WiGoClinic - Cell Phone & Tablet Repair

This cell phone repair clinic has earned the award of, "Most frustrating business i've ever had to deal with"
That's not an easy accomplishment.
I dropped my phone off a month ago(!) to have it repaired from water damage. I appreciate this this is not an easy repair; there's multiple components that can be the culprit, and ultimately, efforts can fail. I'm pragmatic and understand that even the best efforts for repairing small electronics can be fruitless. I've been working in IT for over 15 years, and have performed repair work on my own apple products. (Iphone 5c, macbook pro)
My phone sat for a week before I got my first update. (Had to call the shop to get it) They performed multiple treatments on it, without success. Had to order a new motherboard.
The shop asked for pre-payment of the repair fee, and sent my phone to a motherboard tech. That's where the experience went sour; they spent the next 3 weeks (a week past the long end of the estimate, despite the fact that I asked for updates) with my phone just to return it again as unfixable. I really just spent 75$ for a motherboard tech to return my device, with the same parts (and surface scratches and a sticky mess on the back) and no indication of why it was not fixable. If it was a motherboard repair, and I spent 100$ for the effort, i'd like to believe that i'm entitled to a repair part, at the least. (The service provider gave me a 50$ refund for the work)
Customer service was curt, unresponsive, needed to be contacted constantly for updates, and ultimately attempted to tell me about how hard troubleshooting small electronics is. ("It's not procedural") Other cell phone repair shops can return this kind of effort in a week.
Next time, i'll use iRescue or a more reliable shop. This repair group is an example of needing to drill down deeper than an overall yelp rating and see what they're capable of doing, and I wouldn't use these guys for anything more than a cracked screen or a defective port.

1. They closed the screen top with a hair in the way, so a hair was sticking out of the side. I simply cut it off later that day.
*** WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THE PHONE AFTER THEIR SERVICE***
1. The very next day after the repair, the screen digitizer (touch screen) stopped working for NO reason. I took it back the the next day and they did replace the touchscreen.
2. The glass on the phone cracked within two weeks of ginger operations. The phone was protected with a case, however the screen miraculously cracked for no reason.
*** RESOLUTION ***
Back to square 1, and in the negative $170 dollars.
The first issue of the dead touchscreen, they corrected that... However regarding the cracked screen after only two weeks - they said that it was physical damage and that they couldn't cover that. ESSENTIALLY THEY KEPT 170 DOLLARS AND DIDNT FIX ANYTHING.
SUMMARY / SUGGESTION:
There are various businesses in the area that do cell phone repair. Do not use these folks they are degenerates and their third party screen products are totally junk.

I took my iPhone 4 to their Merrifield, VA, office this morning. The on/off switch had stopped working. They told me this is a common problem. I paid $40 for the repair. Two hours later it was ready and it works fine.

Addendum-- I noticed that my wifi connection was poor. I took the cell back to WiGo and they found that they'd not connected a cable during the earlier repair. They fixed this and now it seems fine.

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They were professional when receiving my device, and gave me a realistic and accurate estimate of when the work would be completed (two hours). The work seemed to be top quality and the person doing the repairs took time to explain what was done. I was quite pleased by the overall experience, though when I first visited the Chantilly store I was disappointed when they couldn't do the work for this particular job there and said it would take several days for them to send it away. I greatly appreciated their honesty, though, when they explained that specialized soldering was required that they could not do there, and that the work could be done at the Fairfax location (where they would send it).

After I received the call the part had arrived, I went into the shop to get the repair completed. The tech couldn't find the part so then told me he didn't think any of this happened. He said I never received the phone call and that I never ordered the part. I asked him if I heard him right. Did he just tell me I was lying and he said YES. I couldn't believe it. This company says friendly service?! I am appalled at how i was treated. He was extremely rude. I would never use this company or recommend them.

Seen the ad online for fixing cracked screens. I called them up and dropped it off at the Chantilly location. They took all the information and made sure everything was working on the phone. I was quoted $99.99 to replace the screen on the phone. They said it would be ready in 2 hours and it was ready when I returned. Everything worked and looked good. I would not hesitate to take something else there to get worked on.

