2013: An Amazing Year

We at First Class Cellular Repair could not be happier about how 2013 turned out. This year our customers made us the number one (by volume) smart device repair business in Central Arkansas. We have three locations: Little Rock, Conway and North Little Rock. However, our customer base is much larger than just the cities where we are located. When it comes to fixing a cracked iPhone or iPad we have customers that live in Cabot, Bryant, White Hall, Benton, Sherwood, Morrilton, Jacksonville and all the places in between. In fact, this year we have regularly had customers in El Dorado and Fayetteville that would mail us a device with a broken screen, to repair liquid/water damage, or fix a power button, along with a host of other issues.

In 2013, we also developed more non-iPhone customers. We can fix any kind of tablet or smart phone. We regularly repair Samsung Galaxy phones and have a new method that has made the fix much more affordable. What will 2014 bring? At a minimum, we will continue to evolve to meet the needs of our customers. And, we want to expand outside of Central Arkansas in the near future. We are currently looking at locations in Jonesboro, Northwest Arkansas and Hot Springs.

Whatever 2014 brings for First Class Cellular Repair one thing will not change: our commitment to you - the customer. We appreciate you making us the highest volume repair business in Central Arkansas. Thanks!

The Last 2013 Giveaway

We have given away a lot of prizes such as iPad's and gift cards during 2013. Now, in the spirit of Christmas, we are doing one more giveaway. Come by our North Little Rock location between now and Saturday at 1 p.m. and register to win a $100 American Express Gift Card. Come on, you'll be out shopping in the McCain Mall area anyway this week so just drop in to sign-up.

If you win the gift card you can immediately turn it into a Christmas present. You can also use it to pay for that cracked iPhone screen you've been wanting fix. This year has marked a great growth period for our company and we always want to give back. See you this week when you register.

We Are Here For You

We are open today at all three of our locations in Conway, North Little Rock and Little Rock. We were also open on Friday for a couple of hours. We made sure that all of our staff was safe but we wanted to be here if you needed us. You never know when you are going to crack your iPhone screen or drop your Droid in a pool of water. We are here for you.

We don't expect to see many customers today (except for the really dedicated Christmas shoppers) but that is not the point. The point is that we had the capability to open and we want to be here for you. That is just how we are. Be safe out there.

Black Friday Special

Come by First Class Cellular Repair in North Little Rock for Black Friday specials on cases and repairs. While you are doing your shopping at McCain Mall and the surrounding Lakewood area in North Little Rock, drop by 2607 McCain Blvd. to check out what we have to offer. We will be doing regular hours of 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

You can see the exact specials on our Facebook page the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We know you'll be shopping a great deal between Thanksgiving and Christmas so please come by if we can do anything for you. We can fix your cracked iPhone screen before you finish shopping on your lunch hour. We also have convenient locations in Little Rock and Conway. See you soon.

Come See Us During the Holidays

The holiday season has officially begun. Halloween is over but Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. We know that those of you that live in Searcy, Cabot, Lonoke, Beebe and places in between will be driving to McCain Mall in North Little Rock to do some shopping. Great. We have a location at 2607 McCain Boulevard that can fix your iPhone, Samsung or any brand phone in less than an hour. We can repair a cracked screen, charge ports, battery issues and much more.

If you're going to be in the area anyway you should plan on stopping by. Also, find us on Facebook at First Class Cellular Repair. We will be doing some holiday specials that are worth your time. See you soon.

Customer Appreciation Time (Again!)

It has become a tradition at First Class Cellular Repair to hold a Customer Appreciation Day about twice a year.  Our first one was in 2011 at our Conway location.  We did it in the Summer and it was 100 degrees outside.  Since then, we have done them in the Spring or Fall.  Since that decision, it has rained two out of the three times.  Oh well, there is no perfect time to do this.

This month, we will be holding two different Customer Appreciation Days on back to back days.  The first one will be at our North Little Rock store on Friday, October 25th.  We will be giving away an iPad Mini on that day live on KSSN radio.  You can register to win by coming by the store at 2607 McCain Blvd. any time between now and the 25th.  It's free to register.  If you live in Jacksonville or Sherwood you are just a 10 minutes drive away from our store.  We also be offering discounts on iPhone repairs on that day only.  We'll be grilling hot dogs, giving away drinks and generally having some fun.

