The amount of work you've done is above and beyond, but getting the masses to even care is tough.

I think I speak for everyone here when I say we need more people with fiery, driven passion like yours to keep defending the rights we should have for our ownership of the things we buy. Thank you for the continued work you do, I promise it doesn't go unnoticed.

There is something lovely about a company that sells products used for repair... not wishing for repairs...

The cat has graciously allowed this ne’er do well back into his home.

Thank you Darren!

Protect this man at all costs

It hits hard once you realize he is calm because he has lost hope.

Louis, your videos are popping in my feed from time to time and I do click them because your titles are interesting and also not clickbait and on top of that you talk about very serious matters, I wanted to tell you that I think is very admirable that you're fighting for the right to repair. Thank you!

I used to fix laptops, consoles and other nicknacks at a small shop in Lebanon. Used to love the job since i got to tinker with laptops. Heck! I didn't even mind that the tools I used were janky and crappy as they did the work fine enough. My problem started when I had to ask 270$ for repairing/replacing a display cable inside a laptop, because someone had the genius idea to weld that in... I genuinely enjoyed the job till I started to feel like I was giving the clients a worse experience than they would get if they bought a brand new device or having to spend a week in the shop welding away to get something to work. The clients being mad didn't help either, but I guess that is part of the job nowadays... Shame that now I feel like customer support on the phone is now a less stressful job than computer repairs and I am someone who abhors phone calls. P.S: I needed to add that your notes, guides and videos helped 16 year old me be able to fix some seriously complicated stuff thanks to them. So for that I want to say thank you.

Thank you to Burkino for finding what I was incapable of finding. Credit goes to him for this link; web.archive.org/web/20240704185112/cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?d=292088857923&w=muWIB3HaNrYrRd03ZmcUJ037pvKjaw3b Also, thank you to rhine labs for keeping me informed throughout his saga; find more of his work here. youtube.com/@Rhine_Labs Lastly, thank you again to burkino for following my advice of never trusting anyone on the interne; ESPECIALLY me! Good on you all who went looking for, and read, primary source documents yourself. The less you trust me, the less likely you are to get fooled by other people who benefit from misleading or misinforming you.

Ive repaired a Miele wassing machine from the 90's. When I opened the pannel I was supriced by a repair document including a fully circuit diagram... this is how companies use to be before the became mega greedy

If you think things are bad in consumer electronics repair, you should see what's going on in auto repair. Many, if not most, cars now come equipped with electronically controlled parking brakes. Older cars...going back to the 1920s...used a foot pedal or hand lever that pulled on a cable that was attached to the rear calipers...or to a mechanism inside the drum in the case of drum brakes. The system was entirely mechanical. Now most cars have a switch for the e-brake that sends a signal to control module which in turn operates the electronic mechanism that applies the parking brake. So what's the problem? When the parking brake needs service...replacement of pads/rotors....the caliper needs to be retracted. In the past this was done with a simple hand tool that cost a few bucks. Now the mechanic needs to go through the car's ODBII port to command the control module to retract the the parking brake into its service position. This requires a scan tool...not a cheap Scamazon code reader....a proper scan tool. Depending on the car, the cost of scan tool and software means that working on your own car is no longer practical.

"We believe in the right to repair everything" "Awesome! Can I repair the product I got from you" "Sorry, what I meant was that we believe in the right to repair everything but *our* product"

