Time Tec

[A default letter is provided here which indicates that the business has not responded to you directly. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
At this time, I have not been contacted by Time Tec regarding complaint ID
***
Regards,
*** ***

Review: Wednesday June 4, 2014

Male customer called to confirm they replaced glass on I phones. Was told by male employee it would take no more than 2 hours to do so, price $55.

Saturday June 7, 2014

10:45am. Male customer brought I phone into store. Presented I phone to male employee explaining it was our daughter's phone, she had dropped it but it still worked and that we needed to replace the shattered glass. Reconfirming the time table and cost we were previously told. The male customer informed the male employee that the phone had been powered down because there would be no need for them to turn it on during the replacement and to protect our data. It was restated that is was a fully functional phone with a visible display, but that the glass was just cracked. This was not questioned by the male employee. The male employee said it would take between 2-3 hours and issued ticket Number [redacted]. The male customer stated we would return at 2pm.

2:00pm. The male customer returned and was told a few times that they needed another 10 minutes; the glass was not fully catching.

2:30pm. The technician demonstrated the glass would not fully take up top and he was working on it. The male customer had another appointment and agreed to leave it and would return afterwards.

5:00pm. The male customer returned to find technician had taken the phone apart. The male customer was told by the male employee that they needed another 10-15 minutes. Then was told again they needed another 5-10 minutes. The female manager then got involved and spoke to the technician and called the male customer over. The technician explained that the glass wouldn't take and they took the phone apart because a wire was getting in the way of it closing. He stated he tested the functions of the phone and they are working properly. The technician stated that all he needed to was to put the back on the phone and needed another 10 minutes. Upon hearing that the technician stated that the phone was fully functional, it would appear that the phone was indeed powered off as originally presented by the male customer and the technician turned the phone on/off while it was disassembled/reassembled without our consent; furthermore, they demonstrated it was in working order while in their possession.

The male customer returned 15 minutes later. The technician showed that he could not get the back cover on the phone. The female manager explained this is normally a 35-45 minute process and the normal technician is not in, this was a back up technician. The male customer expressed dismay at the lack of communication and run around. The female manager agreed, apologized, appreciated our patience and asked for more time. She stated they would fix the phone at their expense.

Related female customer was summoned in to hear what transpired. She asked if the male customer was advised at the time he brought in phone that this was a back up technician and given the option of not leaving it. The female manager stated she covered this with the male customer and already apologized to him. She acknowledged they had our phone number and regretted their poor communication for not calling us and acknowledged it could have been handled better. She explained the technician had broken 3 glass replacements while trying to replace ours. And they needed more time. We both reminded them they had the phone for 7 hours. This escalated when the male employee approached the related female customer and interjected insultingly that she was making it difficult for him and that she needed to give him more time. We again reminded them both that they had the phone for 7 hours.

The female manager indicated they had an expert that worked in another area of the mall and left to go get him. She returned and said he was not available. She stated they needed more time but now said they would fix it at a discount but we would have to pay for the part (glass cover). This escalated into a disagreement over what was previously offered, we were upset they rescinded their prior offer to cover the cost and expressed we did not feel it was fair to have to pay after the inconvenience and run around. When the male customer stated again that he would not pay for any glass cover parts after taking this long with the phone, the female manager indicated yes he would. The male customer indicated that he would then have to take legal action. She quickly offered her business card without hesitation and stated to go ahead with doing so. This was considerd poor business management, the request for services free of charge would have been the honorable and correct thing to do. The technician then interjected and offered to cover the cost of the part himself and the female manager said no, she was the manager and would not allow it. We further reminded them of our inconvenience of having no communication via phone calls and thus having to travel back and forth and waiting. We reminded them this adversely affected our time commitments to our appointments and that the biggest issues was this was our daughter's phone and she needed it ASAP for her own security and to access data on it. The male employee stated there is no data on the phone. We indicated she had information on it for her homework and study materials and most importantly to stay in contact with her parents. It was reiterated that the phone was fully functional and just powered off when originally brought to the store and the male employee never questioned it or checked the state of the phone.

Both parties agreed it was best to seek mall security as an intermediary. The male customer sought and returned with a mall security officer. The officer listened to both sides. We stated we wanted to have it recorded for the record. He indicated they do not do that. We asked if we should call the police to do so. He indicated there was an officer in the mall but they would not do that either. We were told we could file a complaint with the mall.

