How are phone repair shops even in business??

[HumblePie]

some phone are a PITA to replace glass on. i replaced the glass on an iphone 5s. while it wasn't hard per se, i screwed up and messed up the touch ID sensor, which is non-replacable on that phone =\

I also replaced the screen on a galaxy SIII. that was a huge pain. it involved a heat gun / hair dryer and carefully removing glass to not destroy the digitizer. I can see why people don't want to do it themselves- these places deserve to make a living too.

and to the poster right above me, yes i'd much rather change oil on my car than replace glass on a phone. 30 minutes max to change the oil, vs an hour or more messing around with tiny parts, potentially screwing something up and having to learn the nuances of different phones ( oil changes are more or less all the same especially if its YOUR OWN car. but even if you're doing it as a business, its hard to screw up since you can easily find out what types and amount of oil to use..)

You don't get the point I was making. Some phones are easier to change glass on than others. Same with some cars. Some cars are easier to change the oil on than others. Point is that in either case they are a repetitive step processes that a technician that has done it enough times would have no problem repeating those steps again to do the process. It doesn't take creative thinking skills to change the oil on a car or the glass on a phone. There is no real labor intensive issues here either or anything that requires a high degree of skill to complete. Like say fixing a highly intricate small mechanical swiss watch. That takes a bit more skill to work with due to the sheer small size of the parts involved.

I am merely pointing out that there isn't really much difference in skill level required to change the glass on a phone versus the skill required to change the oil in most cars. Your preference, due to familiarity, may be to think changing the oil on a car is preferable but that preference has no bearing on reality. There is a reason they measure these out in time frames and metrics on how long it takes to complete a task. When the metrics for changing oil in a car time frame match the metrics time frame for changing glass on a phone, they are basically the same level of skill required to complete. Different skills to a degree, but same level of skill.

 

[HumblePie]

For reference, I remember reading an article a long time ago about the prices of computer repairs and computer repair shops. The article basically tried to see how good, or bad some of the shops around a big city were. They had basically taken a computer and cut a single wire on a ribbon cable to the harddrive. Then they put that computer into every repair shop around the city from big box places to little mom and pop. Basically only a couple of the mom and pop shops actually identified the problem correctly and only a single big box store figured it out as the only problem. Everyone else tried to scam the shit out of them basically. Even the big box store still charged $160 bucks to replace the $4 cable. One mom and pop place charged like $10, the other that figured it out charged like $80. Other places did "fix" the cable, but tried to say other things were wrong to justify their ridiculous price charges.

Wish I could remember where I read that article as it was a few years back.

 

[PliotronX]

It depends on the bonding process of the glass. My coworker's Galaxy S3 glass was easy to replace because only the border around the glass was epoxied to the digitizer/LCD. I looked up the process for my old S5 and unfortunately for the S5, Samsung decided to epoxy the entire digitizer to the glass and the process looks ridiculous and more than likely would break the digitizer in removing the glass so it's probably easier to replace the entire glass and digitizer/OLED shebang in one shot and that costs $140 alone making the phone pretty much totaled. I wasn't happy with the S5 to begin with so when the screen exploded from a 20 inch drop, I was elated to upgrade to a better phone.

 

[HumblePie]

It depends on the bonding process of the glass. My coworker's Galaxy S3 glass was easy to replace because only the border around the glass was epoxied to the digitizer/LCD. I looked up the process for my old S5 and unfortunately for the S5, Samsung decided to epoxy the entire digitizer to the glass and the process looks ridiculous and more than likely would break the digitizer in removing the glass so it's probably easier to replace the entire glass and digitizer/OLED shebang in one shot and that costs $140 alone making the phone pretty much totaled. I wasn't happy with the S5 to begin with so when the screen exploded from a 20 inch drop, I was elated to upgrade to a better phone.

As I said, I bought the screen + digitizer for $30 for the moto x pure yesterday. Looking at prices quickly though the digitizer for the S series is pretty pricey at the moment. Not sure why. Other samesung phones have roughly the same price for screen + digitizer as the moto x pure. Even iphones are fairly cheap if ordering the parts.

 

[purbeast0]

Service charges are reasonable, and then there is unreasonable. And the unreasonable all seem to collude to me. This is why I have my car worked on my some very small local mechanics place and not big box stores or any where else. The technician doing the work gets shit for money to do the actual real work. The part costs are very little. So the reason for the high markup is because there isn't any real competition to it that I can tell. Can't fathom why there isn't cheaper competition in that industry like there is for other repair service industries.

