TECH EXPRESS(phone-computer-tablet) repair & accessories — Local services in Town of Lansing

Ithaca Phone Repair is nothing other than a scam service that takes their customers' money for poor service. I must warn my review is long because there is so much wrong with their service that I wanted to share. If you want a quick summary I highly suggest you seek other phone repair services or look into how to repair your phone on your own before you even think about going to Ithaca Phone Repair.

I came to them to get my OnePlus One repaired since my screen was cracked and the touchscreen was unresponsive. They provided me a cost estimate of $150 to ship the replacement screen and the service altogether which is roughly the same price as a used one online. I asked them how much was the part and how much for service and they declined to say the individual costs. However, I was desperate to get my phone repaired soon since I was leaving in two days so I accepted the offer and told them that I need it ready by then. Surprise Surprise I come back with prior notice and 3 hours before I leave Ithaca and they have not started to repair my phone.

I patiently waited for them to repair my phone while making small talk with them. As I talk with him the repair guy made sexist remarks with a female customer who came to get a screen protector from him saying that she should let him do it since "men are better at these kinds of things". She was reasonably disappointed with the bad screen cover they provided and after she changed her mind, she wanted to not pay for it and give back the screen. Pretending to be a gentlemen, the "repairman" agreed to not making her pay and made it appear that she let her keep the screen protector for free but he carefully took it off and gave her back her phone before she could notice. She was grateful for his "generosity" and left saying she would always go to them for phone issues but after she left he bragged about how he tricked her into thinking she got a screen protector for free. Yeah I get it, if you cancel a transaction, he should take it back, but the fact that he did it subtlety shows he's a con artist that wants to gave favor with customers with pretend generosity and customer service. He only wishes to make a transaction with people where he gets the most money with minimal loss, if not a reputation for service that he clearly doesn't have.

Finally after overcharging my wallet and my time, he replaced my screen for my OnePlus one and I try to confirm that my phone works. Sadly I didn't check my phone speaker and as I was making my way back to Virginia I couldn't here anyone over the phone. I called them later to confirm they would fix this and they said yes. Little did I know that the screen they ordered was from a cheap manufacturer so a day or two later my screen would crack again from a small tap of my finger near the corner of my screen!!!! I asked them to provide me the manufacturer information so I could confirm this but they said they couldn't provide it (for absolutely no reason). I also ask if they would repair all of these issues for free but they stated that I was at fault for cracking my screen so they wouldn't repair it unless I got the part and paid for service again (saying he would give me an estimate when I came back to Ithaca). These guys are unprofessional at best and they prey on people who don't repair their phones themselves or who don't carefully look for good deals for phones online. I highly advise you to take the time and effort to find a replacement phone. You could also try to find the parts and tools needed and carefully fix it yourself (with prior research) instead of going to Ithaca Phone Repair regardless of how experienced or comfortable you are with hardware.

I'm grateful you took the time to read my long review and I hope you don't consider going to Ithaca Phone Repair even as a last resort. I wish I could provide pictures but sadly I didn't take any on me before I went to a guy I trusted in VA...

Terrible company! Violated my privacy and took 2 tries to fix my phone (read on for details). Go anywhere else. I took my phone to the Ithaca Mall branch of Ithaca Phone Repair (same company as Lena Gadgets on the Commons) to transfer my apps, photos, and contacts from an old phone with a broken screen to my new phone. Three days later, I got my phone back and was pleased with the friendly service, the successful repair, and the fair price. The phone repair guy had left his gmail account signed in on the phone because he had used his google account to upload material from my old phone and transfer it to my new phone. That was no big deal, so I just signed out of his account. Then, 10 days later I realized that my phone photo gallery was STILL synced to his google photos account and that it was set to automatically upload photos taken on my phone to his account. I immediately disabled this and signed out of his google account, feeling pretty creeped out. I am willing to believe this was an innocent mistake (the alternative is unsettling), but even so, a phone repair company should understand that this is a huge violation of privacy and completely inappropriate! But it gets worse. After I removed his google account from my phone, all of my contacts (i.e. exactly what I had paid him to transfer over!) were deleted. When I brought my phone back to explain the situation (this time to the downtown location, which was more convenient for me), they caused a huge hassle with scheduling. Instead of having me drop off my phone at a time that was convenient for me, they asked me to wait until they called me to drop it off. I agreed, stipulating that it should be in the morning because my afternoon was busy. At 11:45AM I got a text asking if I could wait until the afternoon. Frustrated but wanting this fixed, I agreed but asked them to let me know what time so I could schedule my afternoon. I did not hear from them again until 4PM when they texted me asking me if I could bring my phone down right then. I went, expecting them to fix it right away (why else would I need to come at a specific time rather than just dropping off my phone any time?), but when I got there, they said they needed to keep my phone for several days to do the repair. I could not be less impressed with this company. In the end, they got the job done but the repair was absolutely not worth the hassle. Avoid this...

I will never shop here again. You shouldn't either. (Including their affiliate stores on the Commons and in College Town.)

The prices they quoted me were terribly high. They marked up the going retail prices to fix the glass on my phone screen by roughly 150-250%. The owner of this store was not transparent about why he priced things so high. He told me that he would work with me on pricing, refused to budge, and raised his voice at me several times.

Both he and one of his representative's also tried to tell me that there were issues with my phone that weren't actually there. I was also called "inexperienced" by one of his staff members. She called me "inexperienced" at first because she thought I didn't know the going rates for screen repair and the different components used in the process.

When I called her out on this comment, she then told me she called me inexperienced because I wanted to "pay them to fix my phone at their store rather than send my phone in through Geek Squad." At the same time, she told me that "Geek Squad doesn't really know how to fix phones and that having Tech Express repair it would be my best bet." I didn't/still don't really understand what she meant by this. But I assume she tried to play me, was caught, and tried to back pedal.

I feel like I was lied to by people who just wanted to confuse me about what it actually costs to fix my phone screen. I've come to this guy's stores on multiple occasions before and have never had a bad experience till today.

Honestly, it's better to just send your phone to a real repair company with real professionals than to be price gouged by Tech Express or any of their affiliate stores. I think the wait is worth it. Tech Express thinks they can charge whatever they would like because they're one of the only places in town that does repairs.

But, hey, maybe this was just a one-off event that happened to me. You give them a try. If they aren't shady about their numbers, waste your time, lie to you about what's wrong with your phone, and don't price gouge you, good on you.

As for me, I will never shop here again.

Your fellow Cornell...