VGH Computer Services — Local services in Moscow

I went in to the Apple portion of vgh to have them look at my iPad for swelling batteries.

They ran some tests and indicated that the batteries were at 97% but that the pressure on the screen still indicates battery issues. I asked if there was anyway that Apple would deny the $99 battery replacement and say it was the screen and want to charge me $569 or some absurd price. I was told that “no, there was no way they could deny it.”

I was required to remove my screen protector to ship it in which was fine. Two days later I received a call and was told Apple denied the replacement stating that the batteries tested good and that it was a screen issue and it would be the full replacement price.

I confronted the employee who told me that they would not deny it as a battery replacement and he LIED and said he would never have said that. My issue is not with the fact that he was wrong, everybody is wrong now and again, but he lied about it. I don’t do business with liars and now I am out a screen protector and didn’t have my iPad for three days. Both not very big deals, but lying to my face after, that I cannot deal with. I will not be going back.

UPDATE: After seeing the owners reply I just want to give an update. It is very unfortunate that the owner is unable to be honest here and instead choose to use an intimidation tactic by listing my full name to try and get me to remove my review. Some of what he said is true, most skews the real story. It’s possibly that his staff lied to him too, if he has audio recordings in his store he should review all three of my of my visits starting on Monday, July 6th, at 2:50 and see that I was both calm and was lied too. I did not berate the staff, I just called a lie a lie and I was polite during the entire visit, I did leave in a hurry as I was quite upset about the guy lying to me, but I was not loud. Like I said before, I was not too upset about the outcome of the repair, they are right, Apple is Apple, the store can only do so much, I was upset about the employee not being able to fess up to his mistake and rather choosing to lie about it. As I left the store, in which I was the only customer, I told the owner that one of his employees was a liar, and said pointing to another of his employees who had helped me, “Not him, he did a great job, it was the other guy” I would love for the owner to reach out to me to discuss how they could make this right instead of falsely accusing me of being loud and hostile, both of which are not true. They have my phone...

Every time I go to VGH it is a nightmare. The dishonesty and disorganization and lack of communication makes this an honestly horrible place to shop. It also does not help that they are unabashedly sexist. This trip was particularly special. I brought in a Gameboy Advanced SP, a Nintendo 2Ds and a gameboy game. I asked them to give me an estimate/quote before doing ANY work. My brother was with me and can validate all of this. I was assured I would be called before any work was done.

I asked them to give me a quote on replacing the 2Ds’ bottom screen and the sleep button because the slider isn’t working and there are two deep gauges on the lower screen. Neither of these things were done. They cleaned the screen and cleaned the gameboy and then called me to inform me that they worked and that was going to be $25.00. When I got to the store and explained my frustration that I was not called, the associate Trevor tried to tell me that anywhere you go, car dealerships, housing repair, all of them will charge you to give you a quote because they had to “do work” to get an estimate. This is absolutely not true as I have worked with many other businesses who give quotes without charge. In the end they ended up not charging me because they “didn’t want to argue.” Which fine whatever. But it is absurd that there is a charge for using an air can and alcohol wipe when I could have done that on my own, then not even addressing the issues I requested. This is especially frustrating because no one else in the are does these repairs so I’m going to have to likely go to Spokane to get these repairs done.

I have never had a good experience at this store. Buyer beware, especially if your female or female presenting.

I see your response VGH, and yes you did waive the fee, but you have not addressed the other issue where you did not even look at what I asked to be looked at. The screen with the gauges and the sleep switch that I explicitly asked for a quote on. This is not my first time having an experience like this from you, but I had hoped things had changed in the several years since then....

FRAUD. WASTE OF MONEY. If you want to pay 3x repair cost and get fake branded parts, this is your ONLY option. I took my MacBook for a battery issue, initially they charged $45 to start working on it, then they called and said it will cost $550 plus tax to replace the battery after 1 week. Thinking that this is the only so called Authorized Apple service provider (Big Mistake), I decided to go ahead with the repair. One week later they called to pick up with almost $700 bill (Initial $45, battery + labor $550 + extra time spent on inspection). In about 3 weeks my MacBook completely stopped working and I found out (Different service provider) that the new battery wasn't genuine Apple product. I called them and mentioned the issue, asked for a refund and the store manager started using Vulgar language. PLEASE do not waste your time and money on this fraud provider. It was a nightmare working with them. I hope VGH Computer service goes out of business and close that store for good.

Update: I got the battery replaced from a different service provider for $217 (with tax and installation cost) with warranty and within 3 days. The battery installed by VGH was not only fake Apple product but it was also poorly installed with a bump in the bottom of my Mac. The Response from the owner is actually from the Store manager, the one who was yelling (in the store) and using vulgar language on the phone. Obviously my review is fake for exposing their FRAUD service, counterfeit products and unqualified technicians. If they are authorized by Apple, then why would they charge for just running diagnostics and take 2 weeks to get back. Also this Store manager a.k.a owner, did took the trouble to reply to this fake review (according to him) but he didn't bother to reply to other 1 star reviews and address their concern? Sounds like the owner himself is fake.

Please read the reviews from other users and you will find out for yourself, the real truth if this review doesn't help. If you won't learn from other people's mistake, you definitely learn from yours. Please avoid this FAKE...