(Reuters) – Apple Inc and Best Buy Co Inc said on Wednesday that they have extended a partnership that will allow the Minneapolis-based retailer’s technicians fix iPhones at any Best Buy store in the United States.
FILE PHOTO – People look at iPhones at the World Trade Center Apple Store during a Black Friday sales event in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 23, 2018. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
The deal between the two companies will cover all 992 U.S. Best Buy stores, up from about 225 stores previously. In addition, 7,600 of Best Buy’s so-called Geek Squad technicians now certified to carry out the repairs and using parts directly from Apple.
Apple also carries out repairs at its stores, but there are several U.S. states – including Vermont, West Virginia, both Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming – with no Apple Store.
Apple said that it now has 1,800 third-party repair providers in its U.S. network, three times as many as three years ago and enough to put eight out of 10 of its customers in the United States within a 20-minute drive of an authorized repair center.
Apple has faced criticism in the past from groups who say the iPhone maker has made its devices too difficult to…
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