Last week, I dropped my iPhone on the floor of Don Quijote restaurant and was shocked when its screen cracked. It could have fallen against the steel legs of the table. I can’t be sure. The annoying thing was I had a tempered glass on and it didn’t help at all.
This was a first time for me. I had never ever had a phone crack before, despite throwing one and having it break a cookie jar, or having one fall off my double bunk bed and having the parts fly all over the room, only to be put together, good as new.
True, those were Nokia phones and you know how strong they are, but my iPhone 3gs and 4s also never broke even though I dropped them several times too.
Damn it, iPhone 6.
I called Singtel to ask if this was covered by warranty, to which they said no.
So the next step was to search for repair shops, or to be more specific, to search for the cheapest reliable repair shop of them all.
The first one I found was in Sim Lim Square, which is the shadiest shopping destination in Singapore. It’s notorious for scammers, the most recent incident of which involved a Vietnamese tourist who was scammed out of so much money that he knelt and cried while the shop owner just laughed at him.
Still, I called to ask for a quote to replace a screen and they said it would cost S$230. That’s ironically around the same amount I paid for the phone itself when I got it a few months ago. Ugh.
I found another shop named Break Fix Now, this time located in Bugis, and texted to ask the same thing, and was told it would cost S$180. Well that’s cheaper, not to mention a lot less shadier, so I decided to go there.
I dropped (not literally) my phone at their shop and was asked to pick it up after an hour. So I went shopping at the stalls all around the area and got shocked at how quickly the time flew by, and then when I went back to pick up my phone, it was good as new, like nothing had changed.
Well nothing except that I was S$180 poorer.
One hundred eighty dollars.Â
Do you know what else I could have bought with that amount?
18 Things You Can Buy with the Price of an iPhone Screen
1) A pair of real gold earrings with teeny tiny real diamonds
2) A Longchamp bag (if bought at the airport) or 10 Korean bags from a Bugis stall
3) 3 pairs of sandals from Pretty Fit
4) 18 cab rides to work
5) 1 night’s stay in a hotel (using Groupon)
6) 13 movie tickets
7) 30 cups of Starbucks coffee
8) 45 food court lunches
9) A ticket to a concert or play or event like Cavalia with great seats up front, or a couple of tickets for crappy ones at the back
10) Round trip airfare seat sale tickets to the Philippines
11) 4 dresses from Forever 21 or a long gown from New Look
12) Buffet dinner for 3 at a high quality restaurant or hotel
13) A discounted Seiko or Fossil watch
14) A refurbished iphone 4s or some other “old” smartphone
15) A month’s gym membership fee at Fitness First
16) 140 songs on Itunes
17) 6 tubes of Mac lipstick or bottles of Bourjois foundation
18) 50 shares of BDO stock from the Philippine stock exchange
But you know what they say… It’s no use crying over spilled phones.
What do you mean that’s not the saying?
UPDATE: Apparently I got it cheap. A friend told me that if you use Singtel’s Apple warranty, you get charged around  S$548. Now imagine what you can buy with that!
Break Fix Now
Bugis Street – 62 Queen Street, Little Red Dot Building #ABFL 19 (GROUND FLOOR)
Singapore 188541
Operating Hours: 11am – 10pm daily
Tel: 6337 2739 / SMS 9729 2739 (Jason)
O Dee I that list is all things I wish I had spare money to buy as well!
haha.. that's hilarious.<br />i have broken.. scratch that.. my kids have broken my screen twice. thank god we have a friend who fixes the screen for us.
Oh noooo!
You're so lucky! I need to find a friend like yours!
Bad experience ! BreakFixNow does not honor warranty. Be careful of what they had promised ! They are good with customer service but bad when you want to claim warranty during the 3 months warranty period. Sad to say that……not going back anymore.
Agree.. Promised can fix my phone due to charging IC spoiled. Yet end up I got another new problem that my phone can’t connect inyernet. Then become abeng attitude when I’m doubt on the new problem found. Even before me another customer want to claim the phone screen warranty they also refused to and give many excuse and the warranty still within 3months
The Jason even said such words don’t want to do my business and with ah Beng attitude. Really frustrating on con type of business
Indeed their AhBeng attitude is really terrible. They hire cheap China labour to do the repairs while they shake leg & act like hooligans towards customers who bring their items back during the warranty period. Their charges are on the high side too. I’ll never patronise them again. Very disappointed.
Hi,
Cracked my screen too and considering bringing it BFN. I’m curious to know how your replacement screen is holding up after over a year. Thanks!
Wow, great post! A third party repair shop is the best way to go for phone repairs. Thanks for sharing!
haha.. that's hilarious.<br />i have broken.. scratch that.. my kids have broken my screen twice. thank god we have a friend who fixes the screen for us.
Bad experience ! BreakFixNow does not honor warranty. Be careful of what they had promised ! They are good with customer service but bad when you want to claim warranty during the 3 months warranty period. Sad to say that……not going back anymore.
Agree.. Promised can fix my phone due to charging IC spoiled. Yet end up I got another new problem that my phone can’t connect inyernet. Then become abeng attitude when I’m doubt on the new problem found. Even before me another customer want to claim the phone screen warranty they also refused to and give many excuse and the warranty still within 3months
The Jason even said such words don’t want to do my business and with ah Beng attitude. Really frustrating on con type of business
Indeed their AhBeng attitude is really terrible. They hire cheap China labour to do the repairs while they shake leg & act like hooligans towards customers who bring their items back during the warranty period. Their charges are on the high side too. I’ll never patronise them again. Very disappointed.
Hi,
Cracked my screen too and considering bringing it BFN. I’m curious to know how your replacement screen is holding up after over a year. Thanks!
Oh noooo!
You're so lucky! I need to find a friend like yours!
Wow, great post! A third party repair shop is the best way to go for phone repairs. Thanks for sharing!
O Dee I that list is all things I wish I had spare money to buy as well!