Has anyone else been screwed by The Computer Guys in Natick, MA?

Question

My husband dropped off my laptop to be fixed at The Computer Guys. The only thing wrong with it was that it was not holding a charge. The DC connector was broken inside the computer, but everything else worked perfectly. When we got the computer back from The Computer Guys, we were told that the CPU was burnt. Since everything worked prior to us giving in the laptop, we didn't think it would effect the laptop's performance, so we didn't authorize any further repair. But, when we tried to turn on the computer, the screen wouldn't work. When we called The Computer Guys and inquired about this, they said that it was because the CPU was burnt. We called back later and spoke to a "help desk" person that said he wanted to "make things right" but when we brought in the computer and he examined it, he too said that it was the CPU. When my husband inquired as to how this could happen whereas it was working perfectly prior to our giving it to them for the DC connector repair, we got the run around. I tried talking to the company several times, I tried going to mediation through the Better Business Bureau, but in the end I was left with rude remarks from the business owner, a company that didn't want to own up to the fact that they burned my CPU while soldering the DC connector, a repair bill for $150.00 and the cost of buying a new laptop. While relating my bad experience to a coworker, my husband learned that he too had had a bad experience with this company. We really wish we had known that prior to bringing our laptop in for repair to The Computer Guys. My advise is to go elsewhere. This company does not care about you, they screw up the work, don't admit fault and then use lies to try and make you look like you're trying to pull something over on them. Stay away from The Computer Guys.

Answer 1

I am not surprised by the tactics of so called repair shops these days. It's sad to think that you put all the confidence in someone to repair something for you only to get more of a headache

The only thing that I can suggest is the next time you are in that situation is to do a bit more homework as far as your company of choice goes.

Word of mouth is a hard thing to swallow so you make sure you tell all of your friends about your experiences with this particular company, I'm sure you are not the first and sadly you probably won't be the last. But you can surely put a stop to a ton of potential customers

Lots of luck!


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Answer 2

Having work on computers for over 2 decades, I will probably have to side with the Computer Guy on this one. A loose DC connector, if it "shifts" and makes contact with the wrong part of the system board, could very easily cause a power surge that would burn your processor. That is most likely what happened.

It is unlikely that something they did that was negligent or malicious caused it. They probably got it back to their work bench, plugged it in, turned it on for the first time, and that happened to be the time when the loose connector "shifted" and fried the processor. Probably would have done the same thing had you been the one turning it on at home.

As a laptop processor would be completely covered by a heat sink, it would be impossbile for the technician to have made physical contact with the processor with his soldering tool while working on the contact and to have "burnt" it that way.

If you feel that the damage was done by the technician, you might consider having another shop look at the job. They should be able to tone the connector and determine if the technician misconnected something, causing the "surge" that damaged the processor. If so, then consider a "small claim" against the shop for the cost of the repair and the book value (not replacement value) of the laptop.