'My Face ID worked before you replaced the screen'
A customer collects their phone after a screen replacement. That evening they email: the proximity sensor is not working, calls turn the screen off, or the face unlock has stopped. They say it worked before. It might have. It might have been damaged in the same drop that cracked the screen. Nobody tested it at check-in, because the screen was too cracked to use properly, and nobody wrote down that it could not be tested.
Some faults do come from repairs. A fragile flex cable, a sensor that needs to be moved from the old screen to the new one. Without a record of what worked before and after, neither side can tell which case this is.
Testing happens, but is not recorded
Good technicians test devices after a repair. They check the touch, the cameras, the speakers, the buttons. But the test is from memory, varies by technician, and is not recorded. At check-in, testing is often skipped because the customer is waiting and the device is damaged.
- Pre-repair tests are skipped or partial.
- Features that cannot be tested at check-in are not noted as untested.
- Post-repair tests vary between technicians.
- Results are not attached to the ticket.
- Customers are not shown the results at collection.
Why unrecorded tests lead to disputes
A dispute about a feature is harder to settle than a cosmetic one, because you cannot see a working sensor in a photo. Without a record, you either absorb the cost of fixing something you may not have caused, or argue with a customer who is sure of what they remember. Both hurt.
Technicians feel the pressure too. Without a record, the one who did the repair is left wondering whether they caused the fault, and may spend time chasing a problem that was there all along.
Some manufacturers also pair certain parts to the device, and a replaced part may show a message in the phone's settings or lose a feature. Customers should know about that before the repair, and a recorded test shows exactly what was working and what changed.
Recorded function tests at both ends of the repair
We build function test checklists that run on a bench tablet and attach to your repair tickets.
- Each device type has its own checklist: touch across the screen, display, front and rear cameras, flash, earpiece, loudspeaker, microphones, buttons, biometrics, proximity sensor, charging, wireless and cellular connection.
- At check-in, each item is marked as working, not working or could not be tested. 'Could not be tested' is a recorded result, not a blank.
- The customer sees the check-in results and any known effects of the repair, such as part pairing messages, and confirms.
- Before collection, the technician runs the same checklist and records the results.
- Any difference between the two is flagged, so it is dealt with before the customer arrives.
- At collection, the customer sees both sets of results, and a copy goes with their receipt.
| Feature | At check-in | Before collection |
|---|---|---|
| Touch | Could not be tested, screen shattered | Working |
| Face unlock | Working | Working |
| Proximity sensor | Not working | Not working, customer informed |
| Rear camera | Working | Working |
Collections without surprises
The customer knows before they leave what works, what did not work before and what the repair could not change. Faults found at the final test are fixed before collection instead of after a complaint. Technicians test the same way every time, and new technicians follow the same list from day one.
When a customer does come back, you have both sets of results on the ticket, which turns a disagreement into a shared look at the facts.
Do function disputes happen after your repairs?
- Customers say a feature worked before the repair.
- Pre-repair tests are skipped when the device is badly damaged.
- Each technician tests differently.
- Test results are not recorded on the ticket.
- Customers are not told about part pairing effects before the repair.