Apropos my changing the cable on my iron, yes I was and still am competent to do it. But agree that many aren't. That is why every domestic electrical compliance now comes fitted with a mains plug. Some of the plugs have a removable cover so you can inspect the connections, with others the plug is moulded on and you cannot inspect the wiring. The latter sometimes are so badly fitted that a stray strand of wire has been known to have come through the plastic moulding.

So I check these things very carefully and would actually prefer to fit the plug myself. (It is also why I prefer to make up my audio cables. Some of the soldering done on commercial cables, be they RCA phono or XLR type, is often very poor and untidy.)