Absolute Cellular

I lost my Verizon Samsung note 3 phone. Michael was really helpful and informative. He helped me get my replacement phone setup so I can have all my contacts again. If you are in Davis, and you need to setup a phone or need your phone repaired, I highly recommend coming here. Prices are reasonable.

Mike is the best in the area, period! Not only is he skilled and well-​trained, but he went beyond his call of duty to help you with all kinds of problems, even though some of the time-​consuming issues are not related to the verizon service he is contracted to do. I used to go to the verizon booth in Costco to get help, and I was happy with the free service, but Mike knows it all and can you help you in the ways that not-​so-​well-​trained people could not, even though they tried hard! Highly recommend Mike!!!

I brought my HTC one M7 in to replace the charge port (I got it via amazon and I hadn’t been able to charge/​turn it on). I was told it’d cost $ 35, but after Mike replaced the part and it still didn’t work he agreed to waive the price if I gave him the phone for spare parts. Very quick and friendly service.

Before I rave about this little shop, I should mention that I did not actually purchase any of their services. I received excellent customer service and help without buying anything, so that’s why they get 4 stars.
Anyway, I called Absolute Cellular about my damaged cell phone (Sony Xperia Z with a cracked screen and broken digitizer) and Mike was very honest about his lack of experience with that type of cell phone. But he asked me some questions anyway and called me back after he had done some research on the phone (about 15 minutes later) and he asked what specific model I had. I couldn’t tell him, so he gave me a price range based on different model types and then asked if I could bring it in so he could take a look at it. I brought it in and he was able to identify the model number. Then he was able to locate a replacement part, give me the price of that and the estimated time it would take to fix the phone. He told me they would charge me $ 50 in addition to the price of part for labor which seems reasonable. However, the part itself was expensive and I decided it was not worth paying to fix it.
In summary, I received a lot of quality help and information without paying a dime and I was not pressured into buying anything while at the shop. Mike just helped me get the information I needed.

I cannot say enough good things about this company. I have brought several different electronic devices to Michael over the past couple of years and he has always been able to fix them for fair prices. He even did something experimental to my headphones in order to fix them that RC iPhone Repair insisted could not be done. (For the record, RC iPhone Repair is not bad. I used them for a repair once, but I absolutely believe that Michael is more experienced and thorough than they are).
Overall, Michael is skilled, decently priced, and friendly – I definitely recommend him for any and all electronic repairs.

I ruined the LCD/​digitizer of my Samsung Galaxy SIII by drowning it in the jacuzzi. Michael spent over an hour cleaning the corrosion and testing my phone with a new screen. He succeeded in fixing it that very day… for much less than anybody else was charging. Added plus: He’s quite charming and not too bad on the eyes either ;)

I came in looking to buy tablet accessories. Michael said he didn’t have them in stock but was willing to research the tablet accessories I wanted and compete with Amazon in price. In the end he found out Amazon had him beat for these very specific items and suggested I just buy them through Amazon. I will definitely come to him in the future though as he can compete with Amazon, provide a better customer service experience, and I’ll be buying local. Definitely worth the convenience of a technology gadget store in Davis.

Super friendly and great service. I will refer my friends here.

Return customer. Service is inbeatable! Courteous, fast, friendly.

I have been a customer of Absolute Cellular for years now and the owner Mike Hair, a computer science graduate from U.C. Davis. All the other Unilocal are spot on. Mike is always laser focused on providing his customers with the best service possible. Unlike other cell phone stores I have been to, not only is Mike completely knowledgeable about the phones, but also dealing with the byzantine world of carriers and programs. He has always made absolutely certain that Verizon is doing what they should and has called them a number of times to clear up plan or billing issues. Again, like the other reviewers have stated he will spend whatever time it takes to resolve the problem. He is a master at this. It is so unlike other stores who just give you the customer service number to call, and we all know what that is like and how much time it takes. I’m sure you know what that feels like: like a sheep being sent to the slaughterhouse.
So, without going on, Mike is one of the very few business owners that I can recommend without hesitation. His technical and business acumen are incredible, and I have always felt that my needs as a customer are foremost when dealing with Mike.
Chris L.

Don’t go here, the guy is a fraud.
This guy, Michael, tried to rip me off on a phone. I found a phone on craigslist and tried to have him check it out to make sure it’ll work with my plan. He offered to be the middle man. The guy sold Michael the phone for $ 60, which was the price listed on craigslist, and Michael tried to sell it to me for $ 110 and pocket $ 50 for himself, claiming that the guy raised the price. If I hadn’t checked with the guy who posted on craigslist, I would’ve paid an extra $ 50.
Never coming here again.