Then find someone who will do it for cheaper on Craigslist and be done with it.

It's very simple. If you don't like how much something costs, don't pay for it. If the price for some service is too much for you, then do it yourself.

 

[ronbo613]

My friend repairs iPhones. Most of the time it's cracked screens. Depending on the model, replacing the screen is about $100-150. If it's not worth it to fix it, he tells them.

 

[HumblePie]

Then find someone who will do it for cheaper on Craigslist and be done with it.

It's very simple. If you don't like how much something costs, don't pay for it. If the price for some service is too much for you, then do it yourself.

LOL, I am doing that Mr. Smartypants. You fail to understand the point of this thread. It's the lamentation of the service industry for stuff like this due to price gouging which leads our society to be a disposable one. Back in the day people repaired their stuff because the cost to repair at just about anyone was cheap and reasonable. Today though, unless something is under warranty, it is very worthwhile to repair most things. Heck, I didn't even bother repairing my last car. 2009 Mercedes e320. Oil cooler gasket on it went bad and was leaking all over the place in large quantities. So much it was causing other issues. Cheapest cost to place a $1 gasket on the damn car was $4000 because of the location of that gasket. Mercedes was dumb enough to put it in a place that requires damn near complete engine disassembly. The cost at that point was worth more than the car, so I just basically traded it in for something else.

The reason for the disposable society is mostly because in many cases the outrageous prices of repair. In most cases it is because the cost to repair is not in relation to what it should be regardless of what is being repaired. Which is why I wonder how most repair businesses even stay in business.

 

[purbeast0]

I understand the point of the thread. You asked how are phone repair shops in business and the simple answer is because people will pay them to fix their phones because they are too scared to take them apart and do it themselves and they want it done immediately instead of waiting for parts to come and what not.

Just like they will pay mechanics to do stuff, pay Best Buy to fix their TVs, etc. You're overthinking a basic concept.

 

[MrDudeMan]

This is why I pay for Apple Care. It's worth every penny and then some.

 

[HumblePie]

I understand the point of the thread. You asked how are phone repair shops in business and the simple answer is because people will pay them to fix their phones because they are too scared to take them apart and do it themselves and they want it done immediately instead of waiting for parts to come and what not.

Just like they will pay mechanics to do stuff, pay Best Buy to fix their TVs, etc. You're overthinking a basic concept.

What I'm pointing out is that it isn't conducive to pay those repair costs at all when the repair costs are as much or more than something newer and better. Not to mention when factoring in the warranties of carriers most pretty much get these days with all the major carriers.

 

[purbeast0]

What I'm pointing out is that it isn't conducive to pay those repair costs at all when the repair costs are as much or more than something newer and better. Not to mention when factoring in the warranties of carriers most pretty much get these days with all the major carriers.

Then get a new phone. That happens all the time with devices as they get old and start falling apart. Most people aren't going to pay $2k to fix the transmission of a car that is 20 years old worth $500 if it goes out. They get a new car. My bluray player died and I'm not going to pay $60 for a new laser unit when I can buy a whole new player for $80.

 

[HumblePie]

Then get a new phone. That happens all the time with devices as they get old and start falling apart. Most people aren't going to pay $2k to fix the transmission of a car that is 20 years old worth $500 if it goes out. They get a new car. My bluray player died and I'm not going to pay $60 for a new laser unit when I can buy a whole new player for $80.

That isn't the point of the discussion, but why are even repair places still in business as that seems to be the majority of what consumers do these days. Except for data retrieval, I don't see how these places stay in business.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

That isn't the point of the discussion, but why are even repair places still in business as that seems to be the majority of what consumers do these days. Except for data retrieval, I don't see how these places stay in business.

Me: "Hi, welcome to dave's phone repair. How can I help you?"
You: "Umm, I broke my phone."
Me: "Oh, that looks pretty bad - you'd need a new screen, new glass, and a new button panel. Probably like $200 after labor.
You: "Oh, really? Wow. Umm..."
Me: "But if you'd like, we do have a selection of used phones here - there's a flashship model from 2014 that's slightly better than yours and has a bigger screen for $225. I'd also give you $25 for your damaged phone as a trade in!"
You: "Oh... that's a good idea. Let's do that."

dave does some paperwork

Me: "Here you go!"
You: "Thanks!"

dave fixes your old phone with $30 worth of parts from eBay and some salvaged stuff from my junk heap, sells it for $200 to the next customer

 

[purbeast0]

That isn't the point of the discussion, but why are even repair places still in business as that seems to be the majority of what consumers do these days. Except for data retrieval, I don't see how these places stay in business.