The female employee approached and offered a handshake and a complimentary beverage indicating she wanted to please her customers and had never had a complaint against the store before. She indicated the other technician worked at the pizza place and she did not feel comfortable taking our phone to be looked at in a pizza kitchen. She asked if she could retain the phone in her store that the other technician would look at it after hours even if she had to pay him overtime. The female manager stated to us their guarantee of providing us with a functioning phone and that they are a fully insured company as far as repairs are concerned. We felt we had no choice. We were uncomfortable leaving the phone overnight, especially since it was supposed to be a 45 minute repair. She again assured us they were fully insured and that the phone would be safe. Having no choice we agreed and stated if we had to we would pay for the part but we were still uncomfortable with that. We wanted to come to a resolution at that point.

We indicated in parting that our biggest concern was expediency of returning the phone to our daughter to ensure her needs and safety were met. She agreed to call with an update that evening and that it would be ready by noon when the store reopened the next day. This concluded at 6:45pm and we left the store for the evening.

Approximately 9:30PM that Saturday evening the female manager called the male customer. The phone back cover had been restored but they could not get a new glass cover on. They put the phone back with the shattered cover we brought it in with. They put a charger on because they felt it vibrate but couldn't see a display and thought perhaps the battery ran down. She asked if we wanted it charged overnight. We agreed. She asked for more time to order more parts to try when they reopened the store. The male customer stated at this point the goal was to have it restored to the same condition as when we brought it into the store so that our daughter could continue to use the phone as she did before even with the shattered cover.

Sunday June 8, 2014

12:15pm

We received no call from them; male customer called/left a massage to indicate we were returning to pick up the phone and that it should be in the same condition that we brought it in. Upon arrival, the original technician demonstrated it was powered but there was no display and therefore no ability to work the phone. The male customer expressed disbelief stating how could that be when it was fully functional before, it was just powered off fully charged when he brought it in. The male customer indicated to the store employees that it might not be working properly because they took the phone apart. The male employee then interjected and astoundingly stated that we brought in a nonfunctioning and broken phone to begin with. The male customer reminded them their own technician had stated when he had the phone apart that it was fully functional, he just had to get the back cover on. It was also pointed out it did not make sense that we would bring in a nonfunctioning phone to have the shattered glass repaired. The female manager said they could still fix it, they needed more time and it could not be done the same day/on a Sunday. The male employee stated it would take at least another 3 or 4 days. He reiterated we brought him a nonfunctioning phone. The male customer stated this was nonsensical to ask the store to fix (and for us to pay for) the glass on a nonfunctioning phone, asked for the phone to be returned and indicated they would hear from our attorney.

We took the phone to our phone service provider, and similarly the phone vibrated but had no visible screen. Because they could not see the screen there was no way to use any of the phone's functions. Therefore the trade in value of $150 was unattainable. We would have to purchase a new phone.

5:00pm

Related female customer returned to the mall with the phone in an attempt at another resolution. She spoke with the female manager expressing interest in finding a resolution and willing to leave the phone for the expert to restore the power and visibility. The female manager indicated because of what happened they were no longer taking any phone repairs. Additionally the expert technician would not be back for at least a month due to family illness. The female manager said the technician had broke 3 screens and it was working fine when they could get one of their screens on but not ours. But they could not put their screen on and the back cover at the same time. Female customer also pointed out we had also discovered there was a missing piece on the side of the phone. She indicated the technician should not have returned to work but did anyway. The female manager was then asked how they could help us because we brought a phone in that worked and left with one that didn't. At that point the female manager then changed her story and claimed that the male customer had said the phone was nonfunctioning when he brought it in. The female customer was astounded and stated that their claim was false. The female manager asked me to follow her in to the store. The male employee told me the same thing claiming it was nonfunctional beforehand and said because the male customer stated before he would be consulting his attorney they did not want to speak with us anymore and that we could sue them.Desired Settlement: This busniess/store from received a fully functional, but powered off phone and during their multiple and unsuccessful attempts to repair the front glass, they caused additional damage to the phone and is now non functional. As stated in the problem description, we took the phone to our phone service provider, and the phone had no visible screen. Because they could not see the screen there was no way to use any of the phone's functions. Therefore the trade in value of $150 was unattainable.

The outcome we are requesting is simply a refund in either cash or check for the $150.00 lost value of the trade in.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates that the business has not responded to you directly. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

At this time, I have not been contacted by Time Tec regarding complaint ID [redacted].

Regards,