<SNIP> nightmare

mary o s

We recently had a problem with our internet in the house.
After calling our service provider they assured us that everything was ok at their end,so we decided to call the <SNIP>.The man said that they could come that day which was great.Approx 1 hour later a large man arrived in a jeep.He immediately introduced himself by saying ''Hello'' in the most sleazy way possible.He then said something along the lines of my top being very tight.I immediately felt uneasy about this mans presence in my home.He asked to see the computer which was in the front room.I then showed him the way into the front room, when he asked 'did we have any food'.I was glad to get away and into the kitchen.Whilst there I rang my husband to ask how long he would be as I felt very uncomfortable,however I didnt mention that there was a problem as he would have hit the roof.He said he was on the way home.I then brought the Man in a sandwich,
and he continued to flirt with me uncontrollably. I tried to divert his attention and asked him had he been doing this for a long time.When he told me that he owned the company.I couldnt beleive it.He came to the conclusion ''that it must be a vrus from all that dirty porn we must have been watching''.My jaw hit the floor. I was absolutely stunned by this remark.He then said that he would have to take it away as it would take too long to fix at the house.He said that they give free diagnosis and would call before doing anything with the cost.At this stage I didnt care I just wanted him out.so he proceeded to take the wires out when my husband pulled into the garden with my teenage son.
As the <SNIP>. was leaving, himself and my husband passed at the door when my husband asked what the problem was. He replied that it had a virus and asked my teenage son, ''was he watching gay porn''.My son went purple with embarresment. My husband was stunned by this also.That evening my husband and I ended up having a heated discution about what had happened and why I didnt ask him to leave.Looking back now I should have.Anyway 3 days later I got a call from somebody at <SNIP> saying that my computer was ready and the cost would be 180 euro.150 for virus removal and 30 call out.I then told them that i was supposed to be called with a diagnosis and cost .The guy on the phone told me that they could put the virus back on if i didnt want to go ahead.I eventually agreed to this price which I felt was very high as the computer was running perfectly apart from not going online.They said that the technician would call out to the house with the computer.I told them that it was ok I would go there as the last thing I would ever want is that man back at my door.so all in all my experience with these people was absolutely horrific.And my question is who do I complain to ? as this was the owner of the company.

Outkast_IRE

Id say just cut your losses and make sure all your friends and family never ever use that company again.

aidan_walsh

Moved from Comp/Tech.

iMax

That sounds REALLY strange...

Unfortunately, If true, there's no-one you could complain to, apart from a strongly worded letter to them. I'd love to hear what they say in their defence.

foggy_lad

i would see a solicitor!

Outkast_IRE

foggy_lad wrote: »

i would see a solicitor!

And do what ? pay the solictor to tell you theres not much you can do . its a real he said , she said type issue.

MagicMarker

Well there's nothing you can do.

In future, don't let him in, or ask him to leave. Why oh why did you allow him to take the computer!!?

jor el

mary o s wrote: »

The guy on the phone told me that they could put the virus back on if i didnt want to go ahead.

Tell them yes, put the virus back on, and see what they say. They won't be able to, but if that's an option that allows you to not pay, then you should chose that one.

€150 for virus removal? That's crazy. Spybot Search & Destroy is free, as is AVG anti-virus.

mary o s wrote: »

And my question is who do I complain to ? as this was the owner of the company.

There isn't anyone you can complain to, save Joe Duffy maybe. This is the kind of stuff he loves. There's no official body though. They're just charging you for the service that you requested and gave them permission (arguably) to do.

andrewdeerpark

jor el wrote: »

There isn't anyone you can complain to, save Joe Duffy maybe. This is the kind of stuff he loves. There's no official body though. They're just charging you for the service that you requested and gave them permission (arguably) to do.

Last thing we need is an official body for IT contractors another TAX and a government quango to support. IT is the only perfect free market and long may it last.

You should have shopped around and used your noodle.

