Ableman TV & Electronics Service

Today I took my 10+ year-old TV to the guys at Ableman. In short, they're awesome. They diagnosed the problem on the spot and even invited me to watch the work being done. So I got a cool education along with a repaired TV. It was a bit of a tricky repair, but Ed solved the mysterious source of the problem in just a few minutes. He saved the day. The owner, Rex, was up-front, very knowledgeable and easy to to business with. There's no doubt that these guys really know their stuff and care about the quality of their work. I was happy with the fair and reasonable price, as well as how quick everything was done. I was also impressed that they didn't stop at the easy part of the repair, but continued to investigate what caused the problem in the first place so I could walk away with a TV that wouldn't just end up in the shop in a few more weeks. I recommend them without any reservation. Many thanks to Rex and Ed!

Pros: Honest, quick, friendly, reasonably-priced service

Cons: None for me

Posted 06/18/09

Brian serviced my 1994 RCA 48 in. TV. He was professional and friendly. The entire time he was in my home he conducted himself in a very professional manner yet was personable. His manners were exemplary, not like some of the young people of today. He fixed my TV and cleaned up his area and replaced all components and tapes back in place. He moved the TV back to its position. I would highly recommend this young man and this company to repair any TV or electronic system. Thank you Ableman TV. Georgia Sligar

Pros: Professional Service

Cons: None

Posted 05/22/09

I had a bad experience at a shop in Portland and did a lot of research on the internet and found Ableman TV in Vancouver. I called them and told them about my problem and they told me to come in. WHen I got there, they immediately looked at my TV w/ me present. Rex and his staff told me it would take approx 20 minutes to look at it, and 20 minutes is what it took. They have top notch technology and are quick, efficient, nice and honest. In the end, I was unable to fix my tv, but not because of the original problem but rather that in transport the screen was cracked. Rex sold me the same TV reconditioned at a fair price and w/ a warranty. I will be going back to Ableman for TV repairs and refering friends!

Pros: Honest, highly capable, fast and nice

Cons: What are the drawbacks?

Posted 03/26/09

I had a DVD player/recorder which was beginning to malfunction. These folks at Ableman TV were able to restore it as good as new . I am very happy with the competent ability to diagnose the problem and then fix it quickly and the price was right. I dropped it off one afternoon and picked it up the next day. That is great service. Before I left the unit with them, I was told exactly what the process would be of diagnosing the problem and what the cost would be. I have compolete confidence with businesses who function like that.
George Dowling

Pros: They know what they are doing.

Posted 03/18/09

I e-mailed Rex late on a Friday night about my TV that had gone belly-up. I will be going to give Rex my business on two reasons. First, he responded to my e-mail at MIDNIGHT the following morning. Secondly, when other shops refused to even make a guess as to what the problem was, he gave his best estimate of the problem along with the potential costs. Seems to me most shops will not even speculate as to what the issue(s) is just to get you in thier shop. Seems pretty shady to me.

Thanks again Rex!

Posted 02/06/09

Ableman's was excellent to deal with. They had the best prices and great service. I thought my TV looked great after repair and then they re-tuned it and it rocks! I bought my TV and loved the picture then. They made the picture look even better than the original. I was pressed on time and they worked completely within my limits. I won't be checking any further in the future if I need repairs. They were also very detailed in explainations and didn't leave me feeling duped like some other plases have. They were fair and honest, a trait not all businesses go by anymore. Thanks Guys!!

Pros: Great and Honest people

Cons: not one single con

Posted 12/02/08

I have a 56 inch tv only 3 years old when the convergence went out I called around to several tv repair shops and the tech I talked to Gordon was very knowledgable (others told me I would have to replace the board and the cost would be upwards of 400 dollars plus the 95 dollar service charge) Gordon told me it was probably just a fuse and some saudering on the circuit board. I made a appt for the following day the tech Gordon was here on time and it was exactly what he said it was he was very knowledgable and showed me what the problem was before he repaired it the total cost for the service charge and the repair was only 250 and I am thrilled with the picture and the sevice, thank you for your prompt knowledgable and affordable service Ableman will be the only place I will call if I ever have issues again thanks.

Pros: they will come to your home/ with all the parts needed for the job

Posted 11/10/08

I had a very pleasant experience today when I took my 13 year old RCA TV to Ableman's for repair. Rex carried it from the car to his workbench and started the repair immediately (without an appointment to do this). As I supervised him (OK, maybe I was just watching and not supervising), he explained everything he was testing and replacing. In less than an hour my old TV was as good as new and I was on my way home. The repair charge was very reasonable, $95.

