I started a cell phone repair company. I have no clue what I’m doing.
Working with Apple has shown me just how many people call in with broken cell phones. It’s an astronomical number with both the laws of gravity and a person’s clumsiness working against them.
I’ve broken very few cell phones myself. One of them being of course the one that I cracked, and tried to get repaired for weeks through my carrier.
A while ago I paid for a cell phone insurance plan that was supposed to cover accidental damage, as in “I dropped the damn thing” When I called to have it repaired, everything went wrong.
First, they refused my claim. Why? because the insurance plan paid for in the event of accidental damage didn’t cover accidental damage. haha. it’s quite comical. Tickle me with a glass feather.
Next when I got into a battle with a supervisor who told me to “read the terms” and I started reading the terms I discovered that the amount I’d paid for this BS plan was tantamount to triple the device. In other words, it would be worth the cost to pursue this in small claims courts.
“Well if you read the terms you would see there’s an arbitration clause.”
“I filled the opt-out the day I got the device.”
..You did..?
Yes. For the carrier and manufacturer.
Mmm. I’m looking at the document.
Sir let me place you on hold.
Mmm.
Next, they decided to approve the claim. Something about a “system error” sure.
I sent the device in and it vanished.
Months later I said where the hell is my device and what came back… it had to be a display model.
it had a plastic screen and heated up to the point I was pretty sure it was going to burst into flames.
I think I still have that piece of junk.. somewhere.
By calling and complaining about that device, I fell into a trap. gave them time to “investigate” and determine that “a suitable replacement was sent” By that time I’d pretty much given up and was using a new phone to make calls.
On their side, they processed a claim and issued a replacement device. Nice. I could have pursued it but truthfully I may not have won the case. I would have to prove that THEIR SYSTEMS messed up, and I’m suuuuure they have documentation on that.
So when I bought a new phone a few years later and they asked me if I wanted “an insurance plan” my answer was HELL NO.
A week later my dog tripped me rushing out the door and the phone cracked, and I’ve been using it with a busted screen ever since.
$400, the guy on the line wasn’t joking and he sounded bored.
That’s a lot to repair a phone. would you take $350?
Nope. The call ended.
I grinned. I liked that guy.
Phone repair shops were making bank. The dude didn’t care if I negotiated and he had several other customers to attend to. I could actually hear people talking in the background.
In the middle of the night, I bolted upright in bed.
I had a thought. I rushed to the computer and keyed in the domain. it wasn’t taken!!
I bought it and went back to bed.
In the morning the realization of what I’d done hit me like a ton of bricks. I’d just created a cell phone repair company.
OOPS.
Only problem? I know nothing about repairing cell phones on the hardware level.
I thought I’d start easy, and dip my toes in the world of electronic repairs. first I bought a kit of screwdrivers. Pentalobe for Apple devices. Clamps. a heat gun. Some little phone squishy thing-ma-bobs to hold screens in place. Phone glue. Apparently, that’s a thing.
Then I bought some bulk iPhones. boy did I get scammed badly. they were stripped to the shell husks, with the few working ones being bad backlight. That seller ripped me OFF!!! and sadly I didn’t realize past the claim period. an $800 mistake of broken parts that I have no clue what to do with. Maybe one day the shells will come in handy, but for now, they sit on the tray and laugh at me.
I tried again and purchased a pixel. It had a non-working display so I bought one. Cue a solid day of “how the hell does this open..” and “oh God this stuff is everywhere” and it turned into a working device. worked for calls, great looking display.
Not a bad deal for the first repair. I listed it for $100 and promptly got a bid on eBay.
Then another. Then another. it sold for $300
Nice!
I’d paid a little over $50 for it as a non-functional device. As soon as I had the seller’s address I shipped it off. then I waited for payment.
and waited.
and waited.
oh boy.
Yep, they had scammed me. And in the process got a pretty nice deal out of it. I hope the screen separates during shipping and glues them to the box. (but I know it won’t) :(
I opened an eBay claim and eBay sided with the seller. Fan-fuck-ing-tastic. eBay guarantee my ass.
Tag it as collateral damage and a learning lesson I guess. PAYMENT then shipping. Don’t “get it off your task manager” make sure you’re paid in full.
A craigslist meetup at a gas station.
What could go wrong? it’s a bad part of town as well. This is the kind of gas station with a thick bulletproof payment area and blacked-out windows. The kind of place no one in their right mind would go to get fuel. The perfect spot for a cash sale of a cell phone.
I parked as I always do — facing out and decided to keep the engine running, lock the door manually and put the fob under my belt.
The seller was supposed to be bringing an iPhone, something I was much more accustomed to. We were doing a cash deal for $500 and I intended to sell it for $700 online after repairing the screen.
Before we met I told him to take a photo of the back of the device. I should have backed off when he said “muh phone cam ain’t no good” instead I pressed for and received a cruddy photo. I keyed it in the checker and… it’s clean. We’re good.
So now here we were face to face and he gives me an oily smile.
Alright, so let’s do this. You have a phone?
He holds his hand out. “Cah ferst.”
That’s probably loosely translated to meth speak for “cash first”
I stop him. Hey. Phone first.
