Simply Mac

great service had my iMac back in 3 days. Works fine.

This place has gone way downhill. Every time I walk in, the people who work here act as if they have better uses for their time than helping me. The accessories they sell (Lightning cords, etc.) are always of poor quality and end up breaking pretty quickly. The service is slow and judgemental, and the products are so expensive. It’s a better use of your time to just drive to Short Pump.

Yesterday I descended on Simply Mac with my dying MacBook Pro — cracked screen, faulty logic board, broken trackpad. (My machine was only 2.5 years old — Grr). Rather than fix that machine, I bought a pre-​certified «lightly used» machine at Simply Mac, after which the assistants transferred my data and added 16GB of ram. Figuring all this out took the team at Simply Mac a couple of hours. Throughout my visit, the team were patient, helpful and charming. Thank-​you!

I recently took my 2011 MacBook in because I had tried to update the OS and my hard drive crashed. My initial experience in the store was not favorable. The folks working in the front of the store let me wander around aimlessly for a few minutes and wouldn’t make eye contact with me until finally letting someone let me know I needed to sign in for the service department. This was not obvious since they are using floor models on sale for sign-​in. I waited about 15 minutes and then it was my turn at the service desk. Disclaimer the people that work at the service desk in the store are NOT certified to repair computers and know VERY little. They are NOT the people that will end up diagnosing or doing the repair. I had to leave my computer for them to diagnose, this process took a week which was okay for me since this is not my work or school computer, but it was not expeditious. Customer service in the store is pretty poor, so don’t expect the typical apple experience of getting greeted by someone from the genius bar and added immediately to the waiting list. Also, nobody will come around to let you know where you are in line… this is NOT an Apple store.
Fast forward a week: I got a call directly from the guy that diagnosed my computer, he let me know that my HD had crashed since I had authorized a data back up they had already done that. He talked me through a few options for hard drive replacement and also gave me a trade in value, but I decided to pick up my computer and install a new SSD myself. I had no troubles when I picked up my computer– that was a quick process. Once I went to move the data that was recovered over to the new hard drive I installed I was faced with a real hot mess of a file structure. I took it back in and asked them to explain to me what kind of data recovery was used. I had a similar situation of feeling forgotten and overlooked that I did on my initial visit. One of the sales guys actually very rudely ignored me even though I WAS signed in on the computer system– I had asked him if I could talk to somebody which he didn’t like that I spoke out of turn, so he helped the next person that walked in instead. Super unprofessional. After talking for a minute with the sales rep behind the repair counter that knew very little about computers I asked to please speak to the person that did my data recovery. A minute later Jennings, the awesome guy that did my repair popped out from the back. He was awesome and went ahead and took my computer and reinstalled my recovered data himself as well as upgrading my OS at no additional charge even though they did not do the hard drive replacement. This was really nice and saved me a lot of headache.
Bottom line, this is NOT an Apple store. In fact each time I was there a different customer getting testy with the sales people and the sales people were getting testy right back. For this reason, I would probably not buy a darn thing from this store, go to Best Buy people. The folks that work up in the front are smug and from my experience don’t really know what they are talking about. However, there are people there that can help fix your macs and actually demonstrated some solid customer service.

This place is the worst Apple Store ever. No one greets you when you walk in so you’ll never know to sign in before they can help you. That wasted 10mins. Apparently there was only 2 people who can help you with service. Took 40mins of wait time. Told them the keyboard issue and the person looks confused as ever. Then said he needed to have it check with a technician. That was fine. After a few minutes, he came back and said they need to take it in for 2 – 5 days to check it out. Mind you, this computer is brand new and still has warranty. Then I asked about a loaner since I saw others walking out with one. He said no, we don’t have that. That’s right, I forgot… They need to make money on the service in order for them to treat you like a customer. They then Told us to take it to a real Apple Store either in short pump or DC to get to fixed. That got me curious so I asked if they can fix it here. The guy replied, «well we can try to fix it». Wow! TRY to fix it? That just told me they don’t know how to do Mac repairs.
Apple Corp, please look into these «certified» retailers/​service centers. They’re letting your brand down! I wouldn’t trust these guys to wash my car let alone to service a $ 1000 computer.

