Scared of insurance? Never!

I posted this to eTech Parts' facebook page a while back. Editing it slightly for the blog.

People think that insurance is competition for independent repair shops. Some customers will discuss how they can just use insurance, but more often, lately, I speak to mobile phone repair shops that actually feel threatened by insurance.

Your competition is very rarely insurance. Please realize that most people would sooner perform fellatio on a homeless person than wait on hold for 45 minutes with a brainless dolt or fill out tons of paperwork to get their phone replaced by an insurance policy. The bureaucracy involved works in your favor, being the small, lean business you are. You can offer better service. We can offer better service.

Even if it's at a Verizon store, the amount of time it takes to wait for a rep to get to you is less time than what it takes for my junior receptionist who started 3 weeks ago here to fix your phone. Leave your name & number and come back in 20 minutes out of a storefront owns insurance every time - even when insurance IS CHEAPER.

I can't tell you how many people have come back even when, for their particular reason, insurance would have been cheaper. It's not fun. A premium should be put on convenience.

Apple has offered flat rate mobo repair to many people for $280, we charge $325, and yet it still accounts for over 20-40k/mo in revenue. Some people just don't want to deal with the hassle involved in having the job done by "the man."