TheDriver

I would be slow about putting a virus back on, they could crippple your system with a nice juicy virus.
I agree he sounds awful and probably used to a nice easy money job.
Regarding the 150 euro though, I must say I sometimes get asked to fix people's computers and it can take ages scanning and installing new antivirus software because people don't have theirs properly secure, which can take a few hours of frustration, people seem to think computers can be fixed easily which is not always the case.
Pay it and never use him again to be honest, unless the pc is really old and not worth it as a new one wouldn't be much more.

EKRIUQ

Just to pay the devils advocate.

This is the users first post
They name the shop and location
Very bad experience with this <SNIP>. that would effect other peoples opinions.
OP still hasn't posted again in 4 hours.(I presume their computer is working)

Anyone else think this could be a post by a competitor to damage the <SNIP>. reputation, its easy know the description of the owner.

ntlbell

very possibly, haven't had any experiences with them myself but ones i know who have said they were very professional and reasonable

(i have nothing to do with them)

Sponge Bob

I might accept this as fact from a long term boards user but I do have a difficulty with n00bs signing up to rant .

If the guy was a fraudulent pervert surely a boards regular would have come across him at some stage and I am not one for tolerating fraudsters and/or perverts as some of ye probably know .

calex71

Sponge Bob wrote: »

I might accept this as fact from a long term boards user but I do have a difficulty with n00bs signing up to rant .

If the guy was a fraudulent pervert surely a boards regular would have come across him at some stage and I am not one for tolerating fraudsters and/or perverts as some of ye probably know .

+1

BostonB

Complain to Joe Duffy. Close the thread. Its sounds very iffy this story.

I'm sure there bad PC repair people out there, just like any other service. You have to agree terms upfront and get it in writing. If you haven't its your word against theirs. As are any threats that aren't in writing.

Lesson to learn. If people don't know how to use a computer and maintain it they should do a course. If you still don't get it, don't use a computer. If you have a backup, you should be able to wipe the computer and install everything in a couple of hours. Regardless of whats on it. (assuming the backup is clean). But then I'd lay odds they don't have a backup.

jor el

andrewdeerpark wrote: »

Last thing we need is an official body for IT contractors another TAX and a government quango to support. IT is the only perfect free market and long may it last.

I was thinking more of a general retail oversight body, not an IT specific one. The dept for enterprise trade and employment maybe, or the NCA, but they can't really do anything except advise you of your consumer rights.

BostonB wrote: »

If people don't know how to use a computer and maintain it they should do a course. If you still don't get it, don't use a computer.

If you can find this forum to post a rant in, then you can find the Computers forum to ask the question about how to clean the computer yourself. Some people are just afraid of computers though, as though they were impossible for a lay-person to ever understand.

Sponge Bob

It is impossible to reliably clean a large scale virus infection off a computer , you scrub it instead or dual boot it . That is what I would tell any client of mine ...straight up.

On a 2/3/4 year old computer that would take a few hours ...in between other jobs .

timoregan79

I would not pay, Tell them to put the virus back on the computer.
How old is your computer. If there is information on your computer that you require get the computer back move that information onto an external drive and do a full system re install. This will also improve the speed of your pc as all the crap that you build up over the years will be gone.
You can google any virus and get solutions on how to get rid of them for free. Any problems pm me and i will talk you through it.

mary o s

I can assure you of my experience.
I didnt realise that this site was for locals only.
after speaking to my collegues regarding this issue they guided me here.
I also didnt realise that I had to wait for replies and reply myself straight away.
I also urge anyone else with a similar problem with these people to back up my claim as I cannot beleive that it is a one off.
Myself and my husband did consider legal action , but we thought that it would be hard to verify.
The only thing that we could verify was the gay porn remark,as myself, my husband and my son heard it.
As for the cost, I no I agreed to it.Which I am not concerned about.
I would like to say thanks for the feedback.
I didnt think people would take the time.

kmick

From my perspective I think the cost was ok. Its not outrageous if the computer needed to be rebuilt and the data saved. As for the comments that is bang out of order. I would get your husband to make a complaint directly to that guy and if you dont an apology go to Joe and shame the hell out of them. What was the guys first name?

