My beloved iPhone was damaged when I made the mistake of trusting the OtterBox Armor Series to keep it safe and DRY while my children took underwater pictures. I had tested the case and while it was waterproof in the beginning, it did not take the seals long to fail (I took the phone out and tested the empty case again myself so I know it was not that one of the kids accidently opened it or shifted it enough to allow water in and the case had never been dropped so was not damaged in that manner). I tried EVERYTHING to save it. It spent the week in a bag of rice and while yes, most of it dried out, it still had a little moisture (according to the genius at the Apple Store) and was throwing error code 21 (Windows) and error code 2001 (Mac). It was stuck in a boot loop (recovery or DFU mode) and nothing would bring it out. The genius could not fix it as he advised it was a hardware issue. By chance, I found iCracked while searching ways to fix my phone. I am so glad I did. Great experience!! I admit, I was VERY nervous about handing over my iPhone to a complete and total stranger (he is mobile so not a store-front) but I did my research and felt it was my only option at this point. Plus, I could always file a report if my instincts were wrong. They were not wrong. Matt called me and kept me updated at all steps in the repair process. He told me what to expect and also made sure I was aware that I would lose everything on the phone (side note to self, back up regularly and don't trust it to do it on it's own - I indeed lost everything as my phone had apparently not been backed up since the beginning of DECEMBER). He cleaned everything, replaced the dot connecter and voila! - perfectly functioning iPhone. The price could not be beat either! Apple made me on offer I almost took them up on (trade my damaged phone in for a new one and only pay 1/3 of the cost) but I am SO glad I did not - I paid less than 1/4 of what I would have paid at Apple to get it fixed. I only wish I had called him sooner as I wasted almost 2 weeks trying to fix it on my own and had to use an old Android phone we had around the house. It took Matt 2 days to fix my phone, one of which was the phone drying out after an ultrasonic bath. To top it off, apparently my phone did not get as wet as I thought as the wetness indicators in the phone had not been tripped so I have a super sweet warranty on my phone to boot. I am sorry for the long, drawn-out review, but I want to make sure credit is given where credit is due and not just a short, 2 thumbs up approach. I would recommend Matt Hill to anyone and everyone who needs anything from a broken screen repaired to something more in depth. As I type this, he is currently working on my niece's phone that was dropped in water almost two years ago and just thrown in a drawer (they just replaced it and never even tried to dry it out). If he can get it working, I will have a spare iPhone 5 I can upgrade to if I ever want to or just have a spare for one of my children when they are old enough to have a phone. read more
