Tech Repair Shop Connects Their Customers to the World
Seth Berkman’s business is in high demand and may have never been more important to more people than right now.
Berkman is the owner of uBreakiFix, a tech repair shop in Mount Kisco with two other locations in Westchester. With a larger portion of the population working from home because of the coronavirus pandemic and students at all grades level required to attend classes through remote learning, Berkman’s services have been a lifeline.
As the state and county began heading toward a shutdown by the middle of March, there was a surge of customers starting to drop off their devices at Berkman’s Mount Kisco and Scarsdale stores. His third store in New Rochelle has been shuttered since early March because it is located in what was that community’s containment zone.
“People were bringing in laptops, computers, iPads, Chromebooks, all kinds of devices they had at home, now that they had to work from home and their kids had to work from home,” Berkman said. “They had to get any device fixed or up and running as quickly as possible. So there was a rush to get that stuff done.”
Making sure there are no more than two customers at one time in his stores to adhere to social distancing rules, uBreakiFix had to manage the lines that were forming outside. Berkman said his customers uniformly respected the need for distancing.
During the pandemic, Berkman has discontinued his while-you-wait service. If a device is dropped off, even for a relatively minor repair, the owner has to return to pick it up.
In the past week or so, he has started to see the business shift from in-person service to having devices shipped to him. Plus, Berkman’s five we-come-to-you service vans, equipped with a workspace and a technician, have been busily crisscrossing the region’s highways, fielding calls from the Bronx northward to Dutchess and Orange counties.
“My guys can be driving two or three hours to do a repair, but you’ve got to go where the work is,” Berkman said.
Understandably, customers who live even short distances from the two stores currently operating, have increasingly taken to shipping their technology, presumably to avoid going out and risking exposure, he said.
Berkman said most of his current business has also shifted from commercial jobs to service for residents, with a large number of establishments closed or with far fewer staff even if open.
Along with servicing his customers, Berkman said he has been equally concerned about the health and safety of his 24 current employees. Making the situation more challenging, he had a few who didn’t want to work because of the potential risk, while several others used accrued vacation time to take time off. He said their concern is understandable.
“It’s not the type of business where you can work from home,” Berkman said.
“It’s a hardware repair business. You can’t do it through a computer virtually. It’s a hands-on kind of thing. It’s like construction, if you will. You have to be there to do it.”
Aside from the two-customer limit in the stores, his employees wear gloves and repeatedly wipe down all surfaces and equipment as soon as they start each job.
With the van service, a customer leaves the device in a box outside when the technician pulls up to avoid as much contact as possible. It is then worked on in the back of the van.
Berkman wants to make sure his remaining employees are healthy because with a smaller crew he needs everyone he can to continue to keep the public connected.
“The telecommunications lines are like a lifeline at this point,” Berkman said. “You almost can’t operate without a functioning device and a functioning internet connection.”
The uBreakiFix stores are open Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Mount Kisco location is located at 14A S. Moger Ave. For more information, visit www.ubreakifix.com.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/