To insure or not to insure…

I’ve always been the goto geek in my family and to my non-tech friends. The questions of what to buy, when to upgrade, how to fix this or that. Those are all easy questions to answer and I can always suggest a pretty solid reason as to why or why not. However, when it comes to insurance, it’s a challenging dilemma, as I personally have never needed it (knock on wood) for any of my devices, such as my iPhone or iPad.

So it’s not that I can give you a definitive answer here, but I’ll offer my point of view as a repair shop owner and with as little bias as possible. If you are someone who is prone to break your device more than once a year… then yes, insurance is probably worth investing in. If you are more like me, and have yet to break one, even though a few drops… then it would seem insurance is a waste of money.

So until this is a reality…

The real judgment here is understanding the true cost of the device you’re insuring and the true cost of the insurance. While you may think your iPhone 6 is worth $199 because that is what you paid, you’re in for a nasty wake up call when you try to buy a new one outright. The base 16 gig model will run you nearly $600. The repair for an iPhone 6 is currently $159 here at Mission Repair. You might pay $7-$10 per month for insurance and have a $50 deductible which is roughly $84 to $120 in premiums over the course of a year. Plus, $50 each time you break your phone. The worst part is the fact that you may never use the insurance, and over the years, forget you’ve been paying that monthly premium, especially if it’s autimatically paid on a credit card. Let’s just say that adds up to a lot of money over time… and you would still be required to pay a $50 deductible upon repair.

 

The bottom line is, insurance companies don’t build new office buildings because everyone is using the insurance. They make their money on the premiums that people are paying in over time and consumers not using the policy.  Sort of like casinos, they don’t build billion dollar resorts because the customer is winning more than the house! I would suggest buying a piggy bank, put in $10 per month and if the screen on your phone shatters… well time to crack open the piggy bank and come see us at Mission Repair!

Lastly, take a look at the fine print on your policy to see what is really covered and what is not. Water damage? Dropping your phone? Most likely neither of those are covered with a traditional cellular provider (AT&T, Verizon, Tmobile) insurance plan. That’s “extra” or you need to find a specialty insurance carrier that covers those specific types of damage.

I know that last part is a bit bias… buy hey, I need to earn my $10 to put in my piggy bank!

Have a great day!

Jeff

 

 

iPhone 6 repair lineup.

Hello folks,

Our iPhone 6 repair lineup is beginning to overtake the iPhone 5 repair lineup here at Mission Repair. In fact my feeling is that in the month of June this year, we will see a shift from the 5S to the 6 as a more popular repair. Call it a hunch.

This is helping us here at Mission Repair drive down the costs and bring down our pricing. I know that there are a lot of our competitors that just hate it when we lower our prices – I know this because they email me directly at times – but this is a competitive business and when it’s time to move, it’s time to move. Half of me wants to apologize, but the other half says “good luck and try to keep up”.

Our “GOT REPAIR” price has come was down as well…if you didn’t know, we are the ONLY REPAIR COMPANY IN THE INDUSTRY with the exclusive “GOT REPAIR” program. This means that if you have your iPhone 6 screen repaired with us and if you ever break or crack it again…you never pay full price again. It’s a thank you and a testament to our loyalty to our customers all over the country. Try going to that mall kiosk and ask them how much will it be if you break your screen again after you have it repaired – in fact, you need to question whether they will even be there the next time you visit. We put it in writing, honor any repeat business, and thank you for coming to see us again. And yes, we will be around in a year. It’s been 8 years already and going strong, with more locations opening soon!

It’s one of the reasons that some many schools use our services; they repeatedly break devices like iPads, and sometimes we will see the same device in several times.

Thanks again for reading, I’ll talk to you again soon. Ryan