Mike Painter, owner of Zebra Computers, explains the intricacies of the computer repair business and why his company offers discounts to seniors and students.
Mike Painter, owner of Zebra Computers, tinkers on the work bench of his repair shop in Centralia where he and his staff repair and upgrade gadgets both new and old.
In the ever evolving world of electronics and computer repair, it is important to stand out from the pack. That’s why the folks at Zebra Computers decided to go with their black and white striped monicker.
The stripes are hard to forget. The name is easy to remember. And the service, as they say, covers everything “from Apple to Zebra.”
Zebra Computers performs all of the classic tasks of a computer repair store, including memory and data recovery and installation of new hard drives. They also see a consistent stream of relic tower computers from a different decade, if not a different millennium, come through the door. Sometimes, the old equipment is beyond repair and winds up being recycled, but more often than not the folks at Zebra can find a way to get the classic computer back up and running again.
“It’s not really a challenge for us because we know what we’re doing. It’s kind of like granny and her old sewing machine. It just needs that one part replaced so it can perform that basic function,” explained Jeremy Painter, who works the front desk and deals with preliminary diagnosis at Zebra Computers.
“People get attached to their old stuff. The longer you’ve had it the more it means to you. Sometimes it’s hard for people to let go,” added Jeremy. “Throughout human history change has been hard. Here at Zebra Computers we like to make that switch as easy as possible.”
One way that Zebra Computers has made a concerted effort to keep people connected is through its senior and student discount programs. The discounts are the altruistic idea of store owner, and Jeremy’s dad, Mike Painter. He understands the financial limitations that often hamper those populations of society, and so he offers seniors a 33 percent discount on labor and 15 percent discount on hardware and parts, while giving 20 percent and 10 percent off, respectively.
“We’re just trying to provide real service and take care of folks,” explained Mike.
The student discount is a new offering, but Zebra Computers has been looking out for the elderly for a while now. In fact, the program began as a way for Mike to help his mother, Kari Jones, as she struggled to stay connected in her advancing years.
He referred to his mother’s computer as “her window to the world.”
For that reason, the senior discount at Zebra Computers is affectionately known as Kari Care.
“For years, we’ve been taking care of the elderly and infirm and whatnot but we’ve never really put a policy in place. We’re just trying to put our money where our mouth is,” noted Mike. “I think that trying to have compassion for people who may not have all or as much as we have is one of the highest callings that you can have,” said Mike.
Repairing the infinite iterations and malfunctions of computers and electronics is a tricky task that is compounded by the general lack of technical knowledge that most people bring to the table. Like a mechanically adverse driver taking his or her car to the shop, the folks at Zebra Computers hear a lot of stories that include sound effects and mysteriously manifested failures that seem to leave no clue.
“Sometimes people don’t know how to say exactly what problem they are having so we use our sixth sense to figure out what’s going on and then that magic moment happens,” explained Jeremy.
He added that he prefers to walk the customers through the process as much as possible so that they can more fully understand what repairs were necessary and why, as well as what sort of approach may have prevented the malfunction in the first place.
“It’s a small business. We’d obviously like to make enough money to keep going but we also like our customers to walk out of here more empowered and knowing a bit more about what the problem was and what we're going so that they can be better prepared in the future,” explained Jeremy.
Mike Painter noted that with computers and other fragile technology, the fact that a failure happened is not always the operator's fault.
“The obsolescence factor and quality is certain and issue,” noted Mike, who believes that equipment is wearing out faster than ever.
Knowing that a breakdown is inevitable at some point though, it is people’s failure to save and back up their data that drives Mike bonkers.
Still, when old machines from the 1990s or early aughts comes through the door, Mike and his team of technicians are always sure to give the equipment a thorough diagnosis in order to see if it has any potential remaining.
Mike says that old computers, “lasted a lot longer than most of the equipment that people buy now.”
Because the older models are more durable, Mike likes to try to refurbish computers whenever he can rather than simply scrapping them and sending his customers off to buy the newest, shiniest thing.
It is his resistance to what he sees as a “throwaway society.”
“I like to call them Zebra-furbs,” said Mike. “Many times a 5-year-old refurbished computer is still a better option than a new computer.”
Zebra Computers was born out of Local Access, the first independent internet provider in the area back in the mid-1990s. With an uptick in home computer users thanks to the new fangled internet, computer repair soon became a part of the Local Access offerings.
Mike was involved in the operation from the early going, but eventually took a leave of absence that bookended the new millennium. Mike says the time off was related to a clash of ideas with the owner at the time rather than a deep seeded fear of the infamous Y2K.
After a few more incarnations of the computer business, the store switched locations from its original home in the Fairway Center to its current location on Gold Street in Centralia in 2003.
Around that time, Mike returned to the fold of the business. Then, in 2005, the owner was ready to sell in order to chase other dreams. The timing seemed right to the senior Painter so he purchased the store and opened the doors on New Year’s Day 2006 as the brand new owner of his very own computer repair shop.
With Painter at the helm, Zebra Computers now performs soldering work, as well as video surveillance and marine GPS navigation system installations, just to name a few of their offerings. But personal computer repair continues to be the bread and butter of the operation.
Painter, 55, lives in Olympia now, but he grew up and spent almost all of his life in the Chehalis area. He’s been through floods and helped to pick up the pieces so he knows and respects the heart of the local community. That connection is why he is so adamant about offering the senior, Kari Care, and student discounts.
“Non-standard solutions is what we do,” said Mike. “It’s the ability to make chicken soup out of chicken stuff when other places are just going to tell you that’s a bad part and you need a new computer.”
