I recently wrote a post about my positive experience with Amex purchase protection when I smashed my brand new Google Pixel 4a 5G within a week of having it (See: Amex purchase protection to the rescue). In short, I bought a brand new phone and smashed the screen a week later. Since I had paid with a credit card that offers purchase protection, I was able to get 100% of my money back (a full refund of the $499.99 purchase price. See that post for details). Once my claim was settled, I wanted to see whether it made more sense to repair or replace the device. In the end, I went with Google store mail-in repair service and I was really impressed. It was far cheaper than I was quoted locally and it arrived back in my hands exactly one week after I dropped it off to ship. I know that Google Fi has been popular with readers over the years (and likely will be again when international travel becomes more common), so I thought some may find it helpful to know how repairs work for Pixel owners. The process was easy.
A local fix was neither easy nor cheap
My first step was contacting some local cell phone repair shops. Regular readers may know that I live in a very rural area, but at the time of my phone’s unfortunate spill, I was actually spending about 5 weeks in a larger area, so I had plenty of nearby phone repair options. That proved not to be helpful. One after another told me that they couldn’t even repair a Google Pixel 4a 5G (likely because the phone had only been released on AT&T a month earlier and it had only been out on T-Mobile for a week). I even tried a couple of national chain places whose websites indicated that they did indeed fix this model only to be told that they didn’t have access to the parts for it.
I finally found one shop that could get the parts sometime in the following week (unclear exactly when) and they quoted me $230 before tax (almost $250 after tax). That felt high.
Google Pixel mail-in screen repair service
I Googled Pixel 4a 5G screen repair and I came across uBreakiFix, which claims that it is the only Google-authorized repair center. As their closest location was about 80 miles away, their site indicated that I’d need to mail the phone in and it would be returned within 1 week. The price was $149.99 plus tax (which includes the shipping cost both ways).
Then I went to the Google Store’s site (you can start the process for a repair via the Google store here) it told me exactly the same thing: I could drive about 80 miles to the nearest authorized repair center or ship the phone in for the same $149.99 plus tax either way. I opted for shipping the phone. Whereas uBreakiFix’s website said the phone would be returned within 1 week, the Google Store’s site quoted a turnaround time of 7-10 business days. I still went with the Google Store figuring that it was probably going to have me ship it to the same authorized repair center and would likely be back within a week. In actuality, Google gave me a label to ship the phone to a repair center in Texas (much further away). If I were in a hurry and needed a repair under similar circumstances again, I might try uBreakiFix as they’d have had me ship the phone to that location ~80 miles away, which feels like it probably would have been a day or two quicker. Instead, Google provided me with a FedEx 3-day label to ship the phone to a repair center in Texas.
The good news is that I shipped out the phone on a Friday and the phone was delivered to Google on Tuesday, just as the Google estimate had suggested. I received an email on Tuesday afternoon at 12:41pm confirming that they had received the phone:
Then I received another email the same day at 2:15pm confirming that they verified that the problem was indeed a cracked screen as I had indicated:
Then I received an email on Thursday at 2:33pm stating that they had encountered a delay in repairing it:
Fortunately, that proved to be somewhat of a false alarm. About 2 hours later, at 4:36pm, I received an email stating that the repair was finished and the phone would be shipped out that same day.
Also fortunate: despite the fact that the last email said it would take 2-3 more days to ship it back to me, they shipped it back to be via FedEx Priority Overnight, so I had it on my doorstep on Friday afternoon.
I was impressed. For the price, that was excellent service. As expected, the phone came back looking brand new and functioning as such. And yes — the phone has been in a case since about 10 minutes after it was returned to me :-).
Some things to know about shipping your phone to the Google Repair Center
A few things about the experience that are worth keeping in mind:
- You need to factory reset your phone to send it in (and if you don’t, they say that they’ll reset it), so be sure to back it up.
- They won’t ship you back anything you send them but the phone. I sent the phone in my original Google Pixel 4a 5G retail box figuring that the box was designed precisely to keep the phone safe in transit. I didn’t expect to get the box back as they made it clear that they’d discard everything but the phone itself, but I note this to confirm that it’s true. They sent the phone back in a thinner box which includes nothing but the phone. I’ll hang onto the thin box in case I want to trade in this phone down the line for the same shipping reasons.
- The quoted turnaround time of 7-10 business days means you could be without your phone for 2 weeks. That’s obviously not terribly convenient if you don’t have a backup phone.
- It’s worth noting that you provide payment information before shipping the phone to Google and they charge you once they determined that the repair will cost what you were quoted or less. If it will cost more, they will obviously reach out about that.
- I used an Ink Cash to pay for the repair and the charge earned 5x
Bottom line
I was very happy with my experience getting a screen repair from the Google Store via their mail-in service. The repair was fast and effective, the price was much cheaper than what I was quoted locally, and communication during the process was excellent. I’d not hesitate to use the service again, though I’d be interested in seeing if uBreakiFix has faster turnaround time. It isn’t quite as nice as strolling in and having your phone fixed in an hour or two, but given the cost savings and “sure bet” of getting it repaired by Google versus a shop with which I wasn’t familiar, it was a positive experience for me. While Greg long-ago retreated to his beloved iPhone, count my on #TeamPixel for the foreseeable future.
