Phone repair company takes its services to new heights

Many people know how frustrating it can be when their phone breaks.

Which is why James Uberti started the technology repair company Bumblebee Wireless three years ago.

Now he’s testing out drones as a delivery vehicle for customers wanting to buy, sell or repair their cellphones quickly and conveniently.

“The technology that they’re going to jam pack into these drones will make it basically just as reliable, just as dependable as the U.S. Postal Service,” Uberti said.

The process is pretty simple. If you need your phone to be fixed Bumblebee Wireless sends a drone right to you. You place your phone in the box and the drone takes it away to be repaired.

Bumblebee Wireless said the whole process will take under 60 minutes and cost under $40, not including the cost of repair.

Customers need to be within a 10 mile radius of the repair facilities in Palm Desert.

But as the service grows, so will the repair radius.

“So one of the things we’re rolling out is the join the ‘Bee Squad’ initiative, which allows individuals to sign up as their own business owner nationwide and have the ability to repair cellphones and hand-held devices,” Uberti said.

Uberti said it could be two to four years before customers can take advantage of this service.

Bumblebee Wireless is still waiting on the Federal Aviation Administration to finalize the regulations for commercial drone use.

“So that’s going to take some time to go through the grids in the system, where you’re going to have no-fly zones. And all this technology will be autonomous within the drones and have it commercially deliverable when it is acceptable to do this nationwide,” Uberti said.

It seems that people like the idea.

“I mean, it’d save me a trip going to the retail store or sending the phone away for a few days;60 minutes is a pretty good turnaround,” Graham Langley, who’s visiting from Portland Oregon, said.

“I have my reservations. I think it could be used to invade people’s privacy, but as a service I think it could be convenient,” said Peter Smith, who’s visiting Palm Desert.

If you would like to know more about Bumblebee Wireless and all of its repair services, click here.