Duty of Care- Cheaper is Not Always Better

A few months back, we came across a story where a customer had taken their iPhone 6S to get its cracked screen replaced. Unfortunately, she hadn’t come to us, but instead went to another local store that shall remain nameless(!)

The customer and store disagree on minor details, but it seems clear that while the phone was originally supposed to have been fixed, it turned out that it wasn’t- and the shop were unable to fix it themselves.

What’s worse is that the customer was then asked if they wanted to pay another £50 on top of the original quoted price (£120) to have another company look at it on their behalf. We assume they didn’t go ahead with this, but regardless, their phone was returned as a “bag of bits” that hadn’t even been screwed together, and in significantly worse condition than it had been before. This means that even if- in its original condition- it would have been fixable by a more skilled technician, it was now possibly beyond retrieval full stop. Not good.

When you fix countless types of devices, it’s inevitable that- no matter how good you are- something will eventually go wrong. If a device is broken, you can’t always inspect everything before it’s disassembled. Sometimes, repairing one thing might stop another working.

It’s what happens next that sets stores apart.

At Disc Depot, we have a duty of care to ensure that we follow procedures when working on a customer’s device. We’re clear upfront about what the customer’s expectations should be (particularly if it’s not something we can promise will be successful). However, if something gets damaged during the repair, and it’s due to a mistake on our part, then we consider it our responsibility to fix it.

In addition to this, we’ve invested in training our staff, and in the tools needed to do everything in-house. We don’t outsource, so if something goes wrong, we know how to deal with it ourselves.

Our prices are fair, and account not just for parts and labour, but for the cost of the warranty, any risk that we have to cover out of our own pocket, and after-repair support to the customer.

Yes, you can sometimes get all this cheaper, but when a company fobs you off, lies, gives excuses or charges you for things you shouldn’t have to pay for- because, quite bluntly, they can’t afford to on the razor-thin margins they operate within- you know that you get what you pay for… and you know why it’s worth paying a little extra to have your phone or tablet repaired properly.