S3 faulty screen advice

[murrayr63]

The first week of March my girlfriend dropped her S3. There wasn't any obvious damage but the screen was completely purple and blue. She took it to a mobile repair shop and the guy told her the whole of the front would have to be replaced (i think they call it a digitizer?) and it would cost £150. The guy also pointed out four symmetrical hairline cracks in each corner. So the screen was damaged.

Everything has been fine until she went to use her phone the other day. The screen is permanently blacked out, it was still on and ringing and you can swipe the screen to answer a call but there is no image. She hasn't dropped it or damaged it in any way.

The guy in the shop isn't interested in replacing it, apparently the parts have no warranty. I'm sure i could fix it myself. Has anybody got an idea of the part required to repair it?

 

[UberCoder]

You might be lucky and the connector between the screen and board might not be connected properly. Here is a disassembly guide: Samsung Galaxy S III Teardown - iFixit. This would be the easiest thing to check. Otherwise unfortunately a complete new front is the easiest was to go!

This is because the glass front is usually bonded to the LCD/digitizer and then the LCD/digitizer bonded to the frame. I'm surprised if the part doesn't have warranty. If it was bought through eBay it would have cost around £80-90 and he would have eBays 60 day limit to put a claim in and request a replacement part. Most other mobile phone parts suppliers all give warranty on parts.

Anyways, the part you would be looking for would be the LCD digitizer and frame complete if reseating the connections doesn't work.

 

[murrayr63]

thanks, i've just taken the back off to check the connections. I tried unplugging it then connecting it up again, didn't work. So it needs to be replaced again.

I don't see how this shop can't offer warranty on there parts. I'm sure he said it was a genuine Samsung as well. I might do some more research on that before i hand over more money.

 

[UberCoder]

One of the suppliers (ReplaceBase) I regularly use offers genuine S3 front screens complete with a 6 month warranty. He's probably fobbed you off with a cheap screen from eBay. I have 4 suppliers for mobile phone parts I goto before I look at eBay and they all offer me some form of warranty on parts.

 

[murrayr63]

i have just phoned the trading standards helpline and the fact he denies the parts arent covered by a warranty is irrelevant anyway. According to the advisor the parts have to be of a satisfactory quality and last for the time you would expect and be free of any defects (A £150 repair should last longer than 8 weeks!). Also, for the first 6 months the store is responsible for the item- for example if it breaks he can't just say it's my girlfriends fault without reason he has to prove why it's her fault - cracked screen, set on fire, blown up with c4 explosives etc. So as far as i can see him saying because she keeps it in her handbag won't stand as there is no damage to the phone.

 

[murrayr63]

just to add, is it just me or saying a mobile phone can break by keeping it in a pocket in a handbag completely ridiculous?!

 

[murrayr63]

Could somebody point me in the right direction for the replacement parts? I checked the link above and they seem to be out of stock.

 

[UberCoder]

Another company I use: Parts4Mobiles...

 

[Rizza]

Samsung will replace the glass, digitiser, and bezels of the S3 for £100.

Rizza

 

[Bigfoot9]

The same happened to a friend of mine. His screen was broke, get it fixed at a local shop, paid £130 for it. Two days later it stopped working, long story short. The guy had used secondhand parts, took a while but he got a refund.

 

[Bigfoot9]

I've just spoke to him to ask how he got a refund, trading standards paid the shop a visit and ask to seethe receipt for the new screen, he couldn't show them as it was a recon screen done by them.

That's how he get a refund.