Repair Center Quotes on Items not Damaged

Hopefully this reaches whoever it needs to. I’m afraid to think how many People have fallen for this….

So a few weeks ago my Wife’s phone stopped working while on charge. I looked at the device and it seemed that the battery wasn’t charging, as when plugging it Into the charger, it would only show a Question Mark (?) inside the battery Icon. The lead me to believe it was a battery issue. I when to Google to search if anyone had the same issue and if there was a solution.. No real answers or was to fix the problem, however a lot of suggestions stating it might just need to be hard Reset by Holding down the Power, Volume Up and Volume Down, which I tried. To my surprise, this worked and the phone booted and successfully booted into Android again, for a minute or so….

After a short while, an Error Message would appear stating “Invalid Battery – Shutting Down”…. Damn So this confirmed that there was clearly a fault with the Battery.

Next Day I would take it back to Cell C, explained the issue and what I had tried and the results. I was told that it would need to be sent to the Repair Centre, which I agreed to and off the phone went.

After a few days, I received a message stating that the Phone had been Assessed and I need to accept the Quote for Repairs. Keep in mind this phone is around 6 months old, so why would I be quoted on a Battery that is Clearly still under warranty. Anyway, I called to see what this Quote was about, and was I surprised….

The repair cost would be +-R5300, I don’t recall the exact amount. How could a battery cost that much….? Apparently there was Water Damage, The Mainboard, LCD and Battery needed replacing. Water Damage…… There is no way…. Before Sending the phone in, the LCD and Mainboard were fine…. As I still booted the Phone… I Obviously declined the quote and asked for a Damage Report and to send my phone back. I was sent Pictures of a Board, which I still done know if that’s even my Phone…

Eventually It gets returned and when I plug it in at home to test. The battery suddenly Charges, with the “Broken” LCD lighting up perfectly fine. I give it a few Minutes and see the Battery charges… I give it a few more minutes and switch the Phone on… The Broken LCD, Mainboard and Battery that I was quoted to Fix for sounds of Rand, are working Perfectly Fine….

So I would LOVE for someone at Cell C to explain this to me….