He is courteous, friendly and extremely knowledgeable. I doubt that you could find better service anywhere. Highly recommended! Thank you, Rex.

Cons: none

Posted 09/16/08

We have a standard Philips TV that had lines going across the top 1/5 of the screen. Of course this happened right after the warranty was up. We researched the issue online and it seems it's a very common problem with our particular model. Much to our dismay, many people stated they were quoted hundreds of dollars for repairs, almost equal to or more than we paid for the TV. We decided to look around for a local repair shop and found these guys. We chose them because they had such great reviews, and I'm certainly glad we did! Rex responded very quickly to our email and told us that he could easily fix this very common Philips TV problem for $95. Even better, he could fix it while I waited. I took the TV in, he fixed it in about 30 minutes, and charged me exactly what he had quoted earlier. The staff is extremely friendly and very knowledgeable. I would highly recommend them to anyone.

Pros: Good price, knowledgeable staff

Cons: I experienced none

Posted 09/02/08

We bought a big, beautiful but 12-year-old TV, and the picture went bad after a few days of use. We were going to cut our losses and have it hauled away, but fortunately we called Ableman "just in case."

These guys were great! They came in two days before Christmas for a reasonable home-visit fee, and had it working again in no time. They even showed us a piece of technology we weren't using that made our picture clearer.

They seem to know the history and quirks of every make and model of TV ever made. (Like the "Car Talk" brothers, only for televisions.) We now have a TV that works like new without having to go out and morgage the house to buy a new one. Thanks, Ableman.

Pros: Who knew anybody could make an elderly used TV good as new?

Posted 12/23/07

I found Ableman tv on citysearch, and based on the reviews, felt it would be safe to take a tv there. So I wanted to chime in with my $.02 to assure people that this is a very reliable place for your electronics repairs. It's a mom/pop shop where the owner has been in business many years and is very knowledgeable because he is the one doing the majority of the repairs. It always feels safer to take repairs to locally owned shop rather than a big chain due to the risk of scams and rip-off repairs. I think it's worth the drive from Portland.

Posted 03/30/07

I can't recommend these guys enough; well worth the drive from Portland. My Helios H4000 wasn't powering on at all; nothing simple to fix that I could see. Rex took a quick look at the innards, replaced a busted capacitor, and it was fixed. Awesome.

Pros: Friendly, very knowledgable, highly skilled

Cons: Bit of a drive from Portland, but not too bad

Posted 02/11/07

Rex fixed a couple things for me in years past when I lived in Vancouver. No complaints, he's a talented guy. I bought a refurbished set from him back then too. By the time my big screen went sizzle pop I had moved to Portland so I took it to a closer shop. They estimated 7-800 but after almost 3 months they didn't have it fixed. I took it back, called Rex to see what he thought and then drove it over to Vancouver. He had it for 4 or 5 days and called and told me it was done, 375 bucks.
That was a year or so ago. I was thinking about getting a new set and used the opportunity to pick his brain about all the new stuff out there. He and his guys spent allot of their time educating me about ALL of this stuff I had no idea about. Then I went out and started doing some shopping around.
I recently ended up back in Rex's shop. He let me trade in my big screen toward the new Toshiba DLP
and surround system I bought from him. He and his guys delivered it, set it all up, took away my old one, calibrated the new one and set up an HD antenna for me. I didn't even know that new sets need calibrated or that there was such a thing as an HD antenna but I am really glad that Rex did. My system is amazing and I couldn't be happier with it.
I spent a pretty good chunk of change for that whole thing, but I don't think I would have spent much less anywhere else and I would have had to deal with the whole thing myself. I'm a smart guy, there is plenty that I can handle, but I know when to differ to the experts, and this was one of those times.
As long as he is in business, he has my business. He has proven himself to me too many times now to go anywhere else, even if I have to go to Vancouver.
Hey Rex, let me know if you ever get into auto repair! I am still looking for a good mechanic.

Pros: A business owner that actually does the work and is accountable to his customers.

Cons: For me, the drive to Vancouver

Posted 01/13/07

These guys had my tv fixed in an hour! Very cool! Had me sit on the couch and watch HDTV until they were done. They would even let me see what they were doing to my machine while I was waiting.

Pros: comfortable couch to wait on. let me watch. only took an hour.

Cons: wanted me to pay money up front to look at my tv.

Posted 09/11/06