So I purchased an el-cheapo desktop computer off’ve Gumtree (the Aus equivalent of Craigslist) a few months ago ($80) because it had Windows 7, and I was only running XP. I work from home, and Windows 7 is now the default OS…yada yada.
Of course, the computer is a piece of shit…like a slug on diazepam, with ‘not responding’ messages coming up all the time.
This last weekend, I thought I’d give it a thorough software rogering, but all my attempts were in vain! The thing was still as limp as a dick on a humid morning.
The metro radio station had been mass advertising a company who fix computers (Geeks 2 U)…which reminded me that I needed mine fixed! But rather than be a sheeple, I thought to look up one of my smaller local companies to do the job instead.
So, who’s an idiot then?? :smack:
Took the box in to a local shop…$44 just to diagnose it, then they wanted to charge me another $340 on top of that to bung in some extra RAM and clean out the ‘viruses’.
When they rang to inform me of the cost, I told them not to fucken’ bother. Keep your deposit, I can buy a brand-fucken’-new laptop for that!!! WTF?
So suddenly the price came down. Instead of $384, it was now $244…big fucken’ difference, and I could have prolly gotten it cheaper again if I’d had my wits about me.
Dudes, you’ve lost any future business from me. Try to rip me off on my first visit, and you’re screwed. Because I need a working computer to ‘work’, chances are you’ve lost a deal of $ from me in the future. And of course, there’s this thing called ‘word of mouth’.
Why the hell were you even bothering trying to “fix” a computer like that anyway? (I mean, aside from the trying to justify a bad money spending decision). The price tells you all you need to know. In the US you can buy a low-end yet brand-spanking-new computer for $250. That’s so cheap I don’t know why a person would ever bother buying a used computer, unless there was a spectacular deal at a reputable repair shop.
And the fact that you didn’t just wipe the whole thing clean and start with a fresh install of Windows - this is like buying just-used underwear and then putting them on for a week before washing them.
Sadly, this is all too common of a business model. I hear this kind of thing regularly. Part of the problem unfortunately is customer expectations of service and cost of doing business. I have had people come in that just had a couple settings wrong that we charged $49 to fix, then every perceived issue with the computer for the next 3 months is our fault Many shops take the method of hit them hard up front but always be willing to deal with those “little things” later. I get ALOT of resistance when a customer has an unrelated issue 2 months later and they feel we should “just take care of it” when it would be like asking a mechanic for free tires after a brake job.
Repeat customers are awesome, I have tons of them, but so many people come in figuring we magically detect every glitch that may manifest once a month when it only sat on our workbench for 3 hours and the customer called twice in those 3 hours asking if it was done yet.
The geek squad here would have charged you something similar to the $244 number
my shop would have been worst case about $130-160 with the ram (depending on size/speed, assuming 2GB DDR/DDR2).
She didn’t get “ripped off” buying the computer in the first place. She shouldn’t have expected much for her eighty dollars, and that’s pretty much what she got.
So, why didn’t you do that in the first place?
Seriously. My desktop computer is an el cheapo two-year-old WalMart eMachine I paid a little less than $300 for, brand new with a warranty. Still works fine. Did you honestly think that buying an $80.00 used computer was going to be a trouble-free experience? And just because you spent $80.00 for it, a computer repair shop should fix or upgrade it for pennies?
You’re a smart guy, and your username is normally an amusing irony. It’s not often you actually live up to it, but you’ve managed in this case.
If they can fix the computer’s problems for $244, then why did they quote $384? As bucketybuck notes, their immediate discount makes clear that they were taking the piss. It’s the computer shop equivalent of the old joke about the doctor who tells his patient that he has six months to live, but when he finds out the guy can’t pay, he gives him another six months.
You need to read that actual OP, not listen to the little moron that lives in your head. The OP never said she wanted it fixed for free; the fact that she took it to a repair shop is a clear enough indication of that. She simply decided (correctly) that salvaging the computer was not worth the quoted cost of the repair. She also expressed anger at the shady tactics of a place that quotes one price, and then can magically do it cheaper when the customer decides that it’s not worth the cost.
Both of these observations are, in this case, manifestly untrue. While the OP is clearly not an experienced computer buyer, and should have done things differently, the problem with the computer itself was a problem with the computer, not with the user. Acronyms like “pebkac” and “picnic” are supposed to be reserved for people who claim that their computer doesn’t work, but who have caused the problem themselves through ignorance or error. This was not the case with the OP, no matter how smart it makes you feel to say so.
Yep, nailed it in one. Or, more precisely, in two.
