CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Repair volume at UBreakiFix by Asurion is up 20% for gaming consoles, while repair demand for non-mobile devices, like laptops and tablets, has evened out since the height of the pandemic.
Spokesperson, Lynsey Thomas-Twyman told WCNC Charlotte, certain consoles, like the PS5, are still very hard to come by unless you're willing to spend $800. He said there are things you can do to ensure your gaming system performs at its best.
Thomas-Twyman said there is a variety of reasons, including the HDMI port being worn down from gamers taking it from place to place.
"The HDMI port can get loose or broken, and people are just shoving that cord in there," said Thomas-Twyman. "Once you have a gaming console, put it in one place. Try to keep it in that location. If you do have to move it, I recommend move the cord from the TV, not the console itself."
Another reason gamers are bringing their consoles to UBreakiFix by Asurion, is due to overheating, which is often caused by a cockroach infestation.
"When that fan runs when you're playing a game, the gaming console gets warm. And roaches love warm dark spaces," said Thomas-Twyman.
WCNC's Jane Monreal was at the East Charlotte location while technicians were working on a PlayStation 4.
"It came in for overheating. And in between parts of the board, were some dead roaches so we had to clean that out," described Thomas-Twyman. "There's usually rarely just one."
He said customers are usually surprised when they learn the cause of their malfunctioning machine.
"We get a lot of, 'Oh! But I keep my house so clean!' I understand that," said Thomas-Twyman. "But usually, when you put your gaming console somewhere, you're not thinking of cleaning that or around that space a lot."
To help prevent a roach family from nesting, he recommends leaving your console off the ground and in a well-ventilated space.
Thomas-Twyman has seen the worst of the worst, too.
"I've seen in the past, somebody took the top off and it was literally just covered [with roaches]," recalled Thomas-Twyman. "With stuff like that, I wouldn't say, it's not repairable. I just choose not to repair that. Everybody has their limits. We all have our limits."
Kidding aside, he said, the best thing you can do to hold onto your gaming console for as long as possible is to keep maintenance up.
A cleaning at UBreakiFix by Asurion runs $99.99.