here's the thing: I consider it a right to have someone OTHER than the OEM(or their "authorized" associates of any kind) repair my stuff, it does not matter how much they fight it, they have no right to prevent me from fixing simple issues, and I will fight it in court till they pay costs and it sets an example for banning EULA's (for one-time purchases) ENTIRELY and making the mere sight of a "warranty void if removed" sticker a finable offense I would be glad if "mr dropout janitor" can codify this into law before I must fight it for a product that literally makes no sense to replace(unless artifIcial difficulty is imposed) makes me have to actually sue a company for replacements, court costs, and lost time especially when it comes to complex devices where the only acceptable way to design it is with a multi-part conglomerate like the SSD not being bonded to the motherboard(no apple it is not innovation to bond a known limited wear part permanently to a device, it is stupid and should have been struck down as illegal before now) if I decide to replace the aged and dried TIM on my laptop CPU that sticker means literally fucking nothing I am smart enough to actually realize that I have to carefully alternate screw tension during the process to avoid chip damage, and to not use anything majoly electrically conductive without a barrier(and not use fucking toothpaste directly on my CPU/GPU die) you have no right to claim user damage on any other part because I removed the heatsink screws(unless it is clear that unrelated part was damaged by me by mistake) and so therefore have no right to refuse service though asus did ok with the 2021 model tuf gaming f15, most parts are accessable(the lack of a trackpad sucks but I almost always use a mouse) and the lack of a reliable source to get a webcam not damaged by shipping with a refusal to send another(they know they packed it wrong and the shipping package literally dumped the inner object out and I had to make a lost claim) but the fact they allow me to open it up, swap the cracked panels, replace the screen(critical part that can easily get damaged) and some others is commendable and to any laptop owners out there who have never opened their laptops to clean the fans and have owned it for more than 1 year, you simply do not deserve nice things my fans in my gaming laptop had actually gotten caked with a slightly greasy dust(possible pet hair from family too) and could not be blown out, I actually had to pop the metal shield off the fan to expose the bare rotor(I thought it might break it and was prepared to buy now fans) in order to get an object in between the blades to de-gunk them that is pretty involved, and risked damage way worse than replacing the TIM, and could have caused a faster death if not done(heat kills tech, yes apple the fans exist to get rid of heat, and so are supposed to be loud and vent outside the case) right to repair is a right, and the law can suck my cock if it disagrees

Louis, it’s not your lack of effort in lobbying and raising awareness. It’s the fact that companies like Apple slip a few million dollars to congress to look the other way. You can’t compete with that. What we truly need to make a difference is laws that prevent buying politicians. Remove money from politics altogether.

I'm working at a bicycle repair workshop and while we of course make money from people who don't/can't/won't want to repair their bikes themselves, we make sure that people understand what we are doing and why and we're happy if someone knows how to repair certain things but has to get help with more complicated stuff or where you need the tools or more time for. We're now one of select few workshops who actually do repairs, especially for older bikes, because most now only sell new bikes or repair ebikes if youre lucky. It's gotten to an industry that just wants to sell new stuff. But why would we have to buy new stuff all the time when 20+ year old bikes still work like a charm when you change a few things? It's so annoying. We also had an apprentice for a few weeks here who just wanted to pass some time before she moves to another country to study and learn basic things so that she can repair small stuff on her bike. We had no financial incentive to teach her, but we did anyway and she learned so much more than she thought. She's now even assembling her own racing bike from used parts and stuff before she leaves. We technically have a customer or few left, but it's so much more fulfilling to know people like her do exist and people will still need your service for more complicated things or when they're too busy or smth.

I used to work as a telephone tech support technician. My supervisors were always happy to take a call from a happy customer. You are the best for what you did for Darren.

You will own nothing and be ghappy

Even if Darren doesn't see this video, I can very much appreciate that you've given a shout out so someone whom you've recognized has provided quality service. I work in customer service and deal with obnoxious and ungrateful people every single day, and it's just so refreshing for someone to see that we try our best to provide a good experience. Thank you Louis. Don't get too black-pilled, there's always hope the industry will change and swing back. Never give up.

Hewlett Packard (HP) used to create exceptionally good, reliable and repairable tools and products. Then they got greedy and the quality of EVERYTHING they made became that which is flushed from toilets as quickly as possible.

Louis giving Darren a positive review in the form of a shoutout in this video is good stuff. I hope Darren remembered to show it to his boss and get's a raise. I always speak to customer service people in a respectful and friendly manner. I know they're just doing their job. They didn't make the product or company policies. You'll be much more likely to actually get some help from a customer service representative if you treat them the way you'd want to be treated.

It’s a constant forward motion driven by profit. We cannot stop it. I try every day I work at a manufacturer and I always push back on upper management when they say how great sending more operation to Mexico is and how it definitely won’t lead to increase in rejects. As long as someone on the 75th floor somewhere can run a report showing an extra .1 percent growth for the year it will continue.

"why is all your shit homebrew Dari?" This video is exactly why all my shit is hacked together.

Wanna hear a funny story? My dad, 30 years ago, built his own lathe. DIdn't buy any part for it, except for the motor. Everything else he made himself. Few years after he made that lathe, I was browsing the internet and told him: "Dad, you know you can buy lathes?" And he said "Of course I know I can buy a lathe. I know you're not adopted so why are you stupid?" "Then why didn't you buy one?" I retorted, unfazed. "Because it would come with some bullshit warranty, that would run out, the thing would probably break, I would have to look for hard to find parts, and it would be a pain in the ass." And so we speedran to 2024, my dad's long dead, but an old lathe, built by one man from scratch, is a testament to how things started going downhill a long time ago. And they'll probably keep going that route until we all die, regardless how many Louises the cats clone in the basement lab.

