Cracked my glass-turnaround time for the repair?

[questionfear]

I am an *****, and walked my (100lb, very energetic) dog while carrying my 928 uncased in my pocket. Needless to say, there was an incident involving the dog, a uturn, the leash, and my phone being slingshotted out of my pocket while I was tangled in the above incident and now my screen is cracked. There are a few big cracks, and some impressive smash damage on one corner.

I contacted Nokia, who gave me the name of their authorized repair facility (Palco). Palco said they'll replace the screen for $179. I will probably generate the paperwork and mail the phone off this weekend. Just curious, though, for anyone who's done this, how bad is the turnaround time? I'm assuming I will be without my phone for at least a week. I have a backup Android phone on T-Mo that I can forward my calls to, and a friend offered to loan me a Windows Phone for the week with the same call forwarding deal. But obviously I'd prefer my phone, and I'm just trying to plan for how bad the downtime will be.

Once my phone comes back, it is never leaving the Aegis case, unless I have an equally rugged case on hand for swap.

 

[MrWhiteman]

2 weeks

 

[questionfear]

Thanks.

At the moment I am really annoyed with Palco-their website is all busted, and I can't generate repair paperwork through it. They have yet to return my phone call or email to them about it and when I try to call them I get voicemail or a busy signal.

Only found one place around here that will fix the screen, and they quoted me $265.

Remind me to never break another Nokia screen, as it's apparently an enormous hassle to get it fixed. If Palco doesn't call me back by Monday, I'm really going to be pissed. Not sure what other choice I have, since Palco quoted me $179, which is significantly better than $265, but with how my screen cracked I am not sure how much longer the really smashed corner will hold together...and then I'm really screwed.

Next time I decide I am too cheap to buy insurance I am reminding myself of this moment.

 

[hopmedic]

Personally, I'm surprised that anyone would quote a repair for $179. The reason that it's expensive is that the digitizer and the AMOLED display are fused together as one unit, and sold that way, rather than being able to just buy the digitizer by itself, which in most cases is all you need to replace. The prices for the assembly were around $230, though I do recall seeing a price under $200 recently, though I think it was still in the $180ish range, so at $179, even at cost, they're not making much on the deal.

 

[questionfear]

Personally, I'm surprised that anyone would quote a repair for $179. The reason that it's expensive is that the digitizer and the AMOLED display are fused together as one unit, and sold that way, rather than being able to just buy the digitizer by itself, which in most cases is all you need to replace. The prices for the assembly were around $230, though I do recall seeing a price under $200 recently, though I think it was still in the $180ish range, so at $179, even at cost, they're not making much on the deal.

I thought the same thing, and thats part of why I want to generate a written estimate straight from the Palco website. After researching it myself, and speaking with a local repair place that quoted me $200 for the screen plus $65 labor, I wonder if the woman at Palco looked up the wrong Lumia screen part. Either that or because they're Nokia-approved they're getting the screens cheaper. But I somehow doubt that.

Any thoughts on where else to find a screen repair? My only hesitation with the local store is that I don't know them, and they had to call me back after researching how much the part cost, so I am not sure if I want to hand over my phone and hope they know how to disassemble it.

 

[questionfear]

And Palco just emailed me and confirmed-$179 for the screen, if they can't fix it they will refund all but $15 for the diagnostics fee.

 

[hopmedic]

Diagnostics fee???? How in the world can they justify a diagnostics fee for a broken screen??? Either they have the right part and can do it, or they don't! You already know the diagnosis - broken screen.

If it were my phone, I'd be buying a screen and doing it myself, but that's me. I recognize that not everyone has the ability to do that.

 

[questionfear]

Diagnostics fee???? How in the world can they justify a diagnostics fee for a broken screen??? Either they have the right part and can do it, or they don't! You already know the diagnosis - broken screen.

If it were my phone, I'd be buying a screen and doing it myself, but that's me. I recognize that not everyone has the ability to do that.

Not sure, but I think it's more than just the screen. If I am on a call, the sound drops out randomly (or stops working entirely). The other side can hear me, but I can't hear anything unless I switch to speakerphone. Now I am worried there's a loose connection or a crack in the circuitry. Tired resetting and that didn't fix it so it is likely hardware.