My 2 cents:
I've been to the retailers to have work done; I went to APD. The guy who worked on was friendly and hlepful, and when he needed to spend mor time to fix the problem, he gave me a work order. The issue was fixed in about 3 days, but the charge was a bit high for the work that was done and the time spent doing it. The service did lack a little bit of a personal touch, and since I've been in there, the guy remembers that I've had some work done but doesn't remember what it was
Now, also, I have been to an indipendent tech (I happened to go to SLINKEY) and I was extremely satisfied. You can read my review on the work he did on another thread. Great prices, spent the extra time to make sure everything worked, etc.
I'd say go with one of our indie tech every time, especially if you want to get more "bang" for your buck.