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The Mac Store
Rating Details »
Categories: IT Services & Computer Repair, Computers [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Northeast Portland, Broadway District700 NE Multnomah St
Suite 190
Portland, OR 97232
(503) 238-1200
- Hours:
Mon-Fri. 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sun. 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
14 reviews for The Mac Store
Brandon's review is right, they have cleaned up their act since early last year. I honestly think they must have read my early 2008 review where I equated them to a skanky "Best Western Hotel".
So to be fair, I am upgrading my rating. I now prefer this place to Mac Force.
The sales staff is more knowledgeable than they used to be last year, but look for the young geeky AV guys who are more inclined to impress you, the gals can seem a little snotty.
Also - great for cables. They package up generic cables in their own packaging and actually tell you to remove the staples on the hang-tag carefully so you can repackage and return if it doesn't work out. That is totally cool.
Oh - and if you are new to Macs, don't use these places for repairs. First - go get free advice at the Genius bar at the Washington Square Apple Store (Pioneer Place is too crowded and Bridgeport Village has a particular meathead-manager at the genius bar). Also - Genius bars - remember, you have to make an appointment, online, first. Then if you really need out-of-warranty help go to Portland Mac Repair, where you will get the same service and 1/2 the price and with NO attitude.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/15/2008
OMG. I don't believe the reviews here. I swear they are written by the store owner's relatives. I… Read more »
fellow nerds! i'm a purist at heart, so i didn't really want to go to 'the mac store'. i wanted to go to 'the apple store'. it stands to reason that one concerned with her apple products would hit up the apple store and not the wannabe version. WRONG. apple stores are full of hipsters and albeit they may be relatively intelligent, they are also snobby dick heads. yes, that's what i said. dick. heads. i apologize for being the type of nerd who knows nothing about computers but a whole lot about random useless information. i worked in customer service for over a decade, and your snobby bs attitude is icky and makes me want to buy a gd pc. this mac store houses dave and the two brians who are intelligent, helpful, courteous, and will keep you coming back for more. why the eff don't these guys have golden name tags too?? i think i know why and it's bullshit. p.s. the only reason i had to take away a star is because of the parking lot which must have been constructed by a total idiot. fyi drive the opposite direction of the arrows and yes, it's worth it.
I'm extremely surprised by the amount of negative reviews regarding this store. I frequently shop at this store and always leave satisfied. The staff always accommodates my needs and the service department/genius people, explain the complicated nature of computers in a simplistic, educational way.
I brought in my macbook for what turned out to be a failing hard drive. If you check a computer in, they have to send it to their depot in Lake Oswego. It takes about a week to get your computer back. The service technicians at the repair center were able to back up some of my data and transfered it to the new hard drive. When I went to pick up my computer, the person who returned the machine to me encouraged me to turn on my computer and make sure that everything was working properly. After I initially setup the machine, I was shown how to transfer my data to the appropriate locations and the employee helping me was very patient and engaged throughout the entire process.
Stop in there sometime and see what I'm talking about.
I've walked in here three times and have never once been acknowledged by the sales staff.
Sure, no one likes pushy service but come on now. Standing behind the counter BS'n about your weekend and paying no attention to the customers in the store isn't going to move too much product off the shelves now is it?
A vibe of "I could care less" seems to linger over this entire store.
I'm not the kind of irascible person who loves to pounce on poor customer service, but this place brings out my dark side. I've been in here twice after doing research in advance to inform my buying choices, and both times was dealt with like my mere presence was something to be tolerated at best. I don't expect or wish to be catered to, but to be kept waiting on numerous occasions while being subject to idle chatter/flirting between employees is just not o.k.
Their stock is overpriced compared to other available buying options locally and on-line, and is also less than complete. Don't bother asking if they'll price match anyone else.
I wasted alot of time conforming to the requirements for a Mac Store rebate after purchasing a Macbook Pro from them, only to get the run-around once I tried to turn in the documentation.
This is the only business establishment I can think of that I have vowed never to set foot in again.
Enough is enough... I HATE this GD store!!
I have only been a Mac user for the past two years. I had a problem when I first got my MacBook, and went to this location for assistance. I actually had a good experience there, they were helpful and fixed my little problems in a few minutes.
SINCE THEN... I have been to that store several times, as a customer and also with service issues. Each time, I am greeted with a "hello" upon opening the door. That's where it stops. If you can get someone to actually help you, they will point you (no, literally from across the room, point) to the general area you are asking about. I wanted to purchase a simple cable, and am told I need to bring my monitor in so they know what I'm talking about. (I'm computer savvy, he was being an ass.) Another time in there, I wanted to purchase some software, and stood there at the cash wrap for twenty minutes while four people rang up one lady's iPod purchase, with the occasional nod and a, "We'll be with you in a minute...".
The last time I took my Mac there, they wanted me to leave it and have it worked on. They wouldn't ask me what it was doing, she wasn't having anything to do with me in person. She told me to wipe out and reinstall the OS. I wound up taking it to an actual Apple Store, and they listened, and told me what to do to fix it myself. (In and out of that store in 15 minutes, with a fix that anyone that services the machines would know if she would have listened to me... this "service" was free too.)
