Need to fix your remote or tv?

I have a remote control I use to control my media server which I’m very used to since I’ve been using it for a number of years now. It’s not an expensive remote, it costs around KD7 on Amazon with an IR receiver but if you include shipping as well it comes out to around KD12. Recently it just stopped working for no reason and I really didn’t feel like ordering another one online. Other than the fact it would have taken around two weeks to get to Kuwait I just didn’t want to pay KD12 for a remote which shouldn’t have stopped working in the first place. So I headed to Hawalli looking for a place that would fix it and after asking around I was pointed to a building and told to go down to the basement.

It had to be the dodgiest basement of a complex I had ever been to. There was no lighting, most of the shops were closed and the only light available in the basement were from the few stores that were open. One of my favorite things about Kuwait is how all the stores that sell the same thing are always open next to each other. So you have all the video game stores in Rihab, all the car dealers in Al Rai and here you had a basement filled with small stores that just fixed electronics.

From all the stores open one stood out because they specialized in selling just remote controls which I found fascinating. I ended up going into one of the repair stores and after opening up my remote the repair guy told me two chips on the remote needed replacing. Originally he asked for KD4 but I was able to haggle my way down to KD2. Took him around 5 minutes to fix it while I watched.

So if you ever need a remote or any small electronics repaired this is probably the basement to visit. The basement is located in Hawalli past the Fire Station in a complex called Al Hajiri. Here it is on [Google Maps]