EBME Forums Forums Maintenance Spare Parts Spare parts rip off!

Just thought I'd reopen this thread. I've got a faulty monitor that needs a rotary/ push switch, similar item in RS costs about £25, the manufacturer will only supply the front panel assembly complete at a cost of Approx. £500. How the f**k can they get away with it? Looking at the service manual there are only nine parts available for the entire monitor. The world's gone mad. Unfortunately we are committed to this company as we have more than sixty of their monitors in ITU's theatres etc.

I've had a GE/Datex AS3/5 PRESTN module with a broken NIBP retainig clip - a very small piece of plastic (fraction of a pennys worth of raw material).
However GE will only sell the front half of the module - for a total of NZ$1800 (720 pounds.

Firetruck its expensive.

As we all know, this sort of thing has been going on for many years (for instance, see earlier posts and links in this thread).

So, what I will add here is the same that I say to all the moaners and groaners who I encounter seemingly everyday regarding the state of Modern Britain (eg, lousy politicians, the neds and the chavs, anti-English sentiment, politicised police "forces", invasion by foreigners, street crime ... and all the rest) ... OK, it's a [censored] situation ... but what are we going to do about it?

Well, for a start, we could move on from the mindset (well entrenched in some quarters) that we always have to fit the "original OEM part" (to which I say, once again, [censored])!

There's always a cheaper way of going about repairs ... as I have proven a zillion times myself!

There are limits to what we can replace nowadays as almost everything is custom made, perhaps that's why the kit is so expensive (yeah, right, I hear you say). The trim knob might be available from RS or Farnell but the knob and other bits are only available through the mfr.

BTW Phil, my gripe is with the same company.

USB Memory Sticks and Bluetooth devices (for example) are also "custom made" ... but you don't get gouged when you go to buy those, do you? Quite the reverse, in fact.

Yes, less components are (easily) replaceable these days. But that doesn't justify the obscene mark-ups that the gougers apply when standard components are used, does it?

This is what happens once a cartel of "Big Players" is in place. Lack of competition and cosy arrangements within the Gang leads (as always) to the customer being ripped off. That's Economics 101, I'm afraid.

Not to mention kit made of plastic, with crappy little do-dads (like "special" fittings, clips, etc.) all over the place. Don't tell me that the design of this junk is "customer driven". Surely all the customer really needs is modern, easy-to-use, but realiable and cost-effective (that doesn't mean cheap ... just inexpensive - and there is a difference) kit. Users of medical equipment don't want all the little "add-ons" and "must-haves" ... they just want solid kit that works!

Very soon the traditional biomed tech will have gone the way of the dinosaur (if we haven't got to that point already). Perhaps that's part of the reason for the move towards a "name change". You know, to Clinical Technologist ... or whatever the latest dream is (I can't say, as I don't bother much with keeping up with all that stuff myself).

DON'T mention the CT word(s).

I am all for using RS component equivalent parts. I will happily write a concession note for an RS transformer to replace the OEM version. Not all OEM parts are replaceable with parts from a 3rd party supplier such as RS, but if we find an equivalent that meets the same specification - i have no problem in signing it off, but i would not do it unless i was certain it was an 'Equivalent' part.

I think most EBME departments still do use RS components and such like. Always good for the tax payer, even if it is only lamps and fuses.

... or even "better than"?

But, how do we (should we) deal with the gougers ... just continue to "take it" (the way the British seem so willing to do with just about everything else)?

Myself, I have always considered "tolerance" to be a difficult concept ... especially when (as is almost always the case, in my experience) the parties involved have different understanding about what it actually means.

Meanwhile the gougers will keep "pushing the envelope" until objections are raised, then they (may) back off a little, but just a tad. Then they will slowly start to tighten the screws again ... then back off a bit, etc.

What is needed is a blanket refusal to play their game. If everyone told them where to get off, things might change.

Surely all of us here have encountered (that is, been the victim of) "emotional blackmail" at one time or another. Well, throw it back at them (that is, use it as a weapon yourself). Go and see your CEO (or whatever the local Big Cheese is known as) and announce that "such and such equipment will be down" until they (the Big Shots) sort out the problem with the outrageous price and/or unavailability of spare parts!

Continuing with the "Monkey See, Monkey Do" theme ... how about "Putting the Monkey on Their Back"?

Oh yes, let's hear it for the Monkeys (I like PG Tips, myself)!

Our problem is that the powers that be appear to be "in bed" with certain manufacturers. we cannot seem to convince our trust to buy monitors from anyone else than GE even though we have a presence on the purchasing panel and have put forward our misgivings. There are plenty of other manufacturers out there, i'm sure we could get as good a product for less and probably a better aftersales service. We recently had a couple of Mortara ECG recordes in for evaluation, we liked them, the users liked them, they were about a grand cheaper, guess what we ordered?

a) Mortara b)GE c) GE

And the winner is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

... er, not Fukuda Denshi, then?

And the losers are ... the taxpayer (for sure), but also the staff, the maintainers, and (quite likely) the patients as well.

Meanwhile, if (just imagine) Monkeys are in bed with gougers ... well, there always used to be an NHS Fraud Hotline number to call ...