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Sooo, you broke the phone and then had someone else pay for it. That’s theft! That’s what today’s morales are like. I’m disgusted.
[…] My experience with a Google store mail-in repair of my Google Pixel 4a 5G […]
Fix the screen for less yourself
I have a two month old Pixel 4a which I dropped yesterday and cracked the screen in the lower left corner….4cracks even though I had purchased a $40 case from Google. I think this phone is incredibly fragile compared to Samsung phones I have owned. Be cautious.
I’ve had the exact opposite experience with Google, I’ve been pro Google since they started their search engine, and if bought every pixel, along with other Google devices. And they have nickel and dime me, over the past couple months to the point where I will not buy another Google product. I might even consider switching to Apple which would be a joke since I really don’t like Apple. But they’re looking a lot better today, thanks to Google, since they’ve obviously deleted their mission statement for a reason, they used to live by do no evil, now they live by do evil!
I had the exact opposite issue. I sent my phone in because it wasn’t charging well (Pixel 3a) and wouldn’t fast-charge anymore (rapid charging, whatever). I would plug it in, and it would take a few seconds to recognize it was plugged in, or I’d have to move the cable a bit and it’d start charging, then it would make the noise to indicate it was charging. Every few minutes I’d hear the sound again, so I knew it wasn’t just charging normally. I sent it in.
I had done some looking online and the standard quote for repair of a faulty charging port was $60. Google says it’s under warranty, so send it in and they’ll fix it for free.
I get an update a few days after they receive it that says there’s been a change to the RMA, so I go check it out. I expected them to say it was gonna cost $60 or so, but I opened it up to find that they said my phone would cost more to repair than to just buy a new one. Their recommendation was that I buy a refurbished Pixel 3a for about $100 MORE than I paid for mine brand new. You read that right. They were wanting to sell me a REFURBISHED one for more than I paid initially, because my phone couldn’t be repaired. I told them to just send it back.
I get my phone back, plug it in (as it was fully discharged), and it is just working. Apparently them just taking the thing apart and putting it back together solved the issue. So why is it that if the thing was fixed they wanted to get me to buy another one? Because they’re scammers. That’s why. I won’t ever buy, or recommend another Google phone, and will vehemently advocate against using their repair services.
Nick get an Iphone lol.
What a great way to start the new year … REAL customer service! Gives m hope for the world, Nick. Thanks for posting this.
I love your story about repairing your Pixel. I have been a Pixel fan since the 2XL came out. I’m somewhat confused because I don’t know if I should upgrade or just keep this because it’s such a great phone. I would only upgrade because I’m concerned about Android OS updates and security updates. I have used uBreakiFix for my wife’s Samsung phone and they do a great job. The one here in the Boise area has two or three great technicians and the turnaround time is very quick and affordable.
A lot better than my experience. Google took almost a month to send me a phone after mind broke. Lost faith in their customer service after that.
I also had a similar problem with my Pixel 4 XL shortly after purchasing it last year. I live in Austin Texas and we have several ubreakifix locations. Turn around time from when I made the appointment was 24 hours, and since I had Google’s extended warranty the repairs were covered.
For warranty work, Google has an option where they send you a replacement phone. When you receive that phone, you ship them your broken phone. So less delay. You DO have to give them a credit card number, to cover the cost of the replacement phone in case you don’t return the broken phone.
I’m curious to know – did you get reimbursed through amex AND have the same damaged phone repaired, effectively getting a 4a 5G for the cost of getting your phone repaired?
We use to call that dishonest. Wondering if his advise also comes with the same lack of integrity
See my comments above.
I’m curious what your advice would be. Would you take the $500, buy a new phone, and throw the old one away? Or would you just ignore the buyer protection/insurance you have/pay for from the credit card and pay for the repair out of pocket? Maybe another option I haven’t considered? I’m genuinely asking.
Yes, exactly. As noted in the previous post, Amex didn’t even ask whether or not it could be repaired. They saw a picture and asked for a receipt. There was no option to enter a claim amount. Purchase protection covers your purchase in case of damage and the phone was obviously damaged so they refunded the purchase price. I definitely didn’t indicate that it was destroyed / unrepairable and I had planned to likely get it fixed. I was somewhat surprised that they didn’t ask for a repair quote, but then again not that surprised since the item wasn’t that expensive (the limit per claim with the Platinum card is $10K) and the spirit of purchase protection coverage was met (bought a new item with the credit card and said item was damaged). The purchase protection terms do not stipulate that you need to seek out a repair nor do they bar you from doing so after a claim is paid.
Interesting. My question was by no means accusatory towards you in any way, I’m just curious. Also surprised to hear that they’re that flexible with their purchase protection when offering 100% reimbursement. I’d be willing to bet they see a fair amount of purchase protection claims fraud.
You probably pay a hefty annual fee for the Platinum card. I can see why they won’t ask for the damaged $500 item.
Honestly ubreakifix is a terrible service. My google back worst than was. Now if I shake my pixel sounds like something is lose inside. The change screen, camera, battery and motherboard ann my only problem was a bad battery. How I know? I run a phone repair store. Why I send it with them? For guarantee. But I DO NOT recommend that place at all.
Let’s hope Amex don’t want their phone back.