I hate fixing them the first time. Most are built like crap
I can deal with crappy builds, just can't handle our idiot "PC repair technicians".
Every time I get something completely messed up, the story is the same:
- a person brings a laptop/PC/tablet/phone/videocard to the "more affordable" type of the service center
- They briefly inspect the device and tell that his or her CPU/GPU/SoC is broken and needs to be replaced
- Then they charge upwards of $80 for a replacement chip and work upfront, maybe more (depending on the device, not the IC)
- The repair boils down to spilling as much cheap rosin flux as they can and heating everything up with hot air rework station (even if this is not needed). In most cases it's a simple reflow and not a replacement at all
- If they shot the moon, then they charge 50% more on top (for whatever reason, because customer has money), if not - they say the repair was unsuccessful but they won't give the money back (we spent it on parts and labor)
- best case scenario - customer gets 7 day warranty and repeats the process 2-4 weeks later.
At the end of day I get a laptop which needed a power button replaced or a couple of knocked-off capacitors, but it already has an overheated GPU, corroded motherboard and melted connectors. Maybe some damaged USB ports too...