Appliance and electronics - almost scams

[The Snark]

I purchase our products going by reputation of the company and the length of the warranty. But both have recently been negated. Additionally, shoddy cost saving during manufacture seems to be more and more common.

 

The largest computer chain in the country sold me a graphics card under a three year warranty by (a reputable company that has given outstanding service in the past). The card failed after five months. The company sent it to Bangkok and three weeks later I was sent a new card.

Six months later the replacement card had the same failure. Back to the store and the card was again sent to Bangkok. One month later the card was returned and I was informed it was not the original card I bought and therefore not under warranty.

 

This is the third consumer electronics part where the businesses avoid honoring the warranty. Since nobody repairs circuit boards any more, only replaces them, we can no longer trust a warranty period.

 

Other: A 2000 watt vacuum with a 4 meter long cord with 1.2mm wire. 2000 watts divided by 220 volts = 9 amps. Current capacity of 1.2mm, 18 gauge stranded wire is no more than 6.5 amps. This appliance will burn out within a few weeks.

 

Microwave oven, Very well known name brand. 3 prong plug but the ground was not connected. Cutting the cord open, there is no ground wire.

[Lacessit]

We can lay the blame for this type of occurrence at the feet of accountants, who now seem to rule the world. I have seen numerous examples where their cost-cutting has resulted in poor quality or disaster. They don't care, as they are long gone by the time the proverbial hits the fan.

I still remember an accountant who saved an electricity distributor $40,000  by changing the catalyst in plastics made for outdoor printed circuit boards, which had a service life of 15 - 20 years. About 12-18 months after the change, it cost the company $32 million in rectifying failures.

 

IMO instead of promoting bean counters, we would be better off shooting some of them.

 

Edited July 4, 2023 by Lacessit

[TimeMachine]

Yep.  Get used to it.  Buying a product now involves reading many reviews and inspecting the product in operation yourself.  Warranties will soon mean nothing. In Australia , ombudsman and consumer protection agencies used to be diligent but now i just get ignored. I live a minimilst lifestyle now so wont be affected.

 

Enjoy the morning sun.  It will never fail you. 

[VocalNeal]

38 minutes ago, The Snark said:

Other: A 2000 watt vacuum with a 4 meter long cord with 1.2mm wire. 2000 watts divided by 220 volts = 9 amps. Current capacity of 1.2mm, 18 gauge stranded wire is no more than 6.5 amps. This appliance will burn out within a few weeks.

The wire might???? Not the vacuum if it is 200W. Whatever that means in vacuum parlance.????

[PattayaKevin]

I bought my 80,000 baht LG washing machine 2 years ago it went through 1 motherboard after about 2 months. Now the machine says the motor needs to be replaced. I call LG because the motor has a 10 year warranty. They gave me a price to come repair it and also said the motherboard needs to be replaced.  I'm thinking these people are psychics or scammers because they didn't even come look at it yet but they know. The warranty for the motor doesn't cover parts or labor, useless then.

 

I also have a massage chair I bought in January, the screen on it stopped working in May it has a 2 year warranty.  Of course they won't honor the warranty. 

 

I have a watch that stopped after 2 months with a 1 year warranty, the watch dealer had me send it back a month and half ago said it will take him a week to fix it. Still haven't received it back everytime I contact him he says he needs another 5 days.

 

What do I think of these experiences? Thais sell defective junk with warranties and then do not honor the warranties when the items stop working.  

[sandyf]

36 minutes ago, PattayaKevin said:

What do I think of these experiences? Thais sell defective junk with warranties and then do not honor the warranties when the items stop working.  

You have led a charmed life if it has not happened to you elsewhere.

[RocketDog]

10 minutes ago, PattayaKevin said:

I bought my 80,000 baht LG washing machine 2 years ago it went through 1 motherboard after about 2 months. Now the machine says the motor needs to be replaced. I call LG because the motor has a 10 year warranty. They gave me a price to come repair it and also said the motherboard needs to be replaced.  I'm thinking these people are psychics or scammers because they didn't even come look at it yet but they know. The warranty for the motor doesn't cover parts or labor, useless then.

 

I also have a massage chair I bought in January, the screen on it stopped working in May it has a 2 year warranty.  Of course they won't honor the warranty. 

 

I have a watch that stopped after 2 months with a 1 year warranty, the watch dealer had me send it back a month and half ago said it will take him a week to fix it. Still haven't received it back everytime I contact him he says he needs another 5 days.

 

What do I think of these experiences? Thais sell defective junk with warranties and then do not honor the warranties when the items stop working.  

You meant that Thais sell defective junk made by non-Thai companies, mostly in China.

 

The warranty issue is a failure of Thai companies to enforce the manufacturers' warranty. It behooves them to wear you down until you give up and just buy a new product. Win-win for the producer and the seller, loss for the buyer.

 

It's ironic that consumer spending is the major driving force in economies now, yet consumers are at the bottom of the ladder in respect. S**t flows downhill.

