Department store fix it people

I encountered another department store computer fix-it horror story today. The client called me because they had the proverbial slow computer. I show up and the owner proceeds to tell me that they just got it returned from a big box electronic store with the initials CC whose computer experts work under the initials of FD. Incidentally, I could tell similar stories of woe with another store whose initials are BB and their resident experts work under the initials of GS.

The computer owner showed me a receipt from CC-FD totaling nearly $250! The computer was operational, but very slow. Upon inspection, I discovered, within 90 seconds, that the 5-6 year old computer had only 256mb of RAM and was running the latest copy of Webroot Internet Security that craves at least 512mb of RAM. Yet another hack job done by experts with little practical experience and a mandate to sell product and not give customers the best advice. My charge for similar services would not exceed $175 and usually hover around $125-150, and the customer would have the added benefit of not having to call in someone else to properly diagnose the situation after paying me to fix the problem.

Unfortunately, because of the age and make of this computer, upgrading the RAM was not economical. It used older Rambus RAM or RDRAM and would cost a minimum of $260 to upgrade...not worth it at all.

We discussed his options which included:

1. Take off the software he already paid for and paid FD to install. Then replace it with a less memory intensive anti-virus like AVG or Avast (both free for home users).
2. Ditch Windows altogether and install Ubuntu or Kubuntu Linux which would run very well on this computer.
3. Stay with what he has and realize the limitations of his system.

In the end, he chose to go with option #3, but said he might buy a new computer for himself and wife, then go with option #2 and give the computer to his son.

Moral of the story:  Know your options for computer repair and also know that repair people working in a retail environment usually don't have your best interest in mind.

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