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Drying out damaged devices
AUSTINTOWN
The black screen of death flashes before your eyes after you’ve dropped your prized possession in the toilet: Your phone sank in the sink-or-swim situation.
New technology can be found at TCC, Verizon Premium Wireless Retailer, 5507 Mahoning Ave., that most likely can resurrect your main means of communication.
“A wet phone is a very common problem and, up until now, we’ve never had a solution.” said James Shrake, manager of business development at Redux Technologies.
The common problem – toilet dropping, specifically – affects 19 percent of all cellphone owners, he said, and Redux Solutions has been perfecting and developing the miracle machine over the past five years.
The service isn’t exclusive to just Verizon customers, however. Cellphone users from Sprint, T-Mobile and more are able to bring their damp devices in to dry out. In addition, other Redux dryers can be used on tablets, hearing aids, flash drives and more – it’s just a matter of finding a location that has the dryers.
The dryers are available in 700 locations nationwide and, until recently, have been exclusive to TCC retail stores, but are now open to other expansions.
Michael Lelesch, TCC, Verizon Premium Wireless Retailer sales consultant, said the way the dryers work is they boil the water out of devices.
“The device heats to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, so it is safe for the phone, and water just pours out of it,” he said.
New phone buyers from a TCC retailer have the option of purchasing a membership for $29.99, which will cover up to two years of drying services.
Those without the membership have to pay a $10 assessment fee and $90 for the service. Cellphone owners with insurance through their wireless providers get a $40 discount.
Shrake said the difference in prices is a proactive approach and a reactive approach to a water damaged phone.
“The membership is really an extreme discount in exchange for customers allowing us [Redux] to educate them,” he said. ”It’s incentive to use Redux because the cost is still less than an insurance deductible or an entirely new phone.”
Lelesch said there is an 89 percent success rate overall, and out of the seven phones he has seen the machine attempt to dry out, five have been successful.
“When you drop your phone in some type of water, you lose everything – your pictures, your contacts and your memories,” he said. “And you just can’t put a price tag on memories.”