# Kindle Repairs?



## Guest (Feb 7, 2011)

Does anyone know a vendor that repairs Kindles?  The joystick on my Kindle stopped responding.  It's outside of the warranty (I bought in Aug. 2009).  I called Amazon assuming they had some sort of service to repair them even if I had to pay for the repair.  The only "service" they offer is to replace my Kindle with a refurb...for $189.  Granted, I have a DX but seriously, I can buy a NEW Kindle for $189 why would I want a refurb?  I just want the joystick fixed.  Everything else works fine on it.


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## pidgeon92 (Oct 27, 2008)

I think you're hosed. They're just not made to be taken apart and put back together, a lot of it is glued in place.

I assume you've tried to restart it to make sure it's not a software problem?


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## Guest (Feb 7, 2011)

Yes.  Turned it off and on.  Everything else works fine.  It's just the joystick.  It will go up and down, but when I go to select an item it won't do anything or it scrolls up.    

I'm hugely pissed off.  I spent $400 on a DX in 2009.  While I didn't expect them to replace it for free, I DID expect some sort of repair service to be in place even if I had to pay to get it fixed.  I was expecting them to say something like "OK, for $79.99 plus shipping" they would replace the joystick.  And I would have been fine with that.  But to essentially tell me, t"oo bad, so sad, buy a new one" makes me mad.


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## vermontcathy (Feb 18, 2009)

A LOT of electronics and housewares these days can not be repaired, or would cost more to repair them than to replace them. If your DVD player or blender breaks, there is a good chance that a repair would cost more than a new one. It's sad, but it's not exclusive to kindles. Plus, if your DVD player breaks, the manufacturer is NOT going to repair it - you have to find your own repair shop. So it's not like Amazon is doing anything unusual.

What they ARE doing that is unusual is they are offering you a $130 discount on a refurb. Most companies (again, such as your DVD player manufacturer) isn't going to offer you anything if it breaks outside of warranty.

You say "I can buy a NEW Kindle for $189 why would I want a refurb?". Obviously, the new one is a small K3, the refurb is the DX. If you'd really be happy with the smaller one, ask Amazon for a discount off of a K3. BTW, refurbs usually look brand new.


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

Found this by Googling Kindle repairs: http://www.psr1.com/kindle-repair.html


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## Elk (Oct 4, 2010)

Very frustrating event.

Amazon's offer of a roughly half-price replacement you will not be able to tell from new is extremely generous however.  Jump on it.


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## Guest (Feb 7, 2011)

vermontcathy said:


> A LOT of electronics and housewares these days can not be repaired, or would cost more to repair them than to replace them. If your DVD player or blender breaks, there is a good chance that a repair would cost more than a new one. It's sad, but it's not exclusive to kindles. Plus, if your DVD player breaks, the manufacturer is NOT going to repair it - you have to find your own repair shop. So it's not like Amazon is doing anything unusual.


If I buy a DVD player for *$400 * from Best Buy and it stops working after 16 months, I can take it back to Best Buy and they will fix it. They'll charge me if I didn't buy the extended warranty, but they will fix it for less than it would cost me to buy a new one. When Mike's XBox went on the fritz outside of the warranty, he took it to the place he bought it and they did the repair for him for a fee that was much less than buying a replacement. If we were talking about a $20 blender, I'd toss it out and buy a new one. But this isn't a $20 blender. It's a $400 device with a minor problem that should by all accounts be a simple repair. The device is not completely fried! It's a joystick. It needs to be replaced. Throwing it out and getting a new one would be like breaking the remote control on the TV and instead of just replacing the remoting deciding to buy a whole new TV.


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## splashes99 (Aug 11, 2010)

Your comparison to the cost of a K3 isn't equitable.  The regular K3 full price is $189.  A regular DX is like $400...consider it a $189 fix.  They are not charging you the whole $400 for you to buy a brand new one.


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## Guest (Feb 7, 2011)

intinst said:


> Found this by Googling Kindle repairs: http://www.psr1.com/kindle-repair.html


Thanks. I was hoping someone maybe had a service they had used they could recommend. I hate flying blind.


