Most students know the horror of dropping their smartphone, only to pick it up to find the display shattered. Smartphones take a lot of time and money to replace, meaning it can be hard to find a service that will repair a phone’s display quickly that is also close by. Luckily for Seton Hall students, sophomore Andrew Foo has brought his own phone repair business to campus.
Foo has been repairing phones for six months, after being taught by his cousin, who is employed by AT&T. He started learning last spring, as a freshman, and repaired phones throughout the summer, gaining experience.
He knows how to fix screens, as well as various other malfunctioning parts of cell phones. For his on-campus business, he primarily works with screen repairs, repairing iPhones and the Samsung Galaxy S4 and S5.
Foo does the repairs mainly at his home in East Hanover, NJ. For an iPhone glass repair it will be about $80, for a Samsung it will be about $200.
“Many people, like myself, drop their phones on a daily basis,” Foo said. “Also, accidents do happen so I figured it would be beneficial for both myself and my peers to bring my repair business to Seton Hall. It is convenient for people who dorm as well as commute because they do not need to leave campus in order for their phone to be repaired.”
One of the most important factors in whether or not to get a phone screen repaired is the cost, and for college students, cost-effectiveness is always crucial. Foo’s prices are comparable to mall boutiques, and he will match a competitor’s price if proof can be shown that a store is offering a lower price. Factors such as the make and model of a phone, and the work that needs to be done, all go into determining the price of a repair.
“I had him repair my iPhone 5,” junior Garrett Almeida said. “He had to replace the battery as my battery life was barely over an hour. The repair took just about two hours and cost me $20. My battery now lasts the whole day and I couldn’t be happier.”
Currently, Foo does not have anybody else working with him in his small repair company, but that has not stopped him from having success on his own.
“For a fairly small and new upcoming business, I have had a decent amount of success on and off campus,” Foo said. “After officially opening my business up to Seton Hall students a few weeks ago, I have already repaired a few phones and I hope my business will eventually take off within the Seton Hall community.”
Foo’s work can be found on his Instagram page, @TechMedSHU, and to contact him about a phone repair, he can be reached on his cell phone at (973) 262- 3210.
Emily Parise can be reached at emily.parise@student.shu.edu.