In addition to the iPad Mini giveaway, we will be conducting an iPhone training class at the North Little Rock store on Wednesday, October 23rd at 6 p.m.  You can learn about some of the lesser known features on your phone and also get our recommendation for cool apps.  We did one of these classes last year and everyone that came felt they got something out of the event.

On Saturday, October 26th, we will also have a Customer Appreciation Day at our Conway store in Nutter's Chapel by the University of Central Arkansas.  If you live in Malvern, Mayflower, Vilonia or anywhere in between please drop by and see us.  It will be very much like the event in North Little Rock.

We appreciate all of our customers.  Because of you, First Class Cellular Repair has grown into the premier smart device repair center in Central Arkansas.  Please come by either on the 25th in North Little Rock or on the 26th in Conway and let us thank you in person.  And, let's hope for sunny skies and mild temperatures!

Something Simple

Something Simple

One of our customers in Jacksonville had an iPhone that he left laying in the sand while he was on vacation recently. He didn't get the phone wet. There is no liquid damage to fix. But, the phone has not been charging properly. It's pretty simple. We just needed to clean out the charge port. All we do is open the phone and use a special brush to clean it out really well. It only takes us a couple of minutes. Then, the phone is good as new.

If there is something that simple we probably won't even charge you. This is assuming it is not necessary to replace a part. Mainly, we just want to see your device to make sure that it is not something more difficult (e.g. water damage, bent charge port, etc.). Your time is valuable so we want to get you back in business.

There are no dumb questions in our business. Any issue with your phone is important. Maybe it's something simple to fix BUT maybe it's a big deal - and that is why we don't mind you dropping by to let us take a look. Better safe than sorry!

It's Been a Quick Three Years

It feels like just yesterday that we opened up our first store in Conway, Arkansas fixing cracked iPhone screens and saving liquid damaged phones. And, that was about it in the first few months. We did not even fix iPad's back in the day (now we do them all day long). We did not know if the business model would work and it took time to figure out how to fix charge ports, non-Apple products and pretty much everything else. But, learn we did. Now, we have a staff of a dozen people working at three locations serving customers every day.

The Conway location opened in June, 2010. The West Little Rock store opened in May, 2012 and the new North Little Rock location opened one month ago. In between, it has been our pleasure to serve the customers of Central Arkansas (and beyond) whenever they had a cracked screen or just a random question about how their phone works. We even conduct an iPhone class from time to time.

A lot has happened in the world in the last three years. We're just a small but very proud part of it all. Thanks!

Avoid the Wet Stuff

It is the time of year to get out and enjoy the warm weather. It is time to hit the lake, the pool or at least use the garden hose to splash some water around. However, it is not the time to get your phone wet and sustain liquid damage. Unfortunately, that happens quite a bit this time of year in Central Arkansas as people come back from Hot Springs on the weekend with a phone that is dead - or close to it.

So, just a reminder on some helpful tips to get you through if your iPhone or Droid gets wet:

1) Turn it off and remove the battery if you can;
2) If you cannot bring the phone directly to a repair center, then place it under a fan during the interim;
3) Do NOT bother placing the phone in dry rice because it does not stop the corrosion and the rice might get stuck in some of the opening areas;
4) Do NOT place the phone under heat such as a hair dryer, oven or in the sunlight - you will only do more damage;
5) Get the phone to a repair center for a professional treatment.

These are the best steps you can take to save all the data and pictures you have on your phone that might not be backed up. (Of course, we hope you backed them up before the phone got wet). We have three convenient locations in Central Arkansas: Little Rock, Conway and North Little Rock. We'll help you out but you first need to help yourself out and follow the steps above. If you get a liquid-damaged device to us within 72 hours we have an 85% recovery rate.

Enjoy this time of year but be armed with the knowledge that can keep your phone safe.

New North Little Rock Repair Store Open

Our North Little Rock location of First Class Cellular Repair officially opened for business today! We are located at 2607 McCain Blvd. in the same strip center as Pier 1 Imports. Our store manager is Clay Rattenbury. Clay has been fixing iPhones, iPads and all types of smart devices for years. Our store hours are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. We are closed on Sundays.