“Nuh-huh cah ferst!” Gimmie the carsh!!
The cash is with my buddy. I nod to the car which holds no one else. He peers into the car and thank god I use dark tint.
I could almost hear the gears turning “there’s two of ‘em” Or pardon me. Probably more something like “thurr tuh ovem” One must linguist correctly.
I don’t think he cares about selling a phone.
Like at all.
But then he pulls out a phone. I flip it over and.. that’s not the serial I was given. I know without even checking this is a stolen device. I don’t know why there even was a phone when this was clearly a stick-em-up. Maybe he was going to wait until I turned around. Maybe I was reading this all wrong.
Bet I know what happened. He stole this from someone, probably some idiot who met him at a gas station. What I don’t like though is his hand in his pocket, in a fist around something. Maybe it’s money.
I’m not armed.
Okay cool. Lemme get the cash.
I nonchalantly walked to the car and hit the door. Hey! Travis move the hell over and let him open the door!
Side-eye at the guy watching. He’s waiting.
I get in and close the door. Yell some more at my invisible “friends” then jam the car in drive and take off.
He starts running after the car realizing it was about to move, a flash of steel in his hand. Probably the aluminum casing of another phone. . Nope that’s a gun.
He was in front of the car.
For maybe half a second it looked like he was going to stand and gun down the vehicle but then he chose self-preservation and jumped to the side. I roared past.
The scene probably would have looked pretty cool if that place had any working cameras.
Which it doesn’t. Fantastic place to get gas.
Got my first client today.
it was a lady with a computer not working. She offered $100, but I politely declined. The phone rang again and it was her calling back. $200 we have a deal.
We met at a burger joint and she showed me the computer.. or tried to. it was dead. I listened to her problems, took notes, and shook hands.
The password she gave me didn’t work. I then tried with caps lock on. Bingo.
I wonder if she knew she was typing it in caps (narrator. She did not)
that machine was so infested with malware it wouldn’t even load the windows start menu. It just chugged along like it has the processor of a toaster. I let it struggle for half an hour before powering it down.
This is giving me some flashbacks to another machine repaired.
opened the hard drive on a virtual machine and started looking at files. Yep. These are files.
I cloned the drive to a hard drive with macrium reflect, and put the drive in my closet. 6 months I’ll wipe it just in case she calls wanting some kind of file.
then I started dragging out anything that looked important. bookmarks, chrome passwords, photos, and documents, basically opened up anything I could think of and removed anything that looked important. Then I scanned those files with Windows defender. No viruses. Cool. I scanned the C drive. Found 30 malwares. Not cool.
Luckily it didn’t look like there were any programs she used. Just the browser, Facebook, and some bookmarks. Also took the SSID and network password out via CMD
then I reset the computer. I was hoping I could just use the built-in recovery, but that messed things up even worse. Now it didn’t start. Fantastic.
I checked the notes of the machine, the CD key, and the version and found the appropriate file for that OS. Started the installation. Got windows running. Checked drivers for LAN WAN Bluetooth, and keyboard lights. Manually set the network password to the known network so it would auto-connect for her.
The machine ran a LOT better.
Went through my excel list of files exported shoving them back where they went. Finished it off with a nice virus scan that showed no issues. Set the password back.
Called her for delivery.
She was ecstatic and paid an extra $20. Finally something went right.
A new call
“Hi is this Data Ral-Lies’s tech shop?”
yep, how can I help you?
I”ve got an iPhone 11 with a broken front screen. What would you charge to fix that?
Look I’ll level with you, I don’t have the parts for that. (nor do I have the slightest idea on how to get them) it would take about 4 days for them to arrive, then you’re looking at a 2-day turn-around for repair. (depends on how much I glue myself to the repair mat) Tell you what though, I can refer you somewhere else.
So that’s what I did. I called the local repair shop and told them I have “too much work” well. it’s not a lie. Even one person is too much work until I figure out what the hell I”m doing.
That’s what I’ve been doing this month. giving leads away. Several people have called wanting support, and while I can certainly fix any software issue I have no current info on how to do the hardware repairs.
I have some rules in place now. I don’t do anything for less than $200. I take payment in full, and I always meet at a local business in full view of a camera. If a customer can’t figure out how to take a photo of the back of an iPhone I won’t help them.
I like laptop repairs because software fixes are easy.
Not sure if I’ll do this long-term or not. I spent a lot of time watching Youtube and learning new ways to repair cell phones. Maybe one day I’ll fix all the broken shells that I was scammed for and turn them into working devices. Maybe I’ll turn them into a coffee table.
While writing this I got a new call: an iPhone 12 back glass repair.
Back glass only? yeah.
Apple charges anywhere from $349 — $599 to repair the broken back glass on iPhone. I told the caller $650 — because he sounded annoying, and if I’m picking glass out of my hands I’m being paid well for it. He said “uuuuuhh… ok thx. and hung up” i’m sure he will call back.
Maybe I’ll get good at this and turn it into a full-time job. Figure out how to topple the cell phone repair industry and become the biggest name in screen repairs. Launch an insurance model that actually helps people when they have a broken phone claim.
And figure out how to fix my own phone.
