What should I check before buying a phone repair shop?

A phone repair shop looks simple from the counter: a customer hands over a cracked screen and collects it later. Behind the counter sit skills, supplier accounts and promises to customers that all have to carry over to you. A shop that depends on one person’s hands, or on parts nobody can trace, is a different purchase from one with documented routines. Start with these four areas.

Who does the repairs

Ask who repairs the devices, how long they have done it, and what training or certifications they hold. If the seller works the bench alone, the skill may leave when the seller does. Ask whether the technicians will stay, and whether the seller will train you or a new hire. This page on keeping technicians after a shop sale covers a similar worry in another trade.

Parts, suppliers and quality

Ask which suppliers the shop uses, whether the accounts can move to you, and whether any terms depend on the seller personally. Ask how the shop chooses between original, refurbished and aftermarket parts, and how it deals with a bad batch. Look at the parts on hand and ask how old they are, since stock for older models can sit unsold for a long time.

Warranty work and customer devices

Most repair shops promise their work for a period. Ask for the written terms, the record of returned repairs, and who pays for a redo. Also ask how the shop stores devices overnight and what it does with the personal data on them. Ask your lawyer how a sale affects that data.

What the records should show

• Repair tickets that show the type of repair, the date and the technician.
• A split between walk-in repairs and any business or contract work.
• Supplier invoices that match the parts the tickets say were used.
• A list of tools, test equipment and any leased items.