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Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: jeromedawg on January 13, 2016, 02:31:17 PM

Title: My dad cracked his Nexus 6 screen...
Post by: jeromedawg on January 13, 2016, 02:31:17 PM
So my dad cracked his Nexus 6 screen and I overheard him talking to some repair guy who wants $185 to fix it. Is that pretty inflated? Seems like you can buy a screen on Ebay for $10 and I'm wondering if the DIY would really be that tough. Otherwise, I read some posts about people getting their Nexus 6s replaced free (in the case of screen cracks) by Google. My dad bought his off Ebay so I'm wondering if that would still apply. Just trying to save him a buck but he was already about to pull the trigger on repairing. I just happened to overhear him giving the guy the go-ahead, only to ask him after if he called Motorola and Google and explored all his options. All he did was call Motorola and they couldn't do anything (except I looked briefly and it seems they can and about for the same as what he would be paying this guy to do it). Any ideas?
Title: Re: My dad cracked his Nexus 6 screen...
Post by: deragun on January 13, 2016, 02:45:40 PM
From my experience with broken screens, there is a big difference between cracking the glass and cracking the digitizer (lcd screen).  The $10 you mention on ebay is certainly for the glass only.  You can check DIY repair here but you'd need to know if it's just the glass or the digitizer as well in order to get the right parts: https://www.ifixit.com/Device/Nexus_6

There are plenty of mail based repair services you could check out (google).
Title: Re: My dad cracked his Nexus 6 screen...
Post by: jeromedawg on January 13, 2016, 03:00:34 PM
From my experience with broken screens, there is a big difference between cracking the glass and cracking the digitizer (lcd screen).  The $10 you mention on ebay is certainly for the glass only.  You can check DIY repair here but you'd need to know if it's just the glass or the digitizer as well in order to get the right parts: https://www.ifixit.com/Device/Nexus_6

There are plenty of mail based repair services you could check out (google).

Well, he had been using it just fine even with the cracked screen. I remember because I would see him on it with a big ugly piece of scotch tape across the front lol. So it sounds like the glass itself is broken. But if that's the case, even if I were to volunteer for the DIY fix, is there a great risk that I would damage the digitizer during the process?
Title: Re: My dad cracked his Nexus 6 screen...
Post by: JLee on January 13, 2016, 03:09:31 PM
You can get Nexus 6's new for $250 now, so keep that in mind when pricing repair.
Title: Re: My dad cracked his Nexus 6 screen...
Post by: jeromedawg on January 13, 2016, 03:10:59 PM
You can get Nexus 6's new for $250 now, so keep that in mind when pricing repair.

Hmm good point, maybe I'll tell him just to sell it and get a new one for that matter.

BTW: I was looking at the following video and now I see why the digitizer is priced at a premium - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFbJPVpDDW4

The glass is glued to the digitizer and looks like a real PITA to get off.
Title: Re: My dad cracked his Nexus 6 screen...
Post by: jeromedawg on January 13, 2016, 03:37:28 PM
hmm, i also was just reminded after reading a post elsewhere that he should check what credit card he used and if they offer extended warranty protection. i've heard that amex has, as a courtesy to some, offered accidental damage coverage on items. if not, i told him to contact motorola several times and try to get a hold of a rep who will say yes to a courtesy repair. the CC warranty coverage route sounds better though

EDIT: he said he used his Chase Visa. I had a pretty good experience getting a reimbursement on a handheld audio recorder that went bad on me. It was really easy - I just called in and submitted some paperwork and receipts online and had a check mailed out to me for the amount I spent within a week or two. I'm not sure if they would cover accidental damage but it wouldn't hurt for him to ask.
Title: Re: My dad cracked his Nexus 6 screen...
Post by: JLee on January 13, 2016, 07:18:22 PM
hmm, i also was just reminded after reading a post elsewhere that he should check what credit card he used and if they offer extended warranty protection. i've heard that amex has, as a courtesy to some, offered accidental damage coverage on items. if not, i told him to contact motorola several times and try to get a hold of a rep who will say yes to a courtesy repair. the CC warranty coverage route sounds better though

EDIT: he said he used his Chase Visa. I had a pretty good experience getting a reimbursement on a handheld audio recorder that went bad on me. It was really easy - I just called in and submitted some paperwork and receipts online and had a check mailed out to me for the amount I spent within a week or two. I'm not sure if they would cover accidental damage but it wouldn't hurt for him to ask.

Generally the accidental damage protection has a small window (e.g. I believe it's 120 days on the Chase Sapphire Preferred), but it is certainly worth looking into.
Title: Re: My dad cracked his Nexus 6 screen...
Post by: jeromedawg on January 13, 2016, 07:49:57 PM
hmm, i also was just reminded after reading a post elsewhere that he should check what credit card he used and if they offer extended warranty protection. i've heard that amex has, as a courtesy to some, offered accidental damage coverage on items. if not, i told him to contact motorola several times and try to get a hold of a rep who will say yes to a courtesy repair. the CC warranty coverage route sounds better though

EDIT: he said he used his Chase Visa. I had a pretty good experience getting a reimbursement on a handheld audio recorder that went bad on me. It was really easy - I just called in and submitted some paperwork and receipts online and had a check mailed out to me for the amount I spent within a week or two. I'm not sure if they would cover accidental damage but it wouldn't hurt for him to ask.

Generally the accidental damage protection has a small window (e.g. I believe it's 120 days on the Chase Sapphire Preferred), but it is certainly worth looking into.

