Fargo Phone and Computer — Local services in Fargo

They may be good for phone repairs, but do not trust them with larger devices.

Sunday, Jan 14th, I submitted a laptop with water damage for repair. I asked the employee if he had an estimate of how long a repair like this would take. He replied sarcastically, “well, it’s water damage, SO…”

Max (different employee) called that afternoon and said the motherboard was “extremely corroded,” but their “motherboard guy” was in Wisconsin, so they could ship the laptop to him overnight. He said a new motherboard would be $900, so trying to repair it in WI would be cheaper. When he assured me the laptop would be sent Monday morning and still fixed in 1-1.5 weeks, I agreed to it.

Monday I saw online that new motherboards with Intel i5 cores were online for $250-350. My laptop is an i7, but I was willing to downgrade. I also wanted a tracking number for the laptop as I spent over $1200 for it and was concerned about it getting lost or damaged in the mail. I called several times and left a voicemail, and they didn’t call back.

Tuesday I called again, and someone answered but didn’t know what was going on. I again asked for a tracking number. They said they’d send it. They didn’t.

Thursday I finally reached Max and shared my concerns -- the employee on Sunday was sarcastic, the price he gave for a motherboard repair ($900) was drastically higher than the options online ($300), other local shops offered motherboard repairs in store for similar or better prices, the option of downgrading from an i7 to an i5 core to save money wasn't discussed, they were difficult to reach by phone, I still hadn’t received a tracking number. It all seemed shady. He apologized and promised to get a tracking code. I had been prepared to file a report for theft.

He emailed that afternoon and said he'd been “misinformed as to when his coworkers were going to be able to ship the package” and they would overnight it right away. Note they were supposed to mail it Mon morning for it to reach WI by Tues or Wed. There is a post office 5 minutes from their store.

At this point I no longer trusted them with my device. I called and said I would like my laptop back unrepaired. From the tracking number I saw the laptop had not yet left the USPS facility, so I told Max he could request an interception (Fargo Phone Repair did not suggest this option before I brought it up; I had to look it up for them). To their credit they paid the $30 interception fee. USPS didn't register the interception until the laptop traveled all the way to WI (not FPR's fault).

At 10 am on Thurs, January 25th, I received a USPS tracking text notification that the laptop had been returned to sender in Fargo. I arrived at Fargo Phone Repair at 3 pm to pick up my laptop, and the two employees -- including the original person who accepted my laptop and was rude -- didn’t know what I was talking about. I showed him the text update and asked when he could pick it up. He asked if I had “things to do.” (I had left work in the middle of the day as soon as I could to recover my laptop; yes, I had things to do.) He said it'd be ready in an hour. An hour and a half later, he texted for me to pick it up.

When I walked in, I asked him if he would mind documenting their troubleshooting steps (e.g. checked power jack, checked screen connection, found corrosion in this specific area, etc) so I could have a record with which to move forward in repairing this. He wrote “MOTHERBOARD HAS CORROSION” on a sticky note.

I removed the board myself and found an area the size of a quarter with a slight layer of corrosion -- far from “extremely corroded.” I called to ask about this and see if I was missing anything, and the employee rudely asked "if I even knew what corrosion looked like."

I ordered a new motherboard for $300 from Ebay and replaced it myself in one evening. I had no prior experience and used online tutorials. It’s been a month and it works perfectly.

I spent $40 for this company to mismanage my laptop at every single step of the process and send it on a roadtrip to Wisconsin...

Save yourself a headache. Take your phone elsewhere.

Brought a phone in at noon, and was told it would be done by closing at 5. All that was being done was the charge port needed to be replaced. 4:30 rolls around and I still had not received a call it was done yet, so I went back and went in at 4:45 and was told it is almost done, just another 20 minutes. Finally at 10 after 5 they tell me it’s done and hand me the phone, get halfway down the road and find out the SIM card is missing. I tried to call and there was no answer, and by the time I got back the doors were locked. Then I get home and a screw is missing, and the phone is randomly shutting off.

The next day, a friend had to bring the phone in again since I can’t take off work for this. They told her that the phone wasn’t done, and they had a basket of everything missing from the phone still. They told her I came in and just took the phone. No, I was handed the phone and told it was done and paid in full for the service.

I would not have been upset if they told me it wouldn’t be done that day. But, instead they threw the phone back together, knowing it was not done, knowing it was unusable (no SIM) and then lied to others and claimed they told me it was not done.

Like I said, save yourself a headache and take your electronics to someone who knows what they’re doing and is more...

I wouldn’t bring any apple products to this place for a broken screen. Not only are the screens cheap & not Apple certified this dudes a legit crook. I paid almost 500$ for two iPhones. Not only did my screen crack a week later with a case & screen protector. My other iPhone now doesn’t want to react to certain actions pressed on the screen. The same iPhone he rushed & sent back broke. I had to leave work to bring in the next day. Dude is legit a crook. Don’t recommend if you care about your electronics.

Update: this dude was reported to ND AG for fraud, as well as better business bureau for an official compliant. Really scamming people for 500$ as if they would easily forget.

You clearly need better morals & ingenuity to be ripping people off or maybe it was because I was a female of color.

Whatever your issue was, you took my money, for a product that doesn’t work. People like you is what’s wrong with the American dream, no one has a sense of loyalty to their services or quality. Shame on you man & I seriously hope you get everything...