Came in with a broken screen and wanting an additional battery replacement while my phone was being repaired for convenience. I was offered both services for $100 total, including part costs and labor. My repair was delayed two days past dropping off my phone, which was very unfortunate timing as I was hoping to have it back for finals week in order to have the least amount of stress and communication restrictions. When I was able to get my phone back, I immediately noticed that the screen did not lay flat, which I questioned. Chris (the repairman) told me that he had used superglue to attach parts of the screen and waterproof seal. He had done this without consulting me, and I lost a great portion of my trust, as superglue is not good for any device and is very difficult to remove safely. I was told to fix the warping issue by simply applying pressure to it for a day or two. This did not fix the issue and my screen is still not completely attached and by no means waterproof, like I requested. The battery which replaced my original has given me no significant issues, however I do not find it to be up to the standard I was led to believe it met. The charge does not last a full day and it frequently gets quite hot. Additionally, the new screen features several disappointments. The same day I received my phone, I discovered that the front-facing camera is completely non-functional. I reached out to Chris about this and he offered to do a second replacement for the faulty screen at no additional charge. He supposedly ordered the new screen, and I waited for weeks. I never heard back from him, and my calls and texts were not answered. I eventually decided to see if I could meet him in person to follow up and when I did, he again insisted on the second replacement, but with the time I’d had to consider over those weeks, I declined. This was for a couple reasons:
The screen he would be replacing the current one with would be the same company/quality - quality which I’ve found to be underwhelming. The replaced screen is noticeably lower resolution, has random bright spots around the edges, (likely from excess pressure when attaching the screen in the first place) the feel of the screen is what I can only describe as more “sticky” than the original apple screen, extreme glitching is frequent and typing is often delayed or completely unresponsive, (which I recognize could be a result of motherboard damage, but this was not occurring before the repair) and lastly, the home button (which must be replaced with the screen) is no longer laying flat, which doesn’t affect its functionality, but is simply a mild irritant that adds to the other dissatisfaction.
In light of all of this, I instead asked for a refund and Chris and I settled on a refund for the labor portion of the cost because I didn’t want to cost him for the parts he had ordered. He told me he would calculate that amount and refund me in whatever method I would like, I simply needed to reach out through a text with a payment method. So I did, sending a detailed text about the details of the repair and our agreement on the 23rd of July, including a payment method. Since then, I have not heard from him and have certainly not received a refund.
I can’t say whether this is a common result of his repairs or an unfortunate event of repeated forgetfulness, however it seemed essential to not allow my experience to go unheard, and miss the chance of providing an informative look into one experience with this repair service. I will not be returning.
TL:DR, Mediocre parts and bad service/reliability. Passive communication...
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