Video & Audio Repair Center

very nice people, they couldn’t fix my machine it was too old

I brought in a TV to repair as it had a glitch in the screen. I paid $ 65 to have them look at it. It would be a couple of days before they would call. No one called after 6 days so I called him or her. They told me the sound was fine. I said I know the sound is fine it is the screen has a problem. He said it would be a «couple of days and they would call» so I waited and waited and finally I called them. He asked if I had already picked it up and I said no as no one had called me. He asked, «Are you sure you did not pick it up?» I said if I had it then there would not be a big hole where the TV was. He said it might have been stolen and he would look at the video downstairs. A couple of days later I again called him and asked him what he found out. He says that the video shows a guy picking up the TV and walking out the door. He says he was with another customer and did not notice the criminal do the dirty deed. I came down to the shop on B Street and he told me this had never in 30 years of doing business. I asked if he noticed that I was the culprit and he said I was not. I asked if I could see the video and he said it was downstairs so I never saw this imaginary video system of the actual video. I do not believe any of those places in that building has basements.
I asked if he report the thief and he said he had contacted them but they needed by drivers license information. I asked «Why?» He told me they would not take a report without this information. I said when did he report the thief he said it was two days prior and he needed the information. I told him they do not need my information as they stole the TV from him and he could leave my phone number if they wanted any other info.
I left and went to the police department and talked to an officer who said they did not need my license information and that no one had made any contact with the police from Repair Company.
I then went down to the store and told him what they told me and I said it looks like He and I will have to buy another TV to replace the stolen one and at that time he agreed to paying something. I have to say he did return the $ 65 I had given him.
I went and bought a TV for over $ 500 but it was too big and I returned and bought on for $ 375.00 so I was not trying to take advantage of him and thought he should pay for half. He said the TV was brought back by the guy who took it and it was sitting right there. The guy thought it was his TV and simply walked off with mine. So he did not have to pay for a TV since I got mine back undamaged and unrepaired and he would buy my old TV that he says he could not fix. I said of course you can’t fix when it not in your shop. He said he would buy my old, repairable TV for $ 45 just for the parts. Of course since I got the TV back that all was good but still had no TV in family room for about three weeks
I said I would throw it in the dumpster before I would sell him anything that might benefit him as I have been screwed over by him.
The only time the TV was brought back was after I told him I went to police. I think then he got nervous and produced the missing TV. I would never bring anything EVER to him. If anyone does take him business remember my tale of woe!

All I can say is that I wish I asked for documentation on exactly what was replaced. It worked for a little but eventually had to fix it again — myself. Money totally wasted. This guy is very dishonest.

I’ve taken several pieces of stereo equipment to them ranging from 5 to 35 years old and received each piece back working perfectly, at a reasonable price for parts & service. They’ve also graciously taken time to help me and coach me in many ways regarding audio & video equipment. I recommend then highly.

My pre-​amp went from intermittent audio to no sound and I was ready to junk it. On a lark I called and got it in to be looked at. Taher said don’t buy a new one till he had a chance to look at it. He called back saying it was a $ 40 part, so he got the go-​ahead and I had it back the next day! Excellent service, no gimmicks or hard-​sell on unneeded repairs.

As a small business owner in Marin, I truly value the quality services to which I subscribe. The owner of Video & Audio Repair Center, and the owner’s team, did what they promised with my repair; fulfilled their original quote; and provided very timely service. Also noted, they painted the interior to an inviting color, and it appears they’re adding shelves for more floor space. I wish success to this business.

I run a small medical device manufacturing company with headquarters in Arizona. I, the President, live most of the time in Marin County, CA. I was in a bind with an update I was doing on a customer’s equipment. There was an issue with her system and I was unable to troubleshoot it on my own. Our own service center was unavailable at that time. I brought it to Taher at the Audio and Video Repair center in San Rafael because his was the only business I could find that was willing to take the time to sork on small projects like mine.
Taher and his technicians were completely unfamiliar with my device, as it is a non-​standard form of electronics. With some persistence they were able to locate the issue and fix it within a couple of days. This was so appreciated. I do recommend this business for your electronic repair needs — they are honest, dependable and highly skilled.