timoregan79

Hi Mary,
Unfortunately alot of us invite people into our houses without knowing who they are. I have worked in alot of industries and have come across people like you describe and unfortunately give a bad name to all the good people that are out there.
Also what alot of people do not realise is how easy it is to actually fix there own PC's and end up going to these PC doctors to fix small problems that you could do at home if you just took the time to look into it.
I had a friend that took his computer to the PC doctor and was charged €250. My friend did not know that it was a hobby of mine and i would of fixed it for free. Gotta say he was disheartened when he found out.

mary o s

Its good to see that there are still good, genuine people out there.
Thanks to timoregan79 for your offer of help.

dudara

Hi OP,

While I appreciate the difficulty that you are in, I must agree with what some other posters have pointed out - namely that I am uncomfortable with this company being named in this fashion.

Therefore I have removed all references to the company in question.

dudara

ejmaztec

From some of the invoices that I've seen at various businesses, it seems quite common for a €200+ charge for removing a virus, by various local IT specialists and PC maintenance concerns. They get away with it by taking advantage of the situation, where the customer knows little or nothing about computers. I'm sorry that I've never been at these places when a local "wizard" is "fixing a virus".

mukki

OP ask for a detailed invoice, presume it will be legal to post a copy of it up here




i repair computers for a living and normally charge e40 to e50 to remove viruses and do it all in your house in under an hour, while i am there i will show you how to avoid it happening again and teach you how to remove one for next time.



and i'm not a wierdo ( i love food though, and eat everything that offered to me)


every second house i go into tells me about the last guy who took the computer away for 2 weeks, deleted everything off the pc and reinstalled xp (usually a cracked xp corp) and charges €200

Oryx

If you have the guys name, (and he wasnt the owner of the company), then write a formal letter of complaint to them about his behaviour. The trouble could be is that people arent complaining, so this guys inappropriate behaviour is going unchecked. If I had an employee like that, Id damn well want to know about it. This would not be about any form of recompense, but about preventing him acting that way with anyone else.

Of course, if its his company, I see no point.

Magenta

I have no idea why, instead of asking him to leave (and calling the Guards if he didn't) you fed him, put up with his nonsense and then agreed to pay €180 for the pleasure.

kmick

ejmaztec wrote: »

From some of the invoices that I've seen at various businesses, it seems quite common for a €200+ charge for removing a virus, by various local IT specialists and PC maintenance concerns. They get away with it by taking advantage of the situation, where the customer knows little or nothing about computers. I'm sorry that I've never been at these places when a local "wizard" is "fixing a virus".

Yeah and I know nothing about electricity so it costs me a fortune any time I call out an electrician. Most virus types these days make mincemeat of a computer if left on too long and it can take hours to reinstall an O/S and patch it all up while saving the data. Some people have irreplaceable family photos taht they want saved. Of course they could do it themselves anyone is free to to do anything they like in this world. If they dont chose to then they can expect to pay a moderate sum to have it fixed.

MOH

I spent hours years ago (when I was a lot more clueless than now) in a family friend's house trying to get a few viruses off his PC. Had to give up in the end, advised him to phone the crowd he'd bought it from since he was due support from them.

Talked to him a few weeks later, he told me all his viruses were gone and everything was working OK. Although he was a bit upset he'd lost all his photos. Turned out they'd just talked him through wiping and reinstalling the OS.

ch750536

MOH wrote: »

...Although he was a bit upset he'd lost all his photos. Turned out they'd just talked him through wiping and reinstalling the OS.

Man this winds me up. As an IT expert I'm amazed at this approach yet 80% of companies do it.

It's the equivalent of calling the guards because your kid is missing and them bringing you some other kid. Then, just in case, shooting your own kid in the head when they turned up.

I am 'fixing' a PC that has had the disk controller destroy most of the data, still managed to save the womans family snaps etc. Takes minutes if you are careful.

whippet

why why don't people back up !!!!!!!

in this day and age its amazing the amount of people who never think of backing up ..... until the worst happens!!