The MacPac

Since taken over by TD Curran, what a sterile environment and the staff’s personality matches!
The so called «Manager» sold me the wrong cable for my hard drive. It was the way I was treated that ticked me off. They did refund my money, it was the attitude that didn’t get refunded.
Luckily I found a local repair man in Vancouver, «MacOnly». Much better rates and more professional.

I bought two computers from these guys 4 years ago. They spent plenty of time teaching my 87 year old father and I about the basics of Apple. Told me if I needed anything to just call or come in.
Fast forward 4 years and I needed some help with my screwed up all on my own computer. These guys spent almost an hour fixing all the little glitches, and mistakes that I made over the years. Didn’t ask for a penny. This is a first class place. When I decide to get an ipad, guess where I’m going? Yup, you guessed it.

I LOVE the folks at MacPac. I’ve purchased 12 or 15 machines from them over the last 8 years and this year the Buy Local First mantra rang true! They went above and beyond to help me with my business computing needs – even when there was a shortage of what I needed. They worked the phones and found me a computer and new drive array for my needs and got it in just a couple days. Thank you Randy, Thomas and Jason (and everyone else)!

I recently was referred to MacPac from a colleague.
Eddie Kelley came out and set up my new iMacs. I was having trouble with slow downloads, latent opening of applications, server delays … assuming most issues would be increased with new imacs.
I have never had a technician so thorough. Eddie looked into my router, my server, and updated the operating systems. He found a few areas of security concerns in our office that he addressed and fixed on site. (Things that were overlooked by my previous IT people from other companies.)
He was patient, quick, and thorough. What an excellent experience. Thank you Macpac.

These guys are great. I would never go to the Apple Store when you can go to The Mac Pac and get great fast service at a reasonable price. I needed a new power cord for my Mac Book Pro, and they had a used one they sold me for $ 25 less, and gave me the cord extension for free — all with a friendly smile.

I have been a customer at Mac Pac for 14 years and have purchased several iMacs, iPads, MacBooks, software and peripherals. In addition, when I have a software or hardware issue, which is rare, I always take my hardware to them for service. Over the years, I was able to build a personal relationship with the manager, Bill Cantrell but to my great disappointment, he retired.
I live in Vancouver but Mac Pac is only ten minutes away so the location in convenient to say nothing of avoiding sales tax. Today I went in to buy a new iMac with a retail price of $ 1295. I walked in the door and a robust fellow with a beard named Josh Wilcox greeted me with a «hello». I waited for him to say «can I help you» and after a long pause standing there silent, I started to feel uncomfortable and asked if there was anybody that could help me. His reply was «I said Hello». I indicated that I was interest in buying a new iMac and an external optical drive at which point he disappeared into the back room and reappeared with a new iMac and said they were out of optical drives. I asked him a few questions about my new iMac but he seemed somewhat ambivalent about answering my questions. In my opinion, Josh has about as much personality as a wet noodle.
I hope management will give Josh some intensive training on customer service especially when said customers buy big ticket items.
I will continue to shop at Mac Pac but next time I will avoid dealing with Josh.

Unusual assortment of accessories. Love visiting to see the variety. Apple Stores are great, but you know what to expect in each one, and what will not be there. Good service. Wonderful labeled display of Macs over the years – look up to see them.

Very Impressed.
I needed to upgrade the Ram on my 3.5 year old Macbook; they had it in stock at the best price AND were happy to install it for me at no charge while I waited. While I was there they gave me two great options for a new battery as well. I thought I could be looking at an all new computer; MacPac put new life into the one I have and it is excellent.
The staff makes the place.

Holy cow. Wonderful!
I brought my June 2007 MacBook Pro (with a dead video card) to the repair shop after I spoke with the rep on the phone who informed me that the replacement would cost $ 450. He said they would send it to Apple because it would be cheaper for me than if they ordered the part for $ 530 and did the work here in Portland. I was sad to have to do this, but it was the best option.
As it happens: there’s a settlement in place for owners of these laptops, and if your Nvidia graphics card dies within 4 years from the date of purchase, the replacement is free from Apple. If you’re outside the warranty period, then it’s a flat fee of $ 450.
I thought I would be outside the warranty period since my machine was built in June 2007, but Mac Pac looked up my computer with Apple when they received it and found out that my purchase date was Sept 2008 – within the warranty period! Not only that, because my repair was a warranty replacement, they were able to have the part overnighted by Apple to Portland.
Mac Pac saved me $ 450. My computer was fixed within 48 hours. I even ordered a new keyboard, and they only charged me for the part since they were already doing the other job for me.
This is just about the best service I’ve ever received. I highly recommend this company!

