computer repairs in limerick..what a rip off!!

Stab*City

hey all a freind of mine just telephoned me regarding a quote he recieved from a limerick computer shop on parnell st.. he was having trouble with his machine and turns out his hdd has had it.. so to get a new hard drive installed he was quoted €225 which is a complete joke!! as im in this type of business somewhat i was just interested to see if any of you had been ripped off in such a way.. not just for computer parts either i wanna know if you have been ripped of for any products or services.. would be handy too to know where to go for best prices and service.. thanks in advance.. i can think of one off the top my head..

computer repair toolkit
pc world: €55

repair toolkit with 99% same tools
dunnes stores €4.99

i saved 50 quid by going up the road!!

im sure ill think of more soon..

MarkR

I assume that the charge included costing for diagnosis and testing (which can take some time to scan the hard drive for bad sectors etc), the replacement hard drive (€80-€100 probably) , and reinstalling the operating system and drivers (another hour)

How much should they have charged in your opinion?

Actually, I've found a handy site for bits in limerick from boards, www.limerickcomputers.com. Small place but handy and cheaper then pcworld and maplins.

Stab*City

MarkR wrote: »

I assume that the charge included costing for diagnosis and testing (which can take some time to scan the hard drive for bad sectors etc), the replacement hard drive (€80-€100 probably) , and reinstalling the operating system and drivers (another hour)

How much should they have charged in your opinion?

well i sourced a hdd online at komplett for €55 which is 250 gigs.. they had priced a 120 gig.. i suppose there is a little bit of work to diagnose.. and the xp install he could have done himself so all he really needed was the problem diagnosed & the hdd installed.. so considering the price i could get the hdd for id say half the quoted price would have been more than enough.. 55 for the hdd and 55 for the diag.. although i dont own a shop so his overheads would probably make up the rest..

Stab*City

also if he backed on another 100 or so he could probably get a new system from dell..

MarkR

I know. I used to do that stuff as an aside. Not worth the hassle though. The amount of old heaps brought into me.

You're paying for expertise, time and hardware. Always cheaper to do what you can yourself.

Stab*City

MarkR wrote: »

Actually, I've found a handy site for bits in limerick from boards, www.limerickcomputers.com. Small place but handy and cheaper then pcworld and maplins.

looks like a drop shipping operation to me..

talkingclock

they are known for rip-off. do a boards.ie search...

Delphi91

talkingclock wrote: »

they are known for rip-off. do a boards.ie search...

Who are?

talkingclock

that shop mentioned by the OP, not the one with the web address
sorry for the confusion...

Jumpy

Stab*City wrote: »

hey all a freind of mine just telephoned me regarding a quote he recieved from a limerick computer shop on parnell st.. he was having trouble with his machine and turns out his hdd has had it.. so to get a new hard drive installed he was quoted €225 which is a complete joke!! as im in this type of business somewhat i was just interested to see if any of you had been ripped off in such a way.. not just for computer parts either i wanna know if you have been ripped of for any products or services.. would be handy too to know where to go for best prices and service.. thanks in advance.. i can think of one off the top my head..

computer repair toolkit
pc world: €55

repair toolkit with 99% same tools
dunnes stores €4.99

i saved 50 quid by going up the road!!

im sure ill think of more soon..

You expect them to install it for free?
Just because you know how to use a computer/install an OS/replace hardware does not mean that everyone does.


€225 is a reasonable price for what is requested.

€50 per hour labour would be an average for a standard pc repair job.

In total the diagnosis plus OS install would be around 3 hours, possibly more if it was a difficult diagnosis. Then you have the cost of hardware.

Stab*City

Jumpy wrote: »

You expect them to install it for free?
Just because you know how to use a computer/install an OS/replace hardware does not mean that everyone does.

not for free.. but just because all the above are not common knowledge does not mean the store should rip people off!!

Jumpy wrote: »

€225 is a reasonable price for what is requested.

first of all it would not take 3 hours to do a diagnosis and fresh install xp.. the xp install takes 39 mins and u can d/l tools for free on the net to diagnose bad sectors on a hdd depending on size of hdd.. (my friends hdd was 80 gig) so it would take about a half hour if that!! add 5 mins to that to install the hdd in the machine which costs €55 on komplett(double the size of the one the shop was supplying).. so thats roughly 1 hr 15 mins give or take.. lets say an hour and half.. so thats a total rip off for that much work.. i mean if he added 150 to the 225 he could have bought a new machine from dell!! taking into account the price of the hdd i think €155 would have been a more stomachable price..

