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Comment by wst_ | Hacker News Reader

I've got very similar experience in Akihabara, Tokyo.

Trivial thing happened to my headphones. The wire broke very close to the jack plug because of the frequent bending. There was a young guy there, I told him what happened using my broken Japanese, he patiently listened, took the headphones, made some basic check on them, took my phone number and told me to come in 30 minutes. In 20 minutes I got call that it's done. When it came to payment he asked me how much, I think, I should pay. I've been oblivious so he proposed 500 JPY, which is close to nothing, considering that I've had no tools and spare parts.

London, UK - the same situation happened. I've been told to throw it away.

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UK spent over 50 years looking down on "doing" trades, the engineers, technicians, repairers etc, and been brainwashed that converting to a service economy is better for all. Industry and manufacturing was closed as a matter of policy, even in sectors we still competed well.

UK has destroyed the supply chains, the experience, or the ability to train or employ such people any more except in very exceptional cases. End result is few have even seen a jack plug or mains plug that's not moulded or would know where to start.

So we have shops that have no idea how to fix a broken plug or cable, and jewellers that have to return a watch to the manufacturer for a battery change. I'd guess in 1980-1990 most shops on Tottenham Court Road could have soldered a new one, along with most similar shops around the country now they're all just box shifters.

This is not specific to UK, I'd hazard that the whole western world is like that.

You litteraly cannot find ANY electronics shop in Paris (there were still a few ones a few years ago), and no one apart from some non-profits initiative is willing to even open a piece of electronics to do some simple repairs that involve soldering (the only repair being done is changing a part on phones/tablets/computers).

It's really depressing, because a lot repairs are really simple (unsolder a capacitor that is visibly broken, solder a new one in, or even replace a fuse in audio equipment) and instead those objects are trashed, contributing to the growing ecological problems.

That state of affair comes from both an economic lens (manpower is too costly compared to buying a new one), and a skill shortage (people watch me like an alien when I do those simple repairs)

If you are in Versailles there is Vart Électronique. I once needed a cable or something and thought I would need to order it on AliExpress.

I gave them a call and 15 min of biking later I had what I needed for a few euros.

The shop is an inscriptible mess but the guys running it are ok.

Do you remember where did you go for fixing your headphones?

Sorry for late reply, I was away on holidays. It's Bromley East St. Small PC/laptop repair shop. I couldn't find any general electronic/electric repair shop. They told me that cables are too thin and the thing is not worth the work in general. As a result I've got a soldering iron and working headphones at home - fixed it myself.

If it was for the same headphones, maybe you should throw them away if that keeps reoccurring.

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