Gravity (A Virtua Consulting Company) — Local services in Columbia

UPDATE AFTER COMPUTER PROBLEM ADDRESSED ELSEWHERE: The Apple repair person at Tiger Tech (U of MO) found an app that was running in the background and fixed my problem. He actually listened to me. It is now absolutely fine. FYI, Gravity charged me $75, did not address the problem, and told me that there were no apps running in the background. UPDATE TO MY REVIEW: I stand by one star. Bottom line is that I paid $75 (which is a lot of money for me) for NOTHING, spent a lot of my time and two trips to town (30 miles round trip). They did not address or look into the stated problem which I had clearly communicated, but looked into something else, which I had already worked with Apple support on. Because they did not look into the problem as communicated, they spent their time looking into something that was not a problem that I already clearly knew the answer to. It was also having trouble updating, and they didn't even look into or try that because their internet was down. This is not a way to do business. I will do my best to avoid using Gravity in the future. ORIGINAL REVIEW:I made an appointment through Apple support for my computer completely losing power when OFF, requiring it to be plugged in to turn on, but having an adequate runtime when left on. I had worked with Apple support remotely on this several times in the last 6 months and they had determined that the battery health was good and no apps were draining it. When I could not do the latest update I decided it was time to seek help. When I left the computer I gave the person at the desk detailed info about the problem, showed him how it would not turn on without being plugged in, and that the battery was at 0 after being off all night, and the history. I paid the non-refundable $150 for diagnosis which would also go towards repair. A day later I received an e-mail telling me that they had diagnosed that the battery was 89% and no apps were draining it, all of which I already knew. They had not gotten the information that I had given to the front desk about the problem being when it was off. "Oh, the ticket didn't detail that." What??? Then... "our internet is down and so we can't update it." So they did NOTHING that I didn't already know. I said, I want the computer back and I would appreciate a refund of my $150. I got passed to the operations manager Justin, who would only give me $75 back. He said, "Well, we spent an hour on diagnosis." I had spent several hours myself to get the exact same diagnosis. And "sometimes the internet goes down, and now it's back." He did not take responsibility for the lack of communication of the problem on their part. So I paid $75 for nothing and had to make 2 trips to town (30 miles round trip). They are the authorized Apple repair locally. I discovered that Tiger Tech at the Mizzou Store is also authorized and they don't charge to...

I absolutely regret choosing Gravity to repair my Mac.

1. "The customer is always right" -- whatever the opposite of that is, I suspect that is their motto. It was an uphill battle with them the entire time. Don't believe me? Look at all the other reviews here.

2. The charge "book rates" for work like an automotive shop, so if something takes 3 seconds to fix, they will bill you an ENTIRE HOUR ($100) -- EVEN IF you are already paying them labor to fix another issue on the same machine.

3. I paid them ~$900 to replace my logic board. I asked them to also replace the fan given the noise. I had to ask FOUR times. They simply ignored me the first three times. The first time was when I brought the machine in, I even had a paper TAPED TO THE MACHINE saying I need a new fan. Then three more times I asked in the online ticket software. They finally agreed, said the price for the fan is $30 (fine) but it will be $100 in labor -- even though the case was already open and its literally just THREE SCREWS.

4. I asked another Authorized Apple Retailer for a second opinion on Gravity's billing: "This is nonsense. The fan has to come out to replace the logic board, why on earth would we charge extra labour to replace it, that’s nuts. You’d have the cost of the part (if you agree to it) extra, that’s it. Even if the fan wasn’t noticed until after the board was fitted it’s only 3 screws to remove it again."

5. They replaced the fan, but didn't use any of the remaining hour to clean the fan ducts or related so now my Mac f**ing WHISTLES at 2300 RPM (which isn't even max). Like they didn't even test the fan at high RPM or they didn't care it sounds bad. Like it plays an actual music note the whistle is that clear.

6. I was clearly unsatisfied and they did not escalate the issue within management or try to resolve it -- instead they removed my access to the ticket and ghosted me. Wow.

NOTE: It really pains me to do this. With COVID-19 hurting the economy, this is a time when we should be supporting local businesses. But Gravity really crossed a line and deserves to get called out on it. I would not be surprised if they are...

This is one of the only Apple authorized repair centers near me and this is my second time going. The first time I went after 2 years with my mac book pro, I began having battery issues. I found out that there was a recall on my screen as well so I decided to get that taken care of at the same time. Because it was more than one repair, my computer had to mailed the Apple. When I first gave Gravity my computer, I had a removable decal on my computer that was very important to me. They never told me I neded to take it off or I wouldn't get it back. When my computer was repaired, my computer was fixed, but my decal was nowhere to be found. I called back to the store and they told me THEY don't try to remove anything that looks like a sticker that can stick, but as I mentioned before, they never told me that if I didn't remove it before repair it would be disposed. I would've taken it off myself. Fast forward to several months later: I accidentally spilled orange juice on my computer. I went back to Gravity thinking they could repair it and they could hold on to my computer until I got paid. But no. They didn't even want to touch it, let along look at it with out a non refundable fee of about $200-300. It wasn't even a guarantee that my computer would be fixed.I walked out the store while orange juice was eating away at my computer and it could've easily had work begun on it since the spill had just happened. Because I didn't gave they funds at that exact moment, I couldn't leave my computer to be fixed so I just...