Cell Xpert

It was horrific. We came in to get the screen changed on the Samsung play 2023. We let it charge at home before bringing it in just in case so it was at 15%. The man changed the screen and then began messing with the battery. I've never seen this process done before so I was unsure of what needed to be done. He began heating up near the battery to take the battery out AND BENT THE BATTERY. Right in front of me. He got it out and began banging on it to flatten it out, put it back in and then told me I had a battery problem. I asked him to show me what he meant (outside of the obviously bent battery) and then phone wouldn't hold a charge. We began arguing as I asked WHY the battery needed to be removed since the new screen was on already and I never received an answer. Just mumbling. I wasn't going to pay for anything since he damaged the phone. He then attempted to take a similar battery out of a similar phone and guess what? HE BENT THAT BATTERY TOO. At this point, I was over it. I paid my dues and took my phone. He was extremely unprofessional. The phone worked fine other than the damaged screen and now I'll have to replace the phone. $139 just down the drain. Thanks for nothing

Warning - Ask for upfront pricing before you let them touch your devices. I had a very unprofessional experience at this Cell Xpert phone repair kiosk inside Walmart in Bartow. My iPhone charging port has been finicky lately, so I stopped to ask if they replace ports. The man behind the counter asked for my phone and without saying there would be a charge, he used tweezers and a cloth to clean the port. It took less than 2 minutes. When he plugged it in and showed that it was charging, the only thing he said to me was: “Now give me money.” At first I thought he was just kidding and messing around with me. Then, I was shocked — there was no mention of cost up front, and the work performed was simply a quick cleaning that he took upon himself to do. He demanded $20 for this. When I pushed back and offered $5 (which felt more reasonable for the minimal effort involved), he rolled his eyes, dismissed me, and turned to another customer. To be clear, as a small business owner, I absolutely agree that people deserve to be paid for their services and that time is money. But this felt like price gouging. No transparency, no pricing displayed, and no consent before starting the work. This kind of behavior is unacceptable! Especially inside a corporate Walmart store where customers expect transparency. If this had been an elderly person or someone not familiar with tech, they likely would have felt pressured to pay on the spot. That is predatory. At the very least, prices for services should be clearly posted and explained before touching a customer’s device. Walmart should seriously reconsider allowing a vendor like this to operate inside their store.

The guy who helped me was very polite, he worked fast. He even threw in a free screen protector for me. The only downside was the $130 price I had to pay, otherwise great service!