Personal Finance
$400 to change a lightbulb? Appliance repair costs are no joke
Author Stephanie Dhue’s difficult-to-repair microwave.
Courtesy Stephanie Dhue
I bought a General Electric microwave oven in 2020 for $355. Recently, I noticed the interior light was out.
I told my husband, since he’s the one who takes care of repairs in our house. He took a look, only to learn that this wasn’t going to be an easy fix. The lightbulb is built into the unit so that it requires taking the microwave apart to change, and a technician is recommended.
It sounds like the setup to a lightbulb joke: How much does it cost to change a microwave bulb?
The answer, however, wasn’t funny. When my husband and I started gathering estimates, we learned that the labor costs involved could be up to $400, maybe more — and that didn’t include the cost of the lightbulb.
While my lightbulb situation may be somewhat unique, experts say it is not uncommon to learn the cost of repairs is more than the cost to replace an appliance.
Gay Gordon-Byrne had a similar experience with a microwave she purchased to match a stove. The microwave touchpad stopped working.
She figured out how to do the repair herself, but said the manufacturer tried to charge her $600 for the replacement part. Instead, she bought a new microwave for $175.
“I tell the story all the time because it’s so emblematic of what’s wrong with appliances these days,” said Gordon-Byrne, who is the executive director of Repair.org, which advocates for the legal right of owners to repair their own devices.
Figuring out the cost for a repair
My first call to repair our microwave was to the appliance store where I made the purchase. The service center told me there would be $140 charge to come out, and they couldn’t guarantee that the technician would have a lightbulb on the truck. The service representative suggested I simply purchase a new microwave or shop around for other repair options.
Next, I went to the GE site and filled out a form for service. I learned that the charge for a technician to come would be $125.
One of the the main reasons why it’s so difficult to fix things is because they’re designed with kind of a hostility to repair, or an ambivalence to repair.
Nathan Proctor
senior director of U.S. PIRG’s Right to Repair campaign
When the technician called, I explained the situation and that I needed to know how much it would cost before he came out. He told me he would charge for labor and parts.
How much? Since the microwave sits in a cabinet above the counter, to remove it would be a “two man job,” he said, and could cost upwards of $400 for the labor. What if my husband and I took the microwave out and placed it on the counter? In that case the labor charge would be closer to $200, but that wasn’t an exact estimate. It also didn’t include the cost of the lightbulb.
I canceled the visit and the technician said there would be no charge.
When I asked GE Appliances why the microwave was designed this way, a spokesperson responded via e-mail that microwave lights are designed to last the lifetime of the product and failures are very uncommon in their products. The light fixture is more than a standard bulb that has to be encased behind a metal enclosure.
“It’s not a simple screw-in and requires electrical training and background,” the spokesperson said. “Given the high voltage nature of microwaves, it not safe for consumers without a deep electrical understanding to operate on the interior of a microwave.” She also noted that service techs are required to test for emissions to comply with strict standards set by the U.S. government.
How ‘right to repair’ laws may affect options, costs
Studio4 | E+ | Getty Images
State lawmakers and consumer advocates have been trying to make it easier and cheaper for consumers to get their devices repaired.
Several states — including California, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota and New York — have implemented so-called “right to repair” laws. Typically, the laws require manufacturers of certain devices — such as consumer electronics or appliances — to make parts, physical and software tools and repair information, like schematics, available at a fair and reasonable price. These laws can make it more straightforward for consumers to do repairs themselves, and widen professional repair options, too.
Colorado and Oregon have passed right to repair legislation that will go into effect in the next year, and more than a dozen others have introduced bills, according to Repair.org.
“We are just now starting to see the impact of legislation that we’ve been working on for 10 years,” said Gordon-Byrne. The earliest right to repair bills were filed in 2014, she said — including the first, in South Dakota, which failed — and “we really only got the first three laws in place to start July first of this year.”
There are limits to what these laws can do. Typically they only cover purchases made in recent years, and can be product-specific. New York’s law, for example, doesn’t include appliances. Some states have separate laws to cover specific products like autos, farm equipment and electronic wheelchairs.
At the federal level, the Federal Trade Commission said in a 2021 report to Congress that “restricting consumers and businesses from choosing how they repair products can substantially increase the total cost of repairs, generate harmful electronic waste, and unnecessarily increase wait times for repairs.” The Commission has also brought warranty-related enforcement actions and this summer sent warning letters to several manufacturers about their warranty practices.
Critics of right to repair legislation say the patchwork of state laws are too broad and may do more harm than good.
“These state proposals and state laws could lead to a lose-lose situation in which manufacturers are harmed because it undercuts their profits, and consumers are harmed because they either see a decreased kind of quality of these products or an increase in price,” said Alex Reinauer, a research fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Some products designed ‘with a hostility to repair’
Consumer advocates say state laws and the FTC actions help, but haven’t solved the problem.
