PIRG also had trouble accessing repair manuals from other brands, including Meta, where a customer service rep reportedly said that the company is not offering repair or part replacements for the Quest 3. Microsoft's representative said they were “not sure about self-repair options” for New York consumers, even though Microsoft offers service manuals and replacement parts.
Samsung, meanwhile, wouldn't provide a service manual without an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). That was also the case when PIRG tried to access parts and documents for self-repairs from Canon, which also requested proof of purchase.
"The best way to encourage repair is to make repair materials broadly available," Proctor told Ars. "If you are a repair shop, should you need to ask your customers for the proof of purchase just so you can look up the information you need to complete the repair? We want repair information accessible."
Overall, PIRG said it "had the most difficulty accessing repair materials for the cameras we surveyed." Although New York's self-repair act went into effect at the end of 2023, a Nikon support rep reportedly told a PIRG member that only two of its products are self-repairable. A Sony support rep reportedly told the nonprofit that "Repair Manuals are only provided to Sony Accredited Centers and Certified Technicians."
Ars reached out to Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon, and Sony for comment and will update this story if we hear back.
User-repairability obstacles
As mentioned, PIRG's report only looks at a handful of devices. Still, the lack of repair manual accessibility for some high-profile devices and discrepancies between comments from customer support representatives and what New York law requires suggest that companies have a long way to go before they're truly enabling self-repairs.
PIRG's report encourages New York Attorney General Letitia James to step in to "ensure that manufacturers which provide no support for their covered products know about the requirements of this new law and that they could face penalties for noncompliance."
PIRG has also advocated for stronger New York legislation. New York Governor Kathy Hochul notably signed a pared-down version of the bill that the state legislature passed. Concessions to the final law include that it only applies to devices manufactured and sold in New York after July 1, 2023, business-to-business and business-to-government devices are excluded, and companies are not required to give consumers the requirements, like passwords, for avoiding device security lockouts. TechNet, a Big Tech lobbyist group, had a large influence over the law's final wording.
PIRG's report urged New York to consider tougher laws, such as what's seen in Minnesota, whose law covers business computers, and in Minnesota and California, where devices going back to July 2021 are covered. Ars asked Proctor how realistic he thinks it is for New York to update its self-repair laws. He said:
It will be a challenge to update the New York Fair Repair Act, but given how NY is now out-of-sync with other states, that provides incentive. Our right to Repair champions in Albany, Asm. Pat Fahy and Sen. Neil Breslin, filed legislation to update the statute, but it did not pass during the active months of the session.
reader comments
53