I had cracked the glass screen on my mini iPad, so took it to Wigoclinic on a friend's recommendation. I was a bit hesitant as I noticed their last two reviews on here were both quite negative. However their Arlington store was convenient foe me and I decided to take a chance.
As others have noted the place seemed professional and not sketchy like many other shops. The receptionist was friendly and said I could pick it up in several hours if I wanted. I said I wasn't in a hurry and the next day would be fine. The following day the manager (Scott) called me and said there would be a delay of several more days. In the process of replacing the screen the tech had somehow broken the cellular antenna, and Scott said it would take a few days to order another one.
I told him I was going out of town later that day and needed some data on the iPAd, so would come by and pick it up and upon my return let them replace the antenna. I had to wait over 90 minutes at the shop until the iPad was returned to me, which I thought odd as Scott had led me to believe it was ready to be picked up as soon as I got to the shop.
When I got it back home I noticed that the WiFi did not work either, the button seemed to be misaligned as I could hardly depress it, and I could not insert the cable to charge it as the opening was also misaligned. I had bought the iPad in with only the problem of a cracked screen, that they fixed but in the process broke four other things - the WiFi and cellular antenna, the button and connector for charging.
To his credit Scott did take responsibility and said he wanted to make things right. However by then I had lost faith in them as they had basically turned a simple repair into a completely botched job. I don't know if this is typical of their work or someone just had a very bad day, but I took the iPad elsewhere to repair the damage they did to it. If I had known they would fix one problem and in the process create four new issues I never would have paid the $150 repair fee up front. I would suggest that anyone taking things in to them not pay in advance for repairs, but only when the job is finished and there are no complications.

I went to the ARLINGTON location of the Wigo Clinic on Wilson Boulevard. Professional staff, good level of communication, and a successful repair. Scott fixed my two-year old mobile phone in two days, and he called two or three times in two days so that he could update me on the repair.

I accidentally broke one of the small pins in the recharging port of my Blackberry so it could not be recharged. Even though the problem was apparent and was pointed out to them I paid a non-refundable fee of $19.99 for and quot;diagnosticsand quot;. The fee could then be and quot;...applied toward to the final repair cost only if you choose to have it repaired the same day that the diagnostic test is performed'and quot;
I took the phone to Wigo on Friday, July 19 and was told that it would take a couple of days to do the diagnostics. Four days later I called and was told that it would be done by the end of the week at the latest. At the end of the week I was in the area and stopped in to see if there had been any progress. No, but I was assured that it would be done by Monday or at the latest, Tuesday.
Today, Tuesday, July 30 I went to Wigo to get my phone, fixed or not. I was told it would be another couple of days to do the diagnostics, so I did the only reasonable thing, I took my phone so I can take it to a competent repair shop.
I consider myself lucky. The customer in front of me had taken his device to Wigo on July 11, paid a higher fee for and quot;diagnosticsand quot;, and today was told and quot;It will be a couple more daysand quot;. He took the bait and left his phone there!

This was a disaster from the start. I took my daughter's phone in on May 4 after calling ahead to make sure they could repair the issue (broken prongs inside the charging port). I was assured they could do the repair and that it would only take a few days. When I got to the location I explained again what was wrong (no diagnostics required, the issue was obvious) and they told me the repair would be about $50 ($29.99 for a non-refundable and quot;standard labor service feeand quot; and $19.99 for the new charge port) and would take less than a week to fix as they would be able to do it at the location. They didn't know exactly how long it would take but I was told they would call me. I hadn't heard anything from them as of May 9 so I called to get a status on when the iPod would be ready. I was then told that they were not able to fix it in house as promised and instead would need to send it out to be repaired. They said the charge for this was $100. I told the person I spoke to that I'd already paid $50 and that I wasn't going to pay an additional $100 when I only paid $165 for the device brand new. I was put on hold and the person came back and said they would refund the $50 if I allowed them to send it out for $100. If I didn't want them to send it out I would be refunded the $19.99 for the part but not the $29.99 service fee. I was not happy, in my opinion they should have known off the bat that the issue was one that could not be done in house, there were no surprises in what was wrong. Apparently the part had to be soldered to the motherboard and that was not something they were able to do. So at this point I asked how long it would take and was told 2 weeks or so. I said fine and allowed them to send it out, refund the $50 and recharge me $100. After 2 weeks I called them to see if the iPod was ready, I was told no, probably another week. Fast forward to July 17. I called at least once every two weeks between May 9 and July 17 (they NEVER called me with a status), each time being told that the device should be returned to them within a week. I was getting increasingly agitated because the weeks were turning into months and no one could give me a straight answer on when the iPod would be fixed. So on July 17 I called and spoke to the manager at this location, I think his name is Brian but I'm not sure. They still did not have the iPod back and I told him that after 10+ weeks of having my iPod I either wanted it back immediately (fixed) or part of my repair charge refunded. He advised he couldn't do anything and advised that I call Paul, the head manager of all the WiGoClinics, at the Fairfax location. I did call Paul and he was supremely unhelpful. He told me that I should have been told at the beginning that send out repairs take 4-6 weeks, not 2. I pointed out that we were at week 10 with no status on the return. I explained I had been very patient but I was at my limit. He said he was sorry for the inconvenience and I told him at that point I should have a portion of my repair charge refunded. He said he couldn't do that. He wouldn't elaborate or say more than that and I said that was unacceptable. Again he said sorry and I pointed out that if he were not the manager of store he would think the delays and lack of communication were ridiculous. He was silent and said he couldn't do anything. I told him if that was the case I would be sharing my experience with their business on Angie's List and Yelp and he said to go ahead. The customer service all around has been horrible. I was going to give them one more week and if I didn't have the iPod back I would file a dispute with my credit card because I wasn't sure I was ever going to get it back. I finally got a call on July 20th that it was fixed. I went right away to pick it up and the person working there was not exactly friendly (though I may have been hypersensitive at that point). I saw on the invoice that once you leave the store if something is wrong with your repair they are not responsible. I asked if they had a charging plug I could use to test the iPod and he acted annoyed but did produce one (and it worked). The final annoyance was that they had written my first initial and last name across the back in permanent marker. I understand they wanted to make sure they knew whose device belonged to which customer but there has to be a better way than to permanently mark it. It's not even my device and my daughter asked why my name was written on it. This has been one of the worst customer service experiences in a long time and I will never go back.

