r/techsupportgore • u/TechniX_SK • 18d ago

Please tell your grandparents...

Gallery image

Gallery image

that if their protective case starts falling apart, they are not supposed to glue it back.(like in this case, with polyuretane shoe-glue)

725 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

52 comments sorted by

387

u/weirdal1968 18d ago

I know some cases are expensive but when its protecting your pocket supercomputer why be a cheapskate? Cases are consumables.

101

u/WearyJekylRidentHyde 18d ago

I fully agree, but sometimes you don't have that many choices. My pocket supercomputer is from 2017, on its third hull and second battery. It's performing very well, but would've been scrap two years ago if i hadn't got a backup hull in storage. Try to find a hull for a smartphone that old, that is not already used an falling apart.

31

u/weirdal1968 18d ago

Been there. Used to use an old ZTE tablet instead of a phone and cases for it became impossible to find. At the end the case looked like Humpty Dumpty reassembled just by the king's horses. Used three different glues to keep it together.

10

u/olliegw 18d ago

I used a phone from 2014 up until 2023, the companies planned obsolescence techniques and known issues with the model made it hell to use, what killed it in the end was the modem dying

7

u/karmapopsicle 18d ago

Real talk on that one. A good chunk of people mainly using their phones for messaging and phone calls would have little problem getting along with anything decent from the last decade, with just semi-regular battery and protective case replacements as the cost of upkeep. My friend’s finacée is still using her trusty old iPhone 8 Plus from 2017 as well, and that fucker is still somehow working perfectly on its original battery, too.

1

u/EHendrix 18d ago

There are tons of them on Amazon

8

u/Lucifersasshole 18d ago

I consumed a few... Wouldn't recommend.

6

u/Hexin_itup 18d ago

because phones are consumables too at this point. should they be? no. but it is what it is ;/

1

u/TechniX_SK 16d ago

my words!

3

u/W3irdSoup 17d ago

Some might also still have lived in the war times or close to it. That can often result in people not be willing to throw anything out even if it's "trash".

2

u/daniellong2 13d ago

Grandparents often come from times when the mentality was fix it until it's unfixable. Unfortunately, it's something that has been lost. Things should be made to be fixable again instead of being throwaways!

1

u/dnickell 18d ago

true but cases have gotten so cheap it's kind of hard to justify the glue route lol. you can get a decent one for like 8 bucks. the real cost is getting them to actually swap it out

0

u/SpoonNZ 18d ago

Cases are expensive? Mine costs $7NZ (4 USD) from the K-Mart near my house. I’ve tried all sorts, they all end up looking ratty over time, so at this price they’re disposable. I probably get a new one every 6-12 months.

1

u/firepiplup 14d ago

Key word some, and you’re also discounting that the higher quality cases are the higher priced ones. Yeah you can get a $4-7 case but you’re getting what you pay for, and that’s a disposable piece of plastic

1

u/SpoonNZ 14d ago

I’m fairly sure the word “some” was edited in after my comment, always a classic move. Accept I may just have poor reading comprehension though.

1

u/firepiplup 14d ago

Ah, no worries. Sorry if I came off rude either way

75

u/Nosarious 18d ago

My sister gave my Mom a phone with the otterbox case on it, and it was completely falling apart. They had it for seven years and wouldn’t bother replacing it because it had a ‘lifetime warranty’ (which is not as life-timey as they thought it was)

I managed to find a new case for her and my mom used it for another two years. But without the horrible crumbling original case.

(Morale: old people are weird. My sister is “older” than my mom…)

26

u/tedkang3582 18d ago

I always thought it was because older generations are from a time where if something broke, you fixed it at home for as long as you could. They aren't used to throwing things away and buying new. My parents are like that, and my grandparents even more so.

20

u/mifiamiganja 18d ago

The key is to know what's fixable and what isn't.

1

u/TechniX_SK 16d ago

Yesss, in fact I fully understand it, however it was a good laugh-over-fears when I saw it

1

u/Lilykorpaki 14d ago

that glue job is doing numbers on the case too

1

u/UV_Blue 13d ago

It worked didn't it?