MarkR

While the install may take 39 minutes (and that does depend on hardware), you are still leaving out formatting and the copying of system files.

Repairs take time, and time costs money. While it may seem obvious that the hard drive was faulty, it and other things would need to be checked in case there is more then one fault.

No one forced your friend to go there, and I'm sure that he was advised up front in regard to costing.

Same goes with mechanics, plumbers, electricians etc. In hindsight we could all fix everything cheaper ourselves. These people are professionals who have made a business of it.

You're also not considering the service aspect. If the hard drive fails I presume his repair is covered for three months (in addition to the hardware warranty). If that was to happen it would need to be tested, replaced, formatted, files copied over, windows and drivers reinstalled again.

I think the price is steep, but that's because I can do these things. Other people would be afraid to open the magic box and start poking around.

Stab*City

fair enough mark.. i can see where u are coming from.. but i still think it was hugely over priced.. €150 would have been more like it .. anyway.. thanks for your comments..

billy the squid

There are less expensive places in the city to go to . was at one , forget where it is, but it used to be called Carraig, who did mine and I was happy with the service.

The store you went to is pretty expensive , and a lot more expensive than the likes of Compu B or PC world for parts and peripheries.

bazz26

I'd say look at the classified ads in the Limerick Post, etc. There are lots of guys who do pc repair in their spare time. They can afford to be flexible on the price as they have no overheads such as renting a premises, paying staff, etc.

Builderfromhell

After reading this post I can't see how anyone would want to be in the computer repair business. If 225 is a rip off then how are you supposed to make a living. The overheads of running a shop min Limerick City are enormous.

OwenM

Compare with tradesmen, if your heating breaks down - you call a plumber, he tells you whats wrong and he charges you what? 2 hours labour and the price of the pump. Anyone here reckon you will get out of that for less than €250

Jumpy

Stab*City wrote: »

not for free.. but just because all the above are not common knowledge does not mean the store should rip people off!!




first of all it would not take 3 hours to do a diagnosis and fresh install xp.. the xp install takes 39 mins and u can d/l tools for free on the net to diagnose bad sectors on a hdd depending on size of hdd.. (my friends hdd was 80 gig) so it would take about a half hour if that!! add 5 mins to that to install the hdd in the machine which costs €55 on komplett(double the size of the one the shop was supplying).. so thats roughly 1 hr 15 mins give or take.. lets say an hour and half.. so thats a total rip off for that much work.. i mean if he added 150 to the 225 he could have bought a new machine from dell!! taking into account the price of the hdd i think €155 would have been a more stomachable price..

Hmm, have you actually had any IT experience outside messing about with your own machine? Because I really dont see it.

Stab*City

actually fixed it for him myself.. picked him up an 80 gig hdd for €30 second hand.. and installed windows.. had it fixed in 2 and half hours.. he gave me 50 quid for my trouble too.. also turns out that shop charged him a 50 quid deposit when he called in so the total of the fix from the shop would have been €275!!

Stab*City

Jumpy wrote: »

Hmm, have you actually had any IT experience outside messing about with your own machine? Because I really dont see it.

actually i have both a hardware and programming background.

DarkJager

Jumpy wrote: »

Hmm, have you actually had any IT experience outside messing about with your own machine? Because I really dont see it.

He has plenty of IT experience, a lot more than you I'dassume. I'm in full agreement that the pricing these computer shops charge is ridiculous. €275 for a new HD and re-install?? Come off it, there is no way to justify that sort of price, and never mind the arguement about business costs. There's a difference between justifiable pricing for a service and just chancing your arm...

MarkR

The consumer pays through the nose for any service in Ireland. Does anyone have any suggestions for a place where he could have got it done on the cheap? And I mean a business, rather then someone like you or me doing it.