If you’re going to buy a used computer on a site like Craigslist or Gumtree, you need to know more about computers than “Does it run Windows 7?” It helps to know what sort of processor it’s running, how much memory it has, how powerful the power supply it, whether it has a graphics card, etc., etc., etc. And you should also be able to check the actual computer against the specs the seller gives you.
I’m not saying you should never buy a used computer. I bought my desktop off Craigslist over four years ago, and it’s still going strong. It’s a Q8300 Core 2 Quad with 6 Gb of memory and Windows 7, and it came with a 22" LCD for a total of $500. When i bought it, the computer was only a couple of months old, and at that price it was an absolute bargain. The seller was leaving the US to return to Taiwan, and needed to get rid of his stuff.
But before i handed over the cash, i booted it up and checked out the specs, and i also opened it up to see how it looked inside (hardware, fans working, dust, etc.). The seller had no problem with me doing this; it only took five minutes or so. It all looked good, and that, combined with the seller’s obvious motivation to leave the country, convinced me that it was worth the risk. As i said, it’s still going strong, and apart from the fact that a newer processor would encode video a bit more quickly, i really have no need for a new computer.
If the Windows disc came with your computer, or if there was a backup partition, the first thing you should have done, as Macca26 suggests, is reinstall the operating system. Also, just because it has Windows 7 on it doesn’t mean it can run Windows 7 properly. I have an old desktop around here somewhere that would, officially, meet the minimum specs for running Win7, but i know that if i installed that operating system, the computer would be as slow as a wet weekend.
A lot of people complain about stuff like this, but these guys have to make a living. Diagnosing your computer takes time, and that’s one of the things we pay for when we avail ourselves of a service. If my car is having a problem, and i want my garage to look at it, i have to pay a minimum of one half-hour of labor, no matter what they may or may not find. Rent and labor and all the other costs of running a business don’t come free, and charging to diagnose a problem is perfectly reasonable business practice.
I know that, when you’ve only paid $80 for a computer it might seem painful to hand over $44 just for someone to look at it, but people like drachillix need to make a living, even if they can’t always actually fix your problem, or if your problem is too expensive to deal with.
If the computer really is salvageable, you can do this yourself for much, much cheaper. You can buy some more RAM and install it yourself (really easy to do; just a matter of finding the slot and being careful), and if you have your Windows key or disc, reinstalling the OS will just take an hour or so of your time. I’m sure there are people here (me included) who’d be happy to talk (or type) you through it.
Oh FFS, there’s no ‘magic’ involved in lowering the price. Odds are the repair people gave the second quote based on more generic parts, fewer services done to the computer, and so on.
I’ve done plenty of cases where we quoted a customer price ‘a’ with price ‘b’ in the wings if they balked. I am careful to explain why price ‘b’ is lower and what the consequences will be (note - I am not in the computer repair field) if they go the cheaper route. The OP doesn’t give enough details, merely says the first price is a rip-off.
I say it again, a bargain item is no bargain if it doesn’t work, and don’t be surprised if you have to pay more than you paid for it to get it fixed.
Add to that, while the Aus dollar is close to the American dollar (.93) that doesn’t mean all prices convert. A quick (very quick) check of bargain RAM pricing in Australia shows RAM pricing to still be about 20-25% over US prices. Regular retail pricing might go even higher.
Why not actually be honest up front? Why pile on every tiny thing and hope they go for it, rather than giving them a choice before they balk at your padded quote?
When something’s up with my car, this is typical of what the guys at my garage say to me:
“OK, here are the things that we think need doing: A, B, C, and D. If we do all of them now, it will cost you $X. You really need A and B done right now to get you back on the road. C should be done within the next 3,000 miles or so, and D is only minor, and can be put off. What do you want us to do?”
If i’m trying to save money, i’ll tell them to go ahead with the essential stuff. If the cashflow is OK, i’ll get them to do the lot in order to save bringing it back later. I like it when businesses are honest with me, and i reward them by going back time after time.
I will add, also, that a business should also be honest enough to tell you that your shit isn’t worth fixing.
About four months ago, our old car had major problems, and it needed a whole new engine. When the mechanic told me, the first thing he did, after quoting a price, was make clear that it might be better to write the car off altogether rather than do the work required to fix it. He told me this despite knowing that it would cost him business (at least in the short term) if i bought a new car.
The first thing the OP’s computer place probably should have said to her is something along the lines of, “Well we could fix this, but it’s probably not worth the amount it would cost. It will cost $244 for a minimal fix, and $384 to do everything. And even then, you’d still have a pretty old and pretty crappy computer.”
Many shops take the method of hit them hard up front but always be willing to deal with those “little things” later. I get ALOT of resistance when a customer has an unrelated issue 2 months later and they feel we should “just take care of it” when it would be like asking a mechanic for free tires after a brake job.