Well lets start by saying that a few of my Mac friends told me not to use this place. So when I wanted a new iPhone charger for my truck for Christmas my wife went here to buy it. I didn’t know she did until Christmas. She asked the sales person Zachary (on the receipt) for the charger. He gave her the wrong one and I didn’t have time to go back to that store in Charlottesville to exchange it until today.
The salesperson that ended up helping me today proceeded to scold me for not having the box, but said he would still make the exchange. He went and picked out what I needed and I was talking to him and said that I through out the box when I through out all the Christmas wrapping paper. He stopped and looked at me and said we can’t exchange that after this long.
1. Why did he say he could without looking at the receipt.
2. Why did he go across the store and get what I needed and walk back to the counter, without looking at the receipt.
If you want a better customer service and pay less then go to Richmond to the Apple Store. They would have exchanged it for me no questions asked. I called and asked. Or go to Amazon and order what you need.
I was told by my Apple friends not to use this store but its my fault that I didn’t share this information with my wife before hand.
I hope that whoever reads this will heave the warning and go anyplace else.

Update: so I found everyone to be very knowledgeable and friendly to deal with. Computer was repaired quickly and they were great at communicating the process and price (which was very reasonable). was 2 stars and now 5. relieved.

Are you kidding me? I called to ask if the simply Mac carried Os X Mountain Lion, a product I could purchase online for $ 20. I was quoted instillation for $ 75. I guess supporting local businesses means you have to empty your bank account. Absolutely ridiculous!!!

BEWARE — I brought my computer in over the summer when it had a potentially fatal error. I was told I needed to buy a $ 75 external hard drive to back up my information before they fixed it. When they were able to fix the computer without losing any files, I was relieved and asked if I could return the hard drive, they said no becuase they had used it to create a backup. Well I came to find out that they did not finish the backup so I can’t access any of the information on it now that I need it. So I am out $ 75, have no backup, and all they could do is shrug their shoulders.

I took my laptop that wouldn’t power on here for repair. After a week, I called the store and left a message to find out if they’d looked at my machine. No response. The next day, I called and selected Sales to get an actual person to speak with and found they had not touched my computer but suspected it would be need to mailed away for service– and it would take a week to even get there!!! If they knew this before looking at it, they should have informed me at drop off or at least called the same day to get it moving towards a solution quickly. I picked up my laptop and will not be returning to this store. Friends have told me that even Apple doesn’t recommend this location– they say to go to Richmond. This was a huge waste of time.

AVOID, AVOID, AVOID.
The employees are smug, walk around with eye boogers, and they don’t really have any expertise on fixing macs. They ship 90% of the problems that come in out to their people who actually do solve problems. If you’re smug but you can fix things, OK. If you’re smug but actually have no skills to assist me with, you’re just being a jerk!
Really, really expensive too. Highly recommend you avoid if you can help it. If I needed help putting my mac book in a box and shipping it to a real technician, they would be great. Unfortunately, that is not what I need help with.
We also had an issue where a broken charger should have been covered by warranty, they wouldn’t accept it. The real Apple company agreed it was covered and replaced it ASAP. So many sketchy things have happened in our transgressions with this store that make me think they’re 90% profit oriented, and maybe 10% customer satisfaction oriented.
A bunch of nerdy salesmen pretending they know about computers. Their job is to up sell you, and sell you really expensive services. It’s a «staff vs. the customer» mentality, no one is on your side here. «How ignorant are they and much money can I take this person for» is their mentality when they approach you it seems. If you’re older and look really confused, maybe like you have a lot of money (Hmm wonder how common that is in Cville), get ready for a ride.
Read below reviews for examples of the upselling!
Google is your friend when it comes to solving tech issues and finding alternative services. Unless its an emergency, stay away.
Mac Simple downtown by UVA is where I would check first, not sure how much better it is yet but it’s my next try. Hell Apple in Richmond is probably better since customer satisfaction probably means *something* to them.

