Surely you have heard such an expression as “if you want to live, know how to spin”. Many perceive it as a guide to action, but not everyone does it differently. Some people think that it is necessary to work hard, while others closely link it with another well-known expression, which, in a decent interpretation with the loss of rhyme, sounds like “if you don’t cheat, you won’t live”. In ordinary life, you want to run into the latter as rarely as possible, but they are often caught by those who want to put their phone in order. We found one example of such a blatant deception that could not go unnoticed. Now I will tell about it.
iPhone repair scam
The information was shared with us by our friends from Apple Pro, who at first did not even want us to mention them in the article, but in the end I will tell you why it was impossible without it. I also note that we deliberately hid the seal and other information of the person who provided the services described below. We do this because we do not have the right to disclose his data. At the same time, to believe in history or not is up to you. My job is to tell you about it and warn you, reminding you that you need to find out in advance all the details of what will be done with your phone.
The reason for writing the article was the appeal of one of the clients, who said that he was provided with services for almost 17,000 rubles. The most interesting thing was hidden in the wording indicated in the receipt. Let’s sort it out in order.
How much does it cost to replace an iPhone battery
The first item is a spare part – the iPhone XS battery. “Masters” asked for him 6,800 rubles, which, of course, is too expensive. Even if it is really “original”, you would not have found such a price at that time (before the price increase) even in an authorized service center. The two-year battery warranty also raises questions, but this is no longer so important against the backdrop of such a cost.
Moreover, its replacement should not cost 2,190 rubles. For comparison, in the Apple Pro, replacing the iPhone Xs battery costs only 4,900 rubles – with labor, a battery, and a replacement waterproof gasket. In other honest service centers, the price will be close.
Get an iPhone Repair Price
Protect iPhone from water
By the way, it is the restoration of the PVZ (apparently, dust and moisture protection) that is a separate item on the third line, and they ask for another 2,300 rubles for this. Protection against water and dust is carried out by sizing the case. When assembling, a special layer is installed along its perimeter, which protects against water ingress. Without it, proper assembly is simply not possible, and good service centers know this. They always include it in the cost of disassembly / assembly work immediately, and do not display it as a separate item. So it was possible to take another hundred rubles for tightening the case screws and 200 for disconnecting / connecting the power cable and camera when replacing the battery.
Clear cache on iPhone
Further more! The fourth item is clearing the cache indicating up to 50 GB. Firstly, this is a procedure that you can do yourself for free and in just 30-40 seconds. In this article, we described the whole simple process. Secondly, even if this procedure is done for money, its cost should not depend on the size of the cache. This is not a truck with bricks, the unloading of which is done by hand. Everything is done literally with one button, regardless of the amount of data. You can compare this to emptying the trash on a computer. It doesn’t matter if it’s five 4K movies or one photo. Click “Empty Trash” and you’re done. I’m not saying that 50 GB of cache for a phone is too much.
But the most interesting thing is that this procedure is guaranteed for 3 months. This is really interesting. I would turn to such “masters” in a couple of weeks with a demand to redo the “work done”. After all, the cache is not a fallen off loop, but a living process that occurs while using any electronic device (smartphone, computer, tablet, and so on).
Short circuit iPhone
The next point about eliminating the short circuit (apparently, a short circuit) in the upper loop raises no less questions. What exactly they did is not clear. I don’t understand why it was so cheap. Only 3,100 rubles against the backdrop of replacing the gasket for 2,190 is an unheard-of generosity.
Transferring iPhone Apps and Data
At the end is data transfer and application setup. There are also questions about what and where they transferred if the phone did not change, but was repaired. The only replacement part, according to the certificate of completion, is the battery. Data is not stored on it and when replacing it, you do not need to transfer or configure anything.
All this is reminiscent of a joke in which the client asked the waiter how he got a bill for 1,000 rubles, if the soup costs 200, the bun 50, and the salad 150 rubles. The waiter replied: “Well, that means it didn’t work out.” This is funny if it were not sad and did not show how service centers deceive gullible customers who are not versed in technology. Most often this occurs during on-site repairs and if you were not immediately told how much it would cost.
But even if a price has been negotiated, “difficulties” may arise that change it. We have heard many such stories from the specialists of the service center, to which customers came with a request to correct the consequences of such a “repair”.
Who can you trust with iPhone repair?
Trust only proven masters and look for reviews. For example, on Yandex Maps or specialized sites. We trust the guys from Apple Pro, whom we ourselves turn to with our equipment. But there are other good places too. You can even repair the phone yourself by purchasing spare parts, for example, here. Many things are simpler than they seem, and do not cost 17,000 rubles.
