Appliance repair technician: “They’re designed to break. It’s a deliberate strategy to force people to buy a new washing machine”

An appliance repair technician has confirmed what many people have long suspected: planned obsolescence is real, with manufacturers deliberately designing modern appliances to fail sooner than they should.

“A deliberate strategy to force people to buy new machines”

That’s the view of UK-based repair expert Paul Charmbury, who has more than 40 years of experience in the industry. Charmbury has publicly accused manufacturers, particularly Bosch, of intentionally designing washing machines that can’t be repaired, forcing consumers to buy new ones and generating massive amounts of electronic waste.

Washing machine drums that can’t be repaired

To make matters worse, manufacturers don’t seem to be hiding it anymore. Charmbury points to the drum design in modern washing machines as “evidence.” While older models had drums that could be opened and repaired, many newer versions are sealed and welded, making any repair work physically impossible.

“I’ve been repairing appliances for over 40 years, but I’ve never seen a problem as widespread and intentional as this,” Charmbury says in a video on his YouTube channel. “This isn’t bad design; it’s a deliberate strategy to force people to buy a new machine. It creates huge amounts of electronic waste and makes life impossible for honest repair businesses.”

The alternative to fixing

In Bosch’s case, Charmbury explains that customers are required to buy an entire replacement drum, which costs around $480. That price tag makes repair work impractical - most consumers simply choose to buy a new washing machine rather than spend nearly half the cost of a new one on fixing an old model, which may break down again.

Charmbury has launched a small-scale initiative to collect real-world data from consumers. His goal, he says, is to “build a database that shows the world exactly how long these machines are designed to last.” He invites viewers on his YouTube channel to share their washing machine model and when it broke down, creating a crowdsourced record of failure rates.

Throwaway culture by design

Much has been made of the “throwaway culture” that defines modern consumerism. But as Charmbury argues, it’s not just a matter of convenience or habit - in many cases, it’s the only option consumers have left.

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