Spare parts ripoff

[walshie]

 We had a bit of bad luck over the last week. In the gales on Monday, our polytunnel got launched so high it missed one field completely., landing in a mangled wreck of twisted metal in the next field along, about 100 yards away. Yesterday our cold water pressure vessel got a split in the air bladder.

Good news (so we thought) is that the polytunnel company sell individual spares and the pressure vessel has a replaceable bladder.

We had 8 broken bits on the polytunnel and buying replacements was nearly twice the cost of a new polytunnel. To buy all the parts separately to make a complete polytunnel would cost 6 times the cost of a new one.

A replacement pressure vessel is £440 with a 5 year warranty. A replacement bladder for it with a 1 year warranty is £404 with all the aggro of fitting it.

How do these companies get away with it?

Edited May 8, 2021 by walshie

[Rob85]

31 minutes ago, walshie said:

 We had a bit of bad luck over the last week. In the gales on Monday, our polytunnel got launched so high it missed one field completely., landing in a mangled wreck of twisted metal in the next field along, about 100 yards away. Yesterday our cold water pressure vessel got a split in the air bladder.

Good news (so we thought) is that the polytunnel company sell individual spares and the pressure vessel has a replaceable bladder.

We had 8 broken bits on the polytunnel and buying replacements was nearly twice the cost of a new polytunnel. To buy all the parts separately to make a complete polytunnel would cost 6 times the cost of a new one.

A replacement pressure vessel is £440 with a 5 year warranty. A replacement bladder for it with a 1 year warranty is £404 with all the aggro of fitting it.

How do these companies get away with it?

Probably most of their spares goes to big companies who's profits rely on them getting the spares.

Our customer support in my work makes an absolute fortune when it comes to spares... along the lines of engine nacelles for aircraft, cost to go on a new engine and aircraft is about £1million, you have an aircraft on the deck after a birdstrike with a ruined engine nacelle needing a full spare unit, ive heard of the airlines paying up to £5 million for the same parts.

[Vince Green]

The simple fact is they don't want you to repair they want you to replace

[sam triple]

I worked for a pump company for 14 years most of the time it was cheaper to buy a new pump than buy spares to repair them ( depending on the size of the pump ) but it’s where companies make their money 

[wymberley]

49 minutes ago, Vince Green said:

The simple fact is they don't want you to repair they want you to replace

Are there not legislative moves afoot to change this but particularly for white goods at the moment?

[DUNKS]

1 hour ago, Rob85 said:

Probably most of their spares goes to big companies who's profits rely on them getting the spares.

Our customer support in my work makes an absolute fortune when it comes to spares... along the lines of engine nacelles for aircraft, cost to go on a new engine and aircraft is about £1million, you have an aircraft on the deck after a birdstrike with a ruined engine nacelle needing a full spare unit, ive heard of the airlines paying up to £5 million for the same parts.

HI rob. Are you involved in the making of these parts? 

[Blackpowder]

1 hour ago, wymberley said:

Are there not legislative moves afoot to change this but particularly for white goods at the moment?

I am sure you are correct on that, spares have to be made available for a certain period.

Blackpowder

[Rob85]

1 hour ago, DUNKS said:

HI rob. Are you involved in the making of these parts? 

Involved In the production of aircraft parts, different industry but the same idea, if you want something badly enough to keep you going then the company that provides spares then has you over a barrel.

The way I save money on things like washing machine parts is to use the individual part numbers and buy direct from suppliers that supply the parts companies with their small bits....kinda like buying from a motor factors rather than a main dealer when you want a set of brake pads.

[oscarsdad]

Just now, Rob85 said:

Involved In the production of aircraft parts, different industry but the same idea, if you want something badly enough to keep you going then the company that provides spares then has you over a barrel.

The way I save money on things like washing machine parts is to use the individual part numbers and buy direct from suppliers that supply the parts companies with their small bits....kinda like buying from a motor factors rather than a main dealer when you want a set of brake pads.

I used to make aircraft braking systems - usually given away to the constructors for free and the the spare / wearable parts are sold at huge margins. 

[Rob85]

3 minutes ago, oscarsdad said:

I used to make aircraft braking systems - usually given away to the constructors for free and the the spare / wearable parts are sold at huge margins. 

