In-store footfall and sales soar following reopening of English high street
- EE’s industry-leading next day* repair service will fix phones within one day
- Service extended to 85 stores across England as EE research shows 60% customers more likely to throw their phone away than fix it
- Free contactless phone health check also available in all stores across UK
EE has invested in extending its next day mobile device repair service* to 17 stores in the West Midlands as it welcomes customers back to the English high street. The new service comes as research from EE found that 1 in 3 UK consumers cannot go more than a day without their phones.1
Having experienced a huge demand and footfall in its stores since they reopened in England on 12 April, it’s clear that customers are still seeing the high street and face to face interactions with staff as vital to their everyday lives.
For the first time more customers across the West Midlands will be able to have their mobile phone repaired for the next day – with some repairs fixable on the same day – rather than sending a device away to be fixed, which can take an average of six days. The repairs service will help resolve a range of issues including problems with software, the battery and cosmetic damage.
With 60 per cent of consumers saying they are more likely to replace a broken phone with a new one rather than fix it1, the launch of next day in store repairs provides a quick and efficient way to get up-and-running again when being connected is more important than ever.
The new service will now be available in West Midlands EE stores including:
- Birmingham Acocks Green
- Birmingham Bull Ring
- Birmingham Corporation Street
- Birmingham High Street
- Birmingham Kings Heath
- Birmingham Longbridge
- Birmingham Northfield
- Birmingham Perry Barr
- Birmingham The Fort
- Bilston
- Dudley Merry Hill
- Halesowen
- Sutton Coldfield
- Walsall
- West Bromwich
- Wolverhampton Mander Centre
- Yardley
Commenting on the announcement, Lee Frankham, Retail Director at EE, said: “Stores play an essential role in supporting our customers, so it’s great to see that footfall has returned stronger than initially forecast and far in excess of what we saw during previous re-openings.
“One of the top reasons our customers visit us is for tech support, so the extension of our industry-leading mobile phone repairs service will help more customers get their phones back faster. Our investment in this new service reflects EE’s commitment to ensuring customers remain as connected as possible. The next day repairs service is now available in 85 stores across England and we’re looking to introduce it in other regions of the UK later this year.”
Available to all customers on any network, the repairs will be fixed by trained specialists approved by Apple, Google, Huawei and Samsung with the added bonus that many repairs are free of charge as 67 per cent of customer repairs in the first week of opening were covered by the manufacturer’s warranty.
In addition to a next day mobile phone repairs service, customers on any network can also benefit from a free and quick contactless mobile phone health check for anyone that visits an EE store. This makes it easier than ever before for customers to have mobile issues identified and fixed quickly, and usually prevents the need for further repairs.
Christine Davies, regional manager for West Midlands stores, added: “As the nation comes out of lockdown we expect to see a big step up in customers asking for phone repairs. Customers will be back to dropping their phones on the train platform, spilling drinks on them at barbeques, or the one we all dread: dropping a phone down the pub loo on a night out. My team will be here to commiserate and get that phone back up-and-running with our new repair service.”
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Notes to editors
For more information, please contact:
Sarah Eakin – [email protected]
To book an in-store appointment, customers can visit the ee Store Finder website.
To book an appointment for a same day or next day repair, customers can find their nearest participating store on the EE website at ee.co.uk/local-repairs.
Mobile phone repairs will be carried out by the Solihull store, one of five EE in-store repair hubs** across England, which are now carrying out repairs for customers at stores within a 20 mile radius of their local hub. Mobile phones will be returned to the customers’ local store the following day for collection. The five hub stores offer same day* device repairs if customers go directly to them.
* Subject to selected EE store, device model and repair required
**Hub stores conducting the in-store repairs include Bluewater, Solihull Touch Wood, Portsmouth, York Parliament Street and Nottingham Clumber Street
1Research conducted by EE between 23rd-25th November 2020 of 2000 UK adults
About in-store repair service
- EE has been offering phone repairs since 2005. Since then, EE has carried out approximately 60,000 repairs per year
- Before the launch of the in-store repairs service, repairs took an average of 6 days
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The new repair service covers:
- Cosmetic damage
- Network calibration functions
- Bluetooth/Wi-Fi/NFC
- Battery
- Display
- Audio
- Camera
- Software
- EE’s in-store repair service is approved by Apple, Google, Huawei and Samsung, with technicians using genuine, quality parts supplied by the manufacturers during repairs
- The new service is open to all networks. If a customer has a warranty fault, this will be covered by the handset manufacturer. If the device is out of warranty, the customer will be offered the same price as an EE customer
- If a payment is required for an out of warranty repair, EE’s repair technicians will discuss this with the customer and pre-payment will be required ahead of the repair taking place
- EE’s in-store repair service covers 72% of its model range. Models not eligible will need to be sent to the repair hub in Ken
- EE’s in-store repair technicians are intensively trained and accredited to manufacturers’ standards
- Customers can book an in-store appointment through the online service at a time that is convenient for them. For those customers who do not feel comfortable coming into shops, EE will continue to offer local store call back appointments to provide support and advice on mobile phone repairs.
- Customers visiting stores can expect to see a range of health and safety, social distancing, and hygiene measures. These include limited in-store capacities, screens in key areas of the store between customers and retail colleagues, hand sanitiser stations and increased cleaning, as well as contactless payments and mandatory face coverings.
About EE:
EE runs the UK’s biggest and fastest mobile network, offering superfast connections in more places than any other operator. EE brought the first 4G network to the UK in October 2012, and launched the UK’s first 5G network in May 2019.
EE has received extensive independent recognition, including being named the UK’s best network every year since 2014 for the following awards: The Mobile Choice Awards, The Mobile Industry Awards and by RootMetrics®.
As well as offering mobile services to consumers and small and medium businesses, EE also provides home and business broadband using both 4G and fixed line connections.
EE is committed to being number one for service in the industry, and has nearly 600 shops across the UK. EE remains the only mobile provider to answer 100% of customer calls in the UK and Ireland and was recognised as the UK’s Best Large Contact Centre by the UK Customer Experience Awards 2018 and Welsh Contact Centre Awards 2019. EE was awarded The Sunday Times’ Best 100 Companies to Work for in 2018 and 2019, as well as being named Best Employer 2018 by the European Contact Centre & Customer Service awards.
EE is part of BT’s Consumer business unit which provides products and services to all of BT’s consumer customers in the UK.
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Source: EE Newsroom
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