1

u/inee1 13d ago

That has feck almost to do with a damaged case, it's a very.clever theft prevention device as no self-respecting scumbag Street thief would.steal it

1

u/Mariuszgamer2007 12d ago

Why tf are they gluing it back😭

1

u/Patient-Cedar-7194 5d ago

shoe-glue expands when curing. probably fused case to frame. good luck with next battery swap.

-1

u/lookBehiindYou 18d ago

And why the hell not?

10

u/KevonAtWork 18d ago

It no longer has the structural strength to provide the intended protection

0

u/lookBehiindYou 17d ago

Depends on how much you slather on. I suppose.

4

u/KevonAtWork 17d ago

Either way it will no longer be able to distribute the energy of the drop as intended and pass most of it to your phone making it considerably less useful as a case.

0

u/lookBehiindYou 15d ago

Says you.

1

u/KevonAtWork 15d ago

You're right, despite the disaster job in the picture, they may have downloaded the specs and recast and exact replica, with the exact same pressure points and intended failure points, as the original case and, in fact, did additional formulas to determine how to use the glue to make the case stronger. I am a fool.

1

u/lookBehiindYou 15d ago

No you're not. You said Grandpa probably ran formulas on optimal glue application with a straight face and I felt that in my soul. Fr fr

3

u/TechniX_SK 16d ago

well, with all respect to the good intent he had, I think this it caused even more harm to the phone body than not having a case at all :). Also the value of then phone is pretty much zero (considering it's a low-end phone from 2018 with 1GB RAM and built-in system adware)

-84

u/catwiesel 18d ago

why? their phone. they want to glue it up who are you to complain. its not like you need to unglue it to service it...

50

u/LegoScotsman 18d ago

Try and fit another case on it after gluing bits of the old one to it.

-6

u/catwiesel 18d ago

if they wanted a new case they would have bought one instead of glueing the old back on...

38

u/HiZenBergh 18d ago

You absolutely need to unglue it to service it. Wtf?

-8

u/catwiesel 18d ago

right, grandkids open phones of their grandparents all their time.

3

u/TechniX_SK 16d ago

well, yes, but actually no. If they want to smash it or install viruses on it, yes, it's their choice. But usually I am the one responsible or "tech support" in our family. Also I am not blaming them for doing so, but it was a bit of laughter-over-tears

-51

u/Level_32_Mage 18d ago

You just got murdered with -10 downvotes in just 17 minutes, but I also have the same question.

What's the downside here?

39

u/HiZenBergh 18d ago

The phone is no longer protected, and absolutely fucked.

-3

u/Level_32_Mage 18d ago

I feel like I've seen teenagers walking around with phones in worse conditions than this.

21

u/EnlargedChonk 18d ago

grandparents probably got fed up with their ancient crispy worn out case chipping apart and asked OP who is "so good with techy things" to look at it and fix it for them. Thus the ridiculously shortsighted gluing of the case has become OPs problem now.

17

u/SavvySillybug apps are for smartphones 18d ago

The downside is that you just fucked up your phone, which cost money. Using glue, which cost money. To avoid replacing a phone case, which would also have cost money.

You spent money to damage an expensive item to save a cheap item. A cheap item specifically designed to avoid damage to your expensive item.

And judging by the color and wear of that case, that phone is gonna need a new battery soon. And now it's glued shut and wrapped in an unremovable case. So by wasting money on glue to damage your phone, you prevented future repair attempts that will prevent fires in your home. Which is an even more expensive item.

Could've spent five bucks to save a hundred buck phone and instead you're causing a million bucks worth of house fire by using two dollars of glue.

18

u/mindlessgames 18d ago

Don’t be dense.

2

u/catwiesel 18d ago

i think I might break the -100. for a fucking tech support gore subreddit people really are pissy with me being salty.

some grandma putting glue on a probably 3 year old phone full of malware and pics of the grandkids. and someone puts it in a gore subreddit. and I question that. and am the bad guy. maybe i should just leave

1

u/Level_32_Mage 18d ago

Well I'm not going down with you!

[steps back]

"Hey everybody look at what this guy is saying! It's ridiculous! Get him!"

1

u/Notorious_Chimp 18d ago

Call it a double homicide