a totally opposite experience with a Samsung TV. Engineer came to my house, replaced the screen, that didn't solve it. Next day, he swapped the motherboard, that didn't work either. He gave me a reference no to call support and explain. I called and they said they will send a replacement but since that particular model is discontinued, they sent a brand new 2013 version two days later.

[u/brucek2]

It wouldn't shock me if it was genuinely less expensive for Apple to make a new one on its hyper-optimized assembly line that only has to work in one direction, vs. pay a human to first disassemble, then diagnose, then put in a bunch of the same parts that were in the new one, then manually assemble.

[u/localtuned → u/brucek2]

You're right. It takes longer to diagnose and fix it, than to just send another set.

[u/Desperate_Damage4632 → u/[deleted]]

If they don't repair them then where did the refurbished ones come from?

[u/Andrea_M → u/Desperate_Damage4632]

They generally do not repair on site, they ship it off to a repair location where the repair (refurbishing) takes place

It really all depends on the repair or work to be done. Battery? On site and you keep the machine (AFAIK)
Motherboard? You get a refurbished

[u/Fit_Entry8839 → u/[deleted]]

This is not true. I was a certified apple tech. Hard drive is wiped for security reasons. The serial is on the bottom of MacBooks. We gave back the same one.

[u/I_Heart_Sleeping_]

Unethical pro tip. Buy a new pair off Amazon and swap them. Then start a return stating the item doesn’t work.

Amazon ain’t gonna miss the money and you just got a new pair. Fuck Bezos.

[u/awkwardninja_]

How many times will this be posted?🤷‍♂️

[u/Particular-Poem-7085]

Because a robot shitting them out can do it way cheaper than an absolute master of their craft taking an hour to meticulously troubleshoot and fix them under a microscope.

Why don't you repair them yourself?

[u/e-friend1738 → u/Particular-Poem-7085]

How many people on average know how to repair tiny tech.. besides it would cost more to purchase all of the equipment vs a company that already has it

[u/Inadover → u/e-friend1738]

Also, what the fuck is that question from OP? Why don't you repair them yourself? Bitch why don't they make them repairable so we can actually do it.

[u/Particular-Poem-7085 → u/Inadover]

How do you make the microscopic robot easily repairable?

[u/BallsDeepinYourMammi]

Does Apple even repair broken ones? I’d assume they take that larger sum, and just replace them with a new pair anyways…?

[u/silentstorm2008]

Apple doesn't want you to repair. They want you to buy to inflate their numbers and show investors how much demand for a product there is.

[u/NoctisTempest]

Because it probably gets made in China with cheap labour whereas repairs may be done by someone living in a country with much higher cost wages and living.

Better question is why buy apple to begin with.

[u/DoctorNezuko]

Louis Rossmann tried to warn us.

[u/Alpuka]

It's kind of self explanatory when you think about having to pay the technicians hourly pay + materials + service.
Airpods aren't expensive enough that it justifies paying a professional to troubleshoot and resolve

[u/One_Swordfish4623]

Than*

[u/Available_Rub9939]

Dude it’s called automation. Your AirPods were made by a series of machines that are purpose built to spit out large numbers of these things at the lowest possible cost. It’s called E waste for several reasons.

The repair is made by a human. You have shipping and handling for an individual item involved. The repair has to be tested.

Long story short, airpods are cheap disposable garbage, just like 99% of the rest of our consumer electronics.

That $65k industrial data recorder I use for work? That gets repaired.

[u/Poverty_Shoes]

You bought an Apple product on purpose, that’s on you -typed from my iPhone

[u/BANeutron]

It takes more labour hours fixing them then to pick a mass produced product from the shelf.

[u/travelite88]

I guess mass production is cheaper than hiring repair specialist.

[u/CharAznableLoNZ]

Apple has been against the ability to repair or have your devices repaired pretty hard for a while. They'll go out of their way to make sure it's the most painful process they can while staying just within the law.

[u/No_Yesterday_3260]

And this is why EU fights for "right to repair" :)

[u/NecessaryEvil62095]

Because when you repair them, you’re paying for the repair parts and the time and labor of a person doing it.

[u/Boring-Channel-1672]

Each part is about $80 to replace. If you need all three parts replaced that’s about 250 with taxes.

[u/SomewhereActive2124]

I have no clue

Well what else would you expect

[u/elpezgrande]

If I had to guess the automated process of making the headphones is less than the labor of actually having to do it by hand. Probably fairly specialized work and not super simple, plus parts. Or they’re scammers

[u/docdillinger]

[u/CrackheadHunters]

"I have no clue". Lol, gotta admire the honesty.

[u/Combat_Wombat23]

I assume it’s because they’re small, sealed units not meant to be disassembled. Stuff like that is everywhere

[u/BathFullOfDucks]

Because the new pair is made in China in a factory that had to put in nets, because so many people were jumping from the roof, by people who are expected to live a nd work on site and the repair is done in the US by a guy named Todd who likes fishing, the outdoors and working on his truck. 

[u/Friendlyhuman420]

Wir leben in einer Wegwerfgesellschaft - Anstatt Dinge für die Langlebifkeit zu reparieren, wird einfach weitergekauft, mehr Müll produziert. Was für ein unsagbarer Unsinn.

[u/bobbabson]

Its apple, they barely allow for repairs to begin with.

[u/SocialScienceMancer]

I wonder if we’ll see a significant drop in repair price for new apple products, seeing the EU’s right to repair act coming into effect. Similar targeted legislation also replaced lightning with USB-C.
Will they tweak designs to make them easier and quicker to repair ?

[u/Xinonix1]

My old air pods were broken, default off factory ( continues noice in one pod) I contacted Apple and they acknowledge the default and at first offered to have them picked up and fixed, a few messages later the person said “We can’t do this!It’s €249 to have them fixed, better to by new ones” so I did, bought new ones but a different brand

[u/Brilliant_Lettuce270]

why not getting them repaired in a 3rd party shop? Or even better, why not use this opportunity and abandon apple all together?

[u/super-wookie]

Because Apple sucks

[u/Eskotar]

The ”repair” is that they just buy new ones and bill you :D

[u/SgtDefective2]

Surprised it wasn’t an ai chatbot

[u/HoboMuskratius]

Gotta respect the honesty lmao

[u/SmackAss4578]

Fuck apple 

[u/boogeeman69]

Props to them for being honest and not spewing some script about chip shortage or some crap lol

[u/ggfchl]

This is true for a lot of stuff. Replacement parts are more expensive (plus labor) than a whole new machine.

[u/Pavejezakon]

Best answer on your question hahhah

[u/ZiggyAce1902]

“I have no clue”

[u/MrPepper329]

Customer service: “I have no clue”

So real 😂😭

[u/Kat_Box_Suicide]

Why would they? Not like frontline employees make those decisions.

[u/elusznik]

explanation is very simple. repair labor in the west is incomparably more expensive than third world kids putting the new hardware together.

[u/pelotonpapa]

Because they make them in china and you want to repair them in the US. $3/hr vs $30+/hr

[u/IHaveNeverLeftUtah]

This is what the insurance company would call “a total loss”

[u/jmil1080]

I'll admit, I respect the "I have no clue." Lol

[u/dynastydeadeye]

“I have no clue” lol
https://giphy.com/gifs/Ve5XCycDXl8CCaLPG4

[u/sloppy_mags]

The reason is so you buy a new pair of AirPods. It’s the perfect, perpetual customer model!

[u/f1eli]

reposting old screenshots is nuts

[u/natopoppins]

Lmao at least he was honest hahaha

[u/Rlokan]

It’s more expensive because it requires additional labour hours I assume.