Every day we hear horror stories about our local competitors. This is nothing new; it has been going on for years. However, one story in particular that I was told recently stands out as one I think everyone should hear. It is no secret that elderly computer users are quite commonly not extremely tech savvy. But when a company deliberately takes advantage of that, it deserves pointing out. This particular customer took her computer to this competitor of ours because it wouldn’t boot up. The competitor proceeded to reformat her hard drive (losing all of her files and data), and reinstall Windows. Then they charged the customer $200. When the customer returned home, they were unable to get