 

Many international brand products like Dewalt, Bosch, etc are assembled in Thailand, so obviously workmanship issues arise there. And, as others have said, the quality of design and robustness of the design have declined seriously in the past few decades.

My experience these days is that if something lasts for two years you're doing good. These things are made to fail early but cost less.

Consumers affirmed these decisions by purchasing these products. We've made the tradeoff of quality for lower prices. The manufacturers simply accommodated our desires. We are complicit in this race to the bottom. In the new world of inflationary economies based entirely on fiat currency, product prices can remain low only by decreasing quality commensurately.

 

Be careful what you wish for...... You may get it.

[Peterphuket]

19 hours ago, The Snark said:

I purchase our products going by reputation of the company and the length of the warranty. But both have recently been negated. Additionally, shoddy cost saving during manufacture seems to be more and more common.

 

The largest computer chain in the country sold me a graphics card under a three year warranty by (a reputable company that has given outstanding service in the past). The card failed after five months. The company sent it to Bangkok and three weeks later I was sent a new card.

Six months later the replacement card had the same failure. Back to the store and the card was again sent to Bangkok. One month later the card was returned and I was informed it was not the original card I bought and therefore not under warranty.

 

This is the third consumer electronics part where the businesses avoid honoring the warranty. Since nobody repairs circuit boards any more, only replaces them, we can no longer trust a warranty period.

 

Other: A 2000 watt vacuum with a 4 meter long cord with 1.2mm wire. 2000 watts divided by 220 volts = 9 amps. Current capacity of 1.2mm, 18 gauge stranded wire is no more than 6.5 amps. This appliance will burn out within a few weeks.

 

Microwave oven, Very well known name brand. 3 prong plug but the ground was not connected. Cutting the cord open, there is no ground wire.

You must assume in this country that whatever you buy in a web/store one does not know what one is selling.
In other words they have no understanding of it, they just pass on the product, and make a profit on it. That is all.
Therefore, you cannot expect any aftercare either.
Try to live with it, which I have been trying to do for more than 25 years.

 

Even now, I have an LG air conditioner here, that appliance is 3 years old and is giving problems, if you try to find a service technician who can only clean it.
If the problem is deeper, it's always "the PCB needs to be replaced" that's all he can do, and LG doesn't come to you, yes only if you live in a big city....

Selling they all want but aftercare....forget it.

[alanrchase]

21 hours ago, The Snark said:

I purchase our products going by reputation of the company and the length of the warranty. But both have recently been negated. Additionally, shoddy cost saving during manufacture seems to be more and more common.

 

The largest computer chain in the country sold me a graphics card under a three year warranty by (a reputable company that has given outstanding service in the past). The card failed after five months. The company sent it to Bangkok and three weeks later I was sent a new card.

Six months later the replacement card had the same failure. Back to the store and the card was again sent to Bangkok. One month later the card was returned and I was informed it was not the original card I bought and therefore not under warranty.

 

This is the third consumer electronics part where the businesses avoid honoring the warranty. Since nobody repairs circuit boards any more, only replaces them, we can no longer trust a warranty period.

 

Other: A 2000 watt vacuum with a 4 meter long cord with 1.2mm wire. 2000 watts divided by 220 volts = 9 amps. Current capacity of 1.2mm, 18 gauge stranded wire is no more than 6.5 amps. This appliance will burn out within a few weeks.

 

Microwave oven, Very well known name brand. 3 prong plug but the ground was not connected. Cutting the cord open, there is no ground wire.

Your vacuum will probably be ok.

 

[ThaiFelix]

21 hours ago, The Snark said:

Microwave oven, Very well known name brand. 3 prong plug but the ground was not connected. Cutting the cord open, there is no ground wire.

But you felt confident while you thought the unit was earthed didnt you? lol!

[natway09]

Check your 3 pin plugs that you are connecting your microwave into.

Good chance no earth wire anyway.

Ever seen a fridge for sale in Thailand recently with a 3 pin plug, ??

[treetops]

5 minutes ago, natway09 said:

Check your 3 pin plugs that you are connecting your microwave into.

Surely you mean sockets, not plugs?

[The Snark]

@alanrchasehttps://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wire-gauges-d_419.html

>24 core, add 75% for short term intermittent loads. Don't even think about running your 3600 watt water heater on 16 gauge wire.

 

Our water heater. 6800 watts. 12 gauge wire, (single core, 34 amp rated) 18 foot run. Wire starts to warm up above 28 amps (IR thermal test, went 10% above ambient). Preset water heater to 26.

Edited July 6, 2023 by The Snark

[Henryford]

Everything is made on the cheap in China so they are all crap. You just have to accept that these failures will happen often and write it off to experience.

Edited July 6, 2023 by Henryford

[The Snark]

Or one can sometimes get creative. 2600 watt vacuum burned out the motor in one year. Replaced with 2800 watt. Drilled holes to increase air flow cooling by roughly triple. Still running 8 years later.

Vacuum mentioned in above post now sports a 14 gauge 16 core wire and vents added, after five minutes operation the case is at 110 F as opposed to 150 F as purchased.