LOL whenever someone says something you don't want to hear it's "not the point of the discussion".

EDIT:

Me: "Hi, welcome to dave's phone repair. How can I help you?"
You: "Umm, I broke my phone."
Me: "Oh, that looks pretty bad - you'd need a new screen, new glass, and a new button panel. Probably like $200 after labor.
You: "Oh, really? Wow. Umm..."
Me: "But if you'd like, we do have a selection of used phones here - there's a flashship model from 2014 that's slightly better than yours and has a bigger screen for $225. I'd also give you $25 for your damaged phone as a trade in!"
You: "Oh... that's a good idea. Let's do that."

dave does some paperwork

Me: "Here you go!"
You: "Thanks!"

dave fixes your old phone with $30 worth of parts from eBay and some salvaged stuff from my junk heap, sells it for $200 to the next customer

That's not the point of this discussion.

 

[HumblePie]

Me: "Hi, welcome to dave's phone repair. How can I help you?"
You: "Umm, I broke my phone."
Me: "Oh, that looks pretty bad - you'd need a new screen, new glass, and a new button panel. Probably like $200 after labor.
You: "Oh, really? Wow. Umm..."
Me: "But if you'd like, we do have a selection of used phones here - there's a flashship model from 2014 that's slightly better than yours and has a bigger screen for $225. I'd also give you $25 for your damaged phone as a trade in!"
You: "Oh... that's a good idea. Let's do that."

dave does some paperwork

Me: "Here you go!"
You: "Thanks!"

dave fixes your old phone with $30 worth of parts from eBay and some salvaged stuff from my junk heap, sells it for $200 to the next customer

Plausible, but not really. The places I called never offered to sell me something else.

 

[evident]

Plausible, but not really. The places I called never offered to sell me something else.

I see your point of the discussion but I think we've all made the case of how these places can and do stay in business.

 

[Rumpltzer]

I wonder if these shops also fix computers, I often get people ask me to fix their computers, but I'm just not setup for that anymore, I barely even know windows 8 or 10 and lot of people have it now. But it's not in demand enough for dedicated computer repair shops to be viable. But if they fix computers and phones, maybe.

One thing that is sadly a thing of the past now is TV and appliance repair shops. Back in the old days you would get your TV fixed, instead of trash and buy new. There was this local store here called Conrad's, interesting place. They sold ice cream, rented movies, and fixed TVs. You'd walk in and see all these old TVs and stuff with covers removed. We got ours fixed there once. It was one of those big ass RCAs on a swivel stand.

We need more repair businesses in general to fight against this disposable society idea. I think it could maybe work out, but it would be hard to get started. If people can save even a small amount of money by getting their stuff fixed they might just do it.

I think that part of the problem with something like a TV repair shop is that we've gone from component-level electronics to integrated circuits. Along with that, the number of TV makers is large and the pace of electronics evolution is so fast that a main board in a 2012 LG 47-inch TV existed for only one year, and finding that particular board is nearly impossible in 2016. So, instead of swapping out the board (which will cost >$100 to begin with), you need to hunt down the component on that board that went bad... and hope that the bad part didn't take out more parts!

The person who has this level of skill might be rare... and likely that person would be better paid in a different line of work.

My 2012 LG 47-inch TV stopped working in November last year, and I decided to try and fix it. I spent well over 20 hours finding the LG repair manual (online) for a comparable TV, narrowing the problem to the main board, debugging the board components one by one (pin by pin), and reading forums in hopes that someone would have posted a similar problem (and solution). In the end, I got lucky. By January, enough people had similar problems that someone figured out that the solder balls under the main processor had gone bad and needed to be reflowed. People were putting their main boards into their ovens to reflow the balls (leading to a sharp increase in ebay auctions for burnt main boards).

It happens that I'm a curious (and persistent) guy, I have a few EE degrees (and some spare time), and I work in an industry where semiconductor packaging (solder balling) is familiar to me. I also had enough sense to buy a $10 Harbor Freight heat gun instead of baking my TV's main board.

TV still works!

 

[Carson Dyle]

I think that part of the problem with something like a TV repair shop is that we've gone from component-level electronics to integrated circuits. Along with that, the number of TV makers is large and the pace of electronics evolution is so fast that a main board in a 2012 LG 47-inch TV existed for only one year, and finding that particular board is nearly impossible in 2016. So, instead of swapping out the board (which will cost >$100 to begin with), you need to hunt down the component on that board that went bad... and hope that the bad part didn't take out more parts!

