Screen repair shop screwed up my S5, thoughts?

RDKamikaze · Jul 22, 2016

Hi everyone, I recently got my S5's cracked screen replaced by a screen repair shop on ebay. I just got the phone back today and it looks terrible! There's glue residue all over the back of the phone, it had been dropped (scuff marks all over the back), and they replaced my white screen with a black one (and did a poor job at that). I took video of the whole unboxing just to be safe, but my phone is in bad shape now. The screen also has some small scratches on it already and the back button isn't fully lighting up, and the list is going on and on... For a little while I didn't even think that I got my phone back and that it was someone else's!

Thoughts?

P.S. Just found out my phone case that I sent with my phone isn't in the box anywhere either, he still has it.

RDKamikaze · Jul 23, 2016

Update: I've contacted the seller and he is refusing to repair the damage he caused to my phone. Here are some more things I've found to be wrong:

Lower third of touchscreen randomly glitchy or non responsive
Home button double clicks every time when pressed
Rear camera will not focus
Glass shards inside front camera still (essentially both cameras are useless)
Touchscreen glass appears to be able to be peeled off (not properly fastened)

Honestly, this guy pretty much broke this phone and refuses to man up to it. If you can't type on the phone, can't take pictures with the phone, and can't press the home button on the phone, then what good can it do you? It was working perfectly fine before all of this, and to top it off he still refuses to acknowledge that any of this is his fault OR that he still has my phone case (which at this point won't do me much good anyway seeing how my phone's not working properly).

Anyone been in a similar situation or have any thoughts or ideas as to what I can do here? This is ridiculous.

mikedt · Jul 23, 2016

If the vendor won't resolve it...take it up with Ebay...that's about all else you can do.
http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/protecting.html

RDKamikaze · Jul 23, 2016

Thanks mikedt, but that would only get my money back from the purchase itself, correct? He's already refunded that. At this point, I'm looking for restitution to the damage he's caused to my phone. Would taking it up with ebay to resolve all the additional damage he's caused be possible?

JAy3001 · Jul 23, 2016

Have you got a citizens advice bureau you can visit to talk to about your possible rights? Other than that this sounds like a smalls claims court issue, which will probably involve you sending your phone of to Samsung/Official repair outlet for assessment as to how much it will cost for a full repair.

Good luck tho..

AZgl1500 · Jul 23, 2016

too late the close the barn door after the horse is gone....

but, when sending in anything for repairs, never, ever, leave accessories attached.... they will NOT come back home to you.

Fox Mulder · Jul 23, 2016

Given the "quality" of this guy's work you wouldn't want to send the phone back to him even if he accepted it. If he made a mess of it the first time there is no reason to expect better results from him the second time.
Best thing you can do is use the refund towards either a proper repair at a reputable (preferably local) shop, or a replacement phone. Also file a complaint with Ebay, although that may not help you any further it might help prevent others from suffering the same fate.

basic 101 user · Jul 23, 2016

^^^^^^^
All spot on.
Definitely not my intention to blame or chastise the customer, but it is a general cautionary tale. I am reflexively skeptical of anything that may look too good to be true. I spent many years repairing mechanical systems in a shop with an outstanding reputation for quality.....When I look at these devices, it's clear that for the most part, they are not constructed in a manner that lends its self to service or repair, without collateral damage. I'm sure it can be done, by people more skilled and patient than I, but difficult (for me personally) to imagine it being done well for much less than cost of a new device. That said, it sounds like this guy did an exceptionally poor job by any standards; Hard to get satisfaction from a virtual store, do submit appropriate feedback, warn others......It can't hurt, might help.

There was an unwritten motto in our shop, common elsewhere too: "If you don't know what you're doing, don't do it here." Someone should take this "technician" aside and have "the talk". :oops:

Gimmick_User · Aug 4, 2016

RDKamikaze said:
Hi everyone, I recently got my S5's cracked screen replaced by a screen repair shop on ebay. I just got the phone back today and it looks terrible! There's glue residue all over the back of the phone, it had been dropped (scuff marks all over the back), and they replaced my white screen with a black one (and did a poor job at that). I took video of the whole unboxing just to be safe, but my phone is in bad shape now. The screen also has some small scratches on it already and the back button isn't fully lighting up, and the list is going on and on... For a little while I didn't even think that I got my phone back and that it was someone else's!

Thoughts?

P.S. Just found out my phone case that I sent with my phone isn't in the box anywhere either, he still has it.

I've repaired so many galaxy S5's that I can do it while parallel parking an 18 wheeler. If this guy screwed it up, the best thing to do is to leave him negative feedback while complaining to Ebay. I'm familiar with the causes of each thing you complained about, and those are easy fixes, with the exception of the excessive glue under the screen. That probably can't be fixed without destroying the digitizer, which means your phone is salvaged. Charge it to the game. How much did he charge, if you don't mind me asking? I'm only asking because these phones only sell for about $125 and digitizers go for more than that. Just sell it on Boneyard or CL and get an LG Stylo if you don't want to spend $300 on a good used phone or a little more for a new midrange phone. It's not worth your headache. I'm sorry you went through this, but in all honesty, It'll make you feel better if you take responsibility for it by sending it to him in the first place. I'm sure there are bad reviews, or not enough reviews to trust him. Also, how many good ratings does he have? There are so many signs to look for in determining if someone does good work. One last open is to watch a few repair videos and play with it yourself. I can give you a couple of pointers that are often not mentioned in videos.

Athanasis · Aug 8, 2016

It looks like a screwed up phone. Send it to New York at louis rossmann repair shop to fix it !

RDKamikaze · Aug 16, 2016

Well, this guy finally caved in a few weeks ago and offered to repair EVERYTHING he broke on the phone properly, with a guarantee that it would be repaired to completeness. However, it's been almost 3 weeks now and last I heard was a week and a half ago when he said the parts arrived and he's starting the repairs. I've sent him countless messages since then asking for a status update, pictures, a response of any kind, and no message back.

The problem is PayPal automatically closed a claim that was open for this because there was no response from him (that doesn't seem right?) and they said it cannot be reopened. I just don't understand that at all...

So anyway, now I have no phone and nobody to tell me what's going on with the phone and no sort of collateral to keep him interested in dealing with me. Can I take this to small claims court, or is there something else I can do to get my phone back repaired or something in return? I don't want to be shafted a phone AND my shipping money.

Fox Mulder · Aug 16, 2016

Yeah obviously wasn't a good idea to send it back to the guy who screwed it up. Unfortunately now that you have it's unlikely there's anything further you can do aside from filing a complaint with Ebay. Technically small claims court may be an option if you have everything documented, but the main obstacle is I'm pretty sure you'd have to file and appear in his local jurisdiction not yours so it would only work if he is reasonably close by.

AZgl1500 · Aug 16, 2016

Small claims court only works in the community that you are in, sorry.

Screen repair shop screwed up my S5, thoughts?

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File PayPal claim

File insurance claim

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