Today, I attempted this store again, since they open at 9am, and I wanted to see if they had suggestions for the current problem. I explained the problem, and without beat, they wanted me to reinstall the OS, or leave it so they could do it, and it would be 7-10 business days. Since there was no one but me in the store, I thought I'd be able to get at least some questions answered. The only thing I was told, was that I could leave it or go home and reformat it. She said, "Well... if you aren't running utilities, then who knows what's wrong." (She didn't even ask if I was or wasn't doing anything... she wanted me to shut up and leave it so they could charge me a diagnostic fee.) If I had the time today, I'd be going to the Apple Store, like before, where they are real Mac people, and helpful.
I will NOT be stepping foot in this damn store again, and recommend a real Apple Store in one of the malls. They seem to have it down, this place does not.
I was referred here by the guy at the Genius Bar from the REAL Apple Store. Although the service I received here was also honest and prompt, I'm pretty pissed that they would have to charge me the same amount for a repair because they have all these contracts with Apple.
I've been to the store about three times now, and it's been an excellent experience each time. Each time I walk in, someone immediately looks ready to help me, but leaves me alone as well, if I want that.
1 - Brought in a friend's macbook that wasn't working with a monitor, and one of their tech support people went through the whole process of debugging it for us, even though there was no sale involved, and we hadn't bought anything there yet.
2 - I bought a new aluminum macbook there, on the educational discount. Great experience. At the time I bought it (1/30/2009), iLife '09 was shipping, but not yet included with all macbooks still in stock. They gave me a $10 discount to fully compensate for the cost of ordering it via Apple.
3 - It turned out that the macbook had a problem with the sound card. I came in with it, and a service person diagnosed the problem the right way. Since it was a hardware issue on a new laptop, they replaced the whole laptop for me, and transfered all my data for free.
I also have to say --- I like the atmosphere in there better than the Apple store in Pioneer Place: much less hectic and the sales people hassle you less. (In Pioneer Place, they've got so many people working there, someone's constantly coming up to you.)
OK, so I bought my wife a Mac Book (to replace her out-dated Mac Mini) and wanted to connect it to her (lovely) flat screen LCD monitor. Went first to the Apple store in Pioneer Place and they were out of stock on the VGA-Mini DVI adapter I needed (which kind of pissed me off - I mean, how common is that need?). The Apple store guy recommended the Lloyd area MAC store. I got the Apple part # from the Apple store guy and called the MAC store. I described my need and the woman I talked to checked on availability. Indeed, it was available. I confirmed with her that the adapter was the part # given to me by the Apple store - total agreement. I asked her to set one aside, as my wife would be there shortly (she was on her way that direction anyway). I gave my wife the Apple part # and told her to call me if there was a problem. Sure enough, she called and said that the guy she was talking to said there was no such part # (as the one I had confirmed with someone at his store an hour earlier), so she passed the phone to the MAC Store guy and I talked to him. I specifically described my need and told him that I wanted a female VGA to male mini DVI adapter. He said "no problem". He sold my wife a mini DVI to DVI adapter - not what I need.
Avoid this place at (almost) all costs! They can't follow detailed, explicit directions.
I agree with the previous reviewer. Service is excellent without the pressure to buy. Enjoy the array of computers and ipods to play around with. Lots of accessories including hip bags for your new laptop.
Superior in every way, the Mac Store is a great place to scope out the latest in Mac products, experience some of the most friendly and knowledgeable service, while gazing at the beautiful decor that allows the feel contemporary and technology to coexist in a grey-silver scheme. The associates there are helpful in addressing your needs and help everyone from novices to experts on which products they need. They're willing to honor discounts on the spot and helpful about troubleshooting Mac products (like iPod) that broken and need repair.
Superior customer service (especially the sales staff) great Mac products.
I dig mac products--that said, I was having it out with my computer as of late. I decided (today, actually) to go check out the mac store and see if they could be of any assistance. To be fair, when I walked in one guy working there was very friendly and on point. He directed me to the service people. That's where everything went downhill. I must have gotten the most unfriendly, troll like automaton working there to "help" me. He was grouchy and paying more attention to the ladies working there, who were talking about some ridiculous sounding performance art...which probably (from their jokey comments) was just some pretentious, vacuous excuse for art. Anyway (sorry, for the tangent...but seriously...) he kind of helped me, though the problem was exactly what I thought it was. The nice dude returned to me on my way out and was super helpful again and showed me some new ipods since mine was stolen Monday... so, the one dude was great... the rest sucked. A lot. Mac products are great, but what makes the store kind of blow is the staff... sorry mac store.
Wow, I hate to have to pan this place, because it is SO conveniently located, but I just had such a profoundly horrible "service" experience that it inspired me to sign up with Yelp just to warn others! I have been having problems with the trackpad on my new macbook... odd white flashes, and type on websites breaking up as I scrolled down. I called the mac store and the surly young woman who answered (and claimed to be in the service department) told me right off the bat that there "was a problem" (duh) and that I had to bring it in to be serviced. When I asked if she had heard of other people having similar problems, her response was "not necessarily". When I pointed out that that was not an answer, she cut me off, saying "not to be condescending, but this is not something we can fix on the phone or while you wait- you need to leave it with us for service". (No, that's not condescending at all...)
Next, I called Mac Force. as soon as I explained the problem, the helpful person on the phone immediately asked if I had installed the TRACKPAD UPDATE, then talked me through it. 4 minutes, zero dollars and one restart later, my problem is solved.
Either the mac store woman didn't know about the update, or was purposely not telling me about it so she could charge "repair" fees. Not sure which is worse...
