LIL Repair Shop — Local services in The Plains

After years of faithful service, our tech appliances eventually break or keep working but lose important functionality. When that happens, we shouldn't just throw them away. That's wasteful and bad for the planet. Instead, take them in to be fixed at the Lil Repair Shop in The Plains, Ohio.

I avoided having to replace my mini-iPad when the battery died. I just took it to the Lil Repair Shop, and there they put in a new battery. This sounds simple, but look at the online videos that show what's involved! Apple did not design this to be done by consumers. Now the iPad works like new, and I saved almost a thousand dollars by not having to buy a new one.

When the Onkyo receiver from our vintage stereo component system stopped being able to remember preset stations, I took it to the Lil Repair Shop. The folks there found that a tiny capacitor was malfunctioning. The part is no longer available, and the available capacitor with the right specs is the wrong size to fit in the space left by the failed part. The Lil Repair Shop solved this by installing the new part on the underside of the circuit board. The receiver has been working fine ever since.

The desktop PC that I have been relying on for almost two decades to do all of my computer work gradually started having problems. Then 1/2" wide horizontal lines would sometimes appear on the monitor. Sometimes the lines would go away, and I could keep working; sometimes not. When they came to stay, the mouse and keyboard locked. When things got really bad, the monitor went dark, and the PC turned itself off. At first, these problems might only show up after an hour of computing, but the useful time of operation grew shorter and shorter, until it would only work for a few minutes. The Lil Repair Shop found that the cooling fan on the video board had melted. At a very reasonable cost, they replaced the video board with a refurbished one and returned the PC to me the next day! I'm using it now to write this.

One fine day, I brought in a Bose Wave radio/CD player that stopped being able to register and play CDs. According to the internet, these units are notoriously difficult to troubleshoot and fix. The Lil Repair Shop folks have tried several strategies for getting it straightened out. They are still working on it, although I have offered to take it back and give up on it. I think the guys in the shop are inspired by the challenge.

The Lil Repair Shop is my go-to place for anything tech that...

I would NOT take my electronics here. We paid $347.05 for a tablet they ordered off Amazon for $135. We have been to this shop before and I was unimpressed by their customer service and prices, but reluctantly I returned to have our iPads worked on. Simply because they are the local option and we don't know of another place. We dropped the tablets off on Monday (7/14) and their response was "we will have these ready on Thursday (7/17) or Friday (7/18)" ...Friday comes and they say Monday (7/21) or Tuesday (7/22).... Tuesday comes and he says Wednesday (7/23) or Thursday (7/24). They were not ready for pick up until Friday (7/25) and then I was told that one of them needed to be replaced. No one called to tell me when the replacement tablet came in and I called them to check on them and they were ready today (8/2).

Not only could they not give me an HONEST and ACCURATE pick up time, but they charged us additional money for an iPad that does not have cellular capabilities (which is what our previous iPad had) and they did not even call to tell me they were ready.

I have called this business 8 times regarding our tablets and I am still currently waiting on a call back to see what their plan is to make this situation right. I am loyal to businesses who have good customer service and believe me - this place is NOT it. They already overcharge for every service, but I looked past that to support locally. I have...

I have known the owner of this business for many years. I have purchased computers, and phones from him. I take my computer to him every year to clear out all the junk. I was hacked last June and Dennis was able to retrieve everything and clean up the computer for me. This shop is fair, honest, kind, and pretty reasonable for the work they provide. I've been recommending them for years to my friends. The employees are knowledgeable, kind, and courteous. Take your repairs to them you won't be...