The call was not recorded so this is not an exact transcript. It’s paraphrased from notes:

customer: (explains problem with 15 y.o. machine, that the tacho was repaired, but that the controller still signals that there is a fault and refuses to run any programs).
Beko: We can send a technician.
customer: I do not want a technician. I have already repaired the tachogenerator myself. The controller board is still erroneously blinking to signal a fault even though the fault was fixed. I just need to know how to reset it.
Beko: (instant response) Unplug it for 30 minutes to do a hard reset.
customer: That does not work. I unplugged it for days and that makes no difference.
Beko: Well that is how you reset a Beko machine. You need a technician.
customer: I know that every Beko machine is different. In fact Beko rebrands machines made by other manufacturers. When I look at various videos online, different people show how to reset different Beko models using a special sequence of buttons. Every model has a different sequence of buttons. I need to know what the sequence of buttons is for my specific machine.
Beko: I cannot give you that information. You need a technician.
customer: I need a /service/ manual. Can you send that to me?
Beko: You can find that on the website.
customer: There is nothing on the Beko website for my model.
Beko: That is because your machine is 15 years old.
customer: What does a technician cost?
Beko: €200 to show up.
customer: So because you will not disclose to me the secret code to reset my machine, I have to hire your technician for €200?
Beko: That is your only option. There is nothing else I can do for you.
customer: Certainly it is not sensible for me to pay €200 for someone to show up and press the secret sequence of buttons. It would even be cheaper for me to buy a new controller board.
Beko: Then you should do that.
customer: How much is a controller board?
Beko: We do not have spare parts.
customer: How is that possible?
Beko: We do not carry spare parts for machines older than 10 years. Your machine is fifteeeen years old. Why don’t you just buy a new one?
customer: If you send a technician, how would he be able to fix it if there are no parts available?
Beko: If he cannot repair it, the price is reduced to €120.
customer: My local Media Markt retailer has a service desk who can order spare parts for me for this model. Isn’t it strange that Media Markt can order spare parts for a Beko machine that Beko themselves cannot?
Beko: You have a 15 year old machine. We do not keep parts that long. You should order from Media Markt then.
me: What controller board can you sell me that is compatible with my model, considering the components are mostly simply 230v anyway? What newer controller board is similar enough to retrofit?
Beko: (instant response) Nothing. New models come out constantly.
customer: Media Markt does not have a controller board. It’s also unreasonable that I would have to buy a controller board when I just need to know how to reset the controller board that I have. Please tell me how to reset the board for my specific model. You should be able to tell me this over the phone.
Beko: You are a consumer. I cannot give you that information.
customer: Why not?
Beko: It’s Beko protocol. You need a technician.
customer: What do I need to do to be recognised as a technician so that you will tell me the reset sequence?
Beko: I don’t understand.
customer: Your technicians know how to reset the board. How do they know?
Beko: They are trained professionals.
customer: But the reset code is model-specific. The only way for them to know is to get the information from Beko. So how does Beko determine if someone is a technician to give the technical information?
Beko: We hire them. They work for Beko.
customer: Not all repair technicians work for Beko. What about independant repair technicians. How do they get the information?
Beko: Ask them. Your machine is fiffffteeeeeen years old. You should buy a new machine.
customer: Every moving component works. I hotwired the motor and it works fine. I hotwired the pump and it works fine. I hotwired the water inlet valve and it works fine. The only problem is that the controller board thinks there is a fault. And the board itself is most likely fine, it just needs to be reset. It is not sensible to buy a new machine when the PCB just needs to be reset.
(crickets)
customer: It seems you have no sensible options for me. Good bye
(crickets; he waited for me to hang up first to prevent me from getting the customer service survey)


The support guy repeated over an over that my machine is 15 years old, as if age alone is cause for dumping a whole washing machine.

A fixed wing prop plane is considerably more complex than a washing machine. Yet they will last 100+ years if properly maintained. Yet not many appliances are as simple as a washing machine. And they are conditioning consumers to believe 15 years is an eternity when pumps, universal commutator motors, and inlet valves are not advancing.

So because the Beko support guy thinks 15 years is old, it’s somehow not sensible to reset the PCB and keep using it.

  • doogstar@lemmy.100010101.xyz
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    3 days ago

    I am just a curious party on the internet and I’m looking on my phone so have done less deep digging than I would do at a desk.

    Searching for Beko WMD service manual lead me to a site, elektrotanya.com where I got a file called beko_wmd_25121_t.rar which has exploded parts diagram and a fault code flowchart.

    The flowchart says the following which may or may not be useful re resetting fault code.

    FAILURE CODE OBSERVING MODE Entrance: Press the first auxiliary function button from the left for 6 seconds. “Run/ Pause/Cancel” led will start blinking and the program followers will start blinking as an error code for 3 seconds if any failure routine has run. After 3 seconds, the machine will return to the selection mode. Deletion of the error code: After entering the failure code observing mode, pressing and holding “Run/ Pause/Cancel” button for a short time will erase the error code from the memory. After you complete your inspection, if you are not sure that you have solved the problem and if you are going to change the electronic card group, do not erase the error code. For else cases, you may erase the error code.