Awful customer service. Husband took broken phone in and the woman who was «helping» him refused to tell him what was included in Apple Care. Unreal and a complete waste of time.

Best Ever! So glad these folks are here in Charlottesville. Very knowledgeable and willing to help with the smallest to the biggest issues you might have with your Mac/​Apple stuff. Accessories are great too. Check it out.

Highly advise against bringing your Apple products here. They will take your original brand new phone, tell you its broken (when its just a network issue) and offer you a «new» phone. Come to find out the «new» phone is refurbished one and the second they put it in your hand they refuse to give you back your original unit. Now I am stuck with a broken refurbished unit that ATT WILL NOT accept as a return because its refurbished.
Store manager told me he would love to help me but his hands are tied by Apple. I get apple on the phone and they tell me the manager has absolute discretion to return my property. Apple supervisor even spoke to the store manager urging him to give me back my property and the store manager refused. Be careful of store manager Ryan Jackson as he will smile while directly lying to your face.

Took my MacBook Air to these guys after I cracked the display. Not only did they originally quote me $ 700 to fix it in 3 – 5 business days, but they also called me after I dropped the machine off and claimed they found «water damage.» They then told me they’d have to ship it off to Apple to fix for $ 884. I declined the fix, took it to a real Apple Store, and was told it’d cost only $ 480 and would be done in two days. Do NOT use this place if you don’t have to. Only positive thing was that they waived the service fee when I declined their proposed repairs. Oh, and there never was any water damage, according to Apple.

This place is clean and somewhat professional, but do not expect good service. It could be considered a two-​star or even three-​star place, but for Mac-​related service it is one-​star, and the worst I have ever experienced. I would rather pay someone else to drive my equipment to Richmond for a repair at the Short Pump Apple store than deal with the people at Peachmac. The world has many good certified third-​party Apple service vendors — witness Tekserve in Manhattan — but Peachmac is not one of them. After three big disappointments for my family in dealing with this place, they have finally struck out. It is tempting to deal with them because of scarcity of Charlottesville vendors to help with Apple products. Do not give in to the temptation!

They will most likely end up repairing your apple product, but be ready to pay at least 3 to 4 times than what you would pay elsewhere (Apple store, BestBuy) if your device is out of warranty. The employee are there just to listen to you and type the issues in their computer. You won’t be able to talk to a technician since they ship off everything away and your gadgets are repaired elsewhere.
I was simply asking to replace my SATA III cable from my MacBook Pro since I had identified it was the broken cable that was causing the problem. Instead of buying it online, I thought I would just buy it from them even if I have to pay a little extra. However, they want to ship my computer off and charge me a total of $ 250. The original apple cable can be bought for about $ 40 from Apple or other online retailers and replaced extremely easily (no advanced computer skills required).
While waiting in line, I felt sorry for two other customers who were given wrong advice about iPads. I thought going to a physical store and talking to a person would be fruitful. But, please do your research before you go so that you don’t end up spending way more than what you should and don’t waste your time listening to BS advices.

They don’t allow you to make appointments. This leads to confusion and frustration, very unorganized.
They also require your email to meet with the service team and since giving them my email I have received a mountain of spam from peachmac. My advice-​tell them you don’t have an email.

I have been to PeachMac three times now and have been very happy with the service. They have helped me replace an iPhone case through the warranty policy the case’s manufacturer has, figure out that there was a huge problem with my computer and help me order a new one through Apple. It is true that the prices are high for both the products and services… but they are not a discount retailer. They work with Apple products which are always full price. You’re not going to find another place that has the expertise of the products and the willingness to help that you find here.
Highly recommended!

Why all the bad reviews? This place seams pretty nice to me. The people working are friendly (at least when I was there) and are happy to help you find anything you need. They do a nice job of organizing their products. They have separate sections for iPad, iPod, and iPhone Accessories. They will also provide service and support to devices under warranty. It is nice to have a store that sells Apple Products and Accessories right here in Charlottesville. Overall PeachMac is a pretty good alternative to the Official Apple Stores.