This is our third repair store in Central Arkansas. Over the last couple of years we have become the premier place to get your iPhone, Droid and other products fixed in a quick and affordable way. We can fix liquid damage, cracked screens, charge ports, etc. If your device is broken, we have a solution. And we are always professional.

Finally, we will be giving away an iPad mini on May 17th. All you have to is drop by our North Little Rock store and fill out an entry form. If you live in Sherwood, Jacksonville, Cabot or Lonoke then we are probably on your way to work in Little Rock so just drop by and sign up. We are so grateful to all our customers in Central Arkansas that have fueled our success. We hope that this new North Little Rock store will be even more convenient for you.

Off Topic, But Kind of Related

A telephone book arrived in my mailbox today. It got me to thinking: Do people still use telephone books? I don't. I just throw them in the trash (or the recycle bin to be more accurate). So, I decided to look inside one. To my astonishment, it contained basically the same information that it has always contained. Most interesting to me, it still contained paid advertisements. Seriously, people are paying to be included inside the paper phone book....in 2013.

I know this is off topic from my usual posts about iPhone repair and fixing liquid damage, but I have a question to ask: Am I missing something? Are there still enough people that read the telephone book to justify buying an ad inside of one? I doubt it. In fact, our business is not even in the yellow pages of the paper telephone book. We just assume people will do a Google search and find us. I hope we're not missing the boat.

I am thinking now that it would be helpful to be in the yellow pages. They would have to create a whole new category for us. Maybe it can be called "Smart Device Repair Centers" or "Cell Phone Problem Solvers". We could think of something (though it's a lot harder to describe than just saying "Pizza"). So, we apologize if you looked in the paper phone book six months ago trying to find us and you came up empty. We just assumed that everyone looks for phone numbers online these days. Therefore, this post is still kind of related and on topic because if you can't find us we can't fix your phone. Sorry. Maybe we'll make the 2014 edition.

When is New Technology Too Much?

Before the end of 2013, Google Glass headgear will be available for purchase at retail outlets. This futuristic product consists of a small display situated on a frame that resembles eyeglasses. Google Glass, though, is much more than eyeglasses. You will be able to videotape, audiotape, conduct Google searches and do other cool things.  In short, it is going to rock.

The question that Google Glass poses is for the people that don't use it. Will it be too much? Should you be allowed to film and record people without their knowledge or consent? Will this tool be used by creepy people for bad things? Probably.

What limits should we place on technology? Maybe x-ray vision is the point of no return. We're way beyond iPhones that record rock concerts and children's birthdays. We are talking about Matrix-like technology that will be in wide use before we know it. Our opinion is that Google Glass will not cross any new boundaries. It is basically just a more sly way to do things that are already legal and mostly acceptable. There is already a process to handle people that tape things they are not allowed to tape. We can handle this new product but it will require people to pay more attention to what they say and do around people that they don't know well. That is a good practice regardless.

Google Glass is not a bridge too far - yet. But someday there will be a technology that is going to raise some serious ethical and legal concerns. And that day might be sooner than you think.

New North Little Rock Location

We can now announce that First Class Cellular Repair will be opening its third location in Central Arkansas. The new smart device repair store is located on McCain Boulevard in North Little Rock just around the corner from McCain Mall in Lakewood Village.  The Grand Opening will be in April and will be announced on our Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/FirstClassCellularRepair.  We will also be giving away an iPad mini to one of our first customers.

First Class Cellular Repair is the premier place in Central Arkansas to fix a broken iPhone, Droid or any brand of cell phone.  We also specialize in fixing iPads and tablets.  Because of our loyal customers, our business is growing and we want to make it easier for customers in Sherwood, Jacksonville, Cabot and other  cities to have a convenient place to fix their devices.

Follow us on Facebook to find out the opening day for the new North Little Rock store.

Expanding in Central Arkansas

Three years ago when we started First Class Cellular Repair in Conway, Arkansas we had a dream.  The dream was to become the premier iPhone and smart device repair center in Central Arkansas.  After serving thousand of customers, we believe that this dream is coming true.  Because of this, we have decided to open up a third location.

We will be announcing our new location in the coming weeks.  We can tell you that this repair store will be much more convenient for our customers that live in places like Lonoke, Jacksonville, Cabot and Searcy.  You won't have to drive "all the way out to West Little Rock" any more.  We can assure you that our new location will have the same high standards of professionalism that our stores in Chenal and Conway have.  We believe is satisfying one customer at a time.

