Experimax Portsmouth — Attraction in Portsmouth

I am torn about writing this review because the sales associates did, in the end, refund HALF of the cost of the labor on my computer, and that is why I gave as many as 2 stars. The main point of this review is that I want anyone who has the same problem that I had to know about this before they go to Experimac.

I experienced mechanical failure of the hard drive on my late mother's computer, which I had very foolishly never backed up since when she died 2 years ago. The computer would not start and the diagnostics attempt I made over the phone with Apple failed to give a fix. Because my computer is too old to bring to an Apple store, I brought it to Experimac due to the good reviews on Google. I emphasized that my main goal was to recover as much data as possible off of the hard drive, that I was not in a rush to have the computer back and that returning function to the computer was not my main concern. They attempted to update the operating system, which failed. They then told me I needed a new hard drive and the cost would be $250 and that there was an 85% chance that they would be able to recover the data to the new hard drive after it was installed. They told me there was no way to attempt to recover the data prior to installation of the new hard drive. Then they called me and said the new hard drive was installed and they were unable to recover any of the data from the old hard drive. I asked to pick up the old hard drive with the computer, and they said yes I could have it, but emphasized that the data was unrecoverable and offered no other options to further attempt to recover it.

My boyfriend picked up the computer and old hard drive for me because I was out of town, and within hours he and his dad had plugged my hard drive into his computer and easily backed up all of my old files. I do not know enough about computers to know that this is a possibility, but I can only hope/assume that a technician working on computers at Experimac would have known. If it hadn't been for my boyfriend and his dad I might have given up and lost all of the photos and documents that my mom had kept on that computer, some things that I had never even seen. I was heartbroken when I thought I wouldn't get them back.

Additionally, they gave me NO information regarding what was done to the computer - what brand of hard drive was installed, what operating system was installed, or any other information about results of the diagnostics they ran. The receipt just says 4 hours of labor. They were unable to elaborate on this when the computer was picked up or after.

The reason for the 2 stars is that my boyfriend returned to the store and expressed his dissatisfaction and after a long discussion with several sales associates, they refunded him half the cost of the labor.

It seems this would be a good place to go for simple cell phone repairs or updates to your computer but not for more serious issues like the one I had, where so much was at stake. I am happy with the new hard drive and operating system, the computer is working great. I am impressed that they were willing to offer some money back in the end. But I really wish the communication and level of expertise/honesty had been better, and I would hate for this to happen to someone else who didn't have the resources to back up their hard drive...

This is a great store for archival services if by "archival services" you mean them deleting all of your data, throwing away your computer, and then failing to issue even a modest refund.

If your computer isn't working, I'd recommend dropping it several times from a height of five to six feet before I'd recommend doing business with this store.

Before moving out of state, I brought several old computers to Experimax to consolidate their data onto one portable hard drive. These computers contained music, family photos, documents relating to everything from work to taxes—basically 15 years of everything I had ever done on a computer.

Instead of moving my data from the computers to the hard drive (an "archival service" at which they were "professionals"), Experimax deleted everything and threw them away. To be clear: the result of Experimax's professional archival service was to permanently delete everything and then hand me back a blank hard drive. In the end, I paid $300 for the privilege of having the entirety of my digital life deleted.

When I asked about this, they told me they "could not account for what happened to the hard drive between their work and me opening it." They declined to give me a refund.

These men are cowards of the soul. These are the hollow men, the stuffed men. The world ends not with a bang but with an Experimax employee whispering that he's a consummate computer professional while he reformats your disk.

I reluctantly recommend that you do not trust this business with anything of any value whatsoever. Do not trust them to give you a fair price, do not trust them to know what they're talking about, and do not trust them to be decent human beings when they make a mistake.

UPDATE: The response below is precisely the level of customer service you can expect from this store. Everyone understands that mistakes happen in life; decent people know this, apologize, and make amends. It is ghoulish behavior not to refund what is a literal rounding error on your...

TL;DR: I did the research for you (a lot of time spent researching businesses). This is honestly a very trust worthy business for buying, selling and repairs. Hussein especially is the man!

This is the place to go for any macbook/phone repairs or trades. I've sold macbooks here before and recieved a very fair pricing when I didn't want to deal with the market.

I recently bought a used macbook off of facebook marketplace with a very dead battery and they got my battery replaced very fast and were very transparent with timelines, procedure, and feasibility of doing it myself (i'm a techy, but my model is tricky for a battery replacement). They also beat the prices of every other location in the area offering the same service. This was impressive after learning they put a very quality battery in my macbook.

After looking at their used macbook inventory, I really just wish I bought my macbook here (don't worry guys, I exchange models often, i'll be back). They have great newer preowned models at very competive prices, that also come with the peace of mind that there will be no issues.

Hussein was especially great to work with. He's very kind, knowledgable and trust worthy with transparent communication. I'm not sure if he is the owner, manager or general employee but this guy is very customer relationship oriented. He locked me in as a returning customer. I can't say enough about his professionalism.

I will be buying here, selling here, and getting all my repairs done here in the future. No more "bargain" hunting on facebook for me. It's too risky. My ONLY complaint about this place is there isn't one right next to my house. This...