can record skips be fixed?

Well, don't do this: when I was a kid, I located the skip area and tried to score the grooves with a pin. DID NOT WORK! Seriously though, seems like someone could perfect this idea with advanced optics and the appropriate cutter. Yes, it would ruin that miniscule spot on the record, but, at least you could play it through. I would pay a service fee for this "repair". I have often thought someone should come out with a skip button on the tonearm itself. Something you would activate that momentarily increases pressure of the arm towards the spindle. Blowing is hard to control and so is slight lifting of the arm or helping it along with fingers. For me, these methods usually result in the arm skateing across the grooves. Scary!

There are places that you can have a skip/defect repaired. It's not going to cost you $25 though. The last time I looked into this a couple of years ago it was $200 to eliminate the groove breakdown. They can not replicate the modulation, just a microscopic groove repair that would guide the stylus to the next viable modulated groove and send the cartridge on its way. They won't even guarantee that it will not pop as the stylus passes the repair only that the cartridge will advance smoothly.
It would have to be a vinyl that is dear to my heart to drop $200- on it. I would rather listen to great album and negotiate a known skip, than sit through a mediocre pos.