View Full Version : This is kind of funny in a sad way
Daddyjaxx
09-03-09, 08:10 PM
My mom calls me today because she said my dad's PC won't boot. This was after they took it to a retail chain that shall remain nameless, but they have a group called the Geek Squad. They said it was a bad video card and took it out. They bring it home and it still won't boot. They take it back again and they said it was fine. This "service" cost my parents 199.99 for a PC that was 499.99 brand new.
The "real" culprit after I talked to them and had them try a couple of things with me on the phone. The monitor cable was loose on the monitor. Now are they not only out 200 bucks, but the video card too.
I only charged them 99.00.
My mom calls me today because she said my dad's PC won't boot. This was after they took it to a retail chain that shall remain nameless, but they have a group called the Geek Squad. They said it was a bad video card and took it out. They bring it home and it still won't boot. They take it back again and they said it was fine. This "service" cost my parents 199.99 for a PC that was 499.99 brand new.
The "real" culprit after I talked to them and had them try a couple of things with me on the phone. The monitor cable was loose on the monitor. Now are they not only out 200 bucks, but the video card too.
I only charged them 99.00.
Moral of this story is "troubleshoot it" before you let someone touch it.
A friend of mine had a computer, AGP graphics slot, and I had donated the best card I could find for agp (ati 3850).
One day they power up the pc, and have a black screen.
The machine is old, and they have children around, so figure something got put in the case, and the pc is dead.
We decide it was time for an upgrade anyway. Run out to Fry's and spend about 500 on a really nice system. Get it all set up, and still have a black screen.
Turns out the monitor transformer had failed. and it was under warranty.
Blackstar
09-04-09, 03:22 AM
The "real" culprit after I talked to them and had them try a couple of things with me on the phone. The monitor cable was loose on the monitor. Now are they not only out 200 bucks, but the video card too.
I only charged them 99.00.
Wait, Geek Squad screws them out of $200 and a video card.... so you charge them $99 on top of that?
O.o
Maybe it's just me, but I don't charge my family money for tech support, cause well... they're family. ;)
- Blackstar
Daddyjaxx
09-04-09, 05:55 AM
I was joking about charging them. :)
4GHZ_or_bust
09-04-09, 11:03 AM
Still it sucked your parents were out a lot of money because they didn't check the video cable.
Lesson: have them call you first!
So they put in a vid card and labor for 200 bucks? What vid card did they put in? a 4870? LOL!
EarthDog
09-04-09, 12:05 PM
The Geek Squad is around for one reason...and that is to show how good the prices are for my services. Amazing.
Daddyjaxx
09-04-09, 09:28 PM
They didn't put any card in. My dad had some ATI XT card in there. They took it out and switched them back to on board video. The 200 bucks was diagnostics and labor only.
Alien432
09-04-09, 11:42 PM
Yikes, High-tech Robbery !
and they thought car mechanics were shady...
Theocnoob
09-05-09, 11:33 AM
Pretty sure you may have lawsuit material on your hands.
If the culprit was actually a faulty monitor cable at your parent's home- and, of course, only the tower was taken in for testing- that tells you something very obvious--
the tech support people never connected the computer to a monitor or otherwise tested it.
Think about it.
kevlar93
09-05-09, 12:18 PM
Pretty sure you may have lawsuit material on your hands.
If the culprit was actually a faulty monitor cable at your parent's home- and, of course, only the tower was taken in for testing- that tells you something very obvious--
the tech support people never connected the computer to a monitor or otherwise tested it.
Think about it.
That is a really good point. I would call complain
markp1989
09-05-09, 01:23 PM
so they just stle the graphics card, and then charged you for it... ****ing hell. id complain in no time.
you probably find they have used your parents gpu to upgrade someone elses pc , claiming it was new.
WonderingSoul
09-06-09, 05:43 PM
Something smells fishy!
Daddyjaxx
09-06-09, 07:29 PM
I don't know why they won't do anything. This is the second time they did this. The first time they had a problem, they kept taking it back because it wouldn't boot. That one turned out to be a bad keyboard. I told them then that it was the keyboard.
They are in their mid 60's and the only place you can get a computer fixed is BB. I just wish they would call me FIRST. It is kinda hard diagnosing a problem over the phone since I'm 500 miles away.
ihrsetrdr
09-06-09, 07:41 PM
I don't know why they won't do anything. This is the second time they did this. The first time they had a problem, they kept taking it back because it wouldn't boot. That one turned out to be a bad keyboard. I told them then that it was the keyboard.
They are in their mid 60's and the only place you can get a computer fixed is BB. I just wish they would call me FIRST. It is kinda hard diagnosing a problem over the phone since I'm 500 miles away.
Tell your folks that rather than going to the trouble of taking the computer to BB[possibly a couple times], they should just ship it to you and get it fixed right once.
My daughter lives 200 mi away, and between her screwy work schedule, and my screwy work schedule, it's hard to get out to fix her computers. So, I just send her enough money to UPS it to me, I fix it and ship it back.
I don't know why they won't do anything. This is the second time they did this. The first time they had a problem, they kept taking it back because it wouldn't boot. That one turned out to be a bad keyboard. I told them then that it was the keyboard.
They are in their mid 60's and the only place you can get a computer fixed is BB. I just wish they would call me FIRST. It is kinda hard diagnosing a problem over the phone since I'm 500 miles away.
Yeah, initially its hard to diagnose over teh phone, but work phone support long enough and its pretty easy. I had a job with Dell tech support (phone of course) about 8-9 years ago (before they shipped it to the, well, Ill refrain). It was quite overwhelming at first, but eventually got to where I could figure out a persons problem in under 10 minutes in most cases, and with a PROPER diagnosis, not the garbage crap they give you today.
Shadowmonk
09-10-09, 08:12 PM
I have a friend who works for the geek squad lol, he knows next to nothing about computers and has me on speed dial. Kinda funny when i walk right into best buy behind the geek squad desk and spend 10 mins to fix what they been trying to figure out for days. He always tells the customers at the counter that it was "my day off" but i decided to drop by and lend a hand. I will not let family or friends take their comps to anyone but me....ive seen the kind of ripoffs "chain stores" have pulled in the past. Sorry this had to happen to your parents, if anything i hope they learned their lesson.
ricflairw000
09-10-09, 08:36 PM
I don't know why they won't do anything. This is the second time they did this. The first time they had a problem, they kept taking it back because it wouldn't boot. That one turned out to be a bad keyboard. I told them then that it was the keyboard.
They are in their mid 60's and the only place you can get a computer fixed is BB. I just wish they would call me FIRST. It is kinda hard diagnosing a problem over the phone since I'm 500 miles away.
maybe have them take it to an OC forum guy around them?
i mean i dont see any of us charging 200$ to diagnose a problem wrong haha
i would think most would come just under 100$ + parts
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