I dropped my iPhone5 on May 23, cracking the glass, and took it to the Cellairis Kiosk at Durham Southpoint Mall the next day for screen repair.
That night I noticed that my battery meter (% of power left that displays in top-right corner of most screens) remained at 81% despite any usage.
After I charged it overnight, the meter was still at 81%. That behavior had never previously happened on my iPhone, so it was clearly associated with the activities on my iPhone by the Cellairis Kiosk. I resolved to take my iPhone back to the Kiosk, but first I rebooted the phone in case that might resolve the problem. Upon reboot completion, the battery meter showed 9% and wouldn't change. Another reboot: 74%. Another: 92%. One more: 81%.
Upon arriving at the Kiosk, one of the attendants told me that the problem had nothing to do with their repair. He said it must be an old battery - they develop problems when they are older. However, that wasn't true of my iPhone - I had the battery replaced by Apple 6 months earlier as part of the existing battery problem that was inherent with some of the iPhone 5 models. And the meter problem appeared immediately after and not before the screen repair.
So they opened the phone, poked around, and said it must be the battery (and that I would have to pay for a new battery if that turned out to be the problem). The new battery didn't change any behavior. They took the phone apart again, and after about another hour (and another new screen), the meter still had the same problem. In addition, now the phone rebooted itself every couple of minutes. So the phone was even in worse shape before I brought it in this second time.
The Kiosk people refused to take any responsibility for (indirectly) breaking my phone and only refunded the money I had paid for the original screen repair. They would not compensate for or otherwise address their breaking the functionality of my phone. They said I'd have to take it up with Cellairis customer service. From that point they pointedly ignored me and proceeded to do booth housekeeping and other 'he's not there' activities. When I called Cellairis customer service from the Kiosk, I got a message asking me to leave a message that would be returned in one business day. Of course, that did not resolve the problem and I left the Kiosk with a nonfunctioning phone.
I followed up with Cellairis Customer Service. They replied by asking for my receipt and doing little else despite my contacting them several times. They promised to "have someone in high management at the store contact you to see what they can do on their end." But that contact never took place despite multiple queries from me.
I am somewhat surprised and definitely disappointed by my treatment by the Kiosk people. Reviews for this service at the mall have been generally very good, and this behavior stands out as a huge negative contrast to their review record. read more