The Important Points

  • If something you’re told doesn’t seem right after an unsatisfactory repair, you might want to get a second opinion.
  • Most repair businesses are broadly reputable, but some will definitely try to cover up damage that’s their responsibility, along with the results of them having fitted low-quality parts.
  • These excuses could mean you end up binning a once-healthy (and still fixable) device as a write-off.
  • Sometimes there are legitimate reasons for such problems. It’s not always the store’s fault… but it’s a good idea to seek a second opinion if you want to be sure!

Introduction

Ever had your computer, phone or tablet returned to you as unrepairable with an oddly unconvincing excuse? It might be a good idea to get a second opinion. Although repair stores are- in general- mostly reputable, there are always some who’ll be tempted to cover up problems caused by a botched repair (or something similar) if it’s going to lose them money putting it right.

(See here if you’re not interested in the case below).

A Typical Example

We received this enquiry from a customer recently:-

“My son’s iPhone SE won’t charge above 1%. The screen’s been replaced, and the shop that did it says the fault isn’t with the battery because they took it out, charged it, put it back in and it was okay. They say it’s the IC chip. Is this something you can fix?“

You might be surprised to learn that damage to the battery circuit during screen replacement is fairly common. To avoid blowing the backlight circuit (for the screen), the battery should always be disconnected first. Unfortunately, it’s incredibly easy for an inexperienced technician to accidentally knock off any of four components (three capacitors and a filter) located next to the battery connector. (This is known as “pry” damage in the industry. Some suspect Apple did this deliberately, since it wouldn’t be the first suspiciously repair-hostile design decision they’ve made).

In this case, all four(!) components had been knocked off during a previous repair, and- specifically- the missing filter meant that the iPhone could no longer detect the battery charge.

 

Left– Schematic (left) shows the filter (red) and capacitors (green) adjacent to battery connector (blue). Centre– You can see all four components are missing after a failed repair by another store. Right– The filter and capacitors now successfully replaced.


Obviously, you wouldn’t expect the customer to have to know any of this! After she’d picked up the phone- complete with the new screen- she returned it because it wouldn’t charge. The store themselves assumed the problem was with the battery, took it out, confirmed it worked on its own and told the customer there was a problem an an “IC on the board” but they didn’t have the tools to repair it. (We’re assuming they meant the Tristar IC- which is used for charging.)

After the customer asked us for a second opinion, we knew almost immediately that the problem was actually due to components having been knocked off the board. (We’ve done repairs for other stores countless times before that had the same problem). This was confirmed once we got it under the microscope.

The customer was obviously annoyed that her phone had been damaged by them, but by this stage there was no way of proving it had been working properly before they got it.

Get an Independent Opinion

Sometimes They’re To Blame…

In the case above, at least the customer ended up with a working phone, even though she had to pay us more to repair the damage the original company had caused. If she hadn’t asked for a second opinion, she might- or might not- have been able to get some money back for the repair, but she’d probably be under the impression the entire phone was a write-off. It’s also possible they might have tried to fix it themselves and made the whole thing worse.

Regardless, we believe the right thing to have done would have been to outsource it to a company able to carry out that sort of repair, or at least sought an independent opinion to confirm whether or not they were at fault.

…Sometimes They Aren’t

While in this case, the fault was with the original repairer, it can- and does- happen that sometimes a repair can result in an (apparently) unrelated problem through no fault of the technician. Often this is a pre-existing problem that the repair has exposed or made more obvious. On occasion, it can be simple coincidence. In other cases, the repair is inherently risky and it’s unreasonable to expect the repairer to accept all responsibility. (Though in such cases, the customer should be notified what the risks are in advance and confirm that they accept them).

So, it’s not always the technician’s fault. However, if a competent and unbiased inspector confirms that this is the case, it would be reasonable to expect them to pay up. If it isn’t, they can let the customer know and take it from there.

Don’t Get Fobbed Off

Whatever the case, it’s a good idea to seek a second opinion if you genuinely feel you’re being fobbed off. Too many stores try to pass responsibility for their damage onto the customer, or blame the customer’s device for the results of installing poor-quality components. (For example, one customer had problems with their phone’s touch that the repairer claimed was a fault with the Touch IC. We were able to confirm that the problem was the shoddy quality copy LCD they’d fitted.

Many stores competing purely on price and “no fix, no fee” deals can’t afford to investigate such things properly (time is money), nor risk the cost of dealing with the problem if it was revealed to be their fault.

Regardless, if you suspect a company is fobbing you off with their mistakes, seek a second opinion.