Stab*City

DarkJager wrote: »

He has plenty of IT experience, a lot more than you I'dassume. I'm in full agreement that the pricing these computer shops charge is ridiculous. €275 for a new HD and re-install?? Come off it, there is no way to justify that sort of price, and never mind the arguement about business costs. There's a difference between justifiable pricing for a service and just chancing your arm...

thank you darkjager!! i knew you would have my back!!

DarkJager

MarkR wrote:

The consumer pays through the nose for any service in Ireland. Does anyone have any suggestions for a place where he could have got it done on the cheap? And I mean a business, rather then someone like you or me doing it.

I appreciate what you are saying but I don't see how that sort of pricing is fair. Granted if you knew nothing about computers you may be gullible enough to fall for it but surely there must be a sense of fair play about what you charge, not just preying on the people who wouldn't know a fair price either way. I'm personally not big into cars, but I know a rip off when I see it, and I'd always check with someone in the know before accepting repair quotes from a garage - why not the same with IT?

Stab*City wrote:

thank you darkjager!! i knew you would have my back!!

Liam Byrne

Stab*City wrote: »

also turns out that shop charged him a 50 quid deposit when he called in so the total of the fix from the shop would have been €275!!

...assuming that a deposit wasn't part of the total price, which it normally is.

€225 might be a bit extreme, but it's in the context of Ireland.....I had an electrician come around to check a microwave last year; 10 mins and he told me it wasn't repairable and charged me €60.....I could've just thrown it out and bought a new one for about €80, which I ended up having to do anway!

HDDs and memory can be a real pain; firstly, there's the time to check which will work with which computers (BIOS settings, limits, compatibility etc) and then (in the case of HDDs) there's mirroring or reinstalling the hard drive (or, if the original HDD is fried, doing a complete install) and making sure everything is working.

For stuff like this I normally go to Micro Ireland on Thomas St; always found them good and then once - when a laptop motherboard fried due to a coffee incident and I just wanted the reassurance that the stuff on the hard drive COULD be retrieved (didn't want it that day - just wanted to know that it was still there and OK) - they checked it for me in-store, said yeah - you're fine.......the immediate relief alone was worth the retrieval cost!

~EnDaScOpE~

Sorry just joined to Boards, late post... Look lads at the end of the day if you drop your PC into any of these repair shops they will try and help you first to rectify the problem before they book it, they're a business and if the laptop/PC leaves the counter expect that their not doing it for free.. why would they (Time,experience, wages & their tools)? Repair centres are there because of customer ignorance and if your stupid enough to download illegal material and corrupt your computer expect to pay for it. Diagnostics is not plain sailing it may not be just the harddrive it can be so many other problems or even software errors. A repair centre has all the tools extra hardware so as to swap test components so you don't have to and not all problems can be diagnosed using a downloaded program from the NET usually that's the problem in the first place (what do you do if you don't have a second/third computer!!). They charge a deposit or a upfront diagnostic charge because it is as it is.. they don't want to spend all their time on your laptop/PC for you to turn around and say you don't want it anymore (imagine how frustrating it is for a tech after all his time wasted when he could have being helping someone else who actually apprec it)!! Be nice and friendly to staff and they'll repay the compliment be the opposite then don't expect much. If you think E225 is expensive there's a place in nenagh that charges E100 ph!! PC World will diagnose laptop/PC for E60 (if it can be fixed at this stage - no extra charge) Rebuild to a factory setting (if customer has lost discs.. you can buy recovery discs from manufacturer for E80-120!) E150+parts. Software E80. 80% of problems are caused directly from user error!!

Jumpy

DarkJager wrote: »

He has plenty of IT experience, a lot more than you I'dassume. I'm in full agreement that the pricing these computer shops charge is ridiculous. €275 for a new HD and re-install?? Come off it, there is no way to justify that sort of price, and never mind the arguement about business costs. There's a difference between justifiable pricing for a service and just chancing your arm...

Oi! I just saw this now. Im 14 years in the game girlfriend

*clicks fingers* mmmmhmmmmh.


This thread might be a little old, wouldnt be surprised if they closed it.

Stab*City

Jumpy wrote: »

Oi! I just saw this now. Im 14 years in the game girlfriend

*clicks fingers* mmmmhmmmmh.


This thread might be a little old, wouldnt be surprised if they closed it.

14 Years and you still dont have a clue!!

Jumpy

Thems fightin words *scuffs feet building up static charge*