iPhone SCREWED after repair!

[b1scu1t]

Hey

My girlfriend gave her old 16GB iPhone 3G to her mom when she got her new one but something happened and it broke. Looked like water damage.

Someone said they can get it fixed "for cheap" and they gave it to some crappy shop (I'm still trying to find out what shop exactly) for repairs.

They got the phone back yesterday and asked me for help setting it up, etc.

The phone was in recovery mode so I did n clean restore and here's where it starts.
-The phone's volume buttons doesn't work.
-The speaker doesn't work.
-It lags way more than usual (I used it for 3months and I know how it felt)
-The casing has gaps all around just below the silver lining.
-The device keeps saying No Service when a SIM is inserted
-It's all of a sudden a 8GB iPhone????

I'm trying to find out whether it's possible to change a device's serial number and IMEI number. It almost looks like the guy changed the internals and changed the serial to the device that they gave to him.
Either that or.....?
How the hell does it change into a 8GB iPhone?

We still have the device box and everything and the serial number and IMEI number matches but the "16GB" part is off on the phone by 8GB.

I told them to take it to someone that actually specializes in iDevices, and now look :-/

Any ideas?

 

[Lycanthrope]

I told them to take it to someone that actually specializes in iDevices, and now look :-/

They got what they paid for.

I'm afraid I don't have any ideas because they're screwed one way or the other. You may as well throw it away.

 

[goswald]

They got what they paid for.

Not much you can do.

 

[noxibox]

You need to find out who worked on the phone. If you think the phone's internals have been swapped out, then criminal charges are appropriate. If whoever you gave the phone to won't tell you who they used for the supposed repair, then tell them you will lay the charges against them. To try to recover some money your best bet is the small claims court. Similarly if this person won't tell you who they gave the phone to then tell them you'll sue them.

But this should be a lesson learned. Those budget repair places will mess up your phone.

 

[b1scu1t]

Not much you can do.

They got what they paid for.

I'm afraid I don't have any ideas because they're screwed one way or the other. You may as well throw it away.

When people just don't wanna listen

You need to find out who worked on the phone. If you think the phone's internals have been swapped out, then criminal charges are appropriate. If whoever you gave the phone to won't tell you who they used for the supposed repair, then tell them you will lay the charges against them. To try to recover some money your best bet is the small claims court. Similarly if this person won't tell you who they gave the phone to then tell them you'll sue them.

But this should be a lesson learned. Those budget repair places will mess up your phone.

Also thinking that thing.

They said the repair guy said it's "a wire that's not connected" and that's making it show as a 8GB device??? WTF...

Also think they're gonna end up throwing it away...