 

Microwave oven gave me a mild shock when I touched both it and the solidly grounded convection oven. Got 12 VAC between the two cases. Hint hint.

 

Silly me. Wired our house here as I did in America, 12 gauge receptacle wire, 16 gauge for lighting. Breakers were about the same price regardless of current capability. Cost me about twice as much in wire, about 2000 baht more. Okay, operation overkill. 7.5, 15, and 20 amp, per code, California.

We managed to trip one breaker once when workmen wired the neutral to a switched hot. Bright side, I can run 2 ovens, hot water pot, rice cooker, hot plate and blender at the same time on one circuit without tripping a breaker.

Edited July 6, 2023 by The Snark

[McTavish]

I usually buy appliances only at Homepro as they've always provided excellent after sales service and honoured warranty obligations on behalf of the manufacturer. 

They will often match competitors prices without too much of a nudge.

 

Funny story.  A friend gave me his Black and Decker hedge trimmer when moving house but warned it was very noisy and overheated, from new.  Ever seen shop staff putting tools and appliances together?  

So I pulled the cutter apart to see why it overheated, to the point that smoke was coming out the vents, and found the problem.  Obviously dropped from a height, the blade was slightly bent at the casing entry and caused the eliptical gear to work overtime.  A few hard taps with a mallet and it was good as new.  Still going 3 years on.

I've seen many items, incl. furniture, poorly assembled by shop staff and now insist they are delivered to me for self assembly.

[McTavish]

Airconditioner repair tip.

 

Geckos fry themselves on PCB boards and a good repairer should spray the new replacement board with an insulating film.  You can buy the CRC product via Lazada in clear or red tint and use on any vulnerable appliance.  Expensive automatic coffee machines for example.

 

Some of the latest AC units coming from makers like Samsung have the outdoor PCB boards protected, or potted, in resin.

[phetphet]

The other thing to consider here is that the electricity supply is pretty dirty. All sorts of surges and dropped phases. Also ants that get attracted for some reason to circuit boards.

I have had to replace the circuit board in my Smeg oven several times due to both ants shorting things out, and power surges burning things out.

The last time, the Smeg technician told me it might be a good idea to turn off my oven at the circuit breaker when not in use as these power surges are working out to be quite expensive for me.

[The Snark]

7 hours ago, phetphet said:

I have had to replace the circuit board in my Smeg oven

Smeg? Ouch!

BTW, the tech that told you to unplug the unit may be right but I doubt it. Smeg would or should have a bullet proof voltage and current sense on the front end, is highly tolerant of voltage fluctuations, and probably rigged to power off when out of bounds. What @McTavish just posted is a cheap but possibly functional version of that front end.

 

The major problem with Chinese made goods is if it is quality built and selling it will be copied within hours and cheap crap visually and packaging identical replicas hit the market rubbing shoulders with the good stuff.

 

I don't know why certain species of ants are attracted to electrical components and I'm pretty well versed in entomology. I had a $200 Braun shaver that quit one day. Loaded with those mega bite micro ants. The formic acid from them completely compromised the iron laminations.

 

Circuit boards. Save your money. A good coat of clear lacquer critter proofs them. Makes them a beech to repair but nobody does that now anyway. Just don't spray any heat sinks or connectors.

By the way, Nvidia designs the lions share of all graphics cards then leases out rights to replicate them. My card is an Inno3D but inside is edge to edge Nvidia.

 

My above mentioned graphics card. After I cleaned the sticky goo off of it which the sales outlet told me was rust - it was some kind of sugary kanom - I voided the warranty, tore it down, reseated the GPU, spiffed up some solder connects, and cranked the fans way up. The card only uses the power available from the PCI-e slot which is rated at 75 watts. Under test with full on 3D moving graphics it draws 72 watts. Bad design. But, it works now, though I'll switch to my overpowered antique POS graphics card for heavy loads if need be.

 

Chinese made? As in I needed a drill bit but could only find a set of them. After one failed to drill a hole in aluminum I grabbed the vice grips and stuck them one by one in the vice. They all bent. Probably crapesium semi steel.

A bearing failed in my ride. Suspicious looking, I bust open the race and smacked the balls with a hammer. They all flattened out. Unhardened ball bearings? Yo! Those are called sinkers on the end of your fishing line.

 

And probably the best one, my Seagate hard drive, new in the box shrink wrapped with data sheet and warranty card, failed after 2 weeks. I went to the Seagate repair shop. The tech just glanced at it, plugged it in and turned it on. Not even bothering to look at the screen he turned the monitor so I could see the words. Not Seagate.

Edited July 6, 2023 by The Snark

[McTavish]

7 hours ago, phetphet said:

The other thing to consider here is that the electricity supply is pretty dirty. All sorts of surges and dropped phases. Also ants that get attracted for some reason to circuit boards.

We have surge protectors for our Inverter fringes as recommended by the very 1st warranty repair man.

 

Order at one of the big electrical supply shops, eg Wualai Rd, or search online.  They plug in behind your appliance and shut down any surge current/voltage spike, resetting when supply is stable.   Priced around 750 thb.