Why We Became a Private Membership Association
Your Mac holds your life. We moved the whole business to a structure built around keeping it private.
The Mac Space: Mac Repair now operates as a Private Membership Association, a PMA. The sign on our door says so, and walk-ins are welcome. Pay for a diagnostic, sign the repair agreement, and you are a Private Repair Member. No fee, no renewal, nothing to cancel. Membership is included because you chose to do business with us privately rather than as a member of the general public.
The full agreement lives in your Member Portal from the day you sign.
Why privacy is the whole point
Stephen Smitley founded this shop after serving as a United States Marine in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. He held a security clearance in a war zone, and he learned early what a clearance really is: not a badge, but a promise. You are trusted with things that are not yours to repeat, and the trust only means something if it holds when nobody is watching.
That is how we see your Mac. Photos, tax returns, medical records, passwords, messages, work under NDA, a half-written letter to someone. We have to open the machine to fix it. We do not have to open your life, and we will not.
We look at what the repair requires and nothing else. What we happen to see while testing stays on your machine and leaves with it. We do not copy it, we do not discuss it, and we treat it as if we never saw it.
What that means in practice
We do not browse files, open documents, or scroll photo libraries. Testing means confirming it boots, the hardware works, and your data is intact. Not reading it.
No file is copied off a member's device except at the member's request, for a recovery or migration. You decide whether; we decide how, with our own tools and media, because the wrong approach can destroy the very data we are saving. The result goes to you and no one else.
Membership is personal to you. We do not sell, share, or rent member information, and we never have.
If something goes wrong between us, the agreement handles it directly: a written notice, a good-faith conversation, and if that fails, a neutral arbitrator. Not a public fight.
What we owe you and what you owe us is written down once, in plain language, and does not change repair to repair.
Why a Private Membership Association
A PMA is a lawful, long-recognized structure: men and women who agree to deal with each other privately, as members, under their own written terms. The United States Supreme Court has repeatedly affirmed that private associations have a First Amendment right to form, to choose their members, and to set their own terms.
We did not do this to hide from anything. A membership agreement is the clearest way we know to put the promise above in writing: your device is yours, what is on it is yours, and the relationship between you and the people fixing it is private.
What you agree to as a member
- Give us accurate information about the device, and that it is yours to repair.
- Respond to estimates and pickup notices, and pay for work you approve.
- Bring any disagreement to us first, in writing, before taking it anywhere else.
That is it. The full terms are in the Device Repair Agreement you sign at check-in.
Private Membership Association FAQ
A Private Membership Association, or PMA, is a group of men and women who agree to deal with each other privately, as members, under their own written terms instead of as the general public. The Mac Space: Mac Repair operates as one. Our membership agreement is the Device Repair Agreement you sign at check-in, and the full text is available in your Member Portal.
No. Membership is included with your $75 diagnostic. Pay the diagnostic, sign the agreement, and you are a Private Repair Member. There is no separate fee, no renewal, and nothing to cancel.
No. Same diagnostic fee, same quotes, same parts, same technicians, same warranty on our work. The diagnostic still applies in full to your repair. What changes is the relationship, which is now a private written agreement between you and the association.
We look at what the repair requires and nothing else. Testing a repaired Mac means confirming it boots, the hardware works, and your data is intact. It does not mean reading your data. Whatever we happen to see on the bench stays on your machine, leaves with it, and is treated as if we never saw it.
No. Walk-ins are welcome. Calling, texting, booking online, talking to us at the counter, having us pre-screen the device, and discussing repair options and pricing are all open to anyone. Membership begins when you check a device in for a diagnostic and sign the agreement.
You tell us first, in writing, and we work it out with you directly and in good faith. If we cannot settle it, the agreement provides for a neutral arbitrator rather than a public court fight. Dispute notices go by Certified Mail so there is a dated record both sides can rely on. The full process is Section 30 of the agreement.
Questions about membership?
Call 470-355-0477 or ask at the counter. We would rather explain it face to face than have you wonder.
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