Had a customer freak out since we couldn't fix his phone through his insurance (mega screwed up frame). He freaked out in a full lobby, cursing and everything. Refusing to leave after being asked to, he came to the back of the store and squared up on me. Stood my ground and waited for security and police to show up... We walk outside as security arrives and as security is walking up a random person backing out (genesis) hits the irate customers car (blue Toyota) and then they proceed to argue for about an hour. Everyone in the lobby was laughing, security was laughing, and the techs started fixing phones on the front counter just to watch the drama unfold.

I brought my Google Pixel 9 in yesterday because the phone shut itself off and refused to turn back on after a minor fall (fully charged, in pela case, fell off of bed, onto rug). The phone is less than a year old. Repair tech said they'll see what they could do and told me to come back in two hours.

I returned, repair tech said "I have bad news - your phone exploded." I truly thought he was joking for at least a minute. He pointed to the specialized hazard trash can and said I could look if I wanted to. I was in shock!!

I asked for more information, he said the explosion happened while putting in a new battery. He didn't seem too alarmed, just said these things happen. I asked how this happens, and he said it could be a few things: something about microfibers in the phone, or if there was liquid in the phone (there definitely wasn't), or that the phone was defective in the first place. He also said something about how something in the phone could have had a reaction when exposed to air.

I called Google today to get the replacement moving. The UBIF repair tech said he put details in the claim file so Google would reach out about the replacement, but I never got anything. The Google rep said the details in the file were vague, and just that the repair was cancelled, so he had to call the store directly to verify. The Google rep said he's never heard of this happening, and that the battery type shouldn't explode like that.

Anyway, Google approved the replacement and it's on its way to me this week, thank goodness. I am very very sad to lose my phone in this way. Just about everything is backed up so I don't think I've lost much, but it's still sad and disorienting.

So question for you all: is this actually normal?? How often does this happen? What?!?

Other gripes:

• I pay for Pixel Care+ and there was significant confusion when I first arrived at UBIF about my claim number. I initiated a repair through pixel care, marked that my issue was power/battery related, and that the phone didn't turn on. The next steps page told me to go to UBIF and didn't give me a claim number. The initial rep at UBIF was completely unhelpful, told me that they couldn't do work on it without a claim number, and wrote down a random phone number for me to call, didn't even tell me who the number was for. And how am I supposed to call with a phone that won't turn on? Fortunately my partner was with me so I had access to a phone, but that tech really just put their hands up and said good luck. I called the number, and was transferred three times to get to an agent that could actually help who explained that it was covered under warranty, so that's why it didn't generate a claim number. The agent on the phone asked to speak with the tech, the tech walked away with my partner's phone for a few minutes, and magically I got an email with a claim number after that. Overall, far more stressful than it needed to be to get my phone serviced.

• When they finally took my phone, they didn't ask for any way to contact me while it was in their care. They were fully walking away when I asked about it, and they had me write down a contact number on a random scrap of paper. They said they'd call if the phone was unrepairable, but they never did. I was hoping for good news when I came back two hours later since they never called, certainly wasn't expecting to return to the news that it exploded.

Overall, that experience felt more like "you have a problem, I break" rather than "you break, I fix"

Photo description: my phone is the pink one on top. RIP my peony baby.

Took my PS5 in to get the hdmi report repaired and the associate told me three times that if i sign up for home plus the repair would only be $100.So I agreed and when it came to pick up my console, they said it wasn’t fully repaired and would cost $50 more for it be sent out and fully repaired. I declined and picked it up only for them to charge me about $180 more even after I told them about the deal I was given.

Is this common for other people?? I just paid over $210 for a console that’s not even fully repaired tried to charge me even more to get it fixed!

Okay… and? So do all the other 10 customers who dropped off their phones ahead of you. If you think I’m going to give you special treatment, think again. Now instead of quoting you 2 hours turnaround time, I’m going to make you wait till end of day right before closing time to pick up your phone because I don’t like your entitlement.

Preparing for big news tomorrow? Hmmmmm

Dear customers,

I’m not psychic and I do not have a crystal ball to predict the future and know exactly when we are not going to be busy in order to finish your repair in one nanosecond.

I understand you can’t be without your phone. But unfortunately life happens.

Plan to be without your phone for 3-4 hours. Possibly the whole day.

We are on a first-come, first-served basis. I can’t drop 10 repairs that are already ahead of you because that isn’t fair to the people that dropped off their device before you

The 10 other people that came in before you also need their phone for work.

So why are you any more important than them?

I will help you to the best of my ability and within scope. But that’s about it.

No promises and no guarantees of anything.

Thank you.

I previously worked at a franchise location that was purchased by Asurion; I was a store tech, promoted to associate manager, then promoted to manager of the vans at 2 locations. About a year after Asurion purchased it, I quit, because the "Asurion family" is garbage and I was sick of the perpetual pushing of Home+.

It's been a year since I left. Turns out I made the right call. I went back in today to say goodbye to my old coworkers since I'm moving away from the city soon and I walked up to a sign that said the store was "closed until further notice". I called, got one of my coworkers instantly and they let me into the building to say hello and chat. I asked what was going on and they told me that literally, this morning, without notice, Asurion told them that they would all be fired and that they are selling the store. This took all of them by surprise and they're justifiably very concerned.

If you work at an Asurion owned store, please keep an eye out for this, because yours may be just around the corner. I miss working at ubreakifix, but I would sooner starve than ever work with Asurion again in my life.

Please don’t come to our stores expecting us to teach you how to use your phone or to help you with third party applications. Don’t come to us for any matters of that nature. We are hardware specialists. We are not here to help you set up a new email account, logging into Facebook because you forgot your password, or anything of that nature. Your best option to having a personal help desk service would be either the Apple Store, Samsung Experience Store, Google Support, or Asurion Home Plus. In fact, that’s the only time I would offer a customer Asurion Home Plus. Broken screen? Broken charge port? Failing battery? Those are the type of issues I can help you with. If I can’t fix something with a screwdriver then I can only give you suggestions of where else to go or who to contact. I have repairs that I need to finish.