GSMArena reporter tells of the troubled journey to repair Galaxy Z Flip

The painful example below is of a reporter with the nickname “Ricky” on the GSMArena news site. The problem with his Galaxy Z Flip has nothing to do with folding screens, which are the most perishable on foldable phones.

Accordingly, Ricky is conducting a review of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, which he had to pay for the phone himself, because Samsung did not provide evaluation models to this site. When he went to the toilet, Ricky put the Z Flip on the sink – his (expensive) mistake was to put the phone down and the camera facing down. As soon as he put the device down, it emitted a “crack” that made him fall off his limbs.

Picking up the device, Ricky discovered that the camera glass had cracked. He immediately called Samsung customer care. The unfortunate accident happened only 7 days after he bought Z Flip from Best Buy.

Ricky said when he called Samsung online customer service, he was given a phone number for the Galaxy Premiere customer care line – a customer care department for owners of devices like Galaxy. Fold and Galaxy Z Flip.

The next person is Marcia, very friendly and willing to support. After explaining the situation, Marcia asked Ricky to send the device to Samsung lab for them to research before determining whether it was a warranty defect or damage caused by the customer.

Of course, Ricky didn’t have enough time to send the device in the mail – he was writing a review of it – so Marcia suggested he take it to a genuine service center around him. living. Ricky remembers that the nearby uBreakiFix store was certified by Samsung (and Google too, to fix Pixel devices), so he would bring it there to repair and get it on the same day.

Marcia then recorded the customer information, including the IMEI and model number of the device, and made an appointment for Ricky’s replacement at the store on Saturday. Everything seemed fine until the night before the appointment.

On Friday night, Ricky opened the email to confirm his appointment and realized that he had been scheduled for an appointment … Galaxy Fold – while apparently he had given Marcia the model number, IMEI, and even stated it was a Galaxy. Z Flip. He immediately called the store to see if they could help: it turned out, the store technician confirmed they had no spare parts for Z Flip. Ricky had to cancel the appointment and call Samsung again early next week.

This time, his successor, Billy, was as friendly as Marcia, and Billy said that Marcia had mistakenly recorded the service slip. Billy fixed it, and when Ricky complained about why the device broke so early and so easily, he reassured by saying that … Samsung’s warranty service does not support accidental damage! Billy offered to help Ricky with the uBreakiFix stores that had components for Z Flip, but apparently it didn’t, so he called Ricky again after a few minutes and connected his guest to the store. Ricky decided the next day, Tuesday, would drive to the uBreakiFix store that Billy proposed, 35 minutes from where he was.

When he arrived at uBreakiFix in Kendall, Florida, and told the story of what had happened, Ricky was relieved that the store knew in advance and had the parts ready for him. UBreakiFix manager in Florida, Chris, is also in this store, and his team is friendly, helping Ricky very enthusiastically.

If you think it was a happy ending, not yet. This is the fascinating part.

As it turned out, to replace the camera glass, the entire glass on the back of the device had to be replaced, including the LED flash and the small screen on the outside. The repair cost is 109.99 USD without tax, quite reasonable. It took just over 2 and a half hours, and Ricky was brought home.

“Interior” below the glass on the back of the device.

Remove protective layer after replacement is complete.

The next day, while continuing to evaluate the Z Flip, Ricky discovered something was not quite right about his device. Both the main camera and the ultra-wide camera have a speckle effect like someone applying lubricant to a lens – the super wide camera is much heavier than the main camera. After researching, Ricky discovered there are … fingerprints under the camera, someone accidentally accidentally dirty the glass before putting it back on.

Ricky immediately called Chris and explained the situation. Chris said take the device to the store to learn more, and that if there is a problem with the camera, all components are already available, can replace the sensor if needed.

After each repair, uBreakiFix will have a 90 day warranty period. If the sensor, speaker, camera, or anything related to the repair area stops working, they will be repaired for free.

Chris got the phone from Ricky, brought it into the repair room for 15 minutes, took it out – the back glass was open now, and Chris said Ricky should check the camera to make sure they are okay. Before that, Chris also used a microscope to see and did not see any stains.

Chris put the phone back in, and Ricky returned home, happy that everything had been resolved. At least that’s what he thought when he got into the car.

The next day, Ricky plugged the phone into the computer to get the pictures taken. Computer does not recognize Z Flip! He tried plugging into another USB port, still the same. Try another USB cable, nothing has changed. He then tried charging the device with his USB-C charger – unable to charge. He had to get the charger that came with the device in the box – it didn’t work either.

Symptoms seem strange. The phone should have realized it was plugged in, emitting a sound and displaying a charging effect; But the charging icon on the battery icon does not appear. Ricky uses a power meter to check the current through the USB port, and realizes there is no current flowing into the machine, and the computer does not recognize the phone.

So far, Ricky has only charged Z Flip with a wireless charging cradle, so he doesn’t know exactly when the USB-C port broke. He called Chris back and explained the situation. Chris said the error was probably related to the charging port, like some of the Galaxy Note 10+ they had previously fixed.

Later that day, Chris reported that the device used to open the phone, which was an exclusive device provided by Samsung to automate the repair process, accidentally opened a connector that ran across the section. Z Flip hinges, the link between the lower circuit board and the motherboard. The device is fixed, and Ricky brings it home for the third time.

Ricky (white shirt), Chris (black shirt) and the staff at uBreakiFix

Conclusion

It can be seen that, although the components are available, the repair process is still not many simple details. Because the Z Flip is a new device, it is so different that not only customers but also repair services take time to research.

The biggest lesson from the above story is that smartphones are fragile things, especially brand-new folding phones like the Galaxy Z Flip. Always protect your investment with a case, or at least buy a good warranty.

Reference: GSMArena