Why Not Repair That Smartphone, Tablet or Laptop Yourself?
Generally, when we set a price for a repair, we think it’s fair. We’re in business to make a profit- no apologies for that- but we aim to do so by providing a reliable service at a decent price.
From the customer’s point of view though, it might not always be so obvious why a certain repair costs that much. For example, they might compare what we charge with the cost of the equivalent replacement parts on eBay and notice a difference. Sometimes that difference might appear to be huge. “Hmm”, you’re maybe thinking, “those guys are raking it in- I can do that cheaper myself using an online guide”. Right…?
Well, perhaps- we don’t know your level of technical skills, so we can’t judge. What we will say is that many of the repairs we do- not least laptops, but especially smartphones and tablets- are nowhere as simple as they might first appear. Even those whose regular electronics skills- including soldering- are pretty competent can find themselves quickly out of their depth without the specialised knowledge and equipment required to fix such devices.
Why It Might Not Be a Good Idea to Repair It Yourself
Some repairs are very simple- but most require proper tools and experience
While some repairs are straightforward, most are more complicated than they first appear. We know this because we’ve been doing this for literally years; and we also have the experience and skills to get around these problems. It’s very easy for an inexperienced repairer to think “how difficult can it be”… only to find out too late they’re in over their head.
On top of this, many repairs are difficult if not impossible to carry out reliably without expensive and specialised tools. That’s why we’ve invested significantly in such machines- we wouldn’t have wasted money on them otherwise. This makes sense for us because it pays in the long term- we’re doing such repairs day in, day out.
Surface-mount components are tiny and require microsoldering to fit
Take a look at our images. It might not be obvious how small the capacitors are until you see how they compare to a ballpoint pen and a new-style 20p piece. If you have such a coin in your pocket, look at the writing that says “Twenty Pence”- the capacitors are just two thirds the height of those letters!
Such components generally require a microscope to fit, using what is known as “microsoldering”. While microsoldering is- in principle- just soldering at a much smaller scale, it requires many new skills.
The capacitors are the brown rectangular components. Note that the tip of the ballpoint pen was almost too big to use as a comparison!
As can be seen from the comparison, the surface-mount capactors are tiny compared to the pen tip and lettering on the 20p coin. (Depending on your screen, there’s a good chance you’re still seeing this at larger than the actual size!)
eBay is full of lower-grade parts
It’s human nature to want something for the cheapest price possible, and eBay is full of sellers who will exploit this desire. Unfortunately, they’ll do so by cutting corners in any and every area, including outright fakery and lying. Of course, if you don’t know what to look for, sometimes poor-quality components can pop up even at higher prices. We’ve been in repairs a long time, and we know our suppliers and what we can expect from them.
The part you think you need isn’t always the right one
As the time of writing, a popular repair is screen replacement for the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. The LCD assembly for this currently costs between £250 and £300. In many cases, however, only the glass is broken and not the LCD itself. Since you can buy a “front glass repair kit” with stickers and tools on eBay for £18 or so, many people think the screen replacement cost is a ripoff and they can do this themselves. However, there’s a nasty catch- it’s near-impossible, even for a skilled technician, to separate the glass from the LCD without breaking the LCD itself. The kit is a waste of money- you’re very unlikely to be able to carr out that repair successfully using the £18 kit alone.
Our prices cover the cost of the part… plus labour and warranty
In some cases- though not all- the parts themselves aren’t particularly expensive. However, that doesn’t mean they’re easy to fit! When you pay a plumber to replace a washer, you’re not paying for the (negligible) cost of the washer, you’re paying to have it fitted. Even a simple chip replacement can require complicated disassembly, plus the specialised equipment and experience required to fit it. If this goes wrong, it’s our problem- and sometimes there’s a high risk of that happening. All this is accounted for in our prices- if you fix it yourself, it isn’t.
If something goes wrong it could easily cost you more in the long run
This isn’t just scaremongering- it happens on a regular basis. The pictures beside this article show an iPad Mini that someone tried to repair themselves. When they disconnected the old digitizer, they didn’t realise quite how delicate the pins on the FPC connector were and damaged them. (This is the sort of thing you might not have known if you weren’t experienced with repairing such devices).
When we received it we were able to remove the old connector and then fit a new one before carrying out the original repair. However, we charged more to replace the damaged connector than we did to fit the new digitizer, so it ended up costing a lot more than it would have had we been given the phone in the first place!
The broken mini FPC connector as we originally received it.
The broken connector has now been desoldered.
The new and working connector now in place.
If something goes wrong it could make your device completely unrepairable
In the case above we were able to repair the damage caused by someone else’s failed repair attempt. However, while we’re good, we’re not miracle workers- it’s quite possible that the damage caused by an incompetent repair could push an otherwise fixable phone or tablet into being entirely unrepairable and only fit for the dustbin.
That might be worth the risk if (e.g.) your phone is cheap or no longer worth much. It probably isn’t if you have a potentially fixable iPhone that’s otherwise still worth several hundred pounds.