I totally agree with all the other 1 star reviews (and the 1 star reviews that have been filtered as well).
Luckily I’ve had 3 months to ponder what I was going to write as that is how long they had my item. I was referred to them by Electronics Plus (it turns out the repair shop is a frequent parts buyer from them, so now I know why they gave me his card)
I brought in an old analog delay for a guitar. It’s got a huge simple easily accessible circuit board, the circuit schematics on the device and only a few knobs and dials to deal with. I’m told they will look at it and get back to me in a few days.
Two weeks later still no news. I finally call them. «Let me see… let me talk to the tech… he’s looking at it now, I will call you back».
No call for a week. I call them back. «It needs a switch. I need to order it»
Fine yes please order it I wish you had told me this last week.
No call for a few weeks. I call back.
«Let me call you back, I’ll talk to the tech»
No call. I call him back a few days later.
«It needs another switch. I need to order it».
FINE yes do order it. «I’ll call you back»
No call back.
A week later «How’s my delay?» «let me talk to the tech, I’ll call you back»
No call back.
I call back. How is it? It’s fixed!
Hooray!
I pick it up. I bring it home. No delay. All it is supposed to do is make a delay when you play. How could they not figure that they hadn’t fixed it? Had they not tested it? Do they know what a delay is?
I bring it back. «we’ll look at it right away and call you back».
No call for a week. I call them. «We haven’t looked at it yet.»
A week later «We haven’t looked at it yet»
A week later «We’ve been very busy, we have lots of stuff in here»
A week later «He looked at it and can’t find anything wrong. He spent like an hour looking at it. Let me have him look at it again. We’ll call you back» yeah ok.
I call them back a week later. «We’ve been busy, haven’t had a chance to look at it. We’ll look at it and call you back by tomorrow.»
A week later, no call «We couldn’t find anything wrong with it. He looked at it for 45 minutes».
So I go pick it up. $ 100+ and 3 months later.
Maybe they’ll fix your thing. Maybe they’ll call you back. I’m certainly not going back there.

I just had my early ‘80s Marantz receiver repaired. The work was very reasonably priced, service was fast (just a few days), and it now works great. A pleasant experience.

SquareTrade asked Video Audio Repair Center to repair my TV. Robert was very helpful.
Initially SquareTrade sent a wrong part, Robert worked things out with them, made them ship the correct part to me and fixed my problem.
He was very careful wit my TV. Also made sure to put my TV back on the wall correctly and set the cables right.

To replace or to repair… that is the question. Video & Audio Repair Center makes it obvious, repair. Honest, professional and incredibly reasonable. I was about to spend $ 3800 to replace my TV, thinking it would cost me an arm and leg to fix it. I took it to one of the chain stores and they gave me a song-​and-​dance that made me want to buy a new one. Then, they quoted such high price for the repair that it made no sense to keep it. One of my good friends is a tech-​wiz and has all his things fixed by Video & Audio Repair so I trusted his expertise and gave it a try. I had the best experience possible, spent a fraction of what the other «experts» were quoting and have a perfect TV again. You will feel it the minute you walk in the door. The owner is there all the time, he knows his stuff, he cares about his customers and he treats them like family.

OUTSTANDING EXPERIENCE! Frankly, what Taher did for me today was nothing less than a miracle! Highest recommendation.
I’ve had this Sony HDV-​MU10 deck for 8 years, fairly esoteric, and it decide to stop working last night after I loaded a crucial, so not only could I not use the deck, but I could edit w/​o the tape! I thought I was sunk, my sony HDV deck toast, and my video project up in flames.
What to do – friends/​staff at the Community Media Center of Marin tried in vain to dig in and fix it, valiant effort but it soon became clear I would likely need parts and have to send it off to Sony, and see it weeks and hundreds of dollars later. On a last chance whim, we called Taher at V & R to see if by chance he might work on non-​current, semi-​professional gear — good bloody luck, I thought, last time I had a problem the nearest repair shop (for this sort of thing) I found was in San Jose, and I was about to hit the road again in desperation.
Well. Ten minutes later I was there. Taher COULD NOT have been more accommodating, obviously knew his trade inside and out, and basically said, no problem, when do you need it (this was 11 a.m. this very morning) I said actually right now, he said his tech would return shortly, come back at 1:00.
He said his tech was from Russia, could fix anything. I said waitaminnit, did he used to work in SF on Van Ness, yes that’s him, Peter, why? I had lost track of him years ago after numerous successful repairs and maintenance on other cameras etc., but he had, and no doubt still has, the reputation of being the best genius video tech in the Bay Area, bar none. This confirmed it. Taher called me at 12:30, found the problem to be a burnt out power board, and I figured that was that. .. but no. Peter found a spare board from another job that he could make work, had it done by the time I could turn around, even had a spare Sony proprietary power supply to replace mine which was definitely suspect, and unavailable anywhere else.
Sony would have easily charged three times as much, and likely would have replaced more than necessary, and would have taken weeks. I am a very satisfied, very grateful, and will be forever a very loyal customer. And now if you’ll excuse, got some editing to do. ..

The «Video and Audio Repair Center» takes care of its customers. I feel like I’m doing business with a friend. Not only do they do quality work, but they also went that extra mile to take care of my very specific needs. I highly recommend this business for your video and audio needs.

While I love Dr. Dre and everything he stands for, his ‘Beats’ headphones are huge pieces of shit… After having these headphones for about a week, one of the speakers blew out… I couldn’t return them and I wasn’t eligible to get it fixed under their warranty. SO. I took them to Video & Audio repair and they fixed them within 2 weeks, and now they are as good as new!
Also, they have a green parrot in their store which is pretty cool.

