Repair or Replace My Cell Phone

Since this is my first post. Here are my credentials in a nutshell: 20+ years in the wireless (cell phone) industry, last ten I have owned my own company and I have been doing cell phone repair work for the last eight+ years. I try to give an honest opinion and I'll throw in a little laughter too -- both of these things you might not appreciate. I've been interviewed a few times on TV, consulted with many companies, quoted in articles and posted on a few sites. Now I'm going try this Blog thing - bear with me.

REPAIR OR REPLACE MY CELL PHONE

When you damage your phone it is usually a very emotional thing. As it slips from your hands flying across the room you your heart stops and you say a little prayer or curse -- sometimes both. As you go to pick-up your beloved, yet often hated, cell phone you remember the sales guy trying to sell you a big bulky case and you think, "Why didn't I listen to that guy..why...why...why...?!" (True story: I once dropped my $700 Nokia N97 on the third floor of a shopping mall near the railing. It bounced three times before landing safely on the ledge only two inches from a launch and certain destruction).

So your cell phone is broken and now you must decide on how to move forward. You have a few choices to weigh out, but it comes down to this do you replace or do you repair your cell phone? Both have pros and cons, so let me hit on a few. I will go into more detail below on each option but let me say this first in defense of cell phone repair - many repairs will be less than $100 and take an hour to fix. I'll explain that more but keep in mind as you wade into the mix.

REPLACE your cell phone with insurance, new contract, refurbished, used or retail purchase. In all of these options you get a different phone than what you had -- of course that might be a good thing if you hated the old phone. Obviously the Pro here is a new working phone, so let me hit on the main negatives of each.

1) Insurance: Not a bad option if you are already signed up and paying the monthly $5-12 each month. First you need to call the cell phone insurance company (Insurion handles most if not all carriers). Be ready to deal with a call center and being on hold and only the account holder and/or an authorized person can call. They will process your claim and SHIP a phone to you (whatever you do don't break your phone on Friday of a holiday weekend!). You will be billed a deductible of between $100 and $150 if it is a smart phone (less for dumb phones). The phone they will send you will be refurbished NOT NEW. Once you receive it it is up to you to get the data (contacts, etc.) off of the old phone and on to the new. Not very fast not cheap.

2) New Contract: Not a bad option if you ready for a new phone, the one you want is available AND you plan on staying with your current carrier for another two years. Now if your not eligible to renew (this is usually 18-20 months into a two year contract) this option does not apply to you, move on. Keep in mind too that the discount you get for signing a new contract is only between $100 - 200 depending on the model. Also, keep in mind that the carrier WANTS you to sign a new contract and keep you locked in as long as possible. Bottom line - don't rush into it if your not ready!

3) Refurbished Phone: The jury is still out on this one. A refurbished phone was broken at some point so it may go bad again. Some industry people say refurbished phones have a pretty high fail rate. Plus they are hard to find. Some of the carriers sell them as a cheaper replacement option. Even though they are cheaper options they will cost you a couple of hundred for a decent smart phone. This option is many times only available from the online store. This takes time, not great savings here and you might be replacing it again soon.

4) Used Phone: Stay away from this option if at all possible. Even if it is free or super cheap it might cost you in the long run. First of all they are dirty and germy -- yes I said germy. A few groups have tested cell phones randomly and found they are sometimes dirtier than a public toilet seat. If your OK with that then go ahead -- in fact if your OK with that stop reading my blog NOW!

5) Retail Price Phone Purchase: Simply put this is the most expensive option of them all. New iPhone $500-600, new Blackberry $400-500, new cheapo phone $150-250. Some stores won't even sell you a phone without a contract. Cell phone sales guys HATE these customers because they make $0 on this sale and it's a lot of work. Expensive and not as quick as you might think.

REPAIR your cell phone. Cell phone repair is relatively new in the US, but very common overseas. Ten years ago, believe it or not, you could find a cell phone repair shop in every town in the US. But when phones became cheaper many customers simply threw them away and bought a new one. Then came the iPhone and it's beautiful 3.5 inch touch screen glass -- wait the iPhone is made of glass, glass breaks pretty easy right??! Yes, and so launched a huge revival in cell phone repair in the good old USA.

The average cell phone repair is less than $100 and most repairs can be completed within an hour. You get to keep YOUR phone with YOUR contacts, YOUR settings, YOUR pictures, YOUR stuff plain and simple. If your cell phone contract is not up and you have no insurance then repair is really by far the best option. In the other cases you just need to weigh it out and decide which is best for you.

Liquid damage (aka, water damage) can be fixed too. It is not the end if your phone gets wet -- it's not 100% either, but in many cases a phone that has gotten liquid damage can be fixed. I'll cover that in my another blog. I hope this was helpful. Come see us if we can help!

If your in the Washington, DC area come visit us at WiGoClinic - Cell Phone Repair Shop if your out of the area you can send us your phone for fast one day service.

Visit our website at WiGoClinic - Cell Phone Repair