Was i over charged for fixing my pc?

Question

One evening i was using my desktop and it turned itself off. When i came to turn it on it wouldn't. I tried to do a partial recovery but the system didn't like it.

As i had not backed up my files i couldn't do a full recovery. I wass advised have the data saved to disk and then do a full recovery.

When the chap came round he advised that i could do it that way but the pc would not last and i would have to buy a new one. He advised that it would take about 2 hours to do this which would mean a payment of around £100.00.

Instead he told me to get a new hard drive which would be only one call out fee of 49.50 + VAT and the hard drive of 77.00 + VAT.

He told me i could fit it and he would help over the phone or he would come. He made the decision to come and do it and then charged another visit of 49.50 + VT for something i could have done myself.
I was understood he wasn't charging for the 2nd visit as he never said and he didn't fix it the first time. Is this a rip off? Ta

He only lived 10 minutes away and yes i did think it was excessive and i did say to him that he just couldnt be bothered to save the data and he said no no no etc etc! I am rubbish lol!

Answer 1

hi,im sorry that you were ripped off,these guys give us guys a bad name,i have just finished fixing a p.c for my brothers friend and this is what i did and charged
1.re-installed windows and partitioned sinle hard drive into 2
2)total cleaning of interior (cpu fan,case fan,general valet of all case)
3)upgraded memory..from 256mb ddr(pc2700) to 512mb ddr(pc3200)
4)added a geforce fx5200 to replace the intergarted onboard graphics(s.i.s),also this give the system a total of 512mb ddr ram as the borrowed memory for the onboard video is no longer used
5)updated all drivers (graphics,sound)
6)installed the latest version of microsoft works 8.5
total bill....: £50
this is what i consider to be a good price,i would never charge a call out fee,and i use second hand parts,if i do need to order a new part i get them trade and charge a fair price
i learned the hard way myself by being charged like yourself and then i thought looking at the guy who fixed it"he,s not that bright"..."i should teach myself to fix p.c,s",and that was 5 years ago,and hundreds of pounds saved
my point is,most p.c repairs are pretty basic,for example a fresh installation of windows xp is probally the easiest of all the tasks and a technician will charge you between £40 and £60 for that
upgrading memory is one of the quickest and easiest upgrades and takes me around 90 seconds,pc world charge around £70 to do this for you...
if you have any problems with your p.c then let me know and if i can e-mail you a easy to do guide then we may be able to save you a bit of money
so before you get ripped off,let me know
i hope this helps
good luck my friend!

Answer 2

You were ripped off.

Your PC could have had a simple Power Supply Issue and to replace a PSU I would charge £50 for the unit inc install and testing & all inc of vat...

An new hard drive?!? I would have got my Special disk out to see if the issue wasn't a boot sector issue, I have a bit of kit that runs on the local machine that actually repairs damaged hardd drive, I repaired the drive in the machine IM using to access theis site and the drive failed 2 years ago and repaired it with some special software and it runs no problem. That would have set you back £30 for that service, a new drive like a 160GB drive for example I would charge £70 tops inc VAT

So yeah, you need to speak to the guy and get a partial refund and tell him that you will speak to trading standards.

Its like the time my dad took his PC to a shop and got charged £80 for being told his OS had been wiped and was told he needed a new PC. Utter b*ll*cks I told him, he didn't know I was repairing PC's at that time and told him that I could have recovered the OS with my suite of specialist software which I have tried and tested and verified that you can recover a deleted OS, most people would tell you different and they claim to be "In the industry".

Answer 3

Hello.I think he's incompetent. Any computer technician should have made at least one attempt to remove the hard-drive and copy the information onto another hard-drive where possible. My own computer hard-drive packed up and it took my technician 7 hours to get it to work. Once he did get it up and running,he copied ALL the entire contents onto a brand new hard-drive before disgarding the old one. He even put in secondary back-up only hard-drive at my request. The total cost to me was £170.00. His work in saving my entire cd collection was outstanding. If you live in the Spalding area of Lincolnshire, look up "Mr.Chips". He and his son are brilliant.

If you are unlucky to find yourself in this predicament again,I would urge you to go onto the website at the outstanding magazine called PC Advisor,or ask your question in Yahoo! Answers first.Many an expert in both places has solved simplistic and complex problems for me.I would also suggest PC World stores as they have in-house experts who can do repairs even if you've not bought from them.

Lastly,you've been ripped off.On this occasion,I suggest you do nothing.In the future,make sure you get a proper quote - not an estimate - for any repairs you may need. If then you think its too expensive,get two more quotes and give it to the cheapest (and hopefully most reliable) company to do the work for you.

All the very best,

Alan L.

Answer 4

I'm sorry to say this, Peachy, but I have to agree with the majority of people who say that you were ripped off. (I don't entirely agree that it was more to do with you being a woman, but rather that you don't know that much about computers. I think the cowboy that overcharged you would have done exactly the same to a man.)

If I could have got to your house to check over your computer, I'd have done it for a tenner. If you did need a new hard drive, that would have obviously cost, but for the price you've paid for one, I'd expect that to be something like a 500GB one.

Answer 5

Yes sadly there are people out there quite happy to rip off ladies
in terms of anything technical. Plumbing, Electrics, Cars, Computers, Etc. BUT 50 an hour is taking the P**s
Some people suck

Answer 6

I think this is a sad case of being female and vulnerable. Was the problem all down to a failed hard drive? If so, then you did need help but I think he probably charged you some 50% over the top in labour. Put it down to experience and ask around for a better techo next time you have a problem, or ask friends, they can be incredibly helpful.

Answer 7

These computer geeks are like plumbers. Charge what they like and show up if they want. And they don't seen to earn there money, time wise.. But because they can do something you cant, you will have to take it on the chin. Computers are getting so cheap now, they wont be able to charge that price for long. You would just buy a new one..

Answer 8

Find another service for your PC. I'm not sure of UK prices for things but the advice doesn't sound good, and he does sound like he is upselling services and products that you might not need.
If your gut is telling you that you got ripped off you are almost always right. Find someone you can trust locally that will let you do work thta you can do yourself, and will provide the technical expertise if it is something you cannot do.

Answer 9

You definitely got ripped-off. In the future if, you have a problem ask how to solve it via this site and, it will not cost a penny unless, new parts are needed and even then people using this site will direct you to the most reliable and ,cost effective solution.

Answer 10

He should have fixed the problem in the first place..I would have charged 20.00 to install the hard drive.but the hardware would have cost you 50.00 for a total of 70.00 so he was a little high but if it works ok then you didnt get beat up too bad!!!