My husband and I recently switched from AT&T. With AT&T we had terrable coverage in our neighborhood for years with lots of promises from AT&T that it would improve, «soon.» I noticed that people who used Verizon did not have this problem. Michael Hair, the owner, was extremely helpful. My husband wanted a basic phone and his came free. I got a Droid, but I was used to an iPhone. Michael gave me lessons on how to use it and told me that I could come back any time for help. I am sure I could master it, but all my apps are for an iPhone and my contacts are in my computer. I am used to syncing the system with my Apple setup. I kept the droid until the next day, but decided i needed to return it. I had to pay a $ 35 restocking fee, but Michael again made the system painless and loaned me an old blackberry so I could keep my telephone number. I drove over to the Apple store in Sacramento and bought and iPhone and it works splendidly in my house. My husband returned for some help with his iPhone and received courteous clear explanations. Michael is an excellent teacher and explains everything clearly. I laud the customer service that we received. Thanks. I have never given a business 5 stars before. While I was there, I saw him fix a phone for a young woman who had been told it could not be fixed. I think Michael is some sort of genius with electronics and he also seems to like the challenge of repairing supposedly unrepairable gear.

We all dread having to go to the cell phone store, with our broken phones and grim expectations. We expect to have to wait in a long line, and, when our turn actually comes up to speak with the one employee manning the desk, to be duped into spending way too much money for a new phone after we find our phone is broken «due to water damage.» Typically Verizon stores just assume that we shower, swim, and dance in thunderstorms with our phones. Never would any of the Verizon store employees ever ponder the idea that the Verizon phones their customers shelled out so much cash for… would potentially have a legitimate defect in their designs.
I not only was bringing a broken phone into the store, but I was bringing in a phone that was not part of my Verizon plan. Rather, my actual phone had broken a few months ago, and a kind-​hearted soul at my school had offered to give me his old decrepit (yet mostly functional) Chocolate. The phone had mysteriously stopped charging. I am not the most careful of individuals, especially when it comes to electronic products, so I was assuming there was a 99.9% chance that the charging issue was based on something I did (such as drunkenly dropping phone, soberly/​clumsily dropping phone, spilling hot chocolate on phone, sitting phone next to sink as I sloppily brushed my teeth, spitting into phone during a riled-​up conversation with my mother, etc.).
The owner, Mike, asked me what was wrong with my phone. The two mean-​spirited, distrustful, non-​negotiable words «Water» and «Damage» never came up in our conversation. I told him about my phone’s inability to charge, and he got right to work, imbued with an unrelenting desire to fix my phone at all costs. He did not ask about my phone plan. He did not ask if I was a candidate for an upgrade, or if I had my heart set on the new and improved most-​up-​to-​date Verizon smart phone. Rather, he immediately saw my phone as an electronic item that could, should, and would be fixed by his tools and skills. It did not matter that I was having a bad hair day, or that my phone was an ancient Chocolate species, Mike was an equal opportunist. He fixes all phones from all kinds of people.
By «at all costs», I do not mean that Mike charged a high fee. Rather he spent TWO HOURS working on my phone. He used three different screw drivers, parts from another broken Chocolate phone, and his own crafty creative phone-​fixing genius. Never has an employee at a Verizon store put so much time, effort, and thought into my dilapidated phone’s well being. Mike treated my phone like it was a Gold Card holder at a five star hospital, and he was the international specialist physician, flown in that day for the sole purpose of treating my Chocolate’s charger outlet. He did not merely fix my phone so it would work that day, rather he insured my phone would enjoy the longest life possible (taking into account its prior rough years of wrinkles, scars, and mishaps).
Now, perhaps most of you are cell phone enthusiasts, who would have enjoyed perusing the Verizon store for two hours, admiring the new models of phones and putting your sticky little fingers all over the gadgets and gizmos. I am not one of you. Electronics don’t speak my language. We are not friends. I have a hard enough time getting along with my own electronics (blender, computer, phone, hair dryer, microwave…) There is truly no need for me to upgrade my electronics «for fun». Trying to figure out how to work the newest model phone, for me, is just that: work.
So, I am happy to say Mike was a proficient and engaging conversationalist throughout the two hours I spent in his store. He is a UC Davis grad and has truly opened and managed the most customer-​friendly cell phone store I have ever had the pleasure of entering.
If you are not irresponsible like me, and actually are in the market to purchase a new phone/​plan, Mike seems to be up to getting his customer’s the best deals possible. While he was fixing my phone, he offered a customer a free car charger with his phone purchase, and told a woman that called in that he could get her a new phone even though it wasn’t necessarily insured under her plan. He really puts his customers first.
So, needless to say, I now have a Chocolate in perfect working order (probably higher functioning than it was before it initially broke), for the low cost of $ 25. Yes, Mike charged me a measly $ 25 to work on my phone for two hours!!!

Michael, the owner/​Verizon rep for the Davis area, is really nice. I came to Absolute Cellular in despair, as my 2-​year old pink Razr had decided to go to cellphone heaven. Thinking it was my fault for dropping it in the shower a few weeks prior (and it probably was), I handed it to Michael and said «IDUNNOWHATHAPPENEDTOIT». He actually spent a good 45 minutes trying to fix the damn thing, which was kind of him since it was almost beyond repair. He then concluded itd be about $ 50 to fix, and that it would be much cheaper just to get a new phone since I had apparently been eligible for an upgrade for a while.
So then we called my dad and did the whole phone-​buying thing, and it came out to $ 20 with the $ 50 mail-​in rebate.
Plus I ended up with a sexy new black slider phone. And everyone lived happily ever after. The end!