Robert Coolidge’s business is built around supplying replacement parts for consumer electronics, and he sees right to repair laws as a benefit for consumers – with the right safety guardrails.
Coolidge, CEO of Encompass, told E-Scrap News that “it’s actually really good for the consumer” but also for manufacturers, if they have the right mindset.
“Allowing consumers to repair their products gives them more brand confidence,” he said. “It puts the decision making back to the consumer, which I think is super important.”
On the manufacturing side, self-awareness is needed “to understand truly it’s a benefit to their brand,” Coolidge said. “Manufacturers are sometimes very protective, but also are doing so because that’s the way they’ve been doing it forever.”
If customers know they will be able to repair the products they buy and therefore keep them as long as they want, that builds vital brand loyalty, he added.
On the flip side, “the moment you buy a car, a refrigerator, a computer, and you can’t fix it and a service repair person can’t fix it because the part is not available, you’re automatically associating that with a cheap product,” Coolidge said, and the wheel of brand displacement starts to turn.
So far, California, Colorado, Minnesota, New York and Oregon have passed right-to-repair consumer electronics laws, and there is a high level of legislative activity around the United States.
Encompass deals exclusively in OEM parts, and Coolidge said in his eyes, the most important aspects of right-to-repair laws are to “educate the consumer on the impact of having the right part from the manufacturer” and for consumers to know their own limitations when it comes to making repairs.
“The social media and YouTube and all the digital platforms out there can help and hurt,” he said. “The processes, procedures, video content, really isn’t governed by the manufacturers, and that’s the scary part. People can buy a really cool product and get some really bad information.”
Some repairs, Coolidge added, should be left to professionals, and the safety of each kind of repair should be clearly stated.
“I think legislation needs to slow down a little bit and consider some of the manufacturers’ rights in protecting their intellectual property, and also the safety component,” he said.
When ramping up right to repair laws, Coolidge said it can also be a heavy lift for manufacturers to create repair guides and content that the average consumer can understand.
“Many consumers do not understand the repair manuals and they do not have the technical abilities to complete the repair,” he said.
Encompass helps create that content, he said. It has teams that create vetted repair videos, sell tools and parts to consumers and host manufacturers’ websites, and that segment of business is expanding under the right to repair. For example, Encompass didn’t sell mobile phone parts in the past because manufacturers “used to keep that real tight.” But with the new laws passing, manufacturers are starting to open up those sales channels.
Coolidge also noted that manufacturers need to be involved in crafting legislation, because they are more qualified than lawmakers to understand which repairs are too risky to do at home and what segments are best suited to be covered by right-to-repair laws.
“Giving the consumer the right to fix what they buy, I think that’s important,” he said. “I also think if they’re going to push forward with this at the pace they’re going, they need to understand which segments they should focus on.”
