How to Save Money on Cell Phone Repairing?

In today’s economy, there’s nothing wrong with being thrifty. Especially if you are facing the unexpected expense of a broken cell phone.

We’re going to tell you things you should know about cell phone repair that will save you money. Let the list begin!

If your phone is water damaged, take it to the repair shop ASAP.

If you have spilled any type of liquid on your smartphone, you may think you got lucky if it continues to work after you wiped up your spill. Au contraire – the liquid may be seeping into your phone as you use it, eating away at the inner components as it short circuits. It’s always best to bring a liquid damaged phone to a repair shop so that a tech can take a look. If you’ve spilled water on your phone, it’s likely damaged. But the worst that can happen when you bring your phone to a repair shop is that a tech cracks your device open, looks inside, and tells you nothing is wrong. If you have dropped your phone in water and it continues to operate, play it safe. You will save more money bringing it to the shop right away if it is damaged. The longer your phone stays wet, the more extensive – and expensive – the cell phone repair will be.

Third-party smartphone repair shops are a safe option.

Oh no! You cracked the display on your cell phone! Before you dive into despair, realize that taking your phone to a local repair shop instead of a manufacturer or big-box retailer can save you serious money. Particularly if you are out of warranty or aren’t insured. What’s more, these stores will produce quality repairs and even offer warranties promising that your phone will be restored to you good-as-new.

If your phone isn’t charging properly, you might be able to repair the charging port on your own.

The best way to save money on cell phone repair is to do it yourself. To fix a jenky charging port, shut down your phone and take out the battery if that’s possible. Use a small, non-metallic utensil like a toothpick to gently pull up the tab inside the USB port on your phone. Place your battery back in, and restart the phone to see if it will charge now.

You can touch up small scratches on your cell phone screen with toothpaste.

If your phone display is shattered, don’t wait to take it to a repair shop. However, if you’re struggling with some superficial scratches, you can buff them away with some toothpaste and avoid a trip to the store. All you need to do is apply a small amount of toothpaste (non-gel toothpaste) onto a q-tip. Rub the q-tip in a circular motion to buff the scratch away. Then, wipe your phone down with a special cell phone wipe and get back to business.

Stalk your local cell phone repair shop on social media.

A lot of third-party repair stores will offer discounts and coupons to their social media audiences. So be sure to follow your shop on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. If you go to a repair shop, sign up for their newsletter to receive discounts. If this is your first repair, you can also check websites like Groupon for first-time customer coupons.

Only do business with repair shops that offer warranties.

Look, you don’t want a sub-par repair. That’s going to land you back in the repair shop, paying for it to be fixed again, or worse yet, do even more damage to your phone that will cost more to fix in the future. If you’ve decided to turn to a local repair shop for a cell phone repair, do yourself a favor and choose the one that offers warranties. The time-span of the warranty will vary – some shops do 90 days, some will offer year-long warranties. The non-negotiable part is the warranty itself. If a shop offers a contract that says they will repair your device until they get it right for free, they are going to get it right the first time.

Only do business with repair shops that use good parts.

Again, you don’t want to end up with a repair that will not fix the problem or make it worse. That costs money. Spend some time talking with local repair shops you are considering to see what the quality of their replacement parts is like. If the store offers a warranty, that’s a good clue that they use decent parts. If the tech is able to answer you quickly and effortlessly when you ask about the quality of the repair shop’s parts and tools, you’re probably safe working with him or her.

When you get a quote, look at the fine print.

When a tech from a cell phone repair shop hands you a quote, make sure you can read it in plain English, and that it lays out the prices of repair in plain sight. You don’t want to end up being overcharged or charged for something you didn’t agree to because you got a quote that was hard to understand.