Who repairs HTC these days now that Mobilefonerepair has gone into receivership

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lchiu7

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#83042 9-May-2011 19:44

I would like to have my N1 serviced since the power button is a bit flaky. HTC in their one service recommended their authorised service agent Mobilefonerepair but they have gone into receivership so I don't know is the current agent.

Anybody know?

Thanks

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Ambrose_1

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#467295 9-May-2011 20:22

http://www.mobilefonerescue.co.nz/mobile-phone-fix-brands.php

try them?

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lchiu7

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#468102 11-May-2011 22:31

I called them and after some consultation said they could repair the phone. It would cost $46 for a repair estimate and if I went ahead, that would be deducted from the total repair cost, estimated at about $100.

But worried me (not so much about the phone but the person I was talking to) was, her saying they usually just replace the unit! If they were HTC then I would expect that would be SOP given a stockpile of phones they would have. But for a third party repairer, that would hardly be cost effective.

I did a bit of searching and it seems if you can find the part (the power switch PCB) it runs about $50(US) and you can do it yourself if you can get hold of a case opening tool (ifixit sell them) and have the guts to do it. Note I don't :-(

I called HTC in the US and they said the repair would be $55. They sent me a prepaid Fedex label to return the phone but that's no use here since I doubt it would work for international shipping. So I guess I will have work out another strategy.

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pih

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#469543 16-May-2011 11:03

Hey, I have the same problem with my N1, looked at Mobilefonerescue too, they estimated $80-120 from memory depending on what they had to replace (just the switch or the switch and mount/cable) - I must have talked to someone different. I also looked at getting the spare parts off eBay, I've got the guts to give it a try but don't have the time! If you're thinking about buying the parts perhaps we could combine shipping?

lchiu7

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#469637 16-May-2011 14:03

Hmm. I was just going to send my phone back to HTC in the US and have them repair it since I am not game to do it myself.

I had a quick look on ebay and couldn't see any parts for sale. Do you have a link?

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pih

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#469759 16-May-2011 17:11

No, I saw something on there a couple of weeks back but have been in the US for Google I/O, so haven't kept on top of it. Unfortunately I didn't have any time in the US to get it repaired or check for parts, it was a bit of a whirlwind tour. My only concern is that it will probably happen again in 12-18 months, and I'm looking to give this phone to my wife as it's still in pristine condition otherwise.

I've read that the most common failure is due to flexing and breakage of the ribbon cable as the button mount is not very firmly fixed. Once the cable is broken you get intermittent or no contact, and this matches my experience so far. If I do it myself I might try adding a blob of hot glue or something under it to ensure it doesn't move.

1080p

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#469770 16-May-2011 17:26

Replacing the unit instead of repair is not uncommon. The cost of keeping a trained technician on the pay roll is greater than just adding a percentage extra units to each phone order for replacements.

lchiu7

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#469892 16-May-2011 22:21

1080p: Replacing the unit instead of repair is not uncommon. The cost of keeping a trained technician on the pay roll is greater than just adding a percentage extra units to each phone order for replacements.

Maybe for HTC it's fine. I had my N1 replaced 3 times over Christmas(!) under warranty until I got one that worked. Alas this one has developed the power button problem.

I would not be so sure that a local place would have spare units to replace faulty ones and anyway, replacing the power button doesn't look hard, so long as you can find the spare part.

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lchiu7

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#469895 16-May-2011 22:31

pih: No, I saw something on there a couple of weeks back but have been in the US for Google I/O, so haven't kept on top of it. Unfortunately I didn't have any time in the US to get it repaired or check for parts, it was a bit of a whirlwind tour. My only concern is that it will probably happen again in 12-18 months, and I'm looking to give this phone to my wife as it's still in pristine condition otherwise.

I've read that the most common failure is due to flexing and breakage of the ribbon cable as the button mount is not very firmly fixed. Once the cable is broken you get intermittent or no contact, and this matches my experience so far. If I do it myself I might try adding a blob of hot glue or something under it to ensure it doesn't move.

Maybe I should have kept the Nexus S I bought at Christmas and sold the N1 which I have had since Dec 2009. But I like the phone and the S didn't offer anything compelling for me (apart it seems with a better power button). If I can get the N1 working till the end of the year then if rumours are right, I can get a Nexus 3 with the quad core for Chistmas.

I think I am going to send my N1 back to HTC and just live without a smart phone for a few weeks.

But the hot glue sounds like a reasonable idea. It's just you need to find a new cable and some googling didn't turn up anything reasonable for me.

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lchiu7

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#470989 19-May-2011 10:57

Well I have arranged for my phone to go back to HTC (US). They will assess it, tell me if they will cover it or not, and if I want it repaired. They will then send it back to my bro who can send it to me. Probably costs me US$55 for the repair plus $20 or so to send the phone over and back. But at least I know it's being done right.

But thinking that I would be without a smartphone for 2-3 weeks I tried something else. I found and installed Anykeyunlock from the Market. It allows you to unlock the phone with the volume control (if you're on 2.3.4) else the trackball on earlier Android firmware.

It initially didn't work until I removed the PIN number lock on the phone. But removing that also means I can no longer get mail from an Exchange Server since connection to the server enforces some local security policies such as requiring the PIN.

So it's a tradeoff I guess. If you don't need to connect to an Exchange server and don't lock your phone, then this is the best and cheapest way to get over the power button problem.

If you need PIN locking, then it needs to be repaired until somebody comes up with an app that allows the phone to be unlocked even when there's a PIN lock.

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lchiu7

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#481431 15-Jun-2011 12:52

Just to close the loop on this.

I called HTC and arranged for a repair. They sent me a PDF of a Fedex label to send the phone back to them freight free which I couldn't use of course. But I used most of the label since it also had the RMA number and address.

They wanted the phone back without battery, battery cover, SIM card and SD card. I took a risk and sent it regular post. It cost $5 and took 10 days when I got confirmation of the receipt and another day to get an estimate of the repair.

It was US$55 as noted initially and I agreed, providing a CC number. They accepted a NZ CC.

The repair was done and the phone sent back to my brother in LA at no cost. He will just post it to me.

It's a bit riskier (postal system wise) doing it this way and you need a bod in the US to receive the phone but at least I know HTC did the repair and not some local organisation who are not authorised repair people.

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