Computer Repair Service - Are You Being Conned?
Thursday, 04 October 2007 11:47 | 
Written by Administrator |
Computer Repair Services - Are You Being Conned?
CBC Marketplace did an awesome hidden camera investigation into computer repair companies and found only 30% were able to correctly diagnose their problem.
I would take this story with a grain of salt, as it sounds like the report is rather biased. They do however make some very valid points. (Pay attention to the comments on the site hosting this video)
This is exactly what I strive to stop. I have worked at many on-site computer repair outlets and found them all to be very unhelpful as well as scandalous. I have noticed that many times a solution presents itself but may take several steps to implement. Instead of processing these step concurrently and saving time and money, many techs will perform these actions consecutively so they can charge the customer more money. I believe that this is the worst possible customer service available. With the daunting planed obsolescence of computer hardware and software (thank Microsoft) we already as consumers pay far too much money for a service which could be dirt cheap if it were not run by a bunch of profiteering gluttons (The Mentor). If you dont have time to watch the video click (Read More) for a brief overview.
One guy tells these customers they need to send their computer to a special dust-free room to retrieve data, which would cost about $2,000. He even copies pictures from the customer's hard drive to his computer, promising he'll delete them later. Geek Squad makes an appearance and they don't do a very good job either, although the Geek's hair is admirably coiffed.
The video goes on to make light of the college kids who conned these con's as reliable and worthy source of technical information and help. That has been a firm belief of mine especially because more often then not us struggling students could really use the money.
As for the hourly pricing. It is very expensive for us tech to go out and take the proper exams to get quailifications. I managed to do it and I am only twenty (about 10 years younger then any of the technicitons in this video). But consider this, When was the last time a plumber or other service techniction came to your house for less then $100. Computer services require the same level of education and customers expect it to be cheaper. I only charge 44/hr and I belive this to be more then fair.
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Last Updated (Thursday, 24 September 2009 02:15)