iPHONE REPAIR NEAR ME - How to Find Your Best Option For Cell Phone Repair

Ouch, you just dropped your iPhone for what seems like the millionth time. You pick it up hoping, yea praying, that once again the screen is not cracked. You turn it over and terror fills your soul because it looks like a tiny spider has crawled inside and spun a web. But it's not a spider web your iPhone screen is CRACKED - WHAT NOW?

Your first inclination will be to go back to the place you purchased it from - The Apple store, AT&T, Verizon, Best Buy, T-Mobile, Target, Costco, etc. Don't!

These are RETAIL stores that sell billions of dollars of goods - in the case of Apple $265 billion in annual sales just last year. There job as a company, in duty to their shareholders, is to increase sales. So what do you think is the first thing they will try to do? (hint: you're going to walk by lots of them as you walk into the store). You got it, they are going to try to get you to buy a new phone. 

All these shiny new iPhone's are like kitties at the pet store looking for a new home and you're walking into the store with a busted up iPhone. Just like little kitties they look so much more cuter than that old cat back home that pees on the carpet every time you go out with your friends [CAT: Jealous, I'm not jealous. I just like to pee outside the litter box from time to time. What are you going to do!].

HERE'S WHAT YOU SHOULD DO WHEN YOU BREAK YOUR PHONE

STEP 1: Don't panic! That will be your initial response, but don't panic because you have a lot of options available to you. Deep breath... if the screen is badly broken with shards of glass sticking out slap some packing tape on the screen so you don't cut yourself. Deep breath again, move to step two.

STEP 2: Explore your options. You have lots of ways to get this little kitty fixed without getting spayed and neutered. 

• INSURANCE is an option but maybe not the best. If you have it, and you shouldn't buy it in the first place, you will pay a deductible. Many times insurance will be a hassle too - when is it not?!
• Check first to see if you have purchased AppleCare+, Asurion, SquareTrade insurance or some other form of handset insurance.
• Again, don't go to the store, check online to see if you have it and how much it will cost to use it. Remember it ain't free! Then find out what you need to do to use it. Do you need to make an appointment??
• REPAIR is a quick and easy option. Everything can be fixed and there are a lot of great Repair People across the country that are more than qualified to fix your tech (See below for more info). It might even be YOU!
• REPLACE is an option if you have the money to blow on a new phone, or
• Your phone is really old and just needs to be replaced.
• You are a teenage girl who couldn't possibly deal with this.
• A 20-something guy who equates his phone with his... well you know.
• DEAL with a broken phone because that's what your family taught you, "If the bone isn't sticking out of your skin, walk it off!" Not a great plan because
• It's broken and it could get worse when you really need it to work.
• It's broken and could cause more problems that will be more expensive to fix later.
• It's broken, just go get it fixed already!

STEP 3: Make a smart decision on what is best for you! YOU make the decision for YOU! Don't let somebody else make it for you! Get the most information you can and make a decision when your ready.

STEP 4: Go get your broken phone FIXED!

HERE IS WHY I THINK 3RD PARTY REPAIR IS YOUR BEST OPTION

First of all, DON'T BUY HANDSET INSURANCE from the same person you buy the phone from. It's never a good deal and if you now need to use it you're going to find out why it was a bad idea -- I'll revisit this in another future post.

GREAT NEWS you can get your phone repaired right now. You have lots of options to choose from! For repair you can do it yourself, take it to a local shop, book on-demand service or ship it off. Let me give you an overview of each of these options now and then I'll go into these options in more detail in future WiGoMan blog posts. Subscribe now!

FIX IT YOURSELF
If you want a challenge and you have skills (Click here to see what I think are the traits of a good repair tech) then this is a great option for you. You can buy a part and/or a basic tool kit from someone easily online then have it delivered to you in a day or two. There are literally thousands of videos online that will show you how to complete the job (check these out BEFORE you decide to choose this option). Your best option here is iFixit which has free repair guides, parts and tools. If you are fixing an older device check out my eBay store.

PROS: Satisfaction of fixing your own stuff! Cheaper than paying someone.
CONS: Takes some time (ordering & working on it). If something goes wrong you might end up paying more to have it fixed by someone else.

TAKE IT TO A LOCAL REPAIR SHOP
This is the easiest and fastest way to get a phone fixed. There are thousands of tech repair shops all across the US and the world. More than likely there is one near you that you never knew existed. The easiest way to find one is to simply Google "iPhone Repair Near me", "Samsung Repair Near Me" or what ever device you have. The two biggest chains are UBREAKIFIX or CPR - Cell Phone Repair in the USA but you will find local independent shops in more places. I prefer smaller independent shop because they often have closer ties to the community (Follow me on twitter @WiGoTECHRepair for tips).

PROS: Location, location, location. There is a repair shop near you trust me! You can normally just walk-in without an appointment and walk-out 15-20 mins later with a new screen.
CONS: Not all shops are equal. Do your homework. Check reviews. Ask your friends & coworkers for recommendations!

HAVE A REPAIR COME TO YOU
Like on-demand services (Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, GOPuff, TaskRabbit)? Have a tech repair person come to your home, office, coffee shop, etc. to fix your tech. It's a super easy way to get your device fixed without the hassle of going somewhere. There are two big national companies; iCracked and PULS that are great and there are some local and regional company's that can serve you too.

PROS: Like other on-demand services it cuts out much of the hassle factor. Book a repair online and its done.
CONS: Lots of pretenders (Don't use FIXT in Baltimore) who claim they can do it but can't. Check them out before you choose.

SHIP IT OFF FOR REPAIR
This is an option, but not really for everyone. Lots of shops do mail-in repair but I can't recommend one anymore because the ones I knew went out of business - people want it fixed yesterday. The only good reason for this type of repair is when it is a complex repair like liquid damage or data recovery. In this case I HIGHLY recommend iPad Rehab who is not only high quality but a great story!

If you know a good one let me know!

PROS: Out of site out of mind. Discounts for quantity. Good for complex repairs.
CONS: SLOW. Because of shipping and long repair queues.

SPECIAL OFFER: Repair Shop Owners and/or Repair People please leave a comment below with the name, location and web page of your business for people to find you for a repair.

That's it for now. Don't forget to subscribe, comment and follow me on twitter @WiGoTECHRepair for tips and recommendations.