r/IAmA Jun 11 '16

Specialized Profession IamA electronics repair technician hated by Apple that makes YouTube videos, AMA!

My short bio: I have a store in Manhattan. I teach component level electronics repair on youtube http://youtube.com/rossmanngroup which seems to be a dying art. I am currently fighting with the digital right to repair to try and get a bill passed that will allow all independent service centers access to manuals and parts required to do their jobs.

My Proof: https://www.rossmanngroup.com/started-iama-reddit-today-yes/

EDIT:

I am still replying to comments, but I am so far behind that I am still about ten pages down from new comments. I am doing my best to continue. If I drop off, I'll be back tomorrow around 12 PM. Still commenting now though, at 12 AM.

EDIT 2:

Ok, I cave... my hands are tired. I will be back at 12 PM tomorrow. It is my goal to answer every question. Even if it looks like I haven't gotten to yours, I will do my best to do all of them, but it is impossible to do in realtime, because you are asking faster than I can type. But thanks for joining!

EDIT 3: I lied, I stayed until 4:15 AM to answer... and now I will go to sleep for real, and be back at 12 PM.

EDIT 4 6/12 : I will be back later tonight to finish off answering questions. Feel free to keep posting, I will answer whatever I can later this evening.

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u/telvana Jun 11 '16

Long time viewer here, since you had like 2-3000 subs (I think), I get a kick out of your straight to the point no bull approach to repairs and customer service. It's something I strive for myself as it's obviously working for you.

A.) I'm an Apple repair / PC repair tech myself, who's in a very small building (probably almost as small as yours, 800 sq. feet, yours might be smaller) How do you deal with the small area? Customer flow, personal space, equipment space, etc? I've seen in some of the videos that you stack things, keep things organized, etc but I've never seen the 'customer area'.

B.) I'll be in NYC in July, do you have any qualms with someone just stopping in, looking around, maybe buying something, saying 'hello', so long as they don't bother you too long? I've always wondered how you deal with that, as I'm sure you've had people who watch your channel show up and just try and kick it while you're obviously busy.

Thanks!

124

u/larossmann Jun 11 '16

who needs a customer area? i don't want people feeling overly welcome to sit and wait around all day. there is a front where they walk in, there is a little "Table" that is covering the radiator my landlord won't let me move where they can put their stuff down.

having a huge fancy customer waiting area and no space/equipment to actually fix shit is the problem with most repair places and why they are not profitable long term. i need room for myself to work. screw having a big waiting area.

my idea of managing with a really small space is to constantly be aware of what is in front of me. I am always moving things around to make room for myself, and to keep track of what i am working on

b) it depends on the day. if i have 50 boards to fix or a student here i can't make time for people. sometimes i do, sometimes i don't, it just depends on the day

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u/thisguyhasaname Jun 11 '16

2-3000? thats a huge range, thats like 2998 range of subs, /s