DIYbanter - What ever happened to service manuals?

"Fred" wrote in message

I remember years ago that all companies were required by law to sell a
service manual or at least enough drawings and parts lists so that a
technician could disassemble and work on their products. I was thinking
it
was 7 years? Sure seems like that law no longer being enforced.

I've heard of such a practice, but never heard of it being a law. Today,
the cost of repairs if often more than the appliance so a manual is not
needed for a $10 toaster or $13 iron.. Many shops have a $40+ minimum so the
chances are, you won't have the $39 DVD player fixed after two years.

In my case, I have an Olympus C700 digital camera, 2-3 years old with a
power drainage problem. This should be a simple matter to isolate but I'm
finding only operator/user info available.

Simple for you, but not most of us.

None of the camera repair shops
in the LA area even work on this model bcause they have no documentation
from Olympus.

OK, the repair shops should have access to something, even if very basic.
The Olympus factory techs must have some info or do they just replace
modules? Could be a cost factor as the cost of making a manual as compared
to the number of repairs is very high. Sad result of a throw away society.

Any advice would be appreciated!

I'd continue to buy Olympus. Maybe they will offer a repair if you become a
big, but polite, PITA to them.
Ed