Our ‘top five product flaws’ debate inspired loads of you to share your own product flaws. From delicate USB charging cables to rubbish plastic parts that are expensive to replace – what flaws drive you spare?
Paul isn’t happy with his Apple charging cables:
‘Apple USB charging wires. These seem to break constantly. How frustrating to have a lovely shiny iPad and/or iPhone then not be able to charge it. All my chargers break soon after purchase. Really, really annoying.’
Alfa’s fed up with microwave light bulbs:
‘They only seem to last about six months and are impossible to replace. Why can’t manufacturers put light bulbs behind a separate accessible door so we can change them easily?’
Flimsy plastic parts
Janey B can’t stand rubbish plastic parts in expensive fridges and freezers:
‘We now have four parts of our fridge freezer that are cracked/broken, ie drawers, door shelves, salad compartment. When I’ve looked at replacing them the cost is horrendous and they will probably still be the same fragile and brittle plastic.’
It’s a similar story for my own fridge freezer at home – the plastic parts that hold up the glass drawers are bust, meaning I’ve had to prop them up with coke bottles. Janey and I aren’t alone – here’s DorsetMilk:
‘I have a broken fridge door shelf and a cracked freezer drawer. Both have been repaired with 3M Outdoor duct tape, which is more waterproof than ordinary duct tape. It is also holding together the stand under my 220 litre water butt. OK it doesn’t look stylish, but the products still function!’
Here’s Janey again, who’s also taped up her fridge:
‘Yes my fridge is held together with tape too. Thought I’d check out cost of making the salad drawer a bit more secure and they want £50! I’ll just renew the the tape I think!’
Finally, DorsetMilk sums up the feeling on cheap plastic components:
‘My biggest gripe is good products that break because a plastic component breaks. You can never get a spare to replace it. In many cases, the wrong plastic has been used, or perhaps it should have been made out of metal.
‘I have thrown away two good products this month because of a broken plastic component worth about 50p.’
Have you ever had cheap plastic components break in a product you own? Did you struggle to get a replacement spare part? Or did the spare cost so much that you were driven to patch it up with tape?