The completion of a Repair Monitor form is compulsory for all repairs undertaken by Stokesley and Villages Repair Cafe (SaVRC) as a prerequisite of our insurance, but this is not the purpose of the form.
Goals of the Repair Monitor Form:
- Local record of the work of the SaVRC, allowing us to measure our impact and our geographical reach.
- Tracking of repairs whilst at SaVRC, ensures repairs don’t get lost (see also SaVRC Check-in Sheet).
- Record of item’s owner agreeing to SaVRC’s disclaimer and giving permission for photography.
- Input into the global open repair database (SaVRC’s Records), which means:
- Useful information sources are shared with other repairers.
- Suggestions for repairing particular items are share with other repairers.
- Manufacturers can be given evidence of product defects and if necessary pressure applied to have defects fixed.
- Opportunity for people to sign up to our mailing list.
To achieve these goals it is important that the information entered is legible and accurate.
N.B. No personal information is shared on the global Repair Monitor system (SaVRC’s Records).
The Repair Monitor Form – Stokesley and Villages Repair Cafe – Version 8
Stokesley and Villages Repair Cafe’s version of the Repair Monitor form is based on the form which Repair Cafes around the world have used for 15 years to record repairs. The disclaimer while being based on Repair Cafe International’s UK version has been adapted after discussion with our insurers and tweeked over the first 3 years of running repair cafes.
0. Filling in the Form
Hopefully the form is fairly self-explanatory. However it will make more sense if the reasons for the requesting this information are understood. Otherwise it can seem over complicated, in fact it is a lot simpler than previous versions, but still serves its multiple purposes.
1. About the Owner
All the details of the owner that we require before an item is accepted for repair.
The “Reference no” allows us to know which items are currently being repaired and is added at the triage stage.
2. About the Item
Sufficient details of the product ensure that it is properly recorded in our records and that globally any recurring defects in products are spotted. The younger and more complicated the product, the more details are helpful, as these products will be the still available to buy products where manufacturers could make improvements and be held to account.
SaVRC’s repair cafes operate with the owner staying with their item while it is being repaired, partly as the owner can then tell the repairer about how symptoms of the problem (i.e. switches off after 2 minutes) and any cause that they have identified (i.e. left outside in the frost and hence the crack). The owner spending a minute writing this down is very useful both as a record, but also to ensure nothing is missed during the repair.
3. House Rules, Disclaimer and Image Permission
Every item owner must agree to the house rules and decide whether they are happy for images to be taken.
4. PAT Testing
We need to carry out electrical safety tests on all mains electrical equipment. When items arrive the test informers the electrical repairs if there are hazards to just plugging the item in and once a repair has completed the test ensures the item is safe.
Entirely for internal use pass or failing of a PAT test is recorded by a tick or a cross over the PAT IN (before repair) and PAT OUT (after repair)
5. About the Repair
The repairers name is essential both to be able to attribute the repair and to allow any follow up on the item or questions on a similar item in future.
There is no need for an essay on each repair not is single word ideal, instead a compact unambiguous sentence for most items is sufficient which would allow another repairer to understand what happened.
Electrical / mechanical: if the fault was a broken switch, then the single word “Fixed” would not be helpful to somebody finding a similar fault in the same type of product. “Replaced” would be better, but ideally “Removed case, detached circuit board, undersoldered broken switch, soldered owner supplied switch and reassembled” would be perfect. However, if this repair was rated as 1 under “repairabillity of product” then information on why it was so difficult would needed, i.e. “deeply recessed security screws that it was impossible to see exact type, so required experimentation to find correct screwdriver.
Sewing / gluing: once again for a rip or broken item, slightly more than “sewed” or “patched” or “fixed” or “glued” is helpful. Not much but something like “hand sewed patch using fabric from inside back pocket” or “used ceramic superglue to affix single broken piece”.
Computer / mobile phone: “reinstalled software” is often not very informative, especially if the item has been described as HP Laptop only. So first step is to fill in the details of the laptop that the owner did not, i.e. HP Elitebook 650K. Here make sure where the user gave a “Problem description” of “not working”, that the repairers’ “Defect found” is used to describe more precisely what is wrong, “computer switches on, start up sound , displays windows logo, but does not start Windows properly”. Then the description of the repair should be more “succeeded into booting into Windows recovery mode and reinstalled Windows from recovery partition.”
6. About Information Used
Please record any website that significantly helped with the repair or even that documented why this fault could not be fixed. Once again single words “Google” or “Youtube” mean that anybody who finds the same fault has to work out which is the most effective solution suggested and can waste lots of time watching videos which don’t really help. If you are on your laptop/phone then please email the web address to repaircafe@casav.uk with the date of the repair and Items “Reference No”.
7. Suggestions for Other Repairers
Anything that you did during the repair which may not be obvious. “There is an extra screw hidden behind the label which needs to be removed to take the case of”, “When replacing the zip, you can cut it off at the bottom, this avoids the stuffing from the coat escaping at the bottom.”