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Vintage Television and Video Vintage television and video equipment, programmes, VCRs etc.

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Old 12th Jan 2019, 10:54 am   #61
mark pirate
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Default Re: TV repair shops

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When I started work in 1973 the price of a new Philips 22 inch TV (G8 chassis) was around £230
According to online calculators, that is around £2000 in today's money
Our local supermarket has 32" HD TV's for £129.99!

Last year I ended up with half a dozen modern sets that customers were not willing to foot the repair bill, I struggled to get £35 - £45 for them once repaired!

Of the few shops that remain, most seem to make their money on aerial & new set installations.
As a point of interest, it is only my senior customers that are happy to have their sets repaired, in fact I still have a handful with CRT sets!

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Old 12th Jan 2019, 1:32 pm   #62
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Default Re: TV repair shops

[QUOTE=mark pirate;1109913]
Quote:
As a point of interest, it is only my senior customers that are happy to have their sets repaired, in fact I still have a handful with CRT sets!

Mark

I wonder if they are referencing the repair cost to the original purchase price as opposed to the replacement price ?
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Old 12th Jan 2019, 1:36 pm   #63
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Absolutely Mark! A viable electrical repair business is out of the question.

OK you may get a few old boys like myself doing repairs just for the challenge. Make a living out of it? Get real. Even if you own the freehold of your premises you work from, other charges would overwhelm you. If you choose to work from home you will probably discover that you are doing so illegally. Local authority regulations and insurance are unlikely to allow it. You do so at your peril.

Rents, rates, insurance [probably the most important of all] tax, possibly VAT, ongoing legislation, heavy items, non existent car parking both for you and your customer. Expensive test gear, the non availability of service data, spares and technical advice, sealed resin filled modules and the list goes on..

Even if you manage to clamber over this lot you have customers that don't want items repaired in the first place! Funny how a lot of LCD and Plasma receivers manage to get their screens broken when the sockets fitted no longer cater for the latest HDDDD60 format. Insurance companies don't help by offering 'New for Old' policies.

A viable repair business is no longer possible due to changes in technology, legislation and the attitude of customers. Sorry to be so negative. John.

PS Just seen your post Chris. Not so much the replacement cost but maybe they hate the sheer waste of what was expensive equipment.
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Old 12th Jan 2019, 2:52 pm   #64
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Default Re: TV repair shops

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There Is one just two miles from our village, they also do Aerial installations too
Hmm I wonder who that could be?!

It was a good place to go when the old man had it but he retired to sunnier climes. The current proprietors sort of took over. Their aerial work was not something that I could recommend after going to many remedial jobs! I have no idea what their repair quality is like though. In fact I was unaware that they still did it.
Yes a friend of mine had his LCD TV repaired by them a few months ago at a fairly reasonable cost so I am told.
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Old 12th Jan 2019, 3:43 pm   #65
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Default Re: TV repair shops

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I wonder if they are referencing the repair cost to the original purchase price as opposed to the replacement price ?
From my experience, it seems they prefer their old CRT sets. I left an LCD loan whilst repairing an old Panasonic set, once returned, the customer commented that "these modern flat sets have lousy colour" and was very happy to have their old set back!

Quote:
Absolutely Mark! A viable electrical repair business is out of the question.
I can only agree John, I certainly make very little out of it

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Old 12th Jan 2019, 4:32 pm   #66
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Default Re: TV repair shops

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Sorry to be so negative. John.
It's not negative, because it's realistic. Sad maybe, but you can only resist change at your own cost.
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Old 12th Jan 2019, 5:57 pm   #67
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Default Re: TV repair shops

The firm I mentioned earlier survives in the repair business mainly as the result as becoming an agent for a major insurance company.
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Old 12th Jan 2019, 7:06 pm   #68
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Default Re: TV repair shops

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There is now no vocational training scheme leading to qualified repairers.

The last effective qualification City & Guilds 2240 ended in 2003, and the lead body Electronics Examination Board closed in 2004. Skills were assessed by practical course
work, written exams, and time constrained practical tests.
Good grief. Is there no need for it at all?

20-odd years ago, I was on the C&G course myself. The lecturers advised us that, in general, consumer radio & TV repairs were a shrinking sector. We were urged to give preference to industrial servicing. Is that sector dying or dead also?

G6Tanuki:
Quote:
Like I said, take-home pay of £15/hour after deductions is about typical for 'skilled technicians' with a bit of experience. If you're a skilled electronics technician and you make much less than this, you're probably underselling yourself!
Indeed! In 1994, I joined a leading-edge electronics firm as a test & repair technician, working on touchscreen interfaces. Starting pay: £7K p.a.
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Old 13th Jan 2019, 11:25 am   #69
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I had no official qualifications when I started in the '50s. There was such a shortage of engineers that if you could repair TVs you could get a job, I could and I did. The only one I have acquired since is the RAE in the '80s

When I started a Bush 12" console, BBC only of course was 105 guineas and I was earning five pounds a week so that would have been about 25 weeks wages. When the VHF64 came out I wasn't earning much more and I believe that sold for 48 guineas so that was 10 weeks wages for a radio!

