So I was one of the guys who bought two Kindles when the device came out. I wanted one to be for reading purposes and another one to give away as a present. Let’s say things didn’t work out the way I expected and I had to keep the second Kindle too. Boy that was the right decision. My first Kindle stopped functioning properly a couple of months ago, and like any buyer I assumed that Amazon would have a repair service for Kindle. To my surprise, the Amazon folks told me that there was no such service or repair facility.
I took it upon myself to repair my Kindle by myself. I used a repair guide to help me through the way. In the end, I ended up having to recycle my old Kindle (I broke the screen by accident). But here is the moral of the story. It would be unthinkable for a company such as Amazon to not repair their own product. I would even take a $100 discount to trade my old Kindle in for a new one (or for a few books). Can you imagine Apple not providing support for the iPhone? It’s unthinkable.
Your take: as good as Amazon is in taking care of their customers, is it logical to pay $350 fee for a device that won’t be supported once broken? What would you do if your Kindle stopped functioning properly?
You May Also Be Interested In:
- Kindle Repairs: Where do you go?
- 50 Best Kindle DX Accessories (Dec 09)
- 5 Must Have Accessories for B&N Nook
- Will iPad Force Another Kindle Price Drop?
- Amazon Kindle taking Business Away from Amazon Prime?
- 70 Best Kindle 2.0 Accessories (March 2010)
- Rumor Alert: Is Kindle 3.0's Release Imminent?
58 Responses to “Kindle Repairs: Where do you go?”
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
- 2010 eReaders: Contenders or Pretenders? | K.indled - [...] opens new doors for publishers and consumers. Let’s not forget that you won’t have to worry about breaking your ...
Kindle customer service was fantastic when I called today. I was having problems with the screen after unpacking my 7-month old Kindle from a travel bag, and didn’t have high expectations after reading these posts. Instead of insisting that I had user-inflicted damage, the CSR told me it was covered under warranty and is sending a new unit tomorrow with pre-paid shipping for the return of my old one. He was polite, helpful, and accomplished far more than I had any reason to expect since the damage could have been caused during travel. Great service, great results from Amazon!
I had an excellent experience with Amazon. I’ll admit that my Kindle is still within warranty, however. The customer service rep was very friendly, and immediately sent me a replacement Kindle after I told him that the screen was unreadable due to all of the horizontal and vertical lines blocking the text. We didn’t drop it, sit on it, set anything on it, or anything that would have caused it to break. All we did was turn it on after a month of nonuse.
I found the Skype number in this forum and called it for support. My 15 mo old Kindle had frozen up. Whether the device was on or off, I could see only the bottom inch or so of the screen where I had typed a search when the thing froze. Support was very helpful and had my back in business after they walked me through resetting the device. Whole call took less than 15 mins. Good service experience.
@John. You can always try eBay for spare Kindle screens. I have seen them selling on eBay but they go out of stock from time to time. Of course, that is if you want to repair your Kindle yourself.
I spoke to Kindle customer service to day in reference to repairing my Amazon kindle unit. No help. Said I could send the unit in for repairs for $99.00 and they would send a replacement. But they are out of replacement units. I asked if they have any trade in for a new unit. I was to they do not. My unit was purchased in October 2008. I am surprised that Amazon does not help OR OFFER A TRADE IN PROGRAM.
I broke my Kindle 1 screen. My Kindle was a refurb so I expected nothing but called “just in case” it was repairable.
It was not but for $99 I was offered a replacement. I took it and love it.
Back when the cassette walkmans were new I realized we’d entered the “throw away & replace” age of electronic gadgetry. For under $100 I was re-kindled. What’s not to like?
If you want to install the screen from Ebay yourself, there is a Kindle Repair Guide that shows you how to take it apart at http://www.portatronics.com/guide. There are repair services that can do it for you at the same website.