I brought in a broken iphone 4 with a broken power button. Verizon and Wigo both noted the water indicator was red meaning their was water damage. I was told service would take an hour. When I returned 1.5 hrs later it was not ready and was told they needed another hour as they were having trouble with the button. I left and called right before closing (2hours later) as I had heard no updates. The tech assured me it would be ready the next morning as there was some water damage he thought they could fix. Tried to pickup at noon the next day and was told that it was not ready and that they needed to try to remove corrosion and it would be ready 3 days later. I left on vacation so called 4 days later and was told it could not be fixed.
My biggest complaint was with the complete lack of communication. I realize cell phones break but I was never once called by WIGO to receive an update on my phone. I had to follow up many times to get any information after being told I would be contacted.

My experience with WiGoClinic - Cell Phone Repair went okay. It was nothing remarkable. It was pretty mediocre. There were several delays. The work was not done when it was scheduled to be done. It was done three days after it was supposed to be done. They kept saying it was an issue with parts. Their customer interaction leaves much to be desired. I'm a technician by professor and they talked to me in a very condescending manner.

I actually went to the Arlington location. I called in to make sure they had the part and when I got there they remembered me calling in. Very friendly and knowledgeable staff. They completed the repair on my ipad ahead of time and were great to work with.

I walked into the store, it was well-kept and clean. The and quot;waiting areaand quot; is one small couch, be warned, but there's lots of restaurants and stores within walking distance. The staff was professional and courteous, took my information, said it might be over an hour to repair. I left, returned an hour later, it was ready about 15 minutes later. The iPod was fully functional, they even replaced the screen protector. Nice guys, completely satisfied with their performance.

The technician was very thorough, investigating to see if a less expensive repair would fix the problem. We have also used WigoClinic to replace a cracked screen on another iPod. Great service each time and reasonable prices. Most services take longer than the advertised 1 hour - call first to see if parts are in stock.

My 2005 ATand T Nokia phone had dropped off my belt loop and was run over by car. Top half of case was damaged, and screen was shattered. Saw highly-rated WIGO in Angie's List, so dropped the phone off at WIGO in Merrifield on Saturday. I asked to have memory recovered and transferred to a spare ATand T Samsung phone. Repair required temporary replacement of broken parts in order to make memory transfer. Tech called on Monday and advised they had to find parts for the old phone, so it would be a couple more days. Called again on Wed and advised that he had fully repaired old Nokia and accomplished memory transfer.

Repair of old Nokia was a very pleasant surprise, since I assumed it was a goner. All this was done for a very low fee of about $37 - REAL bargain! I am a VERY happy camper and will certainly recommend WIGO for any cell phone or tablet computer repair. This is a top quality organization!!

Agent indicated past experience servicing iPhones. He explained possible repair scenarios and approximate cost, as well as up-front $20 evaluation fee applilcable against any labor charges for repair. I left phone early afternoon. He said they had a backlog but that they may call before the end of the day. Agent called the next day early afternoon. He explained that it did require a new LCD screen, quoted the cost, and asked for approval. Upon approval given, he said it would be ready within the half hour. I picked it up later that day.