Terms of Service

Draft under legal review. Final terms will be posted here before we accept real repairs.

Who we are

HCS Repairs ("we", "us") is a mail-in phone repair service (phones only — no laptops or desktop PCs), based in Buffalo, New York. Contact: repairs@hcs-cs.com or (716) 671-3957 (call). We don't publish a walk-in or mailing address: devices ship to the address printed on your prepaid label, and all other contact is by email or phone. When you submit a repair request, check the "I agree" box, or pay a quote, you accept these Terms, the Warranty Policy, the Privacy Policy, the Shipping Policy, and the Base Service Waiver if you choose Base service (no diagnostics).

You must be at least 18 years old and the owner of the device, or have the owner's permission, to use our service.

Our two service tiers

• Base service. No diagnostics. We replace exactly the part you ask for. That's all. If the real problem is something else, the swap may not fix it and you still pay. Labor is $25 plus parts. Base covers only these phone parts: screen, battery, and charge port. Liquid-damaged devices are never accepted as Base-only. Section 2 has the full waiver.
• Diagnostics (add-on). A $30 add-on on top of Base, so labor is $55 plus parts. We test the device, find the cause, and send you a written quote. The diagnostics add-on is due up front. If you approve the repair, it counts toward the labor. If you decline, or if we can't fix it, you pay the diagnostics fee and return shipping, and no repair labor beyond diagnostics.
• Upgrade credit. If you choose Base service and then add Diagnostics within 7 days, we credit the Base labor you paid toward the new total.

Quotes and prices

• Nothing is ordered, charged, or repaired until you approve a written quote. Section 3 is the approval form.
• A quote lists parts, labor, shipping, and sales tax separately, and it says whether each part is OEM, OEM-pulled, or aftermarket.
• Labor is $25 (Base) or $55 (Base + Diagnostics), plus parts. Inbound and return shipping are charged separately (~$12–15 insured each way) as line items — not built into labor.
• Quotes are good for 10 days.
• If we find something the quote didn't cover, we stop and ask before doing more work or charging more. You can approve the extra work, continue with the original repair only, or have the device returned as-is.
• New York sales tax (8.75% in Erie County, or the rate for your ship-to address) is added where it applies.

Payment and the parts deposit

• Base service: the full quote is paid up front.
• Diagnostics: the diagnostics add-on is paid up front. After you approve the quote, you pay a parts deposit equal to the cost of the parts. The rest is due before the device ships back.
• The parts deposit is non-refundable once the part is ordered. We order parts specifically for your device. If the supplier takes the part back, we refund what the supplier refunds us, minus any restocking fee the supplier charges.
• Payments are processed by Stripe. We never see or store your full card number.
• We don't ship a device back until its balance is paid.

Your responsibilities

• Back up your data. Repairs can erase a device, and some repairs require a wipe. See 1.7.
• Tell us the truth about the device, including any liquid exposure, drops, earlier repairs, or past opening.
• Before you ship: remove cases, SIM and SD cards, and accessories, unless we ask for a charger.
• Turn off Find My / Activation Lock / Google FRP, or give us what we need to test the device (see 1.6).

Locked, stolen, or prohibited devices

• You confirm that you own the device or have the owner's permission to have it repaired.
• We check IMEI or serial numbers against blacklist databases where we can. We won't repair devices that are reported lost or stolen, blacklisted, or activation-locked to someone else, and we never bypass locks.
• If we refuse a device for these reasons, we return it at your cost for return shipping, unless the law requires us to do something else with it, such as cooperating with law enforcement.
• We may decline any job for any lawful reason before work starts. If we do, we refund any amount you paid for work that wasn't done.

Data loss

Repairs can wipe, corrupt, or lose your data, and so can shipping or a failing part. You are responsible for backing up before you ship. We aren't liable for lost data, apps, settings, or the cost of recovering them. We don't offer data recovery services.

Risks that come with repair

• Devices that are old, liquid-damaged, bent, cracked, glued, or already repaired can fail while being opened or repaired. That includes screens, flex cables, connectors, and boards.
• We can't restore water resistance. Any seal is gone once the device is opened.
• Replacement parts can cause manufacturer messages such as "unknown part" or "non-genuine part". They can also affect features like True Tone, Face ID or Touch ID, or battery health readouts, and may affect any manufacturer warranty you have left. The quote says which parts carry this risk.
• If damage that was already there becomes worse during a careful repair, we're not responsible. We photograph every device when it arrives so that both of us have a record.

Warranty

90 days on our parts and labor, as described in the Warranty Policy (Section 4).

Limitation of liability

• The most we owe you for any claim related to our service is the amount you paid us for that ticket.
• We aren't liable for indirect or consequential losses, such as lost data, lost profits, lost use of the device, or the cost of a replacement device while yours is being repaired.
• Nothing in these Terms limits liability that the law doesn't allow us to limit, such as liability for gross negligence or willful misconduct.

Unclaimed and abandoned devices

If a balance stays unpaid, or you don't answer about the return of your device, we send 3 notices by email over at least 90 days. If there's still no response, we may treat the device as abandoned and recycle or dispose of it as allowed by New York law, after securely wiping any storage. Before disposal, we may keep the device and the parts in it as security for the unpaid balance.

Chargebacks and disputes

Please contact us first at repairs@hcs-cs.com. Most problems can be fixed with a warranty claim or a refund. We keep the check-in and completion photos, the signed approvals, and shipping records, and we may provide them to the payment processor if a charge is disputed.

Governing law

These Terms are governed by New York law. Disputes go to the state or federal courts serving Erie County, New York, except where you have the right to bring a claim in small claims court.

Changes

We may update these Terms. Your ticket stays under the version you accepted when you approved it.