Faulty laptops - who to trust?

[sandbender]

Undercover reporters wired a laptop with a hidden camera, generated a simple fault that could be rectified in minutes and then took their machine to several PC repair centers.

The camera and spy software caught "technicians stealing passwords, overcharging for basic work and nosing through private pictures of the laptop's owner in a bikini" the photographs taken by the laptop of the technicians faces as they rummage around are quite entertaining.

"Only one shop came out with a clean bill of health: Pix 4 in Shepherd's Bush, West London. The company popped the chip back into place, and for free."

Story here and here.

 

[wanderingblade]

Certainly a common problem - I've seen PC's which just needed the fan replacing / cleaning ( a 2 min job) which other well known computer retailers had insisted needed a new hard drive and quoted £150!!

Always try and get a personal recommendation for a service agent or repairer from someone you trust.

 

[Tengu]

PC world managed to sell my father a laptop when I told him he didnt need one, as he wasnt taking it anywhere.

 

[Tadpole]

PC world managed to sell my father a laptop when I told him he didnt need one, as he wasnt taking it anywhere.

That is not really PC worlds fault, they are a shop, they want to sell stuff, it's how they make their money.

 

[Mirius]

That is not really PC worlds fault, they are a shop, they want to sell stuff, it's how they make their money.

And the business of a PC repair shop is to repair stuff, its how they make their money....

Repairing things which don't need it, selling things which aren't needed - they aren't so far apart. A reputable shop would do neither. Then again even reputable shops get desperate when times get hard, though I'd have thought the repair business should be booming just now.

 

[Tadpole]

And the business of a PC repair shop is to repair stuff, its how they make their money....

Repairing things which don't need it, selling things which aren't needed - they aren't so far apart. A reputable shop would do neither. Then again even reputable shops get desperate when times get hard, though I'd have thought the repair business should be booming just now.

come on, How many of us buy only the things we need?
Go in to any shop and someone will try and sell you stuff you neither want nor need, be it some fancy shiny or "warranty extension cover"
There is a world of difference between selling some gullible* person a new toy that they didn’t want, and criminal behaviour, be it charging for work not done or invading a person’s privacy.
Saying that, wasn’t a nosy tech a PC world who uncovered Paul Gadd?

*Can we still use the word Gullible? now that all the major online Dictionaries have removed it from their online pages

 

[Mirius]

<grins> yes sorry I was being a bit controversial there.

But yes indeed, 'we' the public don't seem to mind bad behaviour when it uncovers something worse. Where do you draw the line I wonder?

 

[dwardo]

A customer of mine took a pc to "a well branded repair company" 3 weeks later after having to send it to "another" branch it came back the same, except for a &#163;200 bill for labour and a memory upgrade that didnt happen. Its the same as any trade,, do your research and go for recommendations etc.

 

[Tony]

talk about name, picture and shame I'm glad that the one honest place is detailed so that they get more business.

 

[ryanmitch]

Undercover reporters wired a laptop with a hidden camera, generated a simple fault that could be rectified in minutes and then took their machine to several PC repair centers.

The camera and spy software caught "technicians stealing passwords, overcharging for basic work and nosing through private pictures of the laptop's owner in a bikini" the photographs taken by the laptop of the technicians faces as they rummage around are quite entertaining.

"Only one shop came out with a clean bill of health: Pix 4 in Shepherd's Bush, West London. The company popped the chip back into place, and for free."

Seems like a rip-off I presume overcharging for basic work is quite common. Taking advantage of the customers poor knowledge Stealing passwords and searching through private photos is taking it too far though, thats criminal!

This reminds me of a different case where a guy installed a camera in his truck because he noticed that everytime he brought his truck in for service the change money was missing, turns out that the mechanic not only steals the mans change but also watches porn on a laptop IN the truck! True story. Some toyota dealearship search for it

 

[8thsinner]

I have to admit I am not shocked by this, But it's still bloody shocking that the level of distrust and criminal behaviour a supposedly reputable shop like mikro anvika will display...I have shopped there happily on numerous occassions, thankfully I am not in london now...And thats not where I got my last laptop.

 

[stonyman]

I used to work for a company that repaired PCs and laptops, was made redundant back in March and to honest I'm glad to be out of there, my boss was basically ripping people off left, right and centre with the prices he charged for the work that was done, when I tried to charge the customer honestly for the work I'd carried out I was given a real b******ing to start off with then was given 2 verbal warnings and then due to the economic climate lost my job, that was the reason he gave me.

 

[BorderReiver]

I asked around and found a bloke that comes to your house to fix computers.

Competent and cheap.

You can't beat word of mouth recommendations.

 

[Leonidas]

It can be a challenge finding a reputable service, personal recommendations still rule the day.

On a side note, my full time employ is with a small concern called Hewlett Packard
It is refreshing to know a galactic size business can be very hot on ethics and compliance.
Without reservation I am proud to be associated with them, ethics and compliance thread throughout the entire business, and it is very interactive and active topic year round.

Just thought I would share