Companies buying a selling user data should also be stopped, I think we need to go back to a time when your privacy was just that, private. Why is it okay that companies like Google Amazon etc, has the right to sell their user information, I would like to see this stopped. Give me a thumbs up if you agree.

I cant wait to see the day when laws actually catch up with technology

Have you looked into the automotive industry? I’m a licensed locksmith and make car keys and I need to have many licenses to access security related functions on vehicles. But apparently, the OE’s, try to make basic modules like air conditioner stuff “security” related so aftermarket repair techs can’t fix cars.

Claas distributor wanted to sell me 2 ft toilet pipe for 50$ (3$ in hardware store). I dont know how system designer forgot to change cover plastic tube dimensions to some exotic size not available in common places

The man spits facts he's a real gent.

Have you lost the legislative battle for now: “yes” That said, you’ve also won over many individuals to your cause, and spread that message to an even larger audience. There is now a movement. We can only hope that something will come of this in the future. You’ve done some good work, my friend, and I, at least, thank you for that. The effort you have put in and the work you have done are inspirational.❤

You should have a look at the U.S. RV industry. From blocking repair shops to not standing by their warranties, to outright pushing crap products out the door, to blocking tech info from external repair shops and private owners - it's a shit show.

Though it's been years since I worked in the electronics repair industry, I do appreciate how hard you're working to get the Right to Repair embedded in law. I never thought something like that would be necessary, but it is now. Back when I was swinging a soldering iron, there were lots of repair shops: TV repair, radio repair, car stereo repair, and what I used to do, repair high-end Hi Fi & Stereo components. Now there's a vast wasteland, no repair shops anywhere, because people just throw things away rather than get them repaired. It's not the future I envisioned, and it SUCKS!

Thank you Louis! Your closing comments shines a spotlight at the people that do an otherwise thankless job. You rock and I love your passion for right to repair.

Japan tends to be sticklers for protecting IP, that and with a corporate culture of following rules and procedures to the letter no matter what the logic of the rules and who wrote them (employees will get reprimanded if they deviate from procedure even if it was the right thing to do), you get companies like Nintendo, who sues everyone, even tho it has no positive impact on the company.

I was taught that the higher price for industrial tools (both hardware and software) goes to the better support you'd get. But for some reason the last decade or so both support and quality has gone out the window for customers, no matter if it's a company or a private person....

BMW actively fight me when I fix my own motorbike. They deliberately hinder me, don't tell me anything I ask of them about how something is supposed to work and charge a fortune to replace an entire part when only part of it is broken. E.G: The plastic cover on a mirror broke off, and they only sell the entire mirror for extortionate money. If your bushes wear out in the starter motor, you have to replace the entire motor. If the fuel filter is blocked, you need to replace the whole fuel pump. And if the bike makes a noise that you don't recognize and ask them if this is normal or if you are being paranoid, they say "That'll be £70 to look at it for you" This is why I do all my own servicing now.

Blocking of selling parts that are used to manufacture/repair your device should be fucking illegal.

Yeah, back in the days (around 10 years ago) you could simply replace the battery and fix the phone in service 🤷🏿

"Do not trust me" -- Trust must be earned, and you have earned it. It's perfectly ok to place trust in someone who has earned it.

So many companies working so hard to never do business with me again... When enough people write off enough companies, things will change.

The issue is corporations themselves. They're structured so that if the corporate officers don't try to make as much money as humanly possible every second of every day they can be held liable. We need corporation reform.

DAMN FINE JOB, DARREN!!! You , Sir, who toil away your days anonymously serving the needs of an ungrateful and belligerent clientele, who do so professionally and pleasantly under the supervision of an unappreciative managerial class, you, Sir, have our gratitude and thanks. Two million Thank You's!

As others have said: thank you for fighting for the rights that all of us deserve - even if we are somewhat unwilling to fight for those rights ourselves. I will do everything I can to support you because confronting others and pushing my own beliefs is not really something I am comfortable doing (but I do advocate for right to repair when I can). Even though I am not American (British) and do not directly benefit from some of the advocacy you do, it is clear that that work will (and is) spreading to benefit everyone. I look forward to the day that I don't have to seriously consider whether buying a new phone (and admittedly the refreshed software support) or paying to replace the battery will be a better investment. Thank you for all of the work you do it is appreciated by people across the globe because the work you do does have a global impact. I hope the people in the EU who wrote the DMA are working on a follow up act for repair that will make you proud.

