The right to repair movement has gained global traction in recent years. Advocates are pushing back against companies that require consumers to get new parts or repair services from the manufacturer, rather than independent providers. President Donald Trump even weighed in on the issue earlier this summer.
Wayne Fu is an associate Professor of Decision Science at the University of Michigan-Dearborn who writes about the movement.
"The right to repair movement has been going on for a while. Basically, the general sentiment is that people are frustrated when they try to get a service or repair. There are many cases where they have to go back to the original manufacturer, and typically then they realize the price was relatively high," Fu said.
"The movement basically started to advocate that the consumer should have their right to get a reasonable repair," Fu said, "rather than the monopolized environment that you only can go back to the original manufacturer and you are not able to bargain or there's no competition associated with the service and repair."
Last year, new right to repair legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. It has yet to pass out of committee. In an article for the website The Conversation, Fu writes that there are already consumer protections in place under a 1975 product warranties law.
"How is it that we are still debating that we cannot get our product repaired?," Fu asked. "Is it that the law in the beginning had something wrong or something happened in between? Or is there a need that we really, really need this new law? If we can protect the consumer right, well, then you should have the right to repair already."
One of the reasons the movement is gaining momentum lately is an antitrust lawsuit. Earlier this summer, Michigan, along with four other states and the Federal Trade Commission, won a case against the makers of John Deere tractors. The settlement requires Deere & Company to give farmers and independent repair servicers access to the same resources it currently only provides to its own dealerships.
"[The] FTC, based on the warranty law, said that 'Okay, John Deere, you could not do that.'" Fu said.
"And why the case is so significant is over time we finally see that — I shouldn't say finally, but we are very excited to see that — the government actually taking action and then has a lot more clear guidance on how these issues should evolve," Fu said.
The case is an example of successful enforcement of the original 1975 law.
"If you want the movement to be successful, eventually it will get down to the enforcement," Fu said.
President Trump recently released a memorandum that included what he called an "Individual Freedom to Fix." He says he wants the Environmental Protection Agency to cut back enforcement of repair limits. But Fu says this is an effort to deregulate emissions under the guise of right to repair. He says this risks splitting a movement that began as a sustainability effort.
"That's actually the starting point of my research," Fu said. "Because of the difficulty of getting a repair, the consumer had a tendency to dump the products."
The manufacturer would like you to buy [a new] product, rather than fix the old product in order to increase their revenue and then get greater profit," he said. "And that has a significant impact on the environment. So, assuming we can get things repaired properly, then we probably can — well, I won't say minimize, but at least can mitigate — the unnecessary environmental impact that we have nowadays in our society."
Fu also had some advice for consumers: "Don't get scared by the manufacturer's current tactic. The warranty voidance is generally illegal, and you should be able to seek out an independent service if needed and then get a reasonable repair."
"And for the government," he said, "I think the angle we try to emphasize is that the mechanism was there. The reinforcement is still the key for the success."
Further reading from The Conversation: The ‘right to repair’ movement has a point, but consumers should read the warranty fine print first by Wayne Fu.
Editor's note: Some quotes in this article have been lightly edited for length and clarity. You can play the full audio of this interview near the top of this page.
