I brought my mac in here because all the other repair places in town were booked up. What a mistake! I had to bring my computer back in 4 times before they finally fixed the problem. Each time I got the computer back they assured me that it was fixed. In fact the first time they fixed it they said "It's all tuned up and ready to go!". This indicated that they charged me $150 to run standard clean-up software on it and wipe the screen and keyboard down. Over the next 4 visits they (where I lost a lot of valuable work hours) they managed to strip the screws that hold my MacBook together. After $250 and 4 visits over 5 days they fixed the issue and have left my laptop with the screws continuing to fall out of the bottom. DO NOT EVER TAKE YOUR COMPUTER TO THESE GUYS FOR REPAIR! read more

I just opened an account to write this negative review. The staff was rude, dismissive and completely disrespectful. The worst experience in a retail environment that I have ever encountered. Opened a complaint with Apple. The Apple representative was very apologetic over the terrible treatment I received by this establishment. I would highly discourage anyone from going to this store. read more

I have now used Restart three times in the last couple of years, and I am very impressed with their service. Most recently they replaced a piece of hardware in my laptop within 24 hours. They give me everything that I want from an apple support store in terms of warranty support, they are no hassle and they are quick. read more

I had a rather negative experience with this store. I was told by an apple representative over the phone that my MacBook needed to be brought in to a store to be looked at. When I arrived at ReStart, I interacted with some extremely pleasant staff who gave me the thumbs up because I still had over 500 days left on my apple care. However, I signed a document which the associate behind the desk simply told me "Gave them permission to take a look at my computer". The fine print which I failed to read at the time mentioned the possibilty of a charge (but not why). After leaving my computer there, I was still under the impression that the Apple care I had purchased covered diagnostics. None of the staff had mentioned the possibility of this not holding true if there were damage to my computer which was not covered by apple care. Later, I received a call from ReStart that there was liquid damage to my computer (something I was unaware of when I dropped it off) and it would be $1200 to fix. Seeing as the computer cost me less than that new, I did not go through with the repairs. When I went to pick up my computer the staff then informed me of a $110 charge for diagnosing my computer. As a student this is a LOT of money to me and had I known there would have been this charge, I would have held out and brought my computer to an Apple store on the mainland the next time I was traveling there. I believe I spoke to the store owner who said this issue arises a lot. He also suggested buying something else from the store and the possibility of using the $110 as store credit. I told him I wanted the money returned to me because I felt I had been mislead and would have not chosen to use their services if I had known in advance there might be a charge. He said that they used to inform their clients verbally about this policy, but that it "offended" people and made them feel as though the staff were accusing them of lying about liquid or some other uncovered damage to their device. In the end, he gave me 50% off so I only paid $55 and I left him with the STRONG suggestion of informing their customers of this policy in the future. In all, I will not be returning to this store, it is absolutely worth holding out until your next trip to the mainland and bringing your Apple products to an Apple store and not a retailer on the island. They are able to create charges that go above and beyond what Apple normally does. read more

My experience was Terrible. Who I spoke too was completely rude didn't want to help me. Told me they closed in an hour. Told me to come by tomorrow and he would charge me 49.99. I went to soho same day 30 mins before they closed fixed my phone for FREE! And gave me great advice. I would strongly suggest to go their first!!! read more

I made an account so I could write this review. I don't usually complain, but I feel its important that people know that there are other options available to get your computer fixed, and I don't want anyone to experience what I did. If I explained every single issue I had with my experience it would honestly take me so long to write it out.. So I'm just going to try and do a really short version. Avoid this place at all costs if you're looking to get anything repaired. My macbook had one small issue and still worked perfectly fine. I decided it was time to get it repaired as my warranty was about to expire. Over the course of three weeks, and restart actually causing a needed repair by accidentally breaking a wire while trying to fix the initial problem, AND telling me they put in the part that they ordered when they actually didn't, they turned my laptop into a paperweight. It was fried. My computer went in with a small issue but worked perfectly fine, and after they were done with it I had a paperweight that wouldn't turn on, AND apples customer relation number written down on a piece of paper after I was told "There is nothing we can do." After that, I took my business to SOHO computers, and they not only fixed the initial problem that was needed to be fixed, they also fixed what restart had done to it. It took them 4 days, and they did it the first time. Restart had my computer multiple times, I went back and forth dealing with their shenanigans 6 different times, all together taking about 3 weeks. Don't use their services. There are way better options. TRUST ME. read more

Wow! The 2 other reviews here do not surprise me in the least. My wife & I purchased a few items that we later discovered were far cheaper elsewhere. It was only later that we discovered there was no return policy on those items and we were even treated very rudely when we enquired about returning some things. Fair enough, they are not obligated to accept returns (even though almost all reputable places do!), but they never mentioned this at the time of purchase. The only reason we purchased from them in the first place was because they had the particular iPad we were looking for. Even then, my wife found the salesman to be rude and condescending, though I'll admit I didn't notice that as I was too excited about getting a new iPad! Moral of the story: avoid this place. There are many other Apple dealers in town. read more

Without a doubt the worst experience i've had in a computer store. The owner/manager (?) was condescending and pompous. If you're looking for anything Apple related in Victoria, look elsewhere. read more

They sell aftermarket Apple products for the same price as the genuine article. Not cool. Not cool at all.