Louis, I began my career in IT largely in part due to your content and legal efforts. Please keep fight the good fight, and thanks for putting so much knowledge out into the world.

It's sad to see companies respond like this, imagine what the state of repairability would've been without Luis.

Thank you Darren for being a swell guy :D

Lobbying for the better, great job Louis

Glad to see this finally getting put into action!

Thank you Darren for doing such a good job! And thank you Louis for doing what you do. It is not unnoticed nor is it unappreciated. Please keep doing what you do for as long as you can.

I have been using the same hakko iron since 2006, bought the year I graduated high school (and my side gig in college for beer money). I can still purchase 936 tips in essentially every flavor to this day. The tips are within 5-6% of the dialed in temperature to this day.

In corpo-speak "Embrace" means "strong-armed by law or public opinion so throw bare minimum into an iron maiden device"

huge respect to you Louis if only US had same customer rights as in EU

I hope Darren finds this and can be recognized. Also, thank you to all the Darrens out there that are professional and do whatever you do well.

Props to Darren!!

Great job Darren! Good customer service is so hard to come by. Thank you for doing a job not many can do or handle and doing it well!!

Lets try, for the 3rd time: HMD mobile phones (Android) point to self fixing, if user wants to do so. All the self-repair webs, etc get official HMD-parts and HMD-manuals to change batteries, displays, USB-C-connectors, casings etc. Maybe if I write the most well known self-fixing company name here (the one the HMD points to themselves also), the comments disappear.

Thank you Darren segment starts at 25:02

I'm only about a minute and half in, but I just want to say that even if right to repair laws never become realized, at least you've made people aware that this behavior by big companies is not normal and not okay. Even if things are worse now than they were 10 years ago, how do you know things aren't better now than they could've been without you?

Way to go Darren!

Way to do Darren! Thanks for the hard, under appreciated work! You totally rock!

Darren is such a good lad, he saved my grandma down from a tree once! I wish him a promotion!

I'm just trying to start a repair business (which as an autistic person with selective mutism isn't the easiest task) and I've been using a cheap £40 or so hot air gun for years. I have been considering a new one and this is good information to know. Thanks Louis, I will consider buying a station from yourself, hopefully shipping to the UK isn't too bad haha.

Babe wake up, Louis is showing us how we're getting F'd again.

I was seriously considering getting Hakko equipment because of how good everyone says that it is, but if I can't get access to repair manuals for said equipment, then you're right; I guess I'll just go with cheaper options.

Wouldn't it amazing if we were somehow able to reverse this issue. Like I'm no repair expert but I am an optimist. I dream of a world where instead of consumer's fighting for the right to repair, companies fight to not be blacklisted from all independent repair technicians because that effects their image. Like to me I see a marketing problem that I wish I could solve. Right to repair is associated with quality and luxury, Like you create the idea in a consumer's mind that if they are pro right to repair it must be because their product is so great. Imagine a world where Apple is considered the shit and cheap option that over charges because it's too scared to allow other's to repair. The worst part is this is the truth but still not the perceived truth among customers. I hope this changes soon. KEEP UP THE FIGHT ROSSMANN!!!!!!!!!!!

Good job Darren! Fantastic video Louis, and DIAF, LG!

Even with some states passing right to repair laws, there's still a long fight ahead. The whole exemption for industrial tools is ridiculous. If my personal phone or laptop goes down that is a minor inconvenience, if I own a repair shop and my soldering station breaks I need it fixed immediately and every second that it's down is costing me money. I think there's also the issue that the laws need to be passed by Congress here in the US because the argument could be made that every consumer or industrial product is sold and/or used in interstate commerce and the Constitution gives Congress the power to regulate that.

I spent 13 years as a phone monkey. I appreciate what you're doing for Daren.

I miss knobs. Touch controls are less tactile than a bad knob, let alone a good knob. I mean this sincerely-- keep your mind out of the gutter.

I love that shoutout to Darren at the end. My mom works as a customer service agent and I see her doing some really good work, and I hope people show their appreciation to her as you did. It's not easy being a CS rep, and it's even harder being a good one. I wish all the best to Darren.

I just bought an Aiden A9 plus from AliExpress and love it. I’d put it up against any Hakko at 3-5x’s the price. Louis - you really owe it to yourself to be open minded about the newer Chinese offerings in Soldering stations.

