Letting a stranger into your kitchen to open up your phone takes a little trust. We get it. We're the strangers. So here's how we'd size up any mobile repair tech, us included, before you hand over the most personal object you own.
Before you book
Read the reviews, but read them for the repair you need. Ten happy reviews about screen swaps don't tell you much about a charging port or a water-damaged phone. Recent reviews matter more than old ones too, since people and parts change.
Then ask three questions and listen to how they answer.
What part are you putting in? Replacement screens and batteries come in different grades, and a good tech will just tell you which one they use and why. On newer iPhones, a part that isn't genuine Apple can trigger a notice in Settings. It's not the end of the world, but you should hear about it from the tech before the repair, not from your phone after.
Is the warranty in writing? Ask what it covers and for how long. "Don't worry about it" is not a warranty.
Is the quote the final price? Sometimes a tech opens a phone and finds a second problem. That happens. What shouldn't happen is the price changing without anyone asking you first.
When they show up
Picture a Saturday in Little Italy. You've got one free hour, your screen looks like a spiderweb, and parking is the usual Little Italy adventure. A good tech texts when they're close, finds you, and asks where they can set up. They need a flat, clean surface and decent light. A café patio table works. So does the hood of a car in the shade, in a pinch.
Out in Eastlake it's usually a kitchen table or the garage workbench, which is our favorite setup. Room to lay out tools, nobody bumping your elbow.
Either way, you're allowed to watch. Lots of people wander off to make coffee instead, which is also fine. But a tech who doesn't want you nearby is a tech we'd think twice about.
About your passcode
Plenty of repairs can be done without it. For testing, you can unlock the phone yourself and hand it back. If someone insists on writing down your code and keeping it, ask why. And whatever happens, back up your phone before the appointment. We wrote a whole post on what to back up before a repair, because it's the one step nobody regrets.
Test it before they leave
This is the part people skip, and it's the most important part. Before the tech packs up, spend two minutes poking at your phone:
- Swipe across every corner of the screen, including the edges where the keyboard lives.
- Try Face ID or your fingerprint unlock.
- Open the front and back cameras and take a blurry selfie for science.
- Call someone, or record a voice memo and play it back, so you hear both the mic and the speaker.
- Plug in a charger and watch for the charging icon.
- Turn the brightness all the way up and look for dead spots or odd tints.
If anything feels off, say so right there. Fixing it while the tech is still standing in your driveway beats a second appointment every time.
Red flags
A tech who promises a water-damaged phone will "definitely" come back to life. Water damage is a maybe until the phone is open, and an honest tech says so. Same goes for someone who can't tell you what part they're using, or who wants to take your phone somewhere else without explaining why.
None of this needs to be awkward. Good techs like these questions, because they have good answers.
Ask us, too
We cover downtown San Diego, Little Italy, Barrio Logan, National City and Chula Vista down through Eastlake and Otay Ranch. When you book, ask us every question on this page. Then grab a table with good light and we'll come to you.