Westrock Battery & Auto Supply Ltd Appalling Customer Service and Repair Policy Winnipeg Manitoba Canada

This report deals with the cell phone repair services offered by Westrock. I have no experience with their automotive work, hopefully they are more competent and organised on that front.

I had dealt with Westrock the last time I broke my phone- an LG Optimus E971- and needed a new touch screen and digitizer. It's a rarish phone, and luckily when I called around, Westrock had the parts I needed in stock. They did fine work and finished on time. I thought I owed them some repeat business.

I brought my phone there the next time I needed repair (the screen they put on cracked a few weeks later, but I don't necessarily blame their materials for that, accidents happen). They gave me a quote of 2 days and a price of $150. That would be $35 for labour (In spite of their advertisements saying they don't charge for labour), $115 for the part (worth $45 on Amazon, if only I'd known). 

4 Days later, no cell phone, I called and left a message, the cell phone tech was out for lunch

10 days later, no cell phone, I called and left a message with the owner, the cell phone tech was getting parts

16 days later, no cell phone, I get through to the repair tech, he says they lost my repair tag and couldn't contact me, they don't have the parts in stock

20 days later, call in three times, have my message passed on the third time, get repair tech on phone, phone is complete but there's a problem, all of my contact info has been wiped. I pick up phone, realise when I get home to re-activate it that they have not included my sim card. Call Westrock, they are closed for the day. I leave a message

21 days after my initial quote (for two days). I arrive at Westrock at start of business hours. They have received my message and have not called me back. The store owner offers me a choice of 2 sim cards he finds on the cluttered repair counter (7-8 dissassembled phones, no filing or organization in place, parts everywhere, dusty)

I explain to the owner that he was offering me other people's contact information and personal data. I explained that I would hate to hear about him doing this with my sim card. I ask instead for a refund on my repair, and that I would then cancel my sim card and replace it. He said he did not have the authority to do so (even though he was the owner) only the cell phone tech had that type of expertise.

Unfortunately I wasn't in the mood to leave, as these two had proven very difficult to get a hold of, and additionally had some questionable policies concerning customer privacy. I stayed and requested he give me my refund and let me be on my way. 

He told me to "stop being an idiot" to "shut up and sit down" and that "hell would freeze over before {he} would help {me}". Also he said that he had his last belligerant customer taken away by the police in handcuffs. This made for an uncomfortable negotiation, I wanted to leave after being recompensed for my time and aggravation. He said that my choice of those other people's sim cards was my only option. So we waited to the repair tech, with more bad blood

The repair tech arrived, he was due at 9:00, he came at 10:15, I had been waiting since 8:30. He tried three or four sim cards pulled from all manner of devices and crevices on his desk. Found mine, and offered me a bluetooth for my trouble. I did not want a bluetooth, I wanted a refund.

I offered to pay wholesale for the part, if he would refund his mark-up and labour (keep in mind, labour is already free according to their promotional offer (http://www.kijiji.ca/v-cell-phone-services/winnipeg/cell-phone-repair-no-charge-labour-1-year-warranty/565947818) 

He refused, offered me $20 bucks, out of his own pocket, as his final offer.

I don't want the store techs money. I want a refund, or partial refund, recognizing the 19 days they were late on delivery. The losing of my sim card, the false advertising, the disgraceful handling of customers PERSONAL and PRIVATE data, and the 1 hour and forty-five minutes of insult, condescension, and prevarication from the owner. All in all, it was disgraceful.

There's plenty of cell phone repair shops in Winnipeg. I came to this one because I needed a part they had, don't let them get your phone in their insecure, dirty shop, take your business elsewhere