City centre phone shop offer tech lessons for phone users

Owners and brothers-in-law Craig Clark, 40, and Tony Luckett, 55, opened the shop in 2010, selling mobile phone and tablet accessories, and refurbished devices, as well as offering repairs and technical support.

Also part of the team is technical director Aidy Sharples, 38, from Durrington.

Craig Clark (left) and Aidy Sharples (right) (Image: Newsquest)

With a background in device repairing, having previously worked at the Watch Workshop repairing watches and device screens, Aidy leads tech appointments at Accessory Depot, and the Journal spoke with him about the sessions they offer.

Aidy said: “The amount of people who come in and say they’re scared to go on their phone, we instil that confidence.

“We explain what we do and go through it. It’s just like anything, when you first start learning to ride a bike, you need stabilisers – we’re the stabilisers for what people need to get going with it.

“We don’t just do data; we do training sessions. So, when someone comes in, we tell them to come in with a list of five or six questions and we see what the problem is and go through it.”

Sessions start from £25 per appointment, but this can vary depending on the service offered. The team use a “two-minute-rule” . If it can be fixed in two minutes, it is free.

Aidy added: “What we find to be basic, other people can find very complex. Odd little jobs that we can do to help people, we try not to charge.”

The team operate starting with a half an hour slot, which can be booked over telephone, social media, or by walk-in.

Sessions are suitable for people of all ages, experience levels and backgrounds, and services are personalised for each customer’s needs.

Aidy said: “What some people take for granted, for other people it’s a whole new world to them. When people come in and their upset or shocked or feel embarrassed, we give structured guidance – it’s about giving that confidence back to people. That’s what we’re here for.”

The team can set aside additional time for jobs that may take longer than the initial slot.

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Aidy added: “I want to help and guide people to know that it’s not so scary, phones are a useful tool, they do more than ever and they’re not going to slow down either.

“We have a rule that if someone gets a random call or a message from the bank saying, pause, stop and have a cup of tea before going back to it to think what you’d do.

"Back in the day, when someone used to send you a letter, you didn’t drop everything, you dealt with it in your own time.”

To help more with topics such as cyber security, they are hoping to run group sessions. Anyone who may be interested in these can contact Tony, Craig and Aidy to find out more.

Accessory Depot is located at 21A Catherine Street, and they can be contacted by telephone at 01722 421424.