I took my son's Nexus 7 tablet in because it had difficulty charging. The original guy who took the repair request said it was likely a broken charging port, which would cost about $70.00 to fix. Later, he called me to tell me that he had taken the device apart, and that it was not a broken charging port, but that the logic board needed to be replaced. I was told this repair cost would also cost about $70.00. He then mentioned that were a few small cracks in the corner of the screen, and asked if we wanted to replace the screen. I thought that was strange, as we never noticed any cracks, but the device is in a pretty rugged case most of the time, so maybe we couldn't see them. He said the screen didn't have to be replaced since the cracks were so minor, but it would save us labor cost since they have to take it apart anyway. The screen repair would cost $50.00. I agreed to fix the screen initially, but called the next day to tell them we had changed our minds. Since it was so minor, we thought we would save the $50.00. He told me it had already been ordered and there was no way to return it or cancel the order without significant fees. He also said, that in the meantime, if someone else came in looking for same screen, he would sell it to them instead.
Over a week went by and I still didn't hear from them. I stopped by to see the device, but the guy I had worked with, Tom, was not there. A young man took out the device and set it on the counter to see if the work had been completed, and I was shocked to see the screen was completely shattered in two corners, with jagged pieces sticking out, and that there was also a large diagonal crack running the length of the screen. The young man then proceeded to tell me that the screen was so cracked, the device would no longer turn on, and that we had no choice but to replace it. I informed him that this device did not look this way when we brought it in, and I was told Tom had found only a few small, insignificant cracks in the corner. He said maybe the cracks got bigger because it had been hot and the AC at the store was broken. Although the device clearly looked like it had been dropped, I said regardless of the cause, it was their responsibility as it happened after the device was in their care. The young man informed me he would have to talk to Tom and get back to me.
Several days later, I received a phone call from yet another young man, (Tom would not respond to my requests to cal me himself.) I was told they were only going to charge me $100 for both repairs as a "favor," since I didn't feel the broken screen was our fault. I said it was clearly broken at the store, and we shouldn't pay any of the cost of the screen, only the $70.00 for the logic board. After several back and forth phone calls between me and this young man, with him consulting with Tom in between, he stated the $100.00 offer was final. Tom was now stating that the logic board repair was $70.00 plus $30.00 labor, and the screen only cost $20.00. I explained that that was not what Tom had said over the phone, but I did not have a written invoice for this repair, as the problem was originally misdiagnosed and I only had an invoice for a charging port.
After much discussion (Tom still wouldn't talk to me directly) we payed the $100.00 just to take it out of their hands before something else went wrong. Although both of the young assistants were very nice and tried to be helpful, clearly the management was dishonest and not interested in taking accountability for breaking the screen. read more
