Thanksgiving Holiday Hours

Good morning turkey lovers!

Just so you know, we’ve changed our business hours on our website for this week, and it is going to be a busy one!

Yes, we will be closed on Thursday of this week for the Thanksgiving holiday, but we also have limited hours on Wednesday 11/25/15 – we will only be open at our locations from 10am to 2pm.  This will give our employees a chance to close up a little early

Then on BLACK FRIDAY, the day after Thanksgiving, 11/27/15, we will be open from 6am to 2pm ONLY.

Black Friday is one of our biggest days and we’re going to start early, so if you haven’t already done so, it’s time to sign up for our newsletter now so you can get in on the Black Friday specials that only happen at this time of year!

The Holidays are here, and so is Mission Repair.  Thanks I’ve got some more fun stuff to talk about shortly!

Ryan

 

 

People are really making counterfeit iPhones?

Yes, we’ve seen counterfeit – fake – iPhones come into Mission Repair for service. It never works out.

Unfortunately, bogus iPhones aren’t always so obvious. Sometimes they appear in seemingly legit online ads or real-world stores (NEVER at Mission Repair!) Regardless of where they appear, they’re out there, and the people who buy them are being ripped off.

Just how many fake iPhones are being sold in the U.S. is actually hard to pin down. Apple won’t discuss the issue, despite repeated requests for information. Anti-counterfeiting watchdog groups say the problem is big, but they don’t have numbers.

But the anecdotal evidence is there: There was the recent seizure of more than 40,000 counterfeit iPhones in China. Sales of the fakes are not uncommon overseas. Among those who have been caught peddling fake phones stateside recently are a father-son duo in Orange County, Calif.; a teen in Utah; and two stores in a Maryland mall.

Fake iPhones are just part of a much larger counterfeit-electronics problem.

“Counterfeit consumer electronics were the second-most-seized commodity in fiscal years 2013 and 2014, with an estimated MSRP (retail price) of around $145.86 million and $162.20 million, respectively,” said Matthew Bourke, spokesperson for the Intellectual Property Rights Center at Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And remember: Those numbers represent just seizures, not the real volume of counterfeit goods being sold, which everyone involved assumes is much higher.

However big the problem is, what should you do when that guy slides up to you at the bar and offers you a great deal on a phone for cash — or if you’re looking at what you think is an iPhone on sale?

Do yourself a favor, don’t buy it. While it may be a good deal, and it could quite possibly be legitimate, it’s most likely going to cost you big time in the near future. Fake iPhones are not repairable…like at all. We can’t get parts for them at Mission Repair, and we have no idea who even made them. Or worse yet, the phone is real, but let’s say it crashes after 15 minutes of use after it warms up. We see this a lot…and you’d never know what kind of odd issues that piece of electronics is having without knowing it’s origin. Buyer beware, and we’re just here trying to help you out.

Good luck, Ryan

It’s beginning to look a lot like Thanksgiving around here!

Happy Holidays! They are upon us. I’m always surprised when Halloween is over and we are all talking about Christmas shopping. It’s starting to look like Thanksgiving here at the Arter house, the decorations and coming out:

This means that the Holiday Savings are coming at Mission Repair too! Every year we receive hundreds of devices that customers send in for repair – that are then gifted as “presents” to their loved ones! There is still a lot of time for this, and we will talk more about it later in the month.

Now we should start talking about the amazing specials that we will be having on iPad and iPhone repairs…with Black Friday specials coming (WE WILL BE OPEN SPECIAL HOURS TOO!!) and then the biggest day of the year for us…CYBER MONDAY (which is November 30th!) we will have an “all hands on deck” event that you won’t want to miss. Every employee will be at work and “on point” as we make it through the Thanksgiving weekend.

Don’t forget to check our hours as we will be open early on Black Friday…I can’t wait for the fun to start!!

Are you ready? Ryan

A little common sense goes a long way.

Good morning friends,

A couple of months ago, my spa/hot tub stopped working. I know – poor Ryan, his spa stopped working. This blog post is not about the fact that I own a spa, but that anyone that owns one need to know that after about 5 years the main pump will fail. I found that out at 5 years and 4 months…

The breaker for my spa keep tripping, and all I was getting was a loud buzzing from the spa when I did try to turn it on.

Since I’m in the business of electronics repairs, I was able to dignose the issue myself. It was a bad main pump, which is just essentially a large motor with a pump assembly mounted on the front of it. I ordered a replacement.

Once I received it, I made sure the breaker was turned off and drained the hot tub to get to the disassembly. It was pretty straight forward…one “water in” and one “water out” pipe connection and and electrical connector that had a pre-installed molex plug that fit perfectly into the heater box connection. Not rocket science.

I got the old motor and pump out, installed the replacement unit, reconnected everything and ~voila~ it turned right back on! No leaks and it’s running perfectly again.

Moral of the story; I’m a DIY repair guy. It’s how I started my business Mission Repair almost a decade ago. Is it time for me to open up a spa repair business? I do know that I saved about $400 doing this repair on my hot tub myself. That’s $200/hour. Frankly, if I can make $200/hour anywhere I’m going to do it!

Ok, the spa repair business will probably not materialize anytime in the near future, but for all of you spa owners out there don’t be afraid to tackle a job on your own. It might just be worth doing yourself!

Take care, Ryan

Company meeting = success!

Good evening,

We recently had a meeting with all of the employees, and we went out to BD’s Mongolian Grill to relax, get away, and spend a little time to talk about a lot of business “stuff”.

Watching these guys fry your food in front of you works up an appetite!

We were able to occupy the entire grill together and it was obvious that there was somewhat of a “silent” competition on who would eat the most hot chili oil, and therefore have the spiciest dish. I know that my mouth was on fire and my sinuses were clear!

It’s a chance for us to get together and get on the same page…of course that’s what a meeting is for. But it’s also a chance for us to get together and spend a little personal time outside of the office so we understand one another.

There’s no question that managing and working with people brings out the best and the worst. My father once told me that when he was a young up-and-coming Silicon Valley hopeful, he went to his boss for some advice. Being a new executive, he figured that his boss would have some insightful tips on how to manage employees. What he got was what most mangers think but never say: “if it were not for the people, my job would be easy.”

I believe that out of all of the management challenges, nothing comes close to managing people. It’s good to get together once in a while and do what’s right. Pay attention, listen, and get some stir fry.

The busy season is upon us, and we are heading into the Holidays this year with a smile. We will see you soon!

Take care, Ryan