Angelica Davis lives.... not too far from me, a county away in Kelseyville California (95451). She called to discuss repairing her two iPad2 models with smashed tops.
One was Black and the other White. As we discussed them on the phone she kept commenting that there was a problem with the White one. She described it as problem with what I understood to be the headphone jack. The common problems with headphone jacks comes in three forms.
1) the tip from the earbud's plug separates and stays in the jack
2) someone has pushed something other than an earbud plug into it and it's caught in there, (think rice post liquid immersion or tiny child 'toys')
3) while to remove a tip, rice grain or toy improperly and damaged one of the 5 interior electrical contact points so there is faulty hearing.
Though Angelica was going to bring them down from Lake County within a day or so, I didn't hear from her for another 3 weeks. The I got this email,
"Hi Frank, I talked to you on the phone a couple of weeks back, was hoping to be able to drop off my son's Ipads, but still haven't made it. So I would like to mail them to you. Any special instructions or advice on packing/mailing. Thanks again. So excited to get them repaired (hopefully in time for Christmas)
Thanks in Advance,
Angelica"
I had her send them down. They got here on the Thursday before Christmas and I was finally able to see what she was talking about. The final drop of the White one had landed with the iPad on edge as though it hit the side of a shovel caving in the area where the volume controls are.
The hit pushed the side in so deeply, the volume up/down rocker switches wouldn't work.
My father is a noted metal sculptor and I've been raised with a background in metal work. A dent is known as metal deformation, and a bend in metal is called "taking a set". The question then became knowing what I do, was there any way I could get the backplate into shape again, that I could somehow get the volume switches to work again?
Using some metal working tools, I was able to bring the backplate back into proper shape. Once that was done, I found the volume control buttons had "travel" (movement in and out) again. Now I merely needed to replace the upper glass/digitizer ("screen").
Once she heard I had them both working and repaired, I got this message.
"Frank,
Thank you for your time and talent, great news, I was worried there for a minute with the white iPad..... So do you think I may receive them in time for Christmas? If not its okay, my boys already now what they are getting, I was teasing them telling them that if they do get here, I was planning on wrapping them anyways :) I am sure they look great, thanks again. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
Angelica"
One of the more important things I do in repairing devices is "manage people's expectations". I try not to promise "too much" or "too soon". I don't want client expectations exceed my ability to deliver. Since i had no idea how taxed the Post Office was 3 days before Christmas, I sent back this reply.
"If they had gotten here.... when originally discussed, no problem. At this moment... they will have them sometime next week.
Thanks, same for you and your family."
I'm sure they arrived at her house the day before Christmas and everything went as she had hoped.
These are shots of her iPads before and after. Each repair was $108 which she covered using PayPal. I paid for shipping back, so the $108 covered parts/labor/return shipping back.
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