Samsung out here disabling touch on after market screens

Keep up the fight good brother thank you so much you are one of the inspiring people I've been repairing my own phones for over 7 years 😊 I basically fix all my friends and families phones for free it's like having a superpower it's pretty neat thank you it's been fun😊 please your advocacy has done so much you really are a great guy thank you God bless you from Lahaina HI 5:14

Hey Louis! Great video again. I hope you had a great day. Thank you for the time and effort you put into making and sharing these videos, I really appreciate it and you know a lot of people do so as well. ❤ I can't tell you whether you won or lost any particular challenge you put yourself up to, but when it comes to right to repair you won at inspiring people about defending their own rights. And if you still consider you lost... well, your loss is our loss too. We shouldn't celebrate a collective win if we don't share our losses.

Support rep can make or break a company, amazing work Darren

6:18 "Annnnd..." cuts right to a google ad with that id10t Mark Cuban. I miss the old days when it would count down to an ad.

I will never stop using repair shops. You guys exist for a reason, you guys are vital for the survival of technology.

A public library accidentally sent me an internal email once saying I was basically a horrible person. Because they judge you by what you want to read.

Thank you from Puerto Rico 💪💪💪

nice. One thing that I changed in my attitude years ago is to leave a very good evaluation whenever I got a very good customer service. most of the time your experience is miserable and you trash them wherever you can but it is important to leave a good feedback whenever you get treated well. Specially because it is so rare. ( I never ever got to talk to a supervisor. I still think they are a figure of speech and not a real person)

Ostensibly right to repair is not financially beneficial for companies. How can they raise the bottom line without people buying more? Further, with every passing year people don't think products last as long, but they still purchase from the same brands giving them less and less. People wonder why they can afford less on the thousands of dollars they earn when its wasted on trash.

I dont think you will lose, at the moment Europe is really coming down on all big companies. Right to repair is coming in europe, in fact it's already starting and europe wide. When that happens and it's a matter of time, it will mean you need to be legally capable to get every single thing fixed in a store on every corner on the street. Fully

I love you man. I love what you do and I especially love what you advocate and stand for, thank you.

Good job Darren!

Listening to this at 1 1/2 speed is crazy

I feel for Rossman. Been repairing a lot of computers / laptops / phone in the last 10 years and seen it became harder and the struggle becoming to actually do such. The fact the manufacturer has more power over you as a consumer, is just a bad movement for us a the human society. Not only for customers but literally our own freedom being taking away. Is just sad. What can we do to turn this around ? its nothing more logic that code is going to be less complex taking less energy, so your energy consumption going down. AND Batteries are getting better lifespan. Yet the sellers want to have money over the fact that everyone on this planet has to give them money for it. makes me lose trust in humanity. hope this all has a great outcome, same for Louis and his businesses.

I 100% will ask for a manager to give kudos to someone providing outstanding service!

What a legend. Shame hako didnt share his views. Please dont give up. Someone gotta start a screen fab. Darren sounds like a legend. Rare to get someone so nice.

Thank you Darren

Thanks, Darren!

I have to say that I wouldn't be patient enough to go back-and-forth for a year with random customer service reps to get schematics. I had to go back-and-forth for a *month* with Google to recover data of the account of our child and that was painful enough for me.

Thank you Darren 🎉

Rossman for President!

Take a look at what OEMs and NASTF are doing to the automotive industry blocking access to some programming unless you're a VSP. They make it impossible for a car owner to get approved to be a VSP with a simple background check. Have to provide state business docs, your personal information, 1 million in insurance coverage and a couple other items.

Thank you louis for your continued integrity, even though you may have not reached your own goals, know that I among many others value your effort for us consumers. Please continue your effort!

THANK YOU DARREN!!!!! And to all the other darren’s out there who do a good job at dealing with customers

Videos are gaining production vaule !! Amazing ❤️ 👏 thanks for keeping us informed on the bs happening in the tech world

Phone support is the real trenches. I salute you Daren! You deserve recognition! And same to anyone doing good work in (technical) customer support. o7

Awesome job Darren! You did a good job.

Its quite bizarre that manufacturers which benefit from right to repair, as they make the tools used by repair shops, do not support it for their own products. They are literally supporting a practice that will shrink their market, which seems incredibly dumb. A 7 year product life for an industrial product, priced accordingly, is also insane. Industrial products should last decades, if not a lifetime.