Los Altos Business Machines

Brought in a Brother color laser printer in the afternoon, and it was fixed by 9:30 the next morning. Besides providing this quick turnaround, they also got the manufacturer to extend the warranty on the printer’s fuser unit, which had failed. Result: our printer was back in action almost at once, and the only cost to us was the very modest evaluation fee. Nice people, too. Businesses like this are few and far between!

We have brought our business machine needs to John for years, this is our go-​to place! Professional, knowledgeable, kind, helpful, and excellent are very appropriate adjectives. Just go there! Thanks for reading!

Found this place through Unilocal for my boss who brought her typewriter to be fixed there. She said the gentleman who helped her was SO nice/​friendly and enthusiastic, that you could really tell that he is passionate about what he does. He also had it repaired within a day and a half or so just before Christmas.
Suffice it to say she was ecstatic with the service she received and said I just had to put this review up! :)

Like an earlier reviewer (Stephanie H. in Mountain View), I first learned of this establishment several years ago through a story on NPR. And so glad I did.
So few services nowadays are interested in repairing or refurbishing anything «old.» The emphasis today is on selling us things that are new.
It’s also becoming increasingly difficult to find true craftsmen, who really care about the quality of the service they are providing and the way in which they provide it.
From that perspective, John at LABM is a breath of fresh air. He did excellent work on our IBM Selectric, for a fee that was quite reasonable.
Highly recommended!

Outstanding! The artisan, John, completely revitalized my 1940s Royal typewriter. He located in his shop additional parts, including a shiny perfect logo for the Royal, the «Royal.» This business must be nurtured, lest it disappear. The guy is a genius.

Recently bought an old 1940s Royal, and a few parts were rickety and missing a bolt. Took it in and the gentleman there (the son of the original owner – still family owned biz) fixed it on the spot in a few minutes, and only charged a measly $ 5 for the labor and spare bolt. Amazingly friendly, knowledgable, and chatty, this is the man to go to for all your typewriter needs. They also fix old machinery like faxes, printers, etc.
Also on display are beautiful mint condition typewriters from Underwoods to Royals to Coronas, of all ages, from all decades. They range from $ 300-​$ 600 for the portables, but hey, they’re pieces of American history, and again, did I say mint condition?

I took in a defunct Epson printer we have had for 5 years. It was leaking yellow ink on everything we attempted to print, and we though it was from moving it across the country.
For a reasonable $ 35 diagnostic fee, he determined the internal pump was simply breaking down and confirmed this is a common defect on this type of machine. He also researched for us the possibility of return for the machine by Epson, and noted that online folks remarked the company will not acknowledge it as a defect, thus we cannot get it replaced by them.
Sad to see our printer go, but John was happy to recycle the machine upon my request. And I felt he was straightforward and knowledgeable in his relay of the problem to me. And I appreciated he did not waste our money on further attempts that would not have provided a solution.
I would definitely come back here.

So impressed with their selection of restored vintage typewriters. When I wanted to purchase a typewriter as a gift, I had two choices: buy online sight-​unseen or go to LABM and talk to the guy who brings typewriters back to life.
It was such a pleasure to be able to test drive the typewriters at LABM before purchase and get a feel for them. And it was a bonus to receive a tutorial from the owner on how to care for the typewriter, properly load the paper (more levers than I remembered as a kid) and type an exclamation mark (there was no ‘!’ key, imagine that!).
Many thanks to this business for keeping the awesomeness of typewriters alive.

The owner was super friendly, knowledgeable and extremely helpful in purchasing a typewriter for my little girl! Typewriter is all she asked for when she started Kindergarten and he helped me to get the right one for her! Still love using it!!!

