Undercover reporters find PC repairmen batting .300

Hitting .300 or shooting 30 percent might be a standard of excellence in professional baseball and basketball, but in computer repair? Not exactly MVP material.

The Consumerist links to CBC Marketwatch's undercover investigation of PC repair services, which shows that employees often have a startling lack of basic knowledge about the machines they are paid to fix. Plus, while they're misdiagnosing your technical problems, they'll likely overcharge you, and maybe even access your personal files for good measure.

Scary stuff for the technophobe or anyone who doesn't have the time or resources to fix a computer. The reporter checks out a variety of national and local electronics repair companies, including Best Buy's Geek Squad and Staples. Only 3 out of the 10 tech repairmen accurately assess the problem, and even then, one of them charges double the going rate for the part that needs to be replaced.

It gets worse when they interview three former professional geeks employed by large repair companies who admit they were instructed to upsell and even take advantage of unsuspecting customers.

Perhaps this isn't a surprise for some, but it's depressing just the same.

[thinkzinc]

It's true

I worked in the geek squad at Best Buy. The department supervisor was really into getting bonuses and vacations from top management so he drove the crew like slaves. When interviewing he insisted that I have A+ certification. I asked him if anyone on the team had it and he said no. I asked if he had the cert again no. They hired me anyway because of my expereince. Hey, I was between jobs.
Once I started I noticed that no one was actually fixing the computers. THey spent more time selling and scaring than they were fixing. And the guys doing the article were, as the article corectly asseses young guys with no computer skills. I was there because I loved fixing PCs.

Well, I noticed a pattern. The manager started riding me when I was fixing the machines. He kept telling me that I was taking too long. Mind you, trouble shooting can take some time because you have to do a little experimenting. Is it the video card? Mismatched RAM? And running virus scans and defrags take time too.

So the manager tells me that he can show me "a shortcut". He goes into 'msconfig' and turns off all the services (including the virus program). Then he proudly shows me the system properties and that computer was running at 85% where it was running at 55% before. But none of the services advertised were performed. No defrag, virus scan etc. I quit after that. I can't work for dishonest people.

I don't think it will take too long for people to pick up on the fact that these people are out to scam and scare them without any services rendered. Maybe this is why they are diversifying into HD TV installations?

[BigOldNerd]

Finally someone tell the truth

I have been in the electronic repair business for over 32 years. I have been repairing computers ever since the VIC20 hit the market. It has never ceased to amaze me just how corrupted the repair industry is. I worked for 2 of the largest companies in my state that dealt with warranty work for consumer electronics manufacturers . I have seen theft at its highest level among these companies. They knew that the people in their employ did not have a clue what they where doing. They did know that they had a person to put in front of the customer and could hold up a certificate that said he was qualified to do the job. Just because the person passed a simple test does not mean he knows what he is doing. If the person claims he is a CET (Certified Electronic Technician), A+ certified computer technician, or MSCE (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) run as fast as you can from them. I have found that these certificates were a way for companies to be able to protect themselfs from liability by claiming they thought they had hired a qualified person. The worst part is as the last person states the major companies will promote someone as a supervisor or manager who has absolutely no abilities but will do the dirty work for them and bring in the bucks. Troubleshooting does take time and the sad thing is that companies big and small do not want to pay you to do the job correctly. They just want to be able to claim it is fixed and write the customer a bill. Once the customer takes it home and finds its not working correctly and brings it back they will now look you in the eye with a straight face and claims it now has a different problem and they will have to charge you again. The saddest part about this is what they get away with in the computer repair industry. The average consumer knows less about their computer then anything else they own. The worst crimes committed against the average consumer is by the repair industry.

[Vegaman_Dan]

RETAIL repair services

This story is about retail repair services, and not about internal IT groups or your Help Desk.

Unfortunately there is no standard to hold anyone to for private computer repairs and that means no training requirements. Anyone can change a keyboard out and call themselves a technician.

For IT groups, you need to be OEM certified, typically CompTIA A+, Network +, HP Server / Desktop, etc. And a lot of those OEM certifications required to service equipment without voiding warranties requires that company to be an authorized business partner which excludes many, if not most, of your local mom and pop computer stores.

It is very much like the auto repair industry only without any recourse or regulation to protect customers.

[climate change is bogus]

Consumer gets what they pay for

Having been a tech for 18 years, i have seen the steady errosion of skills and skilled people in the industry. the reason no one knows what they are doing, is because there is no proper training and no retention of qualified staff. How long will you work at a dead end career that pays 35k forever with no training, tones of stress and no advancement. Consumers want $500 notebooks. there is not enough margin to have decent people do the work. The industry is driven by response time and the number of closed calls per day, not quality of service, any training we do get is the bare minimum so that manufaturers will pay for warranty repairs. Management in service companies don't care if there techs are qualified, as long as the monthly excel spred sheet says you completed a lot of calls, their incentives depend on it. So when your tech drives up in his 12 year old geo metro, wearing the clothes he bought at value village, and it's obvious that this is the first time he has ever seen a computer or printer like yours, be happy that it was cheap.