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## vermontcathy (Feb 18, 2009)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> If I buy a DVD player for *$400 * from Best Buy and it stops working after 16 months, I can take it back to Best Buy and they will fix it. ...


Yes, this is my point. The MANUFACTURER of the DVD player isn't going to deal with repairs. If an independent company chooses to go into business fixing things, fine. But wouldn't blame the manufacturer for not offering repair service.

BTW, you THINK Best Buy will fix your DVD player for less than a new one - you don't know until you try it. Most of the DVD players at Bestbuy.com are less than $100.

And, I want to be clear that I WISH more things could be repaired. It's such a waste. All I'm saying is that most manufacturer's don't offer repair service.


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## Guest (Feb 7, 2011)

vermontcathy said:


> Yes, this is my point. The MANUFACTURER of the DVD player isn't going to deal with repairs. If an independent company chooses to go into business fixing things, fine. But wouldn't blame the manufacturer for not offering repair service.
> 
> BTW, you THINK Best Buy will fix your DVD player for less than a new one - you don't know until you try it. Most of the DVD players at Bestbuy.com are less than $100.


Amazon is both the retailer and the manufacturer. When I call Amazon.com, I expect them to act like the retailer. I'm not calling their manufacturing facilities. And in those cases where I have called the manufacturer of an item, they were at least able to direct me to authorized repair centers for their items. Amazon doesn't even have that option (which again, I WOULD HAVE BEEN OK WITH). If they had said "we don't do the repairs, but here is a list of authorized repair services" that would have been fine with me, too.

And actually I take things to Best Buy all the time with printer and computer stuff and they have pretty reasonable repair costs. Alas, they don't work on Kindles (I already asked).


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## Shetlander (Mar 10, 2009)

I wonder how it works with other ereaders.  Can they be repaired or are they replaced like the Kindle.  Personally, I'm happy with a replacement.  I'm just slightly curious.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I'm sorry your Kindle broke. 

But I have to agree that the offer of a refurbished DX for $189 is a generous one and more than Amazon is obligated to do as it's out of warranty.  I'd jump on it for sure.


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## Guest (Feb 8, 2011)

I don't understand why you are bashing Amazon. They made you a more than generous offer on a refurbed DX.  You're not understanding that Kindles aren't repairable. The cost to do makes it impractical. I think you got great customer service from Amazon. Most companies would laugh at you if you demanded repairs or replacement of a nearly 2 year old, out of warranty device.


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## Guest (Feb 8, 2011)

NYCKindleFan said:


> I don't understand why you are bashing Amazon. They made you a more than generous offer on a refurbed DX. You're not understanding that Kindles aren't repairable. The cost to do makes it impractical. I think you got great customer service from Amazon. Most companies would laugh at you if you demanded repairs or replacement of a nearly 2 year old, out of warranty device.


I've never been laughed at by anyone when I expect repair service. Even when I've called out of warranty, I've never had a retailer either A. not quote me a repair price or B. provide me with a list of authorized repair vendors. And like I said, I don't expect anything for free. I completely expected to pay for the repair. I didn't request a free replacement. I didn't request a free repair. I assumed Amazon, like every other company I've ever dealt with, would be able to point me in the right direction.

And they ARE repairable, as I have since found some companies that do repairs on the machines and the cost isn't all that bad (and even sell do-it-yourself repair kits!). We aren't talking about a fried motherboard that can't be fixed. It's a little joystick. Replacing it is like replacing my car because the vendor won't sell replacement window wipers.


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## vermontcathy (Feb 18, 2009)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> A. not quote me a repair price or B. provide me with a list of authorized repair vendors.


I bet if you called Walmart about a broken TV, they would neither repair it nor offer repair vendors. Well, if you made enough of a stink, they might crack open the phone book and read the first TV repair place that appeared, just to make you be quiet and go away. But that's nothing you couldn't do yourself.


