MAC SUPPORT STORE on 7TH: CAVEAT EMPTOR/BUYER BEWARE

greatcthulhu · February 2008

Hi all,

Recently a Mac Support Store opened here in the hood, it's down on 7th and 3rd Ave.

Here is the UR: http://www.macsupportstore.com/

I brought in a laptop (MacBook Pro) for a tune-up -- just basic diagnostics and disk utility stuff.

On picking it up i was aghast to discover that the Mac Support people had replaced the hard drive -- and wiped out ALL of my applications and data. basically, what I got back from them was a virgin computer.

I'm a musician, and this laptop functions as my quasi-recording studio. My recording applications were gone, and all music projects.

I called up Mac Support and demanded an explanation. They claimed that I told them "twice" that my data was backed up and it was OK for them to scrub everything on this Mac.

I have no memory telling them this; there is no notation to that effect on the invoice.

Luckily, my music project files are saved on another computer. I didn't really lose anything, but was obliged to spend about eight hours reinstalling programs, repairing permissions, etc.

Mac Support's attitude to this was cavalier and completely unhelpful. They caused me considerable inconvenience and responded with the snotty, hipster, f-you attitude that I guess is de riguer for people in the employ of Apple.

I'm all for supporting local businesses, but this outfit, based on my experience, is a complete dud. If you do go there, make sure you are completely clear about what you want them to do, and what you are empowering them to do, Else you will end up like me, wasting a whole day on work that should not have to have been done.

steve · February 2008

I have a few clients that have used them and the reports have been mixed.

evilbert · February 2008

this sounds suspicious. This is your first post on this forum and you use it to bash a local business - it kind of raises a flag.

You brought your computer in for a "tune up"? What does that mean? I've been involved with mac diagnostics for over 10 years, and I can't recall anyone ever asking for a "tune up" for their computer - you bring it to a tech when there's something wrong with it!

So you being disatisfied with their service, you decide to smear their company name on a public message board?

Seems awfully suspicious to me!

booklaw · February 2008

A couple of years ago I discovered that my G5 iMac suffered from bad capacitors, as was common for the early production run of that model. I called Apple under their extended warranty program for that particular problem, and they sent a guy to my house to examine and fix the problem.

The guy they sent was actually employed by the Mac Support Store on 7th Street, working as an independent contractor for Apple. He did the job quickly and competently. I was quite pleased.

greatcthulhu · February 2008

Subject: What sort of flag?

Booklaw, I think you may have dealt with the Mac support store on 9th street. This 7th street place is brand spankin' new, like in the last few months,.

Evilbert -- what sort of flag? Yeah, this is my first post, and I was doing so in a spirit of public service, I having had a wretched experience with this place. Your mileage may vary.

Suspicious? I mean honestly, of what? That I am a member of the Chimpy McBushitlerburton junta seeking to crush small hip businesses in boho hoods like the Slope? That I am a metrosexual from the Soho store who'd planned to relocate to PS and start a Mac store, only to be beaten to the punch by the fine people on 7th?

Dude, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. I had a bad experience. I wanted to share. You may not. Others obviously havent.

Weird, though, your conspiracy gland.

Bummer, BTW, that all the Evil Bert pics have actually been removed from the Web... I donno, Sacha is funny but Borat has nothing on Evil Bert.

Peace brother!

steve · February 2008

1. I'm pretty sure the one on 7th is the same as the one that was on 9th. By pretty sure I mean, totally sure.

2. I have plenty of mac clients (and windows clients) call me for a tune-up. They say it's running slowly and it has this or that problem and so on. Typical.

samiam1973 · February 2008

I had a problem there also.

In july, my hard drive failed to mount on my powerbook. The Mac Support Store did a diagnostic and found that the ram failed (I had 2 512mb). I asked for it back, so I could return the bad ram (it was still under warranty). There was no charge since nothing was fixed. I thought the new replacement ram would hopefully fix the problem. When I powered the powerbook up, I found out they forgot to give me the new password for it. It didn't matter because it still didn't work with the Brand new ram installed.

