Capitol Macintosh - Apple Authorized Service Provider / Reseller — Attraction in Lansing

Capitol Macintosh has a virtual monopoly over Mac repair in Lansing. I have used them twice. The first time was for a cosmetic defect that shipped with the Mac. They ordered the part, called me when it was in, and had it repaired within one day. I was extremely pleased.

Later, the LEDs went out on the same part that had been replaced for a cosmetic defect, the new LED LCD that shipped with the Macbook Pro. This left a large spot on the screen that was difficult to ignore, and which was clearly the result of a design defect. I brought the computer in, showed them my AppleCare information, and the said that they would call me when the part came in. I received a call 4 days later. I was at work at the time, and the voicemail stated that they had called several times and that because I had failed to call them back they would have to ship the part back to Apple.

The funny thing is, they only called once. I pulled the phone records to make sure, and I saw that I had an incoming call from their shop on a single occasion. Since I am a full time law student and a law clerk, I asked my wife to call them to explain the problem and ask them to reorder the part.

She called the next business day after receiving the voicemail. She explained the situation, explained that they had only called once, and was subsequently treated terribly. They accused her of causing them a "penalty" because they had extended the favor of not requiring the computer to sit in the shop overnight. Apple, they claimed, charged them a penalty because they are only allowed to hold the part for a period of time.

My wife calmly and rationally explained to them that the only notification that we received that the part was in stock was on a Friday, that I had been at work on that day, and that they were closed by the time either of us had gotten home (after 5pm). The service representative was extremely rude and acted in an irrational way. He stated that he had called several times, despite the fact that we had clear proof that he hadn't called at all.

In total, it was a silly reason for a locally owed business to get defensive or irrational. I thought that they were a really good repair shop based on my previous experience, but now I know that I can never use them again. To do so would be to reward their rude and unprofessional behavior. If they would have just shrugged it off as a miscommunication problem, it would have been different (and reasonable). With that said, I would recommend that you do not patronize their business. It just isn't worth the hassle. Hopefully with the increase in Mac sales, a new repair shop will step in and fill the void. Until that time, I will drive to the Detroit area or to Grand Rapids to get my Mac repaired, as sad and annoyed as...

*UPDATED BELOW

This place does NOT do motherboard or logic board repair. Only replacements. Minor issues have a chance of being repaired, but they won’t tell you that. Keep that in mind when they look at your computer for two minutes and tell you the motherboard has to be replaced and it’ll cost this month’s rent. Please get a second opinion. Going to Mac Men instead saved me hundreds. Capitol Macintosh did do a nice job on a screen replacement I got a while back. However for the sake of my wallet I would never go back.

UPDATE: They called me within an hour after I posted this review and also responded to this review. Yes, I am very aware that Capitol Macintosh cannot do micro soldering due to Apple standards of care. Never needed an explanation on that. The issue here is making customers think that their computer is done for even if there’s a chance of repair.

The whole bit about how micro soldering can damage your data is deceptive. It definitely can happen, but with Capitol Macintosh it’s GUARANTEED you will lose your data with a board replacement. When Capitol Macintosh replaces your logic board, they are required to send it back to Apple. The hard drive is part of the logic board, meaning you will lose that as well. Unless you look at their data recovery options, which cost thousands.

The staff are for the most part super nice (the middle-aged guy with the quarter zip is a bit condescending) but I don’t want another phone call from them because of a bad review. Overall, they’re a nice place and I’m sure their other services are fine, but customers deserve to know what they’re getting into when it comes to logic board replacements that will cost...

I read the reviews but went anyways, my mistake. The trackpad on my 13" Macbook pro wasn't accurately registering clicks, so I took it to them and told them exactly what was wrong with it. I'm a student and I NEED my computer (I'm a computer science student). 5 business days later I called them and asked if it was done yet. They said they couldn't replicate my problem. 5 days! So I came in and showed them the issue in 15 seconds, and they agreed it was broken. They finally ended up shipping it to Apple to have them fix it. Unfortunately despite me telling them multiple times that I had research that was important to me on the hard drive and I did not want it reformatted, they didn't pass this information on to Apple, so I was returned (two and half weeks later) a working but completely erased laptop. I will be driving to the Grand Rapids Apple Store next time I have any warranty issues.

Oh, and as alluded to in the other reviews, their customer service skills (except one guy) are...