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## splashes99 (Aug 11, 2010)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> I've never been laughed at by anyone when I expect repair service. Even when I've called out of warranty, I've never had a retailer either A. not quote me a repair price or B. provide me with a list of authorized repair vendors. And like I said, I don't expect anything for free. I completely expected to pay for the repair. I didn't request a free replacement. I didn't request a free repair. I assumed Amazon, like every other company I've ever dealt with, would be able to point me in the right direction.
> 
> And they ARE repairable, as I have since found some companies that do repairs on the machines and the cost isn't all that bad (and even sell do-it-yourself repair kits!). We aren't talking about a fried motherboard that can't be fixed. It's a little joystick. Replacing it is like replacing my car because the vendor won't sell replacement window wipers.


**//EDIT - My comment wasn't helping anything, so I'll modify it...

Sorry your DX broke, and sorry you aren't happy with Amazon's solution to your issue. I hope you get it resolved to your satisfaction.


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## ErinLindsey (Jan 18, 2009)

I just read a thread about someone whose Kindle (think it's a K2?) either just quit working, or they broke it somehow, and someone suggested they call the Kindle customer service (not the regular Amazon customer service) and explain what happened.  Amazon is sending that person a refurb for free. 

Have you tried that?


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## Elk (Oct 4, 2010)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> I have since found some companies that do repairs on the machines and the cost isn't all that bad (and even sell do-it-yourself repair kits!).


Excellent! You have everything you want.

So now you are happy and content, yes?


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## Krink (Jun 18, 2009)

Just my 2 cents being someone who repairs electronic equipment... the reason a lot of companies don't offer repair services anymore is simply cost.  It costs them more to maintain a repair service than it does to just offer exchanges.  The company I work for does repair work for most of the major Telco companies in the US as well as several markets else where and often we operate on small margins with some of the products we repair.  There are some products that we come near to breaking even on after all the costs are added up.  Cost of equipment, parts for what your repairing, packaging, warehouse costs, shipping, and often the largest cost of all is labor.  These add up quickly and drive a lot of products out of the profitable range companies are willing to deal with.  Some of the companies that are repairing products on the cheap will take several defective units that they can buy for next to nothing  strip them down for what parts are still working and then combine those to make a working unit which they in turn replace your unit with and then take what they can from your defective and so on.  So in other words just because they send your unit back and it looks just like yours... what's under the hood could be from several different other defective units.  Who's to say how reliable those parts are they could last until you trash it or they could fail in 2 days or 2 years.  From my experience consumer electronics are moving more and more towards disposable devices for most of the reasons above and also for changes in the actual equipment components themselves. 

Enough of my rambling.. just be careful when choosing a repair service company.


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## TheRiddler (Nov 11, 2010)

I'm still confused, what exactly are you complaining about?

The DX is $400

You said you expected to pay for a repair.

They have quoted you $189 dollars for a refurbed unit.

Where's the issue? Isn't that exactly what you were expecting? You are willing to pay money for a working unit - there you go, that's what you're being offered.

Saying "but I could buy a new one for $189" is just wrong. You could buy a new K3, but not a new DX. If you are happy to switch to a K3, then ask Amazon if they'll do you a deal on a K3. If not, then pay the money and get your 'repair'.


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## laurie_lu (May 10, 2010)

Maybe the original poster is expecting a new joystick to cost $1.95 and labor to cost $20.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Folks I kind of think this thread has run it's course. . .and the tone of a number of recent posts is less than courteous.  I'm not going to lock it. . . .but we are watching it.


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## Elk (Oct 4, 2010)

This is perhaps an example of the flip side of superb customer service.  Amazon has been amazing in its support of the Kindle.  We have grown accustomed to it.  We are used to getting more than what one normally would from other companies.  It's easy to then start overreaching or to be disappointed.

OP, please let us know if you use the services of an outside service and tell us how it goes.  This would be a good resource.

I would go for the refurbished unit as everything will have been checked out and the chance of everything working completely fine for a long time is high.  But, as pointed out above, electronics have a way of failing randomly so who knows?


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## Tiersten (Sep 6, 2010)

Bards and Sages (Julie) said:


> do-it-yourself repair kits!


Be aware that the parts in those kits might not actually be brand new. If the part isn't a standard off the shelf item then the only place to get spares if you're not the manufacturer is to take apart broken or new units.

No idea whether its a new or "used" part that is in the kits you're looking at though. Just something you should know about thats all.


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