Computer Repair at Box Stores
More and more I have had customers coming to me after they have been to a big box computer repair store or even smaller repair stores that have been misdiagnosed, and usually at a much higher rate to fix the problem. Case in point — today, a new client came to me with a computer that would not boot to windows after a failed update from his virus protection. I had talked to him earlier and advised him this was most likely a software or download conflict issue that probably could have been repaired quite easily and quickly while he waited. I quoted him a price of $65.00 (one hour labor). At some point after our call he took his computer to another shop that gave a free diagnostic. They told the customer, his Operating System was too corrupt and unable to be restored – he would have to re-install his Operating System after backing up his files and re-formatting the Hard Drive. The cost? $175.00. He called me again and ended up bringing the computer in to me. Within a half hour I had his system back up and running with the virus protection corrected and running as it should for the $65.00 I quoted him earlier. As you may have guessed he was quite relieved and happy. In addition, I probably have a new client whenever he has issues in the future.
Why is this happening? Why do some other repair shops quote higher prices and misdiagnose the problem? It has to do with experience and economics. The big box stores as well as the smaller stores have enormous overhead such as the store expenses like rent, utilities, yearly license for software, employees to hire, train, and pay. Many locations hire raw talent and put them through a crash course. This is where experience comes into play. If it doesn’t fit the training or cue cards, you need a reformatted drive and re installation of the Operating System which also costs you more and makes more for the store. Some repair places charge the higher price and do a cursory cleaning rather than a restore. However, their cursory cleaning is not usually comparable to my higher standards Operating System cleaning. This is why….
PC Repair – A Higher Standard
I spend four or sometimes five hours going the extra mile to make sure clients have the fewest number of processes without affecting performance for the Operating System they are using. Further, the programs I run in the order I run them allow for the cleanest possible performance for their Operating System. This would be a customized service as no other big box store I know of would spend the amount of time I do on any one computer without charging a lot more by the hour. If it would take that long, they would rather tell the client they will charge for backing up files, reformatting and reinstalling the Operating System only, without telling them they have the option to do an Operating System cleaning. Bigger stores are only good for two hours or so a unit. Also a lot of people loose or don’t make the discs that come with the computer with their legal Operating System, drivers, and application. Without them, the store requires they purchase an OS from them. That, along with the repair price makes it more reasonable for them to get the customer to buy a new computer from them. They hit them with an extended warranty price, then they have the audacity to ask them if they want to pay them $125 to $150 for a new system set up, which is kind of like a mini cleaning to stop all the adware and spy-ware the new setup process adds into the new computer when they boot it up the first time. What a racket!
The good news is, I have no major overhead. I have been doing this since 2003 for myself. I am approved by the BBB. I have on call, private contracted employees that are great at what they do and pick up the jobs I can’t. I also have a very fairly priced delivery service. In short, I have low overhead. I am experienced. I am also honest and fairly priced.
There is no easy answer to this problem except to call on The Computer Repair King for an honest and reliable diagnosis and fair rated pc repair. You can call me at (623) 247-0290 or fill out the contact form on this page.
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Ross
(623) 247-0290
Contact me on Twitter @ pcrepairking or on Facebook here.