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Old 13th Jan 2019, 1:47 pm   #70
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I drove past the local one this morning and on the signboard they are even advertising repairs to Vacuum Cleaners and hair curling tongs!!!
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Old 13th Jan 2019, 2:27 pm   #71
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Default Re: TV repair shops

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Originally Posted by mark pirate View Post
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As a point of interest, it is only my senior customers that are happy to have their sets repaired, in fact I still have a handful with CRT sets!

Mark
I wonder if they are referencing the repair cost to the original purchase price as opposed to the replacement price ?
It's probably easier for senior customers to operate a set they're used to as opposed to some feature laden set with not always logical controls. Also, spending 40 pounds for a repair is still cheaper (possibly even in the long run) than spending 120 pounds on a cheap new set.
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Old 13th Jan 2019, 6:07 pm   #72
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Default Re: TV repair shops

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It's probably easier for senior customers to operate a set they're used to as opposed to some feature laden set with not always logical controls. Also, spending 40 pounds for a repair is still cheaper (possibly even in the long run) than spending 120 pounds on a cheap new set.
I have to agree, some modern sets are a nightmare for the elderly, in fact even I get confused when setting up some new sets!

The Panasonic CRT set I recently repaired is nearly 20 years old and still has a crisp & bright picture, and excellent sound to boot.
According to the customer, this was the first time it needed repair!

I have a feeling the set will outlast the customer
It is a real shame that so many were scrapped in favour of LCD sets, I have saved a couple of mint examples, but due to their size & weight, I fear they will be as rare as hens teeth a few years from now.

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Old 13th Jan 2019, 7:12 pm   #73
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Default Re: TV repair shops

One way I have found to make operation a bit easier for the elderly, is to make an enlarged photocopy of the remote control, and write all essential functions in the margins of the copy, with arrows to the relevant buttons.
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Old 13th Jan 2019, 8:09 pm   #74
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Default Re: TV repair shops

I was offered a Panasonic 36" CRT receiver some years ago complete with stand. It had never been used since purchase. I offered it FOC on this Forum with 0 replies. It went to the tip still in it's box and it had cost the owner a considerable amount of money.

I'm sure this is not the only example but of course not a new receiver as this was.

Times they are a changing! John.
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Old 14th Jan 2019, 3:00 am   #75
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Default Re: TV repair shops

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I drove past the local one this morning and on the signboard they are even advertising repairs to Vacuum Cleaners and hair curling tongs!!!
The strangest thing I repaired when I worked in such a shop, was some sort of autoclave for the tattoo artist next door.
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Old 14th Jan 2019, 10:20 am   #76
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Did he pay you in cash or in kind? J.
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Old 14th Jan 2019, 11:57 am   #77
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Default Re: TV repair shops

From yesterdays Mail on Sunday newspaper.

Contributor Peter Hitchens wrote: "There's a move, too late, I suspect - to start repairing things which break down, rather than chucking them away. I which it could be so...…" He goes on to tell us that he grew up in a house with a efficient and reliable Electrolux fridge, a perpetual Hoover and a hand lawnmower that probably dated back to the abdication of Edward VIII.

"and if anything breaks down, it's off to the dump. I can't see how that is better."

DFWB.
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Old 15th Jan 2019, 6:32 pm   #78
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Default Re: TV repair shops

Quote:
I was offered a Panasonic 36" CRT receiver some years ago complete with stand. It had never been used since purchase. I offered it FOC on this Forum with 0 replies. It went to the tip still in it's box and it had cost the owner a considerable amount of money.
That is a real shame, but a set that size would take up so much room & due to the weight would have probably needed four guys to lift it!

Sadly I will have to take my Toshiba 42" rear projection CRT set to the tip, as I really need the space it occupies. (unless someone would like it?)
You just can't keep 'em all!

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Old 15th Jan 2019, 6:53 pm   #79
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Default Re: TV repair shops

yes we have a tv repair shop close to us been in business for many years. its about 15 min in the car to the shop in the town where I was born. just do's flat screen stuff now I will link his website. hes fixed tvs for my family for years used to go with my grandfarther to his shop. now I fix my own stuff but he fixed a plasma tv for my dad last year so still active. town called mexbrough in south Yorkshire

https://www.yell.com/biz/teleserve-mexborough-1028086/
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