And, we'll have another store doing Facebook Fridays!  Stay tuned.

Where Did I Leave My iPhone?

Unfortunately, this post is inspired by a friend that recently lost her iPhone. She did not have the "Find My iPhone" setting turned on in her phone. She left the iPhone in a cab and no one responded when she called her number. At this point, the iPhone is lost.  It did not have to be this way. Turning on the iPhone locator function is pretty easy. Here are the steps:

First, click on the "Settings" icon on the home screen;

Second, click on the "iCloud" bar;

Third, scroll down to the "Find My iPhone" bar.  Switch it "on".

Those three steps turn the app on.  If you lose your iPhone somewhere, this will work as long as the device is powered on and in an area with cellular service or WiFi.  It won't work if the battery has died or if a thief turns it off - so act fast.

Now, go to the website www.icloud.com and sign in to the site with your Apple ID and password. Click on "Find My iPhone" and a map will appear showing where your device is currently located. The rest is easy. Just track down your device from here.

The key is making sure that the "Find My iPhone" setting is turned on. Everything flows from that. If you have problems locating the iPhone later please feel free to call us at (501) 420-2273. It's a horrible feeling to know that someone else is in possession of all your data, pictures, contacts, etc.  Please don't be a victim.  Check your settings right now.

Each One, Teach One

We get a lot of questions on how on to set up e-mail on the iPhone.  We get a lot of questions on Facetime and Bluetooth.  We get a lot of questions on iCloud.  We just get a lot of questions.  So, we have decided to have a class on how to use the iPhone.  It's very exciting.

On January 31st at our West Little Rock store in Chenal we will be conducting our first ever iPhone (and iPad for that matter) class.  It will begin at 6:30 p.m. and last around an hour - unless we're having too much fun to stop.  We're going to have a PowerPoint and everything.  Like I said, it's very exciting.

If you know someone that wants to learn more about how their iPhone works here is the link to sign up:http://www.fccrepair.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=81

New Year, Same Issues

I hope everyone has had a good start to 2013. We had our busiest month ever in December. We could not be happier with serving our customers and keeping their devices working so they can conduct business and enjoy life. There is one thing, though. It's a new year but we are still fighting the same issues - in particular, we are fighting the myth of how liquid damage works and how it is repaired.

Rice is not the answer to liquid damage. In fact, it will probably make the damage worse in many cases. Why? Because liquid damage is like having a cancer inside of a phone. If your body had cancer, would you sit inside a bathtub full of rice and reasonably expect that this would somehow stop the spread of the cancer? Of course not. And, rice won't stop the spread of corrosion inside of a phone.

Here is a really good article that explains in detail the science behind what happens to a liquid damaged phone - http://goo.gl/DEmTV. The essence of the article is that putting a wet phone into rice actually quickens the development of corrosion inside of the phone. The article also explains why it is easier to repair a water damaged phone rather than one exposed to more acidic liquids such as orange juice or soft drinks. In short, any kind of liquid exposure can start the corrosion process but some liquids corrode faster than others. That is why some phones dropped in water will continue to work for a few weeks (even months) before finally giving out to the cancer-like corrosion growing inside of them.

So, what inspired this blog post? Two things happened. First, I had a friend that threw away a $200 phone because he thought that it was completely destroyed following a swim in the sink. He placed the phone into rice but it never came back on. Then. He. Threw. The. Phone. Away! He didn't know that we fix liquid damage every day. (Note: I'm on a mission to tell everyone now). Second, I had another friend that had water damage last week and put the phone into rice. The phone is working right now. I explained that the corrosion takes longer to develop in some instances. She replied: "Ok, I'll let you know if a problem occurs." I hate to say it, but it is just a matter of time. You see, when you have cancer and don't treat it properly you die. A phone is no different. It may not happen today or tomorrow, but it will eventually happen and by then it will be too late to fix.

Please let us help. We will open your phone and show you where the corrosion is growing. We'll do this for free. Just give us a chance to diagnose the device first. Please don't throw away a $200 phone. Please don't fail to act because someone told you that rice somehow cures liquid damage. There is no scientific reason why that would happen. Yes, sometimes people get lucky. But, if your phone has cancer do you really want to rely on luck to fix it?