    The flow chart has details of the code flashings which I can give if helpful and you don’t acquire the document yourself.

    Apologies if you’ve already tried something so simplistic and I totally get your frustration!

    • synesthesia@thebrainbin.orgOP
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      2 days ago

      Thank you! That is very useful. That document mafia page looks vaguely familiar. I wonder if I saw that at some point and gave up, because I got this just now:

      “Cannot contact reCAPTCHA. Check your connection and try again.”

      I have little tolerance for any CAPTCHA. Since it seemed relevant and you already confirmed there was a gem in there, I made more effort… enabled more and more layers of nested JavaScript, turned on images, and got past it.

      It’s progress for sure. Holding the 1st auxillary button revealed the error code, which I have attached. Looks like this for anyone else with images disabled (black=unlit):

      Ⓞ⚫Ⓞ⚫⚫ Ⓞ⚫⚫⚫

      There is still a secret decoding ring missing, but if I can assume that the top row of LEDs are 1’s and 0’s from left to right, I apparently have error code 101 (in binary, which is “5” in decimal):

      H5 : PUMP OPEN OR SHORT CIRCUIT

      That’s not what I was expecting. I was expecting a tacho failure. The pump spun fine when I hotwired it and the tacho was clearly visibly broken.

      The wiring diagram shows that the resistence across the pump should be 75.6 Ω. I measured 141.1 Ω using a crappy pocket multimeter on the PCB side of the wire (so long cable included). That difference seems huge. I’m not sure what to think of this. I don’t think the PCB would be sophisticated enough to measure resistence. So I wonder if I am misinterpreting the error code.

      I cannot clear the error code. After displaying the error code, I hold Start/Pause for a few seconds and it gives a quick flash as if to acknowledge that the error should be cleared or that it took an action. But it returns to the same error state anyway.

    • synesthesia@thebrainbin.orgOP
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      3 days ago

      WMD 26125 T

      I managed to get the (useless) user manual (which is not easy for someone who refuses CAPTCHAs and other shenanigans by the user manual mafia cartels). But I could not find any trace of a service manual. The leading “WMD” seems to be significant. It marks the time period. There are many models with that prefix but any service manual for a WMD-prefixed machine might be useful.

      Beko’s parent company is “Bionaire”, though I don’t think I’ve seen washing machines branded as Bionaire. I’ve heard Beko rebadges other machines, but I don’t know if my machine has any other underlying or parent brand.

  • ZeDoTelhado@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    … Mother of god, my head hurts from reading this exchange. How can you not curse at some point? I would have lost the plot somewhere half of this exchange. This is straight up infuriating

    • synesthesia@thebrainbin.orgOP
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      2 days ago

      I drempt of applying for a job at Beko just to get the training and info at their expense, then quitting on the first day. I think that would be the right level of therapy for me.

  • beeng@discuss.tchncs.de
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    3 days ago

    Thing is, it’s not the CS rep, it’s the companies that prevent this info sharing to cover their arses.

    Need a website to show good repairability of all machines. Eg iFixit or something to consult before buying any new machine.

    • synesthesia@thebrainbin.orgOP
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      Note from my other thread I spoke to a Beko tech support person who was willing to help. He asked what was wrong and started to speculate on the issue. Then I ran out of phone credit credit and we got cut off. I think he was guessing that the motor was bad, but it actually turned out to be a broken tacho, which I later fixed.

      When I called back after fixing the tacho and buying more GSM time, I was hoping to reach the same person but got a useless lazy fucker instead, who could not be bothered to look anything up.

      The person I spoke to on my first call put me on hold to go collaborate with a colleague. He was also surprised to be getting a call over a 15 y/o machine, but he did not use that as an excuse for shitty service. He made an effort.

      I could keep calling back until I get an answer. But it’s costly in Belgium (15 €c/min). The shitty call I posted the transcript on probably cost me €4-5 and probably ½ of that is the cost of the initial phone navigation and hold time waiting for someone.

      Need a website to show good repairability of all machines. Eg iFixit or something to consult before buying any new machine.

      I want my money to feed a supplier who supports repair. When a washing machine salesperson is asked: “please show me a machine that comes with a service manual (not just a user manual), wiring diagrams, and please demonstrate for me diagnostic mode on one of these showroom floor models”. Completely fucking stumps them. They cannot handle it. Not a single machine. They look at me like I am crazy for asking. Thus I will not buy a single new machine. From where I sit it’s crazy that they can still sell disposable washing machines in 2025 – while the EU’s Right-To-Repair law has been tied up in discussion for over 10 years.

      Maybe I would buy a 2nd hand machine, if I can verify that leaked repair literature exists first. Which is a problem because the pop-up street market I would buy one from is there for just 1 day. Then next week that day might have different sellers and different models.

    • ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org
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      2 days ago

      Thing is, it’s not the CS rep, it’s the companies that prevent this info sharing to cover their arses.

      they were still trying to get them hard to buy a new one