All I can say is WOW… and not just the cool green parrot! Good things are often in small packages is very true here. I’ve had repairs done here, which was way convenient because I hate returning stuff. Why am I so excited? I got a great deal on a 40″ Samsung TV! Sweet!

I have been doing business with Video and Audio for about 15 years; they have repaired CD and VHS units for a local large dance studio without even the slightest negative issue. Repairs have been timely, affordable, and reliable; and, when I needed a loaner, the owner readily offered one without cost to me. Taher has always demonstrated the highest standards of workmanship and ethical behavior; plus he is undoubtedly the friendliest man in the business, always cheerful and fun; telephone calls are returned in a timely manner.
We rely heavily on Denon products as they are made for dance studios. Taher and his crew have never failed us in their excellent, and timely work.
The video and audio repair shop in Marin County!

This is decent place. A tiny, crowded store with friendly owner and a green parrot in a cage. They charged $ 20 to repair my Philips dvd player but alas, the laser was kaput.
But the owner said he felt bad and proceeded to sell me another dvd player for $ 30 and it works great! He said he would recycle my old one…

I completely agree with all the comments that Jackie Posted.
1) No Customer services whatsoever — The guy is too mean for a neighborhood repair shop.
2) Does not return the phone calls for days/​weeks — This happened several times for one repair item.
3) Not reliable service, I came to to repair my Denon stereo, asking a person to make it as quick as possible because all my electronics at home depend on it. First I asked him if he understands how to fix Denon piece. Of coarse he said he does and ended up fixing one thing in 2 weeks, and breaking another and being unable to fix it. This little useless job costed me $ 179, so I say it’s rip off …

I want this man on my team. He can fix things like MacGuyver. When everyone else realizes that it’s not smart to keep dumping old electronic things into the landfill when you could easily fix it, and support your local neighborhood small business in the process, maybe guys like my homeboy at Video and Audio repair will finally get the props they deserve.
Yeah, it costs as much money sometimes to fix your equipment than buy a new one. I paid close to $ 80 to fix my SONY CD stereo system, but it is compact, and the speakers sound fabulous, it’s not an eye sore in my bedroom like those dented, black piece of plastics from the 80’s you might have walked around with on your shoulder.
If you can’t afford to pay that much to fix yo stuff, well, you just shouldn’t get one in the first place. I decided to GO GREEN and get it fixed, instead of just throwing it into the landfill.
Think about it.

I’ve discovered a psych ward for schizophrenic video and audio equipment.
This workshop is conveniently located in the heart of downtown San Rafael, but it’s one of many small store fronts that you wouldn’t notice unless you were seeking it out. About the size of a shoebox, it contains piles of electronic hardware ranging from VHS players to stereo speakers to television sets. I swear, if you looked long enough, you’d find a Betamax.
The «doctor» is the eminently accommodating Taher Kia, who stands behind a glass counter that is about the only surface in the 10×10 shop that isn’t covered with a piece of equipment. Beside him is a large bird cage, containing some beautiful Amazons whose color is a welcome contrast to the stacks of silver and black metal.
Six months ago, I entered the store with a CD player under one arm and my toaster oven under the other and proceeded to explain my symptoms to Doctor Kia. First off, the CD player wasn’t reading discs. Taher carefully took the CD player from me and placed it on the counter, and proceeded to list the possible sources of the problem. It would either be an alignment issue (relatively cheap to fix) or worse, the laser might need to be fixed (cha-​ching!). He offered to diagnose the problem before operating on the patient. My kind of guy.
Next he sussed out the toaster. Why would I bring a toaster to an Audio/​Video specialist? Dunno. Just figured I’d give it a shot. I explained the problem with the most technical terms at my disposal: «it’s broken.»
He once again established that it could be cheap (perhaps some electrical components were disconnected) or expensive (damage$). I was somewhat surprised — and feigned innocence — when he pointed out that the toaster looked like it had been dropped, seeing as one side of it was out of alignment. (I blamed the dog.) Like the CD player, he said he would call before putting the toaster under the knife.
One day later, I received a call, and it turned out that both of my items would be easy for him to fix. Huzzah! Taher charged $ 30 per hour for his time/​labor, and didn’t need to replace any parts, so I ended up dropping $ 60 bucks for him to fix both items.
Six months later, I was back with the toaster. Taher looked somewhat surprised, but I quickly said that it was a different problem — the electronics were now no longer the issue, but one of the heating coils wasn’t working. This man looked me straight in the eye and said, «you need to buy a new toaster.»
He did offer to fix it for me, but he pointed out that for him to buy the replacement part and be paid for his work, it would far outweigh the value of the 8 year old toaster. I proceeded to hug him. (Mentally.)
Sometimes, the patient just isn’t worth saving, and thankfully, the decision wasn’t one I had to make alone.
RIP toaster, and thank you, Taher.