The Mac Support Store then told me that my logic board fried, and I paid $389 to replace it.

When I got my powerbook back it had 1 512mb ram (which is not removable) and 256mb ram in it. So I gave it to them with 1gb of ram and got it back in working condition with 768mb of ram!!!

So I took it back and they could not find my brand new 512mb ram!
I was so pissed. They wound up replacing my 512mb ram (a superior quality one) and actually offered to upgrade my 100gb hard drive to 120gb at no charge. I took them up on on it. They even gave me back my old 100gb drive which I returned for a new one, just in case.

I was just happy to get my baby back from them in working condition.

So I'm still on the fence about them. They really screwed up, but made it up to me. I might buy mac products there because it's closer than going to manhattan. I think I'm going back to old reliable TS for the big boy stuff.

1st_streeter · February 2008

I took my dead iMac there - they wouldn't give me an on-the-spot diagnostic and wanted to charge for a next-day one (50 bucks I think it was). I said no thanks and later that same day I dropped it off at the Apple Genius Bar in Soho. No charge for the diagnostic and early the next morning I got a call from them to come pick it up, it was up and running with a brand new power supply.

I like to support local businesses but in this case I'm sticking to the Apple Store.

cat · February 2008

Subject: apple store vs. tek serve?

very cute kitty shot.

I didn't realize the Apple Store did repairs. So is that better than Tek Serve?

Good to know about Mac Support in PS. Was considering trying them but hadn't had a reason to yet.

1st_Streeter wrote: I took my dead iMac there - they wouldn't give me an on-the-spot diagnostic and wanted to charge for a next-day one (50 bucks I think it was). I said no thanks and later that same day I dropped it off at the Apple Genius Bar in Soho. No charge for the diagnostic and early the next morning I got a call from them to come pick it up, it was up and running with a brand new power supply.

I like to support local businesses but in this case I'm sticking to the Apple Store.

cat · February 2008

Subject: Re: What sort of flag?

This was pretty funny and well done.

Sorry to hear about your experience.

GreatCthulhu wrote: Booklaw, I think you may have dealt with the Mac support store on 9th street. This 7th street place is brand spankin' new, like in the last few months,.

Evilbert -- what sort of flag? Yeah, this is my first post, and I was doing so in a spirit of public service, I having had a wretched experience with this place. Your mileage may vary.

Suspicious? I mean honestly, of what? That I am a member of the Chimpy McBushitlerburton junta seeking to crush small hip businesses in boho hoods like the Slope? That I am a metrosexual from the Soho store who'd planned to relocate to PS and start a Mac store, only to be beaten to the punch by the fine people on 7th?

Dude, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. I had a bad experience. I wanted to share. You may not. Others obviously havent.

Weird, though, your conspiracy gland.

Bummer, BTW, that all the Evil Bert pics have actually been removed from the Web... I donno, Sacha is funny but Borat has nothing on Evil Bert.

Peace brother!

filmlover44 · February 2008

Subject: Re: apple store vs. tek serve?

cat wrote: very cute kitty shot.

I didn't realize the Apple Store did repairs. So is that better than Tek Serve?

Good to know about Mac Support in PS. Was considering trying them but hadn't had a reason to yet.

[quote=1st_Streeter]I took my dead iMac there - they wouldn't give me an on-the-spot diagnostic and wanted to charge for a next-day one (50 bucks I think it was). I said no thanks and later that same day I dropped it off at the Apple Genius Bar in Soho. No charge for the diagnostic and early the next morning I got a call from them to come pick it up, it was up and running with a brand new power supply.

I like to support local businesses but in this case I'm sticking to the Apple Store.

Tek Serve is great.

MAC SUPPORT STORE on 7TH: CAVEAT EMPTOR/BUYER BEWARE

Comments

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories