What do a hand steamer, a juice extractor and an electric hedge trimmer have in common? These essentials of modern comfort are part of the household appliances – with the most classic washing machines, refrigerators or hobs – eligible for the “repair bonus”, a financial boost implemented Thursday, December 15 to encourage their owners to have them repaired instead of throwing them away. The discount can range from 10 euros for a kettle, and up to 45 euros for a laptop. Products still under manufacturer’s warranty are not affected.
To participate in the system, repairers must obtain the QualiRépar label, after evaluation of thirty-one criteria
Repairers will apply the rebate to their customers’ invoices, and will be reimbursed for the shortfall by a fund endowed with 410 million euros over six years, collected from manufacturers. To participate in the system, they still have to obtain the QualiRépar label, after evaluation of thirty-one criteria. It will be necessary in particular to guarantee the services for at least three months, to commit to detailed estimates, to justify the origin of the spare parts and to have qualified personnel. And also respond in writing within eight days to any complaint, educate customers on the proper use of devices and use the specific IT portal for reimbursements.
If he does not dispute the merits of this environmental initiative, Joël Couret, delegate for the promotion of repair within the National Federation of Independent Professionals in Electricity and Electronics (Fedelec), is alarmed the volume of procedures to be carried out: he fears that this label “extremely demanding” rejects small structures in favor of large groups who will be able to absorb the constraints. According to him, of the 21,000 repair companies in France, 70% are craftsmen who work alone, a rate that rises to 78% in household appliances and 83% in consumer electronics.
“From administration to shovel”
To these very small businesses (TPE) already busy with interventions, “we send out administrative work by the shovel”, deplores Mr. Couret, who estimates the time needed to submit each reimbursement request at seven minutes, i.e., in the case of five interventions per day, “more than half an hour to devote daily to these thankless tasks”. He adds that not all professionals can afford, unlike large structures, software packages “at 5,000 or 6,000 euros” which simplify this process.
The delegate regrets that the bar is placed at the same height “for a multinational and a small craftsman”. As for the cost of labeling – borne 30% by the applicant company and 70% by the eco-organizations that manage the system, Ecosystem and Ecologic –, it hardly varies according to the size of the company: from 1,490 euros for those of one to two people to 2,415 euros for those of 3 to 100 people. Ultimately, for Mr. Couret, the QualiRépar label installs “from the start a fairly deplorable competitive situation” between big and small.
The label “responds both to the need for consumer confidence and the need to restore the image of the profession”, according to Nathalie Yserd, of Ecosystem
The managing director of Ecosystem, Nathalie Yserd, assures on the contrary that it “does not put the independents aside at all” thanks to a “methodology accessible in a completely transparent way”. Labeled repairers will be placed on an equal footing in the directory that will list them, she adds. In addition, consumer protection requires in his view to guarantee strict compliance with quality and safety criteria. According to her, high standards are beneficial for both clients and professionals “who said they suffered from an image deficit” : thus, the label “responds both to the need for consumer confidence and to the need to restore the image of the profession”.
MP Véronique Riotton (Renaissance, Haute-Savoie), rapporteur for the “anti-waste for a circular economy” law (AGEC), which paved the way for the “repair bonus”, also believes that the device sends a double signal: to consumers , to dissuade them from throwing away devices that can live again, and to repairers, so that they continue to structure a sector called the “massification”. Not to mention that it is good, in his eyes, within the framework of an operation piloted by the public authorities, to avoid any “evaporation” public funds to actors whose professionalism would not have been checked.