Two weeks ago I took my 1.5 year old MacBook Pro to Restart because it would not turn on. They called back the next day to say that it was fixed and it would be $100 and that the hard drive was fine. 25 minutes later I got another call that the hard drive was actually toast and everything was GONE and that my new bill would be $373! After picking it up (and paying the bill) I noticed that the optical drive was now broken. I took it back and they told me it was not their fault and that they would not help me. read more

Beware! My family and I are visiting our grandmother in Victoria and my sister needed a battery for her Mac Book Pro. She called several retailers with no luck before ReStart to see if there were any in stock and was pleased to find out there were and $5 cheaper than the Apple store in Vancouver. She reserved one, we loaded the entire family in the car and made the trip out to pick it up. When we got there my sister went in and noticed the clerk conspicuously turned the battery face down on the counter after taking the post it with her name off. She took a closer look and noticed it was a knock off and not an OEM apple product which was not disclosed in a lengthy conversation on the phone hours earlier. She mentioned it and the man got snippy and said "well that's what we have." She expressed her surprise that it was almost the same price as a real apple battery (she had been quoted a knock off for only $50 from other retailers while calling around to find an OEM in stock--and they had all been up front about the non OEM aspect as well) and he repeated that that was what he had to offer in a short and rude way from her perspective. To the owner, go ahead and sell knock offs and way, WAY overcharge for them if you want-I have no beef with that if that's your business model. Please don't pretend it is honest to leave that part out of the conversation when someone calls to ask about your your products and then try to slip it past by flipping it face down on the counter when they come in. It simply amounts to deceit. I am really only writing this review so that anyone else who looks you up online gets information that you try to keep secret until you are called out on it if they speak to you. Hopefully it will save someone else a wasted trip to be treated rudely in person by you since that was all you had to offer my family today. read more

Horrible service and higher repair costs then anywhere else in town. Do yourselves a favour and shop around. Many of the other small resellers have far superior service and prices. read more

From a 1.5 minute telephone call, I can't even imagine going into this place for any service of any kind. I received a FedEx door tag indicating that a package was available for pick up at this location which is a collection site for FedEx apparently. I had already called FedEx directly to confirm this. I called this store to ask a question, but as soon as I said "Hello, I have a door tag that indicates I have a package for pick up there -" the person who answered the phone interrupted me and yelled repeatedly at me: "We are just a store that fixes computers, you need to call FedEx." and as I tried to say "Yes, I just need to come pick up my item" he continued to yell at me and interrupt me for a solid minute so I could not even get my question out (which literally was just about their hours for when I could come and pick up the item), and so I finally asked "Can I please finish my sentence without being interrupted?" and the person hung up on me. Incredibly unprofessional to be yelled at, interrupted repeatedly, and hung up on. In the end, I called FedEx and the company who sent me the document that is pending pickup, and notified them both that I didn't feel comfortable or safe to walk into the store to collect my item after the experience I just had, and that I would just let the document be returned to the sender rather than subject myself to further abuse. read more

Thank you to ReStart. My daughter brought in her 2 week old MacBook Pro (yikes why is it not working already!!). They were very helpful and had it fixed much sooner than we thought, relieving her stress of not having a computer to start university with. If we have any more problems we'll be back and I would recommend ReStart . Thanks again. read more

The guy that works here (I think he is the owner/manager) was a HUGE jerk to me for absolutely no reason. Terrible customer service. I would never go back here or recommend it to anyone. I ended up going to the Mac store in the Uvic library and got way better service. read more

Awful service. They are not helpful at all as soon as they realize you are just asking questions.

Rude, argumentive staff - who talks over the customer as they're explaining the situation, does not honour apple warranty even with Apple confirmation information. Just keep talking about the fact that someone has to pay... which I'm pretty sure is what warranties are for. read more

Update my review. I went to the Apple retail store in Vancouver since Victoria doesn't have one. I didn't mention I went to an authorized service store before, just told them my battery didn't work. Next day a Genius called, my macbook was ready to pick up. She said my battery was good, it seemed like someone else had repaired my macbook before.. a machine part connected with the battery was not in the right place. What she did was just put that machine part back into the right place. She asked me if I ever went to an authorized store or let anyone else to fix my macbook.. I said yes. Genius bar solved my problem in a day and I didn't pay anything. It took Restart almost a week to find out the battery was "broken", and I need to pay $500 for a problem that's not exist. Why should I pay you $100 labour cost after all you were not doing the right thing!? Totally disappointed about your service and ability. read more

I am surprised these guys are still an Apple Authorized Service Provider. Read all the reviews on this page and do business with them at "your own risk." An absolutely arrogant "we know it all" attitude with everyone including the owner. I spent about $170 on a relatively minor issue that was not satisfactorily resolved and they really didn't care. I will be sure to forward my complaint to Apple and the reviews available. read more

When I arrived on a Sat afternoon, it was busy but staff acknowledged me immediately and served me as soon as they could. I had an iPod under warranty that was malfunctioning and they returned it to Apple for me - no muss, no fuss. I got a new iPod within 3 days! The entire process was so smooth and professional I was very impressed! It was my first experience at ReStart and I now wish I owned more Apple products if that's the type of service you get! read more

I had a negative experience with this business. I needed a new hard drive on my computer and was quoted a price for it. I was told by the tech people that the computer would be the same afterward but work better, and that all my data and programs would function. Unfortunately when I got my computer back Microsoft word had some bugs and was unusable. In addition, my computer in general seems to be operating more slowly and there are a few bugs (ex: other programs shutting down in the middle of use). I took it back to the store and they at first said that it was some problematic files I had. These files worked fine on my colleagues' computers. When it still didn't work (even on other files), they then said it was a software issue and they couldn't help me--I would have to buy a new version of Office for $150. I felt I was misled because I was not informed that installing a new hard drive could cause previously functional software to malfunction. I asked if they would give me a new version of Word to fix the problem and they said they were unable to do so. I now have to spend additional time and money to fix my computer. Disappointed in this service. They were not unkind about it, but were inflexible, and left me with costs greater than I anticipated. read more