Summer Time Toll on Cell Phones

The phone repair business is booming, but consumers' wallets are hurting

Bernadeta Thenoux only had her new iPhone for two days before she dropped it.

“Because of the shorts you’re always carrying it in a hand or small tiny shorts that doesn’t even fit,” said Thenoux.

But she’s getting a new screen and Christopher Luna is getting a lot of business.

“July and August is like my prime time, I’m just non-stop busy,” said Luna, owners of i-Geeks in Pacific Beach.

Independent iPhone repair shops like his have been growing around the country. As more people carry the popular phones they’re looking cheaper and faster ways to fix broken screens.

“I heard the crack and I knew is was gone,” said Heejin Marshall.

She says she needed someone who could fix her phone while she waited.

Luna says he can generally replace an iPhone screen in about 15 minutes, with a charge of between $65 and $100 dollars depending on the model.

Luna says the most common ways people break their phones are dropping them when they get out of a car, children throwing them and having then slip out of a pocket or purse.

In the summer, water damage increases when phones drop into the ocean, pools and toilets.

“I ask them to sanitize it before they come in first of all,” said Luna.

And while Bernadeta is happy to have a new screen on her phone, will this be the last time she drops it?

“I’m going to try to be more careful obviously, But I’m sure it’s going to happen again,” said Thenoux
 

Contact Us