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The Cost of Glass Replacement.


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Old 10-11-2015, 10:15
The Sack
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How on earth do manufacturers get away with charging so much to replace the glass on a phone?

My wife's Alcatel Onetouch Idol 3 (in a case) slid off a chair arm and fell 20 inches on to laminate flooring and the glass (Dragontail) shattered like an egg (the LCD is fine).

Fair enough accidents happen and it wasn't a manufacturing fault but when they are quoting "around" £90 for it mending you might as well just buy a new phone and have a change.

Had it been £40 i would have heaped praise on Alcatel but just like everyone else they take the piss.
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Old 10-11-2015, 10:23
oilman
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How on earth do manufacturers get away with charging so much to replace the glass on a phone?

My wife's Alcatel Onetouch Idol 3 (in a case) slid off a chair arm and fell 20 inches on to laminate flooring and the glass (Dragontail) shattered like an egg (the LCD is fine).

Fair enough accidents happen and it wasn't a manufacturing fault but when they are quoting "around" £90 for it mending you might as well just buy a new phone and have a change.

Had it been £40 i would have heaped praise on Alcatel but just like everyone else they take the piss.

An independent high street repairer may do it cheaper but even then £50 looks to be a typical price. Just a nice 'earner'.
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Old 10-11-2015, 13:12
The Sack
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Thing is if it was £40 or £50 i think most people would be more than happy with that.
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Old 10-11-2015, 14:18
Mark in Essex
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I looked into replacing the glass on my old HTC phone a few years and even ordered one (with the digitizer built in) for around £10 total.

There was a lot of labour involved with some specialist tools (heat plate) to get the glass/digitizer off the LCD.

I did not bother in the end even though I'm an engineer.
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Old 10-11-2015, 14:38
The Sack
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The glass and digitizer for the Alcatel Idol 3 can be bought for £17, after watching videos i dont fancy taking it on though.

Not to worry a new Moto G has just arrived for the missus, Alcatel can piss off.
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Old 10-11-2015, 15:54
david16
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3000 RPM in Dundee often do iPhone glass screen replacements for £35
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Old 10-11-2015, 18:10
Mark in Essex
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3000 RPM in Dundee often do iPhone glass screen replacements for £35
I've heard of places in the town where I live that do iPhone screens for a littlw more (I think it was £40/£45 which is not too bad).
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Old 10-11-2015, 18:18
Thine Wonk
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It's hard to do properly that's why, the glass and digitizer might only cost £20 to £30 but it's glued, so you have to spend about 1/2 hour heating and gently prying the glass with a plastic tool trying not to damage the case and then there's usually quite a bit of work getting it replaced.

You're looking at 1/2 hour labour, £20-£30 for the parts, then all the postage, effort and risk of them doing damage to any of the flat flex, case etc and then they need to make a profit out if it as well.

It isn't just glass and it doesn't just unscrew or clip off and clip a new one on, that's why.
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Old 10-11-2015, 21:55
Gigabit
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Replacing the glass without replacing the digitiser as well is very difficult. You'll find that even a trained store member of staff won't get it 100% perfect.

These components are designed to be one hence why Apple would only ever replace the entire display assembly as opposed to just the glass.
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Old 10-11-2015, 23:20
alan1302
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An independent high street repairer may do it cheaper but even then £50 looks to be a typical price. Just a nice 'earner'.
After all the costs involved I doubt it is much of an 'earner'
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Old 11-11-2015, 10:59
Mark in Essex
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Here is a video of replacing the glass on an iPhone and what's involved for anybody interested (this is why I did not do my HTC one as it was the same sort of job):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gevCihZxFQ

Or you can do it without all the specialized tools above (with a heat gun) here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re5Df4SvjMs
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