Seattle's Best Coffee is worst option for smartphone
- The situation: We like Seattle's Best Coffee as much as the next person. Great way to start the day. But you know what's not such a great start to the morning? Dropping your phone right in the cup. Unfortunately that's the situation that befell a Washington customer, who realized that after a bath like that, a trip to the cell phone repair shop was in order.
- What caused it: Water is not good for electronic devices, but coffee is decidedly worse. The submersion in the liquid most definitely led to the phone's problems, which include a broken home button and a problem in which the device more or less arbitrarily switches from ringer on to ringer off.
- The solution: We'll have to perform some diagnostic tests of this to determine how deep the problem goes. Unfortunately with the information given it seems like this may be a pretty significant repair.
A bad repair company only creates new problems
- The situation: A Mississippi man reached out to us for an iPad screen repair after realizing that the current screen on his device is coming loose, which is inhibiting touch screen functionality.
- What caused it: Here's the catch though – the man had already gotten his screen replaced. Only problem is, he'd had the work done at a supposed “repair” shop that was evidently extremely ill-suited to carry out the job. The shop's sloppy work – including a shoddy adhesive job – meant that soon after getting the repair, the man discovered his screen beginning to separate from the device.
- The solution: It's first important to point out that situations like this can be avoided by never entrusting your device to an unqualified shop. The way to determine necessary repair credentials is simply to look for them. A good company will be authorized to carry out repairs, and will display that authorization with pride on its website, as we do on ours. A shady company will likely not have such a display. As a customer, it pays to be discerning when choosing where to send your device for repairs. After all, there are some places out there that will only make it worse. Fortunately, we'll be able to right the wrongs of the bad repair company.
DIY becomes DI-worse
- The situation: A Washington woman reached out to us to carry out a phone repair because her device was not even powering on.
- What caused it: Things weren't so bad until she decided to attempt a well-intentioned but ultimately detrimental do-it-yourself repair. The initial problem with her device is that a drop had resulted in the phone displaying the notification that there was no SIM card. The woman – a self-described DIY enthusiast – decided to look up some videos on how to undertake that kind of repair. Following instructions gleaned from YouTube, she disassembled the device, only to discover, upon being reassembled, that the entire thing had stopped working.
- The solution: We respect this customer for her resourcefulness, and we do not categorically reject DIY attempts. But for someone inexperienced in doing internal repairs on devices – particularly small ones like phones – we would generally advise against the course this woman took. All too often, an earnest attempt can turn bad with one wrong move, making the situation worse and potentially resulting in a higher repair cost. We will retrace the woman's steps to determine where her DIY went wrong, and we'll restore her device to optimal functionality.
In closing a little reminder about water and Apple products: As the summer heat descends, you may be increasingly likely to take your phone to the beach for some by-the-water talking/computing. This is OK practice, but be mindful of water exposure, and protect your product.