But why not offer that? All else being equal I'd rather fix something than put it in landfill and buy a new one. Am I the only one?
Had I handed it to them disassembled and asked them to just solder a port on they might have accepted.
Customer: it’s just this specific solder job
“They”: that’s what you say, but there might be other issues, and we cannot tell without spending lots of time checking things
Customer: no, it’s just a solder job.
“They”: OK, we’ll solder that, but the risk is on you, and you’ll pay regardless of the outcome.
Some time later:
“They”: operation succeeded, patient still dead.
What do you think happens next?
A: customer thanks “them” for their effort, pays and leaves
B: customer starts bickering that “they” destroyed their phone, leaves negative reviews online, etc.
I expect a significant percentage for option B. Even if that’s rare, it requires only a few negative reviews to not be worth it.
I can see people wanting to avoid that, even if it effectively leaves money on the table.
In that time they could have done 3 iPhone battery replacements.