Ribbit Computers — Local services in Wichita

I had an Ipod Classic 5th Generation in need of repair. After doing some research on the internet, I decided to make my selection off of reviews and location. I didn’t want to venture to far away from my place of employment since I didn’t have a lot of time.

I chose Ribbit Computers located on N. Rock Rd.

As I walked into the store, I was immediately greeted by an employee. I asked if they worked on older Ipods. The employee asked what was wrong with it. (Bad approach #1 – don’t answer a customer’s question with a question.) I repeated my initial question. The employee responded that they do work on Ipods, and continued to ask question about the Ipod. I described the problem that I was having with it and also continued to tell him that I was about to leave on a long vacation and was only curious as to how long it would take to diagnose the problem and have it repaired. I was given an estimated time frame of 2 – 3 days just for the diagnostic check. I found this a bit surprising but the employee informed me that they had a heavy work load and that I had an Ipod, and not a phone, or computer. (Bad approach #2 – do not make the customer feel under appreciated.) I replied that I understand the store’s prioritizing order. Overall this information was greatly appreciated so that I could decide whether or not I wanted to leave my Ipod while away on vacation. I decided to wait until I got back to town.

When I went back to Ribbit Computers, I spoke with a different employee about what I was told at my 1st visit and asked if that would still be the estimated time frame. The employee confirmed that it was correct. I agreed to leave my Ipod and the employee continued to take down my information. After sealing my Ipod in a clear bag and informing me that they would send it in. Where? I didn’t ask. I assumed it to be Apple. I was told that when the diagnostic check was complete, that I would receive a phone call. This was a Monday around noon.

As the week progressed, I hadn’t received a phone call; I decided to call on Friday around noon. I spoke with an employee and was informed that my Ipod hadn’t even been looked at. The employee assured me that the person who would be working on it would get right to it and I would definitely hear from them later that same day. The call never came.

I decided to give them the weekend to do what they had to do and call me on the following Monday. Monday – no call. On Tuesday, I decided to go into the store and ask how things were coming along. As I approached the front desk another customer was already being taken care of so I waited patiently. Another employee asked what I needed. I asked about my Ipod. After some looking around, I was informed that it was in the area where the place COMPLETED devices but there weren’t any “notes” on what had been done to the Ipod.

Needless to say I was very disappointed.

The employee asked if I wanted to continue to leave my Ipod with them and they would make sure that someone looked at. De javu – Uh, NO.

Now I am not business owner, nor do I pride myself in having a lot of business sense. Do you think that I would honestly trust Ribbit Computers again? NO.

But hey at least you guys were...

My mother's iPad Air 2 was acting up, I thought it was the battery, so I looked up Apple repair here in Wichita. I found Ribbit listed, and went to their website. I found the page for iPad Air 2 repairs. It listed "Battery repair" and the price shown was $89.99 (see attached screenshot, if I can get it to upload). I thought that was fair, since while Apple only charges $99 for guaranteed original parts, this being Wichita with no Apple store, I'd have to ship it off to Apple for the repair.

I called them the next day to ask if they used original Apple batteries and confirm that I could just walk in and drop it off at the West location. The guy on the phone said "As far as I know, they are Apple batteries", so that was a little strange. At the end of the call, I decided to just verify the price on the website of $89.99. He said "No, it's $179.99". I replied that he must be talking about something else (he'd accidentally mentioned screen replacement during our conversation, I thought maybe he had looked up that price) and he said no, according to the chart he was looking at the price was $179.

I was stunned, but I wasn't in front of a computer to confirm the price I thought I had seen, so I said OK and hung up. Then I got on my computer and went back to their website. Sure enough, I hadn't imagined it, the price on the website was $89.99. So, I thought "Surely there's been some mixup" and called back. I got a different guy on the phone this time, and gave him a quick rundown of the situation. His response was "Well, we can't actually update the prices on our website right now, we're having some trouble with the site. The price is $179".

What does that even mean? How can you not be able to update the prices on your own website? How can a "technology" company be locked out of their own website? Would you trust a technology company that's locked out of their own website? Or would you suspect a bait-and-switch scheme?

I asked him if they were getting a lot of takers at that price, seeing as Apple only charges $99 for the same service. His response was that they have plenty of customers, and that there are other places in town charging even more, and that if you ship something to Apple it might take 2-3 weeks. I said OK and hung up, I'm not going to be baited and switched for double the price to avoid a few extra days delay on the repairs.

The TL;DR: Make sure you get your estimate in writing from these people before agreeing to repairs, because the price I was quoted on the phone was double the price they had listed on their website! I have no idea when I would have found that out, had I not specifically asked before wasting a trip over there to drop it off based on their published web prices.

EDIT: Just got off a chat with Apple. It turns out that the Best Buys here in town are Apple Authorized repair centers. Apple was able to set me up with an appointment at Best Buy for this Sunday to have the battery replaced for the $99 price on their website. So, if you are taking your Apple products to Ribbit for repairs, you're voluntarily getting screwed, there are authorized repair centers right...

The staff at Ribbit computers on North Rock Road are very smart, helpful, very patient. Shout out to the whole team and special shout out to Brodie Owens. he went out his way to help with the BitLocker on My laptop. It included multiple of sign ins and outs just to get the BitLocker number. Myself I had been used to my laptop to sign on into my email without memorizing the password, the challenge came when I was required to type in my password on a different device over there. All the passwords I tried, they all failed. I got frustrated with the process, he was cool and calm and collected the whole entire time. He asking me if we try different alternatives to get the laptop unlocked, I was almost about to give up on that lap and go get another one. That's when he tried an alternative method and it worked. At that time my laptop didn't have enough juice, therefore he recommended for me to go home and plug it in for about and hour and a half and turn it on, remember at this time he already found the BitLocker serial number for my computer and already wrote it down on a piece of paper for me just if it ever does it again. So after I got home I plugged in the laptop and went ahead and started doing some other activities around the house and outside the house. One hour and 1/2 passed, I went back in to resume the process of bringing my laptop back to life. At this time the laptop was at 92%. I rebooted and it asked for the BitLocker number, which he already had jotted down on a piece of paper for me. I typed it in and voila, the rest was history. I got back online and took care of some business that I had to tend to. I promised to post a review on Google and this is exactly what I'm doing to thank him and his team. After going through all that trouble he just wanted a review. I promised to give him that. They didn't charge me for that service, which that was super nice. Again, thank you Brodie Owens and the whole entire team. You guys...