<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Hxqx4hgeKgQ"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Hxqx4hgeKgQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object> This video really shows what I've always told people- find someone you trust through word of mouth to do your computer repairs. It's like finding a good mechanic or barber. They're really irreplaceable.
Bwahaha. Sad. But what's sadder is the fact this goes on in every industry... the ignorant are preyed upon.
what hillarious to me is that is a LA news story and I used to work at a computer store out here that they also filmed on that segment and did not air. I wasnt there at the time, it was a few months before i was hired, but the main tech there said there was something wrong with it and did not want to look at it right away and he was quite upset and stormed out. the store didnt give him the wrong price or tell him the wrong info but its mandatory policy there to place the computer in queue and look at it when it moves up to the top. i was hoping they kept that in there.
LOL...geek squad. You'd be a moron to take your pc to bestbuy etc. Just make some computer dork friends....like me.
Ha. You know you're a computer nerd and a geek when family and friends bring their PCs to you for repair ... and you don't charge... them ??? Callin' me a geek, eh? That's the last time I help you with your computer problems, freaker.
The thing that really jumped out at me with almost all of the misdiagnoses (except the last one for $275) is that these guys just didn't know what the hell they were talking about. Working at a big chain for the computer repair department like geek squad is entry level work, which means you get some kid with little to no technical experience outside of his $18,000/yr technical school and/or fixing his friends/relatives computers. Not to slam these guys; you gotta start somewhere, but it shows that there is no quality control in these environments. I have no problem with the places that charged $50ish and were honest about the problem. Their time and overhead was worth something.
Well, in a sense, yes, I agree, but I also have to give credit to the one place that did it for free. That was class. I'd have to go back and look at what the places that diagnosed the problem correctly, but charged them actually charged them. I'd have to ask them what they would charge for putting in a new hard drive would be if they're charging me that much to re-attach an IDE cable. Probably "the same". lol.
Putting in a new harddrive and re-attaching an IDE cable is a difference of 4 screws. The fact is that computer repairs aren't all that difficult. The hard part is the diagnosis, not the actual repair. It's semi-reasonable to assume that spotting a disconnected IDE cable isn't necessarily intuitive. If you have to pay someone to do your repairs, then I think it's fair to pay them a decent amount.
Well I know how to put in a hard drive, duh. I would hope most places would format, and if necessary, partition the drive, too. So I would be curious to see if they said the price would be the same. At which point, I'd have to ask them how much they are charging me per hour. I can't believe they charge $60 for that stuff, though, but whatever.
It's true. Taking advantage of people's ignorance. At least guys working on cars have to deal with navigating around all the tight spaces and having the right tools. Anyone with a Phillips screwdriver can fix their own computer. Oh well.
Actually...it seems that other than the $275 rip off guy, and the BBuy guy who just didn't know what was wrong (and wasn't trying to upsell him as he sent him away misinformed but with his wallet intact) the others were just charging their posted shop minimums. I expected worse.
i wonder how much money best buy is making by "removing spyware." that seems to be the #1 problem these days. people tell me everyday how they are planning to buy a new pc because their current one is so slow. i look at it and 90%+ cpu is being used by spyware. and about the problem in the video. most of the time u can just turn on the pc and it will tell you..hard drive missing. or IDE device blah blah not found. what does that have to do with a power supply. unless of course hard drive is not getting power, but you can easily check that by swapping something else. i am still shocked at best buy's diagnosis.
That is kind of a bizarre problem to have. In all of my time around computers (including getting a degree in computer engineering and working for 2 computer related companies) I have never seen a computer that hade the ribbon cable fall out. What they did in the piece would be like disconnecting some small but important part of your engine and then taking it to a mechanic. Sure they shouldn't charge you a bunch of money to tell you that your car won't start because you are using the wrong car keys or something, but that is not something they would normally be on the lookout for, so they might look at a lot of other things first, wasting their valuable time. I agree with the good doctor though, the guys that fixed it for free were pure class.
