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On June 9, Apple Authorized Retail and Service Provider Simply mac closed abruptly, citing the difficulties of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s what happened, what’s next, and how service customers affected by the sudden shutdown can get help.
Based in Salt Lake City, Simply Mac was founded in 2006. It provided Apple device repairs to consumers and sold accessories such as cases, cables and chargers.
Gamestop acquired the company in 2013 to bring Simply Mac to areas that did not have official Apple Stores as a Premier Partner. Finally, Gamestop divested Simply Mac in 2019 and Cool Holdings, Inc. acquired it in September 2019.
Many Simply Mac stores were closed during the pandemic, although Cool Holdings in 2020 announced reopening from stores in Oregon and Florida. That wasn’t enough to keep the company afloat, and in 2022, Cool Holdings announced the closure of all Simply Mac stores.
Court documents reveal that the proceedings began on June 28. Creditors are added to the case, including CB&L & Associates Management, Gamestop, Sunrise Mills Limited Partnership and others. Creditors can start filing claims.
The bankruptcy trustee is George B. Hofmann in Salt Lake City, Utah. Trustees in a Chapter 7 filing perform duties such as collecting and selling debtor property, distributing proceeds to creditors, and other legal roles.
Just Mac Saga
In a letter to employees seen by AppleInsider In June 2022, Cool Holdings CEO Rein Voigt said the company was caught off guard by the onset of the pandemic in December 2019. As a result, it filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and will be liquidated.
Voigt also wrote in a statement that the company was helped with $5.1 million in PPP loans from the US government, but no new financing was available after that.
However, the pandemic wasn’t the only thing that hit Simply Mac. It has faced controversies in the past and some argue that these contributed to its demise.
In one case, store manager Thomas Lotz filed a lawsuit [PDF] against Simply Mac in 2017, alleging that the company committed wage fraud by classifying store managers as exempt under federal overtime laws and not paying compensation for overtime.
In addition, some AppleInsider readers claim that Simply Mac was not shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather, the allegation goes that it was because of wage fraud, with sexual harassment also included in the charge. These readers say they were employed by Simply Mac or knew someone who was.
Customer Compensation
The company can’t pay its employees because of the bankruptcy, but Voigt said they will get a court notice and file claims.
Simply Mac notified employees of their termination and ordered them to return their keys to the stores. However, store managers were not told how to return devices to customers, only to close the store and leave.
Simply Mac customers are frustrated that stores are closed. in Idaho and everywhere the chain operates, stores were closed despite multiple appliance repairs underway.
Just Mac store in Oregon. Credit: localdatabase.com
In Waco, Texas, a customer called local law enforcement, with officers saying the situation could lead to property theft. The woman, Sharlene Reyes, was finally able to get her laptop and Simply Mac reimbursed the diagnostic costs.
in Tennessee, Simply Mac customer Anna Teeples left notes on the shop window. Her MacBook Pro was in the shop for repairs and was her only way of running her business. Other shoppers did the same.
Even landlords of Simply Mac properties stuck. One called that the legal proceedings forbade him to enter the store or show it to future tenants.
There is some hope for Simply Mac customers who have devices stuck in the company’s stores. Sent in an email to AppleInsiderAn Apple spokesperson said the company has notified people who have devices stuck in the Simply Mac repair process.
“The customer has probably already heard of Apple,” the company told us on July 5. “If not, they should call 1-800-MY-APPLE and let the team member know they’re calling about SimplyMac.”