How we chose
We started from the thirty-one computer repair candidates Google Maps shows across Telford. Manufacturer appointments were sourced from Apple's official locator, each firm's own pages and the company register [4] [7]. Each business must first meet our basic checks: it is who it says it is, it is trading today and can be reached, and anything it must hold by law is in place. Ten firms met all three. What customers say counts most toward the score — the star rating itself, since beyond a small handful of reviews volume adds nothing — then qualifications, then whether the firm has traded two years or more and whether its cover is stated, then pricing clarity and website detail. All evidence is dated early September 2026.
How to hire
Match the shop to the job before you call. A sick laptop or desktop belongs at a bench shop such as DB Computing, Midland Computers or Ace Computer Systems, where someone opens the machine and diagnoses it. A cracked phone screen or tired battery belongs at a walk-in phone bench such as iCrack, Repair Xperts or Repair Xperts Pro. Apple kit still under warranty belongs on the authorised route at Select Telford, while a dead board the high street cannot touch belongs in the post to Electronic Partners. If the device is past saving, CeX and Currys cover the replace half of the decision.
Know the Apple split, because it decides your warranty. Only repairs by Apple itself or an Apple Authorised Service Provider are covered by Apple's warranty and AppleCare plans, using genuine parts throughout [3]. Check any Telford shop on Apple's own locator before you book, and treat an unauthorised fix on a covered device as the end of that cover [4]. Out of warranty the maths flips: independents are usually far cheaper and often same-day, and carry their own guarantee instead. Say which route you want in your first message.
This trade has no licence to check, so check the business instead. No law demands a registration badge for computer repairs, which means reputation and paperwork do the heavy lifting. Search the company name on the Companies House register and read what the site itself publishes: a company number, a street address, opening hours and a working phone number [7]. Manufacturer and partner badges — Microsoft, HP, Dell, Apple — are claims the firms state on their own pages, not licences anyone checked, so take them as stated and weigh them next to the review record.
Protect what is on the device before you hand it over. Back up every photo, document and login you cannot lose, because even a simple screen swap can end in a wiped machine if something shorts. Note your passwords, sign out of banking apps, and remove the SIM and memory card where you can. Ask how the shop handles customer data and whether storage is ever wiped as part of the fix, and get a written receipt that names your exact device, the reported fault and the agreed price.
Get two or three written quotes on the same described fault, and make each one show parts, labour, VAT, turnaround time and the warranty length [1]. For phone screens, ask outright whether the replacement is a genuine or pattern part and what difference that makes to price and display quality. Agree whether the figure is a fixed quote or an estimate that can move once the machine is open, and agree what happens — price and timescale — if opening it reveals a second fault. Treat an outlier, far above or below the rest, as a question rather than a bargain.
Know where you stand if the fix fails. The law says a paid service must be done with reasonable care and skill, and if it was not, you can ask for it to be done again or for a price reduction [5]. When you collect, test the device in the shop: every key, port, camera and speaker the job touched. Take home an itemised invoice showing the VAT, the warranty terms in writing, and your old parts where they were replaced. If a replaced machine leaves you with a dead one, shops selling you the new device must offer a free take-back route for the old electrics [6]. File everything with the receipt.
Pricing
As of summer 2026, rough Telford ranges for laptop jobs run like this: a screen replacement £50–£300; a battery swap £30–£180; a keyboard replacement £30–£200; a power-socket repair £45–£210; a liquid-damage clear-out £50–£250; and a motherboard replacement £100–£500 [1]. These figures come from a Which? survey of ten trusted traders in November 2025, include labour and materials but exclude VAT, and Telford usually sits below London and South East prices [1].
Desktop jobs cost less: a power-supply replacement £50–£150, a hard-drive replacement with software reinstall and data transfer £85–£250, a motherboard replacement £75–£300, and a general service for a slow machine £40–£120 [1]. Phone prices split by route: Apple fixes a current iPhone screen for £349–£389 against around £150 independently, and an iPhone battery about £95 against £70–£100; Samsung repairs show the same gap [2]. Prices were correct as of January 2026 [2].
Three things move the price most: the badge on the device, with Apple parts costing more than standard ones and touch or OLED screens dearer still; liquid damage and board faults, where nobody knows the full cost until the machine is open; and data recovery time, which can double a hard-drive job [1]. The age of the machine matters too, since parts for older models get scarce and dear. Published ranges exclude VAT, so ask whether your quote adds it on top [1].
Get the scope in writing before work starts — exactly which fault, which part grade, the turnaround, the warranty length and what a no-fix outcome costs. Firms here mostly quote per job and publish almost no rate cards, so treat any single fixed price for a board or liquid job with no breakdown as a question, not an answer [1]. Agree payment stages, keep every quote, invoice and warranty slip together, and remember a faulty service can be challenged for a redo or a reduction [5].
Red flags
Quotes a motherboard or liquid-damage repair at a fixed price without opening the machine or seeing photos of the fault.
Will not say whether a replacement phone screen is a genuine or pattern part before fitting it.
Takes your laptop with no written receipt naming the device, the reported fault and the agreed price.
Asks for full payment in cash before diagnosing the fault, with no written quote or terms [5].
Starts work without asking what photos, files and logins live on the device or how they will be protected.
States no warranty on the repair and will not put the guarantee length in writing.
Gives one fixed price for a board-level job with no breakdown of parts, labour and VAT [1].
The bottom line
For most people, start with DB Computing: a free test, a quote before work, and one small team owning the job suit almost any laptop or desktop fault. Ask for the price and warranty in writing first, since no rate card is published.
Match the shop to the device otherwise: Appel for out-of-warranty Apple kit, Select Telford when only the authorised route with genuine parts will do, Electronic Partners for board-level faults by post, and Midland Computers when a business machine is down. Then back up everything you cannot lose, get the quote itemised with parts, labour and VAT, and keep the invoice with the warranty terms.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.