Overwhelmed Repair Shop Subcontracts Out Groupon Customers, Disaster Ensues

Smartphone repairs can get quite pricey, so shoppers in Orange County, Florida thought that a Groupon deal where they paid $42 for a voucher that got them half-price repairs was a pretty good deal. It would have been…if the company would give them their phones back.

The small computer repair shop that offered the Groupon sold too many, and they were overwhelmed. (This is a pattern that we’ve seen before in small businesses that try Groupons in order to get their name out.) The shop subcontracted out repairs to another firm…and no one has seen some of those phones since.

The good news: police are on the case, investigating for fraud. The bad news: it had to get to the point where the police are involved. Local TV station WFTV found about 30 people who haven’t seen their phones since leaving them at the shop.

“All he has to do is get a police officer, and the officer will go over there and get the phone,” the helpful manager of the repair shop told a TV reporter. Yes, that’s all.

Action 9 investigates cellphone repair company [WFTV] (Warning: auto-play video)

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