FWIW: my dad is a "private client" Chase card holder, which I guess gets you all sorts of fancy kinds of benefits... or at least, that's how my dad makes it out to be lol. He said the private client rep is looking into what he can do in this case. He cracked the screen months ago and has procrastinated with getting it fixed for a long time. Actually, I think he broke it back in October, so he *might* be within the window... it actually sounds somewhat hopeful. That'll be good - if he ends up getting reimbursed as well as being able to keep the phone, I may ask him if I can have it and try to do operation on it myself :)
Title: Re: My dad cracked his Nexus 6 screen...
Post by: ooeei on January 14, 2016, 07:06:06 AM
I had a Nexus 4 where I cracked the screen from dropping it out of my pocket while riding my bike after about a year and a half of use.  I did a DIY replacement of the screen/digitizer with one I found on Ebay.  It wasn't too difficult, but the screen broke again just sitting in my pocket about a week later.  I suspect the "OEM" screen/digitizer from Ebay wasn't the same quality as the original.  I ended up getting a Moto X on Amazon and buying a case for it.  If you can get Motorola or Google to replace the screen for anywhere close to the price of the independent person, I'd recommend it.  You never know what quality their replacement parts will be.
Title: Re: My dad cracked his Nexus 6 screen...
Post by: jeromedawg on January 14, 2016, 10:10:45 AM
I had a Nexus 4 where I cracked the screen from dropping it out of my pocket while riding my bike after about a year and a half of use.  I did a DIY replacement of the screen/digitizer with one I found on Ebay.  It wasn't too difficult, but the screen broke again just sitting in my pocket about a week later.  I suspect the "OEM" screen/digitizer from Ebay wasn't the same quality as the original.  I ended up getting a Moto X on Amazon and buying a case for it.  If you can get Motorola or Google to replace the screen for anywhere close to the price of the independent person, I'd recommend it.  You never know what quality their replacement parts will be.

My dad was so close to having the guy fix it until I overheard him on the phone and advised him not to. If he's gonna pay that much he might as well just spend a few more bucks and send it to Motorola to get fixed... SMH
Anyway, hopefully the purchase protection/warranty thing via Chase will work out for him instead. From what I recall, he'll need to purchase a new unit (which he should be able to get on Ebay easily for $250-300 it sounds like) and then send the receipt and they'll reimburse him. Although, I'm not sure if they'll reimburse him for the original purchase or if they'll reimburse him for the cost of the new unit (I think it's the former). When I did this for something before, they didn't ask me to send the broken unit in (it was partially broken) so I ended up flipping it on ebay and getting some money back for it lol. If it's anywhere near the same with his broken phone, I'm gonna take it from him and see if I can do a DIY repair on it.
Title: Re: My dad cracked his Nexus 6 screen...
Post by: chesebert on January 14, 2016, 10:51:14 AM
Completely off topic:

I got curious and looked at benefits of "private client". I like the "free safety deposit", "free wire transfer" and "preferred access to arts/culture (not sure what this means but at least it sounds good on paper). Everything else is just about useless or is cheaper/better elsewhere. I plan to drop by and see if I can get any free/discounted shows/art events :D
Title: Re: My dad cracked his Nexus 6 screen...
Post by: jeromedawg on January 14, 2016, 11:20:12 AM
Completely off topic:

I got curious and looked at benefits of "private client". I like the "free safety deposit", "free wire transfer" and "preferred access to arts/culture (not sure what this means but at least it sounds good on paper). Everything else is just about useless or is cheaper/better elsewhere. I plan to drop by and see if I can get any free/discounted shows/art events :D

Regarding the "preferred access to arts/culture", I'm pretty sure that's referring to free/complimentary access to museums, etc that would otherwise cost money. One good example is the Exploratorium up in the Bay Area. I believe the card gets you + a guest free access. Normally I think admission is $30-40+... my dad gave his private client pass card to me, and my wife and I got in without any issue. Pretty good!
Title: Re: My dad cracked his Nexus 6 screen...
Post by: tarheeldan on January 14, 2016, 11:26:06 AM
It looks like the out-of-warranty replacement cost through Motorola themselves is just $175 (as of 4mo ago):
https://www.reddit.com/r/nexus6/comments/3jh5m5/psa_dont_get_your_nexus_6_screen_repaired_at/
Title: Re: My dad cracked his Nexus 6 screen...
Post by: jeromedawg on January 14, 2016, 02:36:31 PM
It looks like the out-of-warranty replacement cost through Motorola themselves is just $175 (as of 4mo ago):
https://www.reddit.com/r/nexus6/comments/3jh5m5/psa_dont_get_your_nexus_6_screen_repaired_at/

Yea, I saw that... not including taxes either. I was saying that if he's gonna have it repaired and this local guy says he'll do it for $185, he might as well just send it back to Motorola to fix since they're the source. Right now, he's going through the credit card purchase protection though to see if he can get anything. Apparently he opened up a claim back when this first happened but seems to have gotten lazy about it and didn't follow-through. Maybe he thought it would be too much trouble, but to not have to spend $185 or $175+tax, I would go through the trouble.
Title: Re: My dad cracked his Nexus 6 screen...
Post by: jeromedawg on January 25, 2016, 04:05:56 PM
So my dad ended up getting the refund via credit card claim. $279.99 back. except, he went and had the same guy he dropped it off at go ahead and fix it. he just told me he's getting charged $225~ (instead of the originally quoted $185) but that it comes with a tempered glass protector. i'm not quite sure what he's thinking, or that he even is (he's one of the most irrational people i've ever encountered in my life), but he obviously missed or ignored the part when i told him that motorola can fix it for $175+tax (he was probably suckered and sold on the stupid glass protector, which surely doesn't cost $40 dollars unless you're a sucker for marked up retail prices). oh well, his loss (not like he cares because i think he feels like he can throw money away now that he's retired). he always does things like this, and it's pretty irritating... i'm not going to offer him any advice when he finds that his digitizer no longer works after 3 months because the repair place installed a cheap 3rd party replacement.