The person who has this level of skill might be rare... and likely that person would be better paid in a different line of work.

Yep. Takes skill beyond plugging tubes into a tester. Tedious, time consuming, plus surface mount technology that can't be easily fixed by most meat-and-potatoes repair types. And, of course, it's impossible to stock the boards themselves. I doubt that even the manufacturers stock them, apart from maybe the latest models.

It's why we have $250 big screen TVs, but they're disposable. Dirt cheap to manufacture in China mostly by robot, but not worth the time to even attempt repairing.

 

[holden j caufield]

MOST people who break their phone screen are too stupid to be able to replace it themselves. It's a stupid tax. If you're too stupid to take care of your $500-900 communication device, and too stupid to replace simple parts when you do break it, you deserve to get fleeced.

It's a stupid tax for not using a $10 case

 

[freeskier93]

the people that pay have everything in their life on that phone and need it right now and don't care/don't know/didn't back it up to somewhere else they could do it

I get irrationally angry that in the year 2016 people still post on Facebook asking for people to text them because they got a new phone. 😡

Even 10+ years ago, in the days of flip phones, the carriers would transfer contacts to a new phone for free.

 

[HumblePie]

I see your point of the discussion but I think we've all made the case of how these places can and do stay in business.

I know how they stay in business in reality. They aren't fixing broken screens usually. Most do other types of repairs at a cheaper cost. Usually data retrievals and wipes. Most of the places around here will do a data retrieval + wipe + reinstall if need be for about $40-$50 and that is basically their bread and butter. It astounds me that they don't have the business sense to be more competitive with their other offerings though and that is really the point I was making. It's like going to the convenience store nearby that sells all sorts of snacks. Bags of chips they sell for $1 a bag and bags of cookies they sell for $100 a bag. Customers wanting a bag of cookies are going to be like "WTF?"

 

[HumblePie]

I get irrationally angry that in the year 2016 people still post on Facebook asking for people to text them because they got a new phone. 😡

Even 10+ years ago, in the days of flip phones, the carriers would transfer contacts to a new phone for free.

With android all contacts should be automatically associated with your google account. If on IOS should be with itunes account I thought. Even then, the rest are typically stored to your SIM as well. So not sure how people lose contacts with smartphones these days.

 

[preslove]

Always have a case on mine. Wife takes hers off from time to time for whatever reason. Usually because the outfit she is wearing doesn't allow her to slide it somewhere without bulging too much. Every time she does that then she manages to magically have the phone drop and get a cracked screen. I buy the cases for her, but can't force her to keep it on.

I'd literally give my wife a hard spanking if she did this with her iphone 6+. I'm not even kidding.

 

[OutHouse]

MOST people who break their phone screen are too stupid to be able to replace it themselves. It's a stupid tax. If you're too stupid to take care of your $500-900 communication device, and too stupid to replace simple parts when you do break it, you deserve to get fleeced.

your high horse is mighty high.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I think that part of the problem with something like a TV repair shop is that we've gone from component-level electronics to integrated circuits. Along with that, the number of TV makers is large and the pace of electronics evolution is so fast that a main board in a 2012 LG 47-inch TV existed for only one year, and finding that particular board is nearly impossible in 2016. So, instead of swapping out the board (which will cost >$100 to begin with), you need to hunt down the component on that board that went bad... and hope that the bad part didn't take out more parts!

The person who has this level of skill might be rare... and likely that person would be better paid in a different line of work.

My 2012 LG 47-inch TV stopped working in November last year, and I decided to try and fix it. I spent well over 20 hours finding the LG repair manual (online) for a comparable TV, narrowing the problem to the main board, debugging the board components one by one (pin by pin), and reading forums in hopes that someone would have posted a similar problem (and solution). In the end, I got lucky. By January, enough people had similar problems that someone figured out that the solder balls under the main processor had gone bad and needed to be reflowed. People were putting their main boards into their ovens to reflow the balls (leading to a sharp increase in ebay auctions for burnt main boards).

It happens that I'm a curious (and persistent) guy, I have a few EE degrees (and some spare time), and I work in an industry where semiconductor packaging (solder balling) is familiar to me. I also had enough sense to buy a $10 Harbor Freight heat gun instead of baking my TV's main board.

TV still works!

Yeah that's the thing. Been kinda learning electronics myself and it really is hard to fix stuff now without really getting down to component level and lots of testing and troubleshooting, and even then often it's ICs like you said. You could spend 5 hours troubleshooting something with a scope and everything, so at what point is it too costly for the customer if you charge your time.