[Below Meigh]

Cost vs Supply vs Ignorance = Corp Gain

Computers are far more cheaper now then ever. It's easily less expensive to replace than repair.
However, I've seen this pattern, especially with Small "We Fix All Brands PC" and "Computer Solutions" shop setups. From gouging the user on small parts (like MB batteries @ $45 !!) to MSRP for HD and CDROM drives.
But who's fault is it? The customer that lacks the simplest knowledge, better pony up for their ignorance and need to "have a computer"? Or the retail box that bought up and markets Geek Squad (most profitable part of BB, btw). Or even the fly-by-night PC schmo that will sell you some "custom box" and Poof...gone.
Personally, I am doing ok helping folks. Do I have an Apple Certification? (ask yourself this, should I give Apple $2500 for tests that say I know logic and deductive reasoning) No. But I don't do warranty work. Do I have MCSE? Yes, but with 2003 only. And I've never experience 1/3 of the issues I read (mostly online knowledgebase) and tested for.
Do you need certification? Not really. Not if you are logical, competent, can resolve an issue (in a reasonable amount of time), have a personality (introverts can work in the back room) and know that software is responsible for more issues than hardware failure. Eliminate the software and if there is still a problem, focus on the hardware.

--Sherlock Holmes...of PCs...and Macs...

[physloon]

Just find a college student who wants to make a few bucks

Like one of the previous posters I used to work for the Geek Squad. All I can say is if you take your computer to them you are asking to get ripped off. Day in and day out I was told "upsell! upsell! upsell!" While they are very good at upselling products they are completely incompetent at repairing PCs. I knew it was time for me to leave when a woman came in and wanted to buy XP and have us install it for her. No big deal. Well, while I was talking with her and seeing what her computer had and if it was ready to run XP the person I was working with opens his mouth and says that since the computer came with Win2000 it won't be able to run XP because of hardware incompatibilities and then steers her to the computer section where they sell her a new computer. This is moronic for several reasons 1) there is no hardware that is OS specific, 2) the markup on hardware is very small compared to that for software and services, and lastly 3) she spent over $300 more than she intended/wanted. The leader (or whatever the head person is called) was fond of taking all of the computers and having them sent off for repairs (even if it is software related) because he didn't like to see a lot of computers in the area waiting to be fixed. For the amount of arrogance my former coworkers had you would imagine they would at least be somewhat competent.

And then there was the stuff we actually 'fixed'. For memory and hard drive tests we used Mem86 and Drive Fitness Test (DFT). Both are free and available on the web for download. Neither are suitable for a repair shop. If you run DFT with a bad ram chip you could get errors showing up on the hard drive that really aren't there. And vice versa. You need to take one out and test it to make sure it is working fine. I told them several times and none of them would listen. They were doing it correctly in their minds and nobody could tell them differently.

In my opinion if you need your computer repaired and don't have the time or ability to do it yourself find a CS major at a local university and I'm sure he/she would be more than happy to get a little extra money and they would probably do a much better job!

[midwestprotech]

It's a shame, but it's like any other service business - when there is a significant difference in level of understanding between the customer and the service provider, there is temptation to gouge on price. Finding a company that has solid customer first ideals can be a challenge, but far from impossible.
Some suggestions to finding a solid computer company (or individual) for your issue:

1. Ask friends and family who they recommend then call the service provider and ask questions. Some red flags are that they won?t answer questions directly, they are very impersonal and talk ?over your head? or they try to ?twist your arm? into the shop rather than attempting to give you any feedback on what might be going on with your computer.

2. Ask what their follow-up policies are. Can you call back at anytime to get advice or assistance with your computer after it?s been returned to you? Many times after you pick-up your computer (or having it dropped off) you may have questions or issues that may be related to your service call. Find out if they?ll hold your hand for awhile or make a break for it after they?ve got your money.

3. Ask about pricing. Is there a limit to what you?ll be charged or is the service call an open ended type of agreement. Most computers can be replaced for just a few hundred bucks so spending hundreds on a service call is oftentimes a waste of money and time. A good service provider will get to know your situation a bit before they start quoting numbers, many times it just doesn?t make sense to spend hard earned money on an aging computer.

4. Check out their background. Do a simple search online of the company?s or individual?s name and see if any negative feedback is posted. Not all of this feedback is always true, but helps in making your decision.

5. Ask how long the service will take. Many providers are swamped, understaffed or inexperienced and can?t get your computer repaired for days or, many times, weeks. Ensure that you get solid feedback on how long the repair may take before you drop off your computer ? especially if you have only one computer.

For good service providers, they love what they do and want to give you the most bang for your buck. They thrive on doing little extras for you to make sure your computer comes back working better than you expected. When it becomes just a ?job?, that?s when quality of service becomes an issue.
Finally, computers are very complex as both hardware and software can become a single entity when troubleshooting many issues. Most issues are simple and can be resolved in an hour or so, but sometimes it?s very difficult to determine if something is software or hardware related. At these times extensive troubleshooting may become necessary and it?s then that you?ll be glad you found a good, honest and qualified shop that really loves what they do.