Army Veteran Jonathan Kirkendall uses the electronic repair experience he learned during his 20 years in the service to fix phones, computers, and laptops in Scioto County at affordable prices.
Tri-State Cell Phone Repair just moved into its brand new location at 4033 Rhodes Avenue in New Boston. The shop was located on Dogwood Ridge in Wheelersburg for the past five years. However, Kirkendall said they just outgrew the space. “Our parking lot was getting too small.” He says the new location in the old Family Dollar sees more traffic drive by and offers tons more space. “Went from 750 square feet to 5900 square feet.”
That means there’s room for a dedicated repair area just for computers. “Our repair spot now is probably three times bigger than the last repair area.”
Cracked Screens Fixed Fast
Tri-State repairs all types of electronic devices, including PCs, Macs, tablets, and cell phones. Kirkendall says cell phones are the most common repair. The number one problem with phones? Cracked screens.
Fortunately, Kirkendall says most of those repairs are quick and easy. iPhones are usually fixed in 30 minutes, while Samsung phones take around an hour. “All of our repairs have lifetime warranties. That’s a great service to offer.”
He says a high-quality phone case is a must. He also recommends cases for tablets, especially if kids use the devices. “Every time someone brings an iPad in to get fixed, we tell them ‘you should go over there and get you an Otterbox Defender case so that you won’t be back too soon.”
The store offers a wide variety of phone and tablet cases at competitive prices. “. “Our Otterbox Defender cases are $20; that’s the highest that we have them priced at. Usually, you go out and buy those for about $40 in other areas.” To celebrate the new location’s grand opening, those phone cases are even cheaper this week, 50% off the regular $20 price until next weekend.
Another popular service is battery repair. Most cell phone batteries only last two years. “Two years is the norm for a battery. So after two years, we do a lot of battery replacements around here.”
Veteran Owned
Tri-State has recently branched out into offering affordable cell phone plans. “Almost any service you want, we sell. We have plans from $18 up to $65. We are really competitive. It’s all bring your own phone. You just come in here and pay monthly for your plan. There’s no contract, there’s no nothing.”
Kirkendall first started repairing electronics during his 20-year service in the Army. “I started fixing computers when I was 20, and I’m 43 now. So, 23 years I’ve been doing electronic repair.” He says the other tech at the store has 15 years of repair experience. “We’ve been at it for quite some time.”
But that doesn’t mean he still isn’t learning new skills. “We used to have to send off our phones for micro-soldering, but we went to a school up in New York. Now, two of our techs can micro-solder.” He says that skill really helps out in fixing the motherboards of phones and computers. “A lot of cellphone places can’t do board-level repairs.”
In addition to repairing computers, Tri-State also removes malware and viruses. Kirkendall says that in addition to removing malware, they try to sit down with the customer and look at what caused the bad software to get onto the computer in the first place. He says folks falling for fake tech-support scams is among the top ways viruses sneak onto computers.
Kirkendall says one advantage of the bigger parking lot is room for food trucks. He plans to issue invitations for local food trucks to set up in the parking lot regularly.
The store is open 11 am to 7 pm Monday through Friday, and 11 am to 5 pm on Saturday. Appointments are not necessary. Contact the store with questions at (740) 464-6806.
