For context, I have a bread maker that’s been serving us well over the last two years.
It’s a basic Hamilton Beach unit.
A few weeks back, I had leaks through the bottom of the bread pan. At it turns out, the seals wear out and eventually need to be replaced. In my case, the pin that holds the paddle (which kneeds the dough) came right out, so one of the clips must be busted.
Anyway, seeing that this machine is still under warranty, and these “seal kits” seem to be available for quite a few brands and models, I figure it would be an easy resolution.
Well, not really.
The company said they don’t have replacement parts, but they’d be happy to send an entirely new bread machine (different model) if I paid the shipping.
Yeah, no. Shipping costs way more than the part I need (almost half what I paid for the machine!). And it’s environmentally wasteful to replace a machine for such a stupid issue (they wanted me to cut the cord on the old unit before disposing of it).
To make a long story short, I insisted that they only replace the bread basket, which was a much lower cost to ship anyway, and I can keep using my perfectly working machine.
Side quest: I could look for replacement seals for this machine, but apparently, they are pretty model-specific and may not fit if it’s off by even a single mm.
This is because the company doesnt make anything anymore. They buy the machines whole from china. No parts are available unless you are a factory worker in china and have sticky fingers.
I hate it but thats why.
That and there’s no supply chain for parts, just the machines. They don’t want to pay to warehouse parts that may or may not be used.
And who is going to do the repairs? If there were a network of official repair dealerships, they could have some confidence that the stored parts would eventually be used, but nobody gets anything repaired anymore, and even fewer are willing to try it themselves. So realistically, how many are they actually going to sell?
