Starting this semester, students with broken iPhones may not have to look any further than campus to get their mobile devices fixed.
Corey Mason, a junior, has launched a same-day repair service that covers iPhones and iPads.
Mason's enterprise is an independent branch of the global franchise iCracked, which offers do-it-yourself kits and mail-in repairs through local technicians. After having his iPhone repaired by iCracked over the summer, Mason decided to start his own service.
"I have my own business and [iCracked] basically provide me with all the parts I need and all the support I need, and I do all of my own finances. I do personal advertising, and I fix phones on my own time and treat it as if it's my own service completely," Mason said.
Mason can repair more than just a cracked screen - he has worked on malfunctioning speaker and camera functions on the phone, as well as broken "home" buttons. He does not yet have the capability to repair iPhone 5 screens.
It takes him between a half hour and 45 minutes to repair a screen, and he has made approximately 73 such repairs since he launched his business in August.
Mason's appeal comes partly from his ability to do repairs quickly and in locations convenient to customers, he noted.
"When people text, I usually ask them to come meet me where I'm studying or I'll go meet them and I can do it that day, right in front of them if they want," Mason said.
Most of his business is referred to him through word of mouth.
"What I'd rather it be is kind of a Cookie Guy presence, like, the iPhone Guy," Mason said. "Everyone knows about me, and if you ever break your phone you know who to go to."
The bulk of Mason's customers have been Tufts students, though area residents drawn by his low prices have also begun to seek his services.
"I'd say out of every five repairs, four of them are students and another one is someone from out of town," Mason said.
Emily Caplan, a junior, had her iPhone's shattered front screen repaired by Mason.
"It's a lot cheaper than getting it fixed [by Apple]," Caplan said. "I think it's a great thing to do in a college, because there [are] so many people that break their phones and don't want to pay to get it fixed. College students can't afford to get new phones every time they break them."
Junior Emma Van Lieshout, who had both her front screen and back panel repaired by Mason on separate occasions, said it was a quick and easy process.
"[He] has the best prices that I've heard for any kind of repair," Van Lieshout said. "He fixed my back screen within the day. When he fixed my front screen, I brought it to his house and he fixed it right there."