“One of the main reasons why it’s so difficult to fix things is because they’re designed with kind of a hostility to repair, or an ambivalence to repair,” said Nathan Proctor, the senior director of U.S. PIRG’s Right to Repair campaign.
To give consumers more information, US PIRG is also launching a new effort to bring repair-score labeling to the U.S. Right now, “there’s no way to tell what products are designed to be serviceable, and therefore last, and be resilient and durable,” Proctor said.
France already has this kind of system, he said, and the EU is rolling out a “repairability index,” with a rating system that scores a product based on factors including a repair-friendly design and the price and availability of parts. Scores range from zero to 10, with higher numbers indicating a more repairable product and greater longevity expectations.
However, those scores are subjective and may not hold up over time. For example, if a manufacturer discontinues making a part, that reparability score may not longer be accurate.
Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Reinauer is keeping a score of his own, using a spreadsheet that compares the Ingress Protection (IP) rating, which grades how a product stands up to water and dust intrusion, with the reparability index. He says that comparison doesn’t favor repairs.
“When a when a product is more repairable, typically it’s less durable,” said Reinauer, “so there are trade-offs in this.”
Do-it-yourself help
Halfpoint Images | Moment | Getty Images
Depending on the nature of the problem and safety issues involved, a repair may be worth trying to tackle on your own. Appliance owners may find help from others online.
“Researching the broken item’s issue on the web often leads to information and guides posted by others who have encountered the same issue, or a similar issue and how they addressed it,” said Peter Mui, the founder of Fixit Clinics. Product owners can get help with a do-it-yourself project at a Fixit Clinic or online at Discord.
I’m weighing whether it’s worth trying to fix our microwave ourselves or to just live without an interior light. We could try to make it a fun community DIY event, but we risk a repair failure. The microwave model we have now typically costs between $420 and $480 new, if we want to replace it — but I promise I will not buy another appliance without checking if I can change the lightbulb.
Feels like there’s a bad joke in here somewhere.
If you still haven’t booked your holiday travel plans, take note: Prices tend to rise the closer you get to the days you’re looking to travel.
To afford holiday trips, about 50% of respondents are cutting back on other expenses while 49% are picking up discounts and deals, according to the 2024 Holiday Travel Outlook by Hopper, a travel site.
Some last-minute holiday travelers are leaning into so-called “Travel Tuesday” — or the Tuesday after Cyber Monday and Black Friday — which falls on Dec. 3 this year.
Search interest for Travel Tuesday rose more than 500% from 2021 to 2023, according to a recent report by McKinsey and Company.
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There’s a reason why shoppers are searching for the term.
Last year, 83% more deals were offered on Travel Tuesday versus Cyber Monday and 92% more than Black Friday, according to Hopper data.
Yet, there may be some limitations on the deals available, experts say.
“The challenge for a lot of people is, ‘Do I wait?'” said Sally French, a travel expert at NerdWallet.
For travelers who are set on specific days and places to visit, the answer might be “no.”
“While airlines and online travel agencies are going to offer flight deals on Travel Tuesday, there is no reason to wait,” said Phil Dengler, co-founder of The Vacationer, a travel platform.
How much you benefit from potential discounts on Travel Tuesday will depend on your flexibility, experts say.
“If you have zero flexibility,” said Hayley Berg, economist at Hopper, then “if you see a good deal before Travel Deal Tuesday, feel free to book it.”
How Travel Tuesday works
People wait in line for security checkpoints ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. November 22, 2023.
Vincent Alban | Reuters
Similar to Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, Travel Tuesday deals sometimes begin to roll out before the day itself, said Dengler. They might even stretch into the day after.
Nonetheless, you will typically need to book the flight, hotel stay or cruise trip by the end of the day in order to reap the benefits, he said.
As you shop, make sure to read the fine print in case discounts only apply for certain routes and days, Dengler explained.
Retailers often have a limited stock for Black Friday and Cyber Monday doorbusters. With Travel Tuesday, there may be a limited number of airline seats or hotel rooms, NerdWallet’s French said.
“They’re not going to fly two planes on the same route at the same time,” she said.
‘Be ready’ to book
Travel Tuesday might be better suited for deciding when and where you’ll go for an upcoming vacation in 2025, versus a very specific itinerary home over the holidays.
If you are not flexible on the days and destinations you plan to travel to and you find a flight available at a price you’re comfortable with, “book that trip right now,” French said.
“If you wait until Travel Tuesday, then that deal could be gone,” she said. “You don’t want to wait for Travel Tuesday for it to be sold out.”
In some cases, it doesn’t hurt to book ahead and keep browsing for potential price drops, experts say.
You typically have 24 hours from booking to cancel for a full refund as long, as it’s seven days before a flight’s scheduled departure time, Dengler said. Plus, some airlines don’t have change fees for non-basic economy fares, he said.
