Bad ipod repair ... any comeback?

tarebare30

I stupidly broke the glass on my ipod 7 nano that I use with wireless headphones at the gym and sent it off for repair with quickmobilefix.com. The glass had shattered but everything else was working perfectly and I'd been using it without any issues ... I only sent it for repair as I was worried the cracked glass would get worse and damage the touch screen. It took almost a fortnight and several chase emails from me to get it back. The screen repair job looked ok ... a bit of scraping around the top of the ipod but I only use it at the gym so was pepared to live with it. On first use, though, I discovered my bluetooth headphones no longer worked with the ipod despite working fine with any other device and having no problems before sending the ipod for repair. I contacted customer service and they said to return it for inspection which I did on 3 March. After LOTS of email chases from me, I finally got a call on 18 March to say that the technician agrees that the Bluetooth antennae is damaged but they are denying all responsibility and have given me the option of paying for a further repair or returning it to me in the damaged condition. Given that it was working perfectly before sending for repair and broken when I got it back, the antennae can only have been damaged by them. I've tried reasoning with them but I'm getting nowhere. They are adamant that the damage was not caused by them and say the antennae is not covered in the screen repair warranty. Do I have any comeback? Would going to small claims help or be a complete waste of time and money? So frustrated that I've now spent £50 on a repair and the ipod is in a worse state than when I started and yet I feel liked I've got no rights.

AJXX

Your problem is proving that they broke the Bluetooth module will be difficult, sadly there is little you can do. I'd advice against going to small claims until you can prove your case, else it'll likely fail and you'll be further out of pocket.

Could you possibly sell it for S+R on eBay and get some money back to put towards a new one?

Perhaps try writing a formal complaint to the company and send it recorded delivery, perhaps phrase it in such away that you'll consider small claims if they don't remedy the situation, but you'd be calling their bluff really.

I've still got no idea why people go to these dodgy repair outfits with Apple kit, always seems to result in a poor repair and the device being in a worse off condition. Quick look on Apple's website suggests they'd have done a repair or replaced it with a refurb themselves out of warranty for 67 quid - that's only £17 more than what you paid to someone who has no doubt butchered your iPod and used sub standard parts - sadly you're out of luck now as Apple will not touch it with a barge pole if it's been 'repaired' by a 3rd party.