LapFix Computer Repair Services — Local services in Alexandria

I dropped my computer off at LapFix for a water damaged keyboard, they called and gave me a 5 day estimate and a price that I agreed to. As time went on and they exceeded their estimate and I called a couple of times to check in, first few times I was told that the part had not arrived yet (7 days past estimate) and they would do the repair the same day. I called 2 more times toward the one month mark and was first given a new estimate (that was soon proven false) and the second time I was given a tracking number. The tracking number told me that they actually only ordered the part around a dozen days after I agreed to the repair. I'm told they looked for a U.S. supplier (for 12 days) but couldn't find one. I finally got a call saying the repair was done and I come into the shop. I asked for a discount for the time the repair took and got a new story which was that they were sent a wrong part and was denied the discount because it was out of their control (which is fine but I would have liked to know if I needed to wait for a new one as I might have switched shops). On my computer the keys look shallower than before. When I ask I'm told that its "Just the new keyboard" when I get to my car I take a closer look and see that the keyboard isn't seated properly and is higher on some places and shallower on others. I bring it back in and he says he can have it fixed in a day. I asked about a few hours and he agreed. I come back To the store later that day and my computer looks fine, the problems with the keyboard were solved. I asked one more time for a discount but was told that I was "very eager to get my computer back" and was given [Seemingly] very insincere apologies. I almost walk out without my charging chord but remember and ask for it. They had lost it and I waited 15 minutes for him to find it (granted it was someone different on shift). At home I had to tighten all of the external screws because they were put in looses, and I notice that one of my torx screws was replaced with a Philips head and now my track pad is inconstant. It took two pickups, a month of waiting, and full price to get a mostly fixed keyboard (still wasn't seated well) , a poorly replaced screw, a greater key board flex, a few new scratches and a wonky track pad. Find someone else to fix your electronics.

Edit: You know the Philips head they took the liberty to replace one of my external screws with? I was doing some dust cleaning and they got that screw FROM MY MOTHERBOARD! One of my internal vents was damaged because of the flex...

I was very lucky to have found LapFix. I was extremely upset when my MacBook Air M1 had it’s battery died (my fault for not plugging in adapter when it alerted me it was low on battery) and would no longer power on with the charger cable and adapter. Initially, I took it to the Apple Store but there was no solution to start repairing it unless I recovered all my data and files. I wasted over a week only to pick up my MacBook from the Apple Store and find a place to complete the data recovery. I started looking online at YouTube videos to find solutions - I stumbled on Eric’s helpful YouTube videos a blessing in disguise! I watched several videos of various repairs on different types of MacBooks which he explained throughly. It was that way I found out Eric worked for LapFix in Northern Virginia! To my surprise I googled their locations and literally less than 10 minutes away from me! I went on Saturday about an hour before closing time, Stuart at the front desk was very professional and polite. I appreciated him answering my questions and told me I’d get a call within 3 - 5 business days due to the volume of repair requests they had. I actually heard back from them that following Monday. LapFix (Eric) was able to recover my all of my files from my MacBook with no issues and it was transferred into an external hard drive for me. LapFix saved me time and further stress - convenient location opened everyday except Sunday. Their prices are extremely reasonable in comparison to other retail repair stores. On top of that - they actually explain and show you the final solution/outcome before accepting your payment. I even consulted a local Mac-expert repair person supposedly top 10 on Yelp in Alexandria - and he had told me it wasn’t possible to recover my files/data without powering on my MacBook! I definitely will use LapFix for my future computer or cell phone repair needs - they are trustworthy, professionals, and will take their time to answer your questions. At the end I decided to move forward with data recovery only and for my MacBook repair LapFix provided me with...

While I understand this bad review might just be a drop in the bucket compared to all of the good reviews, I'd be remiss if I didn't share my experience.

I brought up an already built desktop computer with the intention to swap out a few parts (motherboard, CPU, case). I was told that a full build was $295 - a bit expensive compared to what I was expecting, but not outrageous. During the drop-off, it was identified that I had forgotten to drop off a new CPU cooler - I had been under the impression the water cooler element that was in the old case would suffice, and was told it wouldn't. I really appreciated them looking out and letting me know. They said they would contact me and let me know about the cooler price and just add it on - so far, so good.

The next day, I received the new quote: $545. I looked up the cooler that was selected, in order to see why the price had jumped so much, and saw that the going price for that cooler was around $120.. and yet LapFix wanted $250! I asked about the reason for the discrepancy, thinking that maybe they needed to order additional cooling or parts to support it which would justify the additional cost; the response was that I could just order the cooler myself and bring it in, and they would charge me the original $295 quote.

Once over $500 for a computer build was mentioned, sticker shock began to set in and I decided to just build the computer myself. After coming in to pick up my parts, I was told there would be a $65 diagnostic fee - despite the fact the only "diagnostic" that had taken place was identifying that I hadn't dropped off a cooler. I would understand if parts had been opened, or the build had actually began.. but this wasn't the case.

I wanted to use and recommend this company for the future, but unfortunately my very negative experience has instead spurred me to write a review. While I hope no one else has a similar experience, I hope it's a...