This is a first rate outfit John picked up our unit fixed it in 24 hours and brought it back for a very reasonable price I have used them the past and always been pleased with their honesty and they’re great service five stars

A very good best printer repair … I have been patronizing — and just plain visiting for many years … having been in the copy and printing business for 20 years, including 13 at Stanford, I imagine myself to be knowledgeable about computer printing equipment and the like …
John and Elaine are very good people who help others who have the all too common problem of computer printer problems. John has that old world attention to detail and genuine fascination with the art, science, and business of repair.
John savors questions. Prices are competitive and follow-​up service is extensive.
As far as I can tell they do not carry every brand, the have their favorites such as Brother printers.
They also have a fascinating collection of typewriters.

Fast, helpful, courteous and polite. Got me my ribbon for a ’37 LC Smith model 11, and was happy to load it on my stock spools. Fantastic!

Very happy with Los Altos Business Machines. Had a printer repaired here — they were able to quickly identify and fix the problem. Excellent work.

This is a wonderful shop. The owner knows exactly what he is doing and helps you avoid sending good equipment to the garbage dump. He is thoughtful, patient, smart, and customer oriented. He fixed my Brother Multi-​Function Printer/​Scanner/​Copier. Highly recommended!

I brought my new electric typewriter into the store because the carriage was jammed. The owner, John took one look at the typewriter and fixed it — by removing the plastic packing material that held the carriage in place! John seems like a good guy. He only laughed at me a little. He wanted to make sure that I had everything that I needed including a daisy wheel and ink ribbons. I bought a daisy wheel and he said if I already had one to just bring it back. When I did a week later, John was again very pleasant and refunded my money. I’m sure John is capable of more complicated repairs.

We have a Brother Multi-​function printer/​fax/​copier. It was not feeding the originals, and the copies it would make were lousy. Took it to Peggy on a Friday afternoon, she saw that one of the cover hinges was broken. I expected to have to wait weeks while a new hinge was ordered. But the very next morning (Saturday) John called and said the machine was fixed and ready for pick-​up. Turns out he knew of a problem with this model and stocked the hinge. The machine was cleaned and put into perfect working order for a very reasonable price. Out of service for less than 24 hours! Can’t recommend this shop enough.
Judd S.

Last week I brought my father’s Royal Quiet Deluxe typewriter in for service. This thing has been sitting in a closet since at least 1983. Dusty, greasy, sticky keys, dry ribbon, it was close to done. Not taking technology into it.
My 6 year old son is enthralled with the idea of a keyboard that goes straight to print, with NO COMPUTER.
My father thinks its great his grandson is interested in something that went to college in 1954.
John quickly brought the Royal back to life, did not laugh, sold me a spare ribbon, and is all around a great shop-​owner.
I cannot recommend his shop or service enough. Fast, affordable, quality work. If you have a vintage typewriter, and you don’t take it to John at Los Altos Business Machines? you are making a mistake! Get them repaired while you still can, and keep this great shop open!
and the 6-​yr old? spent all afternoon typing, giggling, and telling me how aweseom this is.
There is no way to put a price on that. Thank you John.

Great little place! They have all these old typewritters in the store but what they really do is sell and repairs copiers, faxes, etc. I had problem with my HP1300 copier and they fixed it quickly and the price was reasonable.

Had a great experience here getting my typewriter fixed. I went in on a Saturday afternoon looking for an estimate. It was a lot higher then I was willing to pay– but I was glad that he was really nice and understanding that I didn’t want to get it fixed.
Went back a few months later when I had saved the money. Left my typewriter there and got a call a few days later with a more specific estimate. He explained my options and the pricing. Received another call a few days later that my typewriter was ready (a few days ahead of schedule!) and it came out a dollar less than the estimate– always good! Overall I was really satisfied with the service.

Steampunk? Looking for a vintage typewriter? This is the place for you!
I heard about this place from NPR (check out the interview here:
) and decided to go check it out.
It was just what I was hoping for. There were about 7 – 10 classic, vintage typewriters to choose from and they were all restored and in great working condition. I picked up a 1923 Corona 3 (very light-​weight and portable, with a folding carriage and three banks of keys) for $ 175.
Plus they sell all the ink ribbons you’ll need to continue to use your new typewriter.