Broken smartphone you couldn't easily fix? Let's change that!
So many consumer products you buy these days, from smartphones to TVs, seem to be built to be replaced. In fact, manufacturers have made it increasingly difficult to make simple repairs on electronic products: often, they restrict access to the tools and information necessary to repair them, making you rely on them or their hand-picked servicers for a fix. And without choices for repair, you could be forced to throw out your device and buy a new one — hurting your wallet and our environment.
The Fair Repair Act would change that: it's the first bill in Congress that would guarantee consumers the right to have their electronic devices fixed by a repair servicer of their choosing — or to make their own repairs. Send a message now to your elected officials to back your right to repair!
Dear [Member of Congress]:
As your constituent, I urge you to support the Fair Repair Act, HR 4006 and S. 3830. This important legislation will help ensure that consumers like me have the choice to fix our own electronics-enabled products if we can, or to have them fixed by a repair shop of our choosing. Right now, we don't have enough choices when it comes to repairs, and are often forced to throw away broken electronics that we'd rather fix, hurting our wallets and the environment.
A Consumer Reports survey found that 84% of Americans agree with a policy that would require manufacturers to make repair information and parts available either to independent repair professionals or to product owners. This legislation would safeguard our rights of ownership over our electronics-enabled products, including the right to repair them, and the right to resell them, even as technology evolves. Thank you for supporting this common-sense bill.