If those terms are in your favor, “if you see a better deal on Travel Tuesday, simply cancel your current bookings and book the Travel Tuesday offer,” Dengler said.
On the flip side, if you’re less tied to specific dates and places, but have a general sense of where and when you want to travel, then holding off until discount days may be worthwhile.
“We tend to see the deals do get better and better the closer we are to actual Black Friday or actual Travel Tuesday,” French said.
The biggest takeaway for travelers is to start thinking about what you might want to book, Berg said.
“I really encourage travelers to do that exploration now so that on Travel Deal Tuesday, they can be ready to actually book,” she said.
Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/Picture Alliance via Getty Images
The number of older Americans who report losing more than $100,000 to fraud in a given year has more than tripled since 2020, according to the Federal Trade Commission, a trend that experts say represents a grave and growing threat to older adults’ financial security.
In 2023, about 4,600 adults age 60 and older reported being defrauded of a six-figure sum, according to a report the FTC issued in October. That’s up from about 1,300 in 2020.
Such thefts can be especially devastating to older adults, who have less opportunity to earn back what they’ve lost, greatly impacting their quality of life in old age, experts said.
“It’s life altering,” said John Breyault, vice president of public policy, telecommunications and fraud at the National Consumers League, a consumer advocacy group.
Aside from the financial blow, victims also bear the emotional “trauma of knowing they have to live rest of their life in poverty,” Breyault said.
Common scams targeting older Americans
Consumers overall lost $10 billion to scams in 2023, a record high, according to the FTC.
The figure is also $1 billion more than the fraud loss reported in 2022, despite the number of fraud reports being roughly the same, at about 2.6 million, the FTC said.
“Scammers are really getting more sophisticated, better at what they do and the technology they’re using seems to allow them to target victims with ever more precision,” Breyault said.
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Adults age 60 and older reported losing more than $1.9 billion to fraud last year, up from $1.6 billion in 2022, the FTC said.
The true scope of losses by older adults was likely significantly higher — around $62 billion in 2023 — after accounting for underreporting, the FTC said. Many Americans may not report these crimes to the police or other sources partly due to embarrassment about having been duped or because they assumed nothing could be done, according to a 2023 Gallup News poll.
Older adults were 60% more likely than younger ones to report losses exceeding $100,000 last year, according to the FTC. Criminals commonly stole such vast sums from older adults via romance scams, investment frauds and imposter scams, the FTC said.
Imposter scams often involved fraudsters impersonating friends and family or agents from technology firms like Microsoft, sweepstakes and lottery companies like Publishers Clearing House, institutions like banks and government agencies like the Social Security Administration, the FTC said.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has also detailed a stark increase in internet crime defrauding older Americans in recent years. The average victim in that age group lost more than $34,000 in 2023, the FBI reported.
Investment scams, especially those involving fake cryptocurrency investment opportunities, accounted for the largest reported losses among all older adults in 2023: $538 million, up 34% from 2022, the FTC said.
3 common red flags of a scam
“We’d all like to believe we could spot an online scam a mile away,” the National Council of Aging wrote this year. “But the truth is that con artists and cybercriminals are getting craftier and more sophisticated by the day.”
That said, would-be victims can protect themselves by recognizing three common tactics used by scammers, Breyault said:
1. Sense of urgency
Criminals often try to create a “heightened state of emotional urgency,” Breyault said.
This psychological tactic pushes victims to act impulsively, rushing them into making decisions or providing sensitive information without thinking, according to NCOA.
“Fraudsters may say an offer is good for a limited time only, a product is about to run out, or that you must make a payment immediately to prevent negative consequences,” NCOA said.
2. Social isolation
Scammers try to prevent consumers from talking to a third party. For example, they might say, “Don’t tell anyone about this. Don’t go to the cops. This is an investment no one knows about so don’t tell anyone about this. It’s our little secret,” Breyault said.
“If you’re unsure about the person you’re talking to or what you’re being told, ask a friend or family member for advice before taking any further steps,” NCOA said. “Sending a quick screenshot of a text, or simply walking through the scenario with someone you trust, can often help you see things more clearly.”
3. Unusual ways to pay
Criminals often ask victims to make a payment by buying gift cards, sending a wire transfer, going to a bitcoin ATM, or sending money through a peer-to-peer transaction on a platform like Zelle or Venmo, for example, Breyault said.
Consumers generally don’t have recourse to be refunded money in such circumstances, he said.
While there are “legitimate” uses for such payment methods, they often appear “unusual” in the context of a fraud: For example, why would a loved one who claims to need cash ask you to send money via a bitcoin ATM? Breyault said.
“When you do buy products online, make sure you only use a payment option that offers reimbursement for authorized payments (such as most major credit cards),” NCOA wrote. “Using a form of direct payment, such as a payment app, is essentially the same as sending cash. You may not be able to receive a refund.”
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