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why does it cost so much for repairs!

CarolineMurray
3: Seeker
3: Seeker
why does it cost so much for repairs! i bought my sons the huawei g510 for xmas and gave them it early as sales assistant activated voucher my son fell smashed his screen within twelve hours i spoke to vodafone live who said take it back i took it back to shop sales assistant said it would cost me £65 to fix the phone was only £100 +£20 freedom freebie pack so its gonna cost me two thirds of the price of the phone to be repaired this is ridiculous!!!. Why??
1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

drey_p
16: Advanced member
16: Advanced member

Because you have to pay for the spares (which aren't cheap) and the labour charges for someone to dismantle the phone and put the new screen in and test it.

PWIAC

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30 REPLIES 30

I don't know what part you aren't understanding - you've had the costs explained to you in this thread.  Labour charges are high as you need to have a trained technician to carry out the work. Also, it does take a while to replace a screen (something that has also been explained in this thread)

 

Whether or not is was deliberately broken or an accident, the fact remains that it is damaged.  The warranty doesn't cover this damage so you will need to pay for a repair. Comparatively £65 is a lot cheaper than having to shell out £150 to have my S4 screen replaced - that is the point I was trying to get across in my earlier post.

 

PWIAC

CarolineMurray
3: Seeker
3: Seeker
noone was moving the blame to voda fone it was about the cost of the repair il fix it myself n see just how hard and long this takes as i dont believe its anything as bad as its been made out!!

jeffkinn
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion
Good luck - let us know how you get on

Jeffkinn_Sig.png


@CarolineMurray wrote:
il fix it myself n see just how hard and long this takes as i dont believe its anything as bad as its been made out!!

So you have hands on experience with mobile phone repairs which is why you believe that it isn't that bad to replace a screen?

 

I'll be nice and give you a few hints here.

You will need to check very carefully what tools you need to be able to open up the handset.

You will need to buy yourself a different set of screw drivers as most mobile phones don't use standard screws.

When removing any of the circuit boards, be careful as the components on these are very delicate.  

When replacing the screen, make sure that you have a spare seal as the original can get easily damaged. 

Don't over tension the screws when putting everything back together as this will damage the phone itself and the circuit board.

Don't miss out any of the screws as some of them are designed to carry current between the boards. 

Try to do any repairs in a relatively dust free environment. 

PWIAC

SynthFG
Community Champion (Retired)
Community Champion (Retired)

Also even if by some miricle you don't destroy the phone with your self repair

opening the phone and performing the repair yourself will void the warenty 

Wheras getting a techy to do it through the official channel the warenty will still be valid

 

So your £65 is paying the costs of a certified repair, ie 

Parts, Labour, tools and the validation required to keep the warenty intact 

 

 

 

Side note, one of the reason the phone only costs £100 is because it was originally assembled by a wage slave in China earning next to nothing, 

 

sigbar.png

Note I do not work for voda, My advice comes from experience and my opinions are my own

 

Annie_N
Community Champion (Retired)
Community Champion (Retired)

@SynthFG wrote:

Side note, one of the reason the phone only costs £100 is because it was originally assembled by a wage slave in China earning next to nothing, 

 


Sshh!  If we all start insisting on ethically sourced goods, what is going to happen to our high streets and shopping centres?  Just as the economy is showing signs of picking up, too!

 

Annie.

hrym
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

If you Google "Guardian Larry Elliott", there's a very amusing piece about the harsh realities of life in Santa's grotto.  Amusing, that is, until you realise just what the subtext is.

Having read through all the comments on this I don't see why people are wading in to support Vodafone's charges, The original poster never implied that voda should foot the bill and admits responsibility. The question was why the high charges, not should I have to pay.

In relation to the costs If the screens are available retail for just over £10, it's a pretty safe bet that the trade cost to Voda would be somewhere around £7. As for labour charges, having replaced screens on several different handsets for people, it does not take an hour, it takes around 20-25mins. An engineer in a workshop would have this done in approx 15mins. Charging £50+ for 15mins labour equates to over £200 p.hour. Morally I would say that's a pretty extortionate way to make money out of peoples misfortune, not to mention a PR disaster!

jeffkinn
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion
I would say your estimate of the cost of a genuine replacement screen and any potential trade discount is way over the top. You have also failed to take account of the administration and back office system required to run the whole operation for a large business - premises, software, billing systems. Then someone had to train the engineers and build in some quality control procedures. Also take account of VAT and a corporate profit margin of say 15‰ net. And these are the things I can think off very quickly. A PR disaster? That would be a sub standard repair system not one that charges a fair price.

Jeffkinn_Sig.png

hrym
17: Community Champion
17: Community Champion

Or you could go to an independent repairer who may well charge less as they have lower overheads and may well use non-original components.  It could even be worthwhile on a low-cost phone as the replacement cost would still be closer to the cost of a full-spec repair if it went wrong again later.