Phone repair man is paid £40 cash NOT to fix customer’s mobile as he finds note inside saying: ‘Just call my missus and tell her you can’t fix it’
- Oli Pickles was paid the money not to mend the smashed phone in Sheffield
- The man left no contact number or details and has never returned to the shop
- The visit raises questions about what might have been on the mystery man’s phone
- Mr Pickles has kept the phone, the note and the cash as trophies in his workshop
- Do you know who the mystery man might be? Contact tips@dailymail.com
A mobile phone repair man was left stumped after a customer paid him £40 NOT to fix a phone and left a note adding: ‘Just call my missus and tell her you can’t fix it.’
Oli Pickles, 28, was handed the smashed up iPhone 8 plus by a mystery man who refused to leave either his name or any contact details.
When Mr Pickles opened up the back of the phone he found two crisp £20 notes and the note.
It read: ‘Bro-keep the money and the phone. Just call my missus and tell her you can’t fix it.’
The number he should call was also written on the note, which ended with: ‘I’ll tell you full story later.’
Intrigued, Mr Pickles duly rang the number and a female voice answered.
When he relayed the message, she promised to pass it on and thanked him for trying.
A mobile phone repair man was left stumped after a customer paid him £40 NOT to fix a phone and left a note adding: ‘Just call my missus and tell her you can’t fix it’
The oddness of the incident immediately caused Mr Pickles to wonder what was on the phone that the man did not want revealing.
But as the cost of fixing the phone was almost double the amount of cash that he was left, the secret of its contents remain safe.
Mr Pickles told MailOnline: ‘I’ve been fixing phones for six years and have never been paid not to get one going again. It’s the strangest thing that’s ever happened to me.
‘I don’t know what this customer was trying to hide but clearly he wanted to keep it secret from his partner. It must have been so important, that he was willing to pay for it.
‘Normally, people are desperate to get their mobiles working again but not him.’
The mystery customer walked into Mr Pickles’s workshop in Sheffield on Wednesday. As yet, he has still not returned to tell him the full story, as promised in his note.
Mr Pickles claims that he suspected something fishy from the moment he entered.
Oli Pickles, 28, was handed the smashed up iPhone 8 plus by a mystery man who refused to leave either his name or any contact details. When Mr Pickles opened up the back of the phone he found two crisp £20 notes and the note
The oddness of the incident immediately caused Mr Pickles to wonder what was on the phone that the man did not want revealing. But as the cost of fixing the phone was almost double the amount of cash that he was left, the secret of its contents remain safe
He said: ‘When he handed over the phone I just had a feeling that he wasn’t coming back. There was something not right about him and he was acting quite shifty.
‘He just dumped the phone on me and couldn’t get rid of it quick enough. I told him to come back in two hours but I knew deep down that it wasn’t going to happen.’
Mr Pickles has been running his iDoctor mobile phone repair business since last August.
He has not repaired the broken screen because he normally charges £75 to do so but has not yet spent the money either. He has kept both in his workshop.
‘This customer only left me £40 so it’s not worth my time to sort it out,’ he said. ‘I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the money either. The whole thing is just a bit weird.
‘I’ve been thinking about what this customer might have been getting up to and just can’t work it out but it does make me laugh.’