I bought my MacBook Pro here about 2007. Since then I have had the «usual» freak out major type problems, and each time the guys in service handled everything right away (and with fair pricing). Recently I inexplicably lost all my email. I’m not a very savvy user, but I’m not clueless either. I sure couldn’t figure it out. I just walked in, no appointment, and BOOM the fella fixed it all and took plenty of time to explain other problems/​solutions right then and there. What can be better than that? I had been imagining trying to live without the machine for a couple of days… but I did not have to. This is how it is every time I’ve had any issues. some smart guy solves it. I am always going to own Macs and (God willing!) I am always going to get them serviced here.

my external hard drive crashed and macpac was the second place i took it to. the first place said they couldn’t do anything with it and that there were places but it would cost me thousands of dollars to have it restored.
patrick at macpac had my drive for 10 minutes and it now works perfectly again. and since the other place took my drive out of its case patrick sold me a docking station. i got 80 gigs of music, all my old photos, and all my other stuff back for about $ 39.00.
he then helped me get my 2005 powerbook up to speed again and didn’t even charge me for it.
the time is quickly approaching to replace my older imac and i think i’ll be going to them when i do.

I’ve gotten memory upgrades, hard drives installed, and Mac Pac even ran a bunch of software updates for my current laptop (don’t laugh, if I did it myself, I would manage to screw it up somehow). They do a great job, and if the repair didn’t take an entire hour, they usually give me a break instead of charging a full hour’s labor. So cheers for that. It’s also fun to check out the bigger, better, faster (more) Macs on display, and the salespeople are… like salespeople, but tolerable.
My only gripe: when I picked up my laptop the last time it was repaired, I forgot to bring the case. I had errands to run after Mac Pac, so I asked the girl at the front desk if she had any bubble wrap, or the like, to wrap my precious electronic baby and not potentially incur any more expensive damage. Without missing a beat, or actually searching for any, she looked at me and said (in a bored tone) «No… I don’t.»
My husband and I chuckled over this as I wrapped my laptop in my coat and stuck it behind the seat of our truck. Silly me! I must be out of my mind to think a computer store would have cushioning material for expensive electronic equipment laying around…
Aside from that little hitch in the proceedings, I still like them for Mac repairs.

Great things about this store:
1. Lots of hardware to play with and try out, and NOT just Apple-​branded stuff. For example, I was able to test-​drive WACOM’s Cintiq drawing tablet/​displays – not possible at the Apple Store.
2. Great place for repairs/​custom upgrades. I’ve had laptop hard drives installed here, and also had my entire MacBook converted into a ModBook (with stylus-​screen). They do great, quick (next day, sometimes same-​day), reasonably-​priced work.
3. Easy access! I find this store so much easier to drive to and park at than the Apple Store downtown. This alone is almost the deal-​changer.

So… there are times I find this place a little daunting… I can’t just pull a computer or such off the shelf and buy it… but, having to deal with a sales person can have it’s perks… namely they are flexible on prices (a bit) or can recommend an alternative which will do you just as well.
I’m currently psyched about MacPac because my hard drive died… seems to be the two year curse for ibooks, macbooks, whatever laptop. The repair dude said it was likely not recoverable. What!!! I had been waiting for santa to bring me a new external hard drive just to back this puppy up! And my drive died a week before Christmas!!! Nooooo!!!
Bye-​Bye thousands of dollars of music… bye-​bye last two years’ vacation pictures… I feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about it!
But no worries. I got a call telling me I was ready to go and data had been recovered. Phew!
And my new hard drive is almost twice the size of my old one for $ 100 — yes, I know I could have competitively shopped and saved a few bucks, but I’m decidedly squirrelly about rooting through my MacBook… especially when I’m dealing with non-​backed-​up-​lost data.
AND…best yet, the techs CLEANED my MacBook! Like, really scrubbed it — this is the loser white MacBook I’m talking about — looks like a new computer!

I really like this place. Mainly because they helped me with my computer like a Apple Store, but the main reason why I like this place is because its a local company.
I believe that these guys are helpful and really nice.
Personally I don’t know why these past reviews say otherwise.

Why buy locally, if you get service like this?
I’ve bought a few items from them over the years and even a used computer. Every time I leave that place, I wonder why I come back. The service is poor. The staff either rude, condescending or unhelpful.
The times I have been there, I have found that the salespeople are abrupt, don’t listen to your needs or concerns and left me with the impression that I should make my purchase as quickly as possible and leave.
I thought maybe this was just my experience, but found many people I know have had similar experiences and have told me they too steer clear of this place in favor of either an official Apple store or one of the many online parts retailers (cough, cough, Other World Computing…)
Their prices on new and used items are also way too high — if they are serious about persuading people to ‘buy local’ rather than one of the many online Mac parts sellers and some will even eat the shipping cost!
So, why go to this dreary, industrial business park storefront and experience unfriendly, rude staff when there are better alternatives?

So, it’s not as fancy as the Apple Store but they have all the same stuff without the crowds. Nice people too.