'Missing' instructions - the modern way?

[Fastpedaller]

Is anyone else feeling let down by the lack of instructions with most retail goods lately? We;'ve been fitting a new kitchen at our Daughters house, and anything we buy seems to have no instructions except to download via a QR code, log onto a website or look on Youtube ! When I'm installing an oven I don't want to be going to a mobile phone (mine won't do QR codes anyway) when all I want is a paper guide. The Hotpoint oven was a mystery..... Why does it have a 3-pin plug? I've never seen one on an oven before, and surely it is rated higher than 13 Amps? We tried my Wife's phone and the tech data gave all the easily obtainable like product width and height (we can measure those!) but absolutely nothing for the kW rating of the oven. There were 3 phone numbers in the 'sales leaflets' with the oven ie. you can get extra warranty!, none of them led to a human, and when I pressed any button eg 'to book a fitter press2' I still got the we are too busy visit our website message. very frustrating. Rant over.
On the positive.......... We bought the kitchen cabinets from DIY-Kitchen.com (not to be confused with B&Q which is DIY.com). They are made in Yorkshire and the service is fantastic!
All cabinets ready-assembled even the doors are fitted (not flatpack) well packaged, and they even supplied me with 3 base units unglued so I could easily make alterations (eg to cut base to fit around a water meter) and glue them afterwards. With the added bonus of being half the price of the competitors and a human is available over the 'phone ..... a breath of fresh air! We even got a package of Yorkshire tea, flapjacks, guide to Yorkshire attractions and Instructions with our delivery!

 

[Drago]

Or, just as bad, a miniature instruction booklet with writing so tiny I can't even read it with reading glasses, and had to a 13 year old with a magnifier to decipher them.

 

[wiggydiggy]

Same in shops to be honest, too often instead of some info on a little card theres just a QR code.

And as we all like a good scam lately, don't trust those QR codes lol Drivers warned over car park QR code scam

 

[CXRAndy]

Some ovens are less than 3kW so can run from 3 pin plug. A Google search would have revealed the ratings in either kW or Amps.

I find instructions poor from manufacturers, but YouTube and other forums sometimes add some vital information

 

[Fastpedaller]

Some ovens are less than 3kW so can run from 3 pin plug. A Google search would have revealed the ratings in either kW or Amps.

I find instructions poor from manufacturers, but YouTube and other forums sometimes add some vital information

We tried a google search and it just showed someone removing the plug. At the moment it's wired into the 'standard' cooked/hob connection on the wall behind the cooker (but that is the usual 45A) so from a safety point I think I'd prefer to run some 6mm from that to a patress under the rear of the cooker base unit and refit a 3pin plug so the cooker is fused at 13 A. There are safety issues with not giving good instruction, and manufacturers are IMHO deficient in this respect.

 

[Gwylan]

Is anyone else feeling let down by the lack of instructions with most retail goods lately? We;'ve been fitting a new kitchen at our Daughters house, and anything we buy seems to have no instructions except to download via a QR code, log onto a website or look on Youtube ! When I'm installing an oven I don't want to be going to a mobile phone (mine won't do QR codes anyway) when all I want is a paper guide. The Hotpoint oven was a mystery..... Why does it have a 3-pin plug? I've never seen one on an oven before, and surely it is rated higher than 13 Amps? We tried my Wife's phone and the tech data gave all the easily obtainable like product width and height (we can measure those!) but absolutely nothing for the kW rating of the oven. There were 3 phone numbers in the 'sales leaflets' with the oven ie. you can get extra warranty!, none of them led to a human, and when I pressed any button eg 'to book a fitter press2' I still got the we are too busy visit our website message. very frustrating. Rant over.
On the positive.......... We bought the kitchen cabinets from DIY-Kitchen.com (not to be confused with B&Q which is DIY.com). They are made in Yorkshire and the service is fantastic!
All cabinets ready-assembled even the doors are fitted (not flatpack) well packaged, and they even supplied me with 3 base units unglued so I could easily make alterations (eg to cut base to fit around a water meter) and glue them afterwards. With the added bonus of being half the price of the competitors and a human is available over the 'phone ..... a breath of fresh air! We even got a package of Yorkshire tea, flapjacks, guide to Yorkshire attractions and Instructions with our delivery!

We got a whole book of instructions covering a kitchen.

 

[tyred]

On the other hand, my washing machine did come with paper instructions, but they accidentally got binned along with the packaging. When I moved into the flat and went to use it, I had to download the pdf from the Indesit website!

 

[Salad Dodger]

We had a new gas boiler installed today, and a new wireless digital thermostat to control it. The instruction book for the thermostat is about the size of a large postage stamp, and goes through a bewildering collection of possible settings, with or without extra boost options and holiday settings.... There is probably an option to land a space shuttle, buried somewhere deep in the menus, sub menus, and variable operating modes.
But, at least there is a QR code taking me to a video that apparently explains it all.

 

[Gwylan]

Our washing machine has an app to report faults to you.
Shows confidence in the product.

 

[slowmotion]

We had a new gas boiler installed today, and a new wireless digital thermostat to control it. The instruction book for the thermostat is about the size of a large postage stamp, and goes through a bewildering collection of possible settings, with or without extra boost options and holiday settings.... There is probably an option to land a space shuttle, buried somewhere deep in the menus, sub menus, and variable operating modes.
But, at least there is a QR code taking me to a video that apparently explains it all.

You forgot to mention that the instruction book caters for forty different languages, thirty nine of which are entirely useless to the average reader.

 

[PeteXXX]

Sometimes I prefer to go to a website for the instructions.. Better than some of the Chinglish ones! (but not as amusing, though)

BTW Our oven is plug & play.

 

[Regular.Cyclist]

Regulations still require all medical devices to be shipped with a printed instruction manual and manufacturers typically print them in upteen different lanuages. This can lead to rediculous situations.

Recently a manufacturer shipped a software update for one of their machines. This came on a small USB memory stick, however, with the accompanying manuals and packing, the update for 22 machines arrived on two Euro sized pallets!

 

[PaulSB]

@Fastpedaller we have been buying ovens using a three pin plug for 40 years. We live in a stone built cottage and the difficulty, not to mention remedial work, of running specific cable from the consumer unit, by front door, to kitchen, back of house, is prohibitive.

As for instructions I like a simple printed quick-start guide but I'm happy to get the full manual as a PDF.

What does wind me up is bad instructions in a bad app. As an example I'll give you the Shimano di2 app. Shockingly bad. This isn't a rant, just an example. The Shimano app has changed my opinion of Shimano from a company that gives me decent bike kit to one that couldn't give a s*** about the customer. In non-cycling situations this is a company I would walk away from.

Good tech is user friendly. If it isn't it immediately becomes bad tech.

 

[Tenkaykev]

Our new Bosch electric oven is rated at 13 Amps as is the accompanying induction hob. They don't have plug tops fitted to the cable as they are designed for fitted kitchens.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Yep, sign of the times. No one wants to spend time and money on paper when they can centralize the whole affair and produce a much poorer service