Poll on laser tubes

[Scott Shepherd]

I got a mailer from them stating they're doing two years for a limited time. I threw it away. so I don't remember all the details.

I got that as well, I seem to recall is just saying that you could purchase the warranty. Seemed like just a pitch for buying an extended warranty on a postcard. It's certainly worth buying in my opinion.

[rick woodward]

Rick

Having retired from the appliance industry and in a position where warranty costs and service rates were an important element of my responsibilty, I can offer this. Average life of a refrigerator is 15+ years, same for a freezer, gas ranges 14 years and electric ranges 18 years. Water related appliances (dw and washers) average 7 to 8 years.

Being a former serviceman you know that most failures occur in the first 90 days of ownership, well within the warranty period.

We neverdiscussed such a thing as planned obsolesence. Our goal, and frankly, that of our competitors as well, was to build the best we could build. We could have built better but probably not more reliable had competitive pricing not been so critical.

Remember that a $900 refrigerator requiring service in the warranty period is backed by a warranty that provides in home service--unlike a $25,000 laser which has a shorter warranty where you have to do the service yourself.

Sears takes quite a bashing on this forum but with respect to their appliance program their quality standards guided the entire industry. When I retired Sears commanded a 38% market share. We built appliances in all categories for Sears including all their freezers and about half their air conditioners.

Hi Mike
last thing first, LOL ! Sears gets a bashing here ? Didnt know that. I worked on and used to rebuild maytag washers for resale. Til they started building transmissions out of nylon and plastic instead of cast iron and aluminum. Then i went to kenmore/whirlpool . Like i said 25 years and still tickin. This THOROUGHLY pleased my uncle who worked for whirlpool in california to NO end ! DRAT ! And he is/was a FORD man ! He restored early thunderbirds. Personally i been through 2 gas stoves and two refrigerators in 10 years. When i was doing appliance repair , warranty work was increasingly sought as additional income. But the vast majority of repair work was done just after warranty expiration to 6 and 7 years old. Otherwise there wouldnt be repairmen. No one can survive on warranty work alone. Pay is slow in coming and low besides. But this is from the field, your experience may well vary... LOL ! In your position in the industry , You may well have seen most failures under warranty in the first ninety days. I would agree. But i've seen alot of customers upset right after warranty expiration and up to a couple years. "They dont build them like they used to" was heard more and more often til i quit doing it. Its a fact that things are being built cheaper and cheaper to remain competitive. The customer buys cheap and gets what he pays for.
Thanks for the input from the white collar side, mike. All i know is real world experience.
now, back to lasers.

[Joe Pelonio]

Hi Joe
3rd tube in 3 years ! I'm guessing epilog has a 2 yr warranty ? I hope you dont have to buy a new tube a year to stay in business. This is the real world experience i'm talking about. What brand of tube ? And thanks for sharing your experience.

Actually my laser came with one year bumper-to-bumper and two years tube warranty. I did have to pay for the third one, by the time I thought about adding the extended warranty I was a month too late to get it.

[Mike Hood]

So plan in for a recharged tube. I don't think you'll see huge differences between tube brands. MTBF is a variable number, but design is constant and if they're filled properly, used under the same conditions, the gas will last a pretty consistent timeframe.

[Brian Robison]

Hmm, why were the junk yards full of Chevy's again?
Bill ,what year was this Ford that you had troubles with?

[Bill Cunningham]

Hmm, why were the junk yards full of Chevy's again?
Bill ,what year was this Ford that you had troubles with?

All through the 70's I would buy a new ford every two years (The cars would last for two, the payments for three) they would literally ROT in two years to the point the were un roadworthy (road salt).. My last Ford had great big paint flakes falling off, with bare metal below before it started to rot.. Bought GM products for the next 20 years got an average of 250k on each and they were still running when I traded them in.. I now drive a Hyundia, my second one.. Had over 200 k on the last one, and have 186k on this one.. Neither have cost me anything other than general maintanence stuff. Shocks/brakes/etc..
FORD = FOUND ON ROAD DEAD
or FIX OR REPAIR DAILY

[Mike Null]

My experience was the reverse with respect to Ford and GM. It's been 28years since I last bought a GM car.