Repair shop aims to fix ‘anything with a power button’

Cathy Dobson Luke Faria is a 28-year-old newcomer to Sarnia who is convinced there aren’t enough electronic repair services here. “I want to address a service gap in Sarnia,” he said. “There’s a need for quality, same-day repair.

Cathy Dobson

Luke Faria is a 28-year-old newcomer to Sarnia who is convinced there aren’t enough electronic repair services here.

“I want to address a service gap in Sarnia,” he said.  “There’s a need for quality, same-day repair.”

Faria is originally from Tobago and moved to Sarnia from Toronto to become sole owner of uBreakiFix, a franchise with 48 stores in Canada and 23 in Ontario. His is the first west of Hamilton.

uBreakiFix opened in a new building recently constructed at 1249 London Rd., in the same plaza as Twisted Arm and Crabby Joe’s.

The store has a reception area where a small number of phone accessories are sold and a larger backroom where, it’s advertised, anything with a power button can be diagnosed for free and repaired at a competitive price, usually the same day.

“Twenty-nine out of 30 repairs are done on site,” said Ian Leonard, a corporate trainer and store owner in Mississauga who was in Sarnia to support Faria’s launch.

Sarnia’s uBreakiFix opened June 24 while Faria was still completing six weeks of training from the franchise.

The company has partnerships with several cell phone brands, which means it can access parts quickly and honour many warranty and out-of-warranty repairs.

When repairs aren’t possible onsite, electronics are sent to a uBreakiFix service depot in Toronto.

But that isn’t normally required, Faria said.

Most broken electronics coming through his door are iphones, tablets, computers and game consoles.

uBreakiFix was founded in 2009 and has more than 500 North American locations, including 130 new store openings last year.

Franchisees like Faria market themselves with a promise to service everything from smartphones, game consoles, tablets, computers, drones, hoverboards and more. They’ll even look at electronic toys and small appliances like coffee makers to see if a repair is cost-effective.

Faria has hired three part-time and full-time technicians to work the service department.

uBreakiFix is open seven days a week.  Monday – Saturday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. Sundays noon – 5 p.m.

For more, visit www.uBreakiFix.com or call the Sarnia store at 226-313-4247.

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