And as you well know the wear parts in the brakes do have a habit of bursting into flames every now and then after a hard landing! Part of our apprenticeship was learning what fire extinguisher to use when it happened if we were working as part of ground crew.

[clangerman]

spare price rip of proves the gov only commitment to the environment is nothing but lip service rip of merchants are fools bad publicity costs money 

[oscarsdad]

28 minutes ago, Rob85 said:

And as you well know the wear parts in the brakes do have a habit of bursting into flames every now and then after a hard landing! Part of our apprenticeship was learning what fire extinguisher to use when it happened if we were working as part of ground crew.

An RTO test is the most exciting - heat pack and brakes are allowed to be on fire and melt...makes it exciting in the test house! 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

3 hours ago, Vince Green said:

The simple fact is they don't want you to repair they want you to replace

Is what I would reckon too.

[sportsbob]

In a warehouse / store every cubic meter has to earn money so if the spare parts occupy space for periods of time without selling then the price goes up. There is no rip off involved just plain and simple business.

[bruno22rf]

Situation is only going to get worse as a new piece of legislation is afoot that demands manufacturers carry spares for at least 10 years in an attempt to curb our throw away society. What short sighted half wit thought this up, companies will simply increase the cost of spares further to cover their storage costs and thus make any repairs even more uneconomical.

[JohnfromUK]

11 hours ago, sportsbob said:

In a warehouse / store every cubic meter has to earn money so if the spare parts occupy space for periods of time without selling then the price goes up. There is no rip off involved just plain and simple business.

/\  This.

Often during an items production run there will have been minor changes in parts used.  Just look at any complex assembled item such as a motor vehicle.  When ordering a spare item you have to supply the VIN or serial number to (try and) ensure you get the correct part.  For a long production run vehicle product (think Transit, Mondeo, Defender) there will be literally thousands of parts, some of which will be slow moving, possibly have to be stocked in a range of colours, rang of variants for different markets (LHD/RHD, emissions specs  etc).  Provisioning and ensuring availability of older parts is a complex task.  Minor styling changes even may create a multitude ao slightly different parts variants - which is why things like trim parts can appear ridiculously expensive.

Holding and supplying spares involves vast costs, including in parts inventory costs, and in warehousing, storage, recording/managing/cataloguing, packaging and distribution logistics.  It is a very, very expensive operation.

[Vince Green]

9 hours ago, bruno22rf said:

Situation is only going to get worse as a new piece of legislation is afoot that demands manufacturers carry spares for at least 10 years in an attempt to curb our throw away society. What short sighted half wit thought this up, companies will simply increase the cost of spares further to cover their storage costs and thus make any repairs even more uneconomical.

this ^^^^

They have to keep parts but no legislation about the price or lead time

Also most things these days are imported, if the manufacturer in Taiwan discontinues spares after three years there is little anybody here can do about it 

Edited May 10, 2021 by Vince Green

[clangerman]

where is this warehouse excuse coming from when factors fav saying is back order only mate how parts not yet made take up space beats me 

[JohnfromUK]

10 minutes ago, clangerman said:

where is this warehouse excuse coming from when factors fav saying is back order only mate how parts not yet made take up space beats me 

Depends what the spare is. 

• For large moving spares such as oil filters, belts etc., they are still made and not many are stored in warehouse space.  Same applies to current production items.
• For less common spares and not in current production use (trim parts, internal engine spates etc.), superseded types, obsolete colour ranges etc., - spares predicted to last as long as legally needed are often built as a (possibly last) batch and stored.  Sometimes further batches may be made perhaps annually if needed, sometimes a 'lifetime batch' will be made.

It all depends on cost of build, cost of storage, how fast the item moves on the shelf, how easy it is to store versus build (e.g. body panels are expensive to store as they take up a lot of space and are easily damaged, whereas (say) bearings take up little space and can be stored for long periods with little risk of damage.

It is the way the spares supply industry works.

[sportsbob]

On 10/05/2021 at 11:14, clangerman said:

where is this warehouse excuse coming from when factors fav saying is back order only mate how parts not yet made take up space beats me 

Parts on "back order" often mean the the business you are ordering from needs to reach a minimum order value before his order can be submitted. Also as explained this warehouse might be the other side of the world and shipping costs are added to each order. Every person in this chain wants to be paid for their labour or service and it can cost as much to ship a £1 item as a £1000 pound item.