Lots of people outside of the industry think spare parts are easy, some in it do too but it is a far more complex thing than most imagine it to be
My experience with spare parts is extensive. I've handled parts for almost every brand in the market, as well as those that have disappeared. I've sourced parts for technicians and the public across hundreds of thousands of service calls and part orders.
As a field tech, I have spent years repairing machines and understanding the intricate relationship between parts and problems. This hands-on experience has given me a unique perspective on spare parts sourcing.
You might say that I am a bit of an expert in the area of parts.
Despite my extensive experience, I am not infallible. Like anyone else, I can make mistakes, with an error ratio of about 1 in 10000 lookups. However, I believe you will find this to be a very low rate of error.
Where the public is looking stuff up for themselves, I’d place the error ratio somewhere about 1/10! Repairers of course make far less errors than the public as they are familiar with how things work.
This is the difference between an experienced expert in a field as opposed to someone who has little knowledge of the area and, spare parts are complex, it is very easy to get things wrong even if you think you are doing it all correctly.
You can often get me to answer parts queries here: shop.ukwhitegoods.co.uk
A Little Unsure
If you are about a part or parts, even a tad unsure or you see the warnings that any can vary by serial number, product code etc, then ask somebody to help you with them.
No parts supplier wants you to order the wrong part, not be able to repair the machine and have the hassle and expense of returning items. It is not in their interests or yours for that to happen. That costs both parties time and money.
And, on modern machines where model numbers can often stay the same for years yet the parts inside various versions change considerably over the time that they are on sale, this is now very, very common to see.
Can’t Get Parts
There are a number of brands that either do not want to allow others to supply parts (you can guess why) and there are those that just don’t seem to be bothered about them once they get out of warranty. Looking at you no-name brands on Amazon etc!
Most people expect, quite reasonably, that they can or should be able to get parts for at least a decade for any kitchen appliance, and legislation is coming into force that makes that the case. To a degree.
However, what it doesn’t do is say that these ”available parts” have to be available immediately, at a sensible price or indeed individually, they could be part of a larger assembly or unit. This means that if they want, makers and brand owners still have ways to potentially get around the law. At least at the time of writing that was the case.
My Advice
Pick a decent spare parts supplier, ask about the part you are after and get it right the first time.
Oten you will find that they offer little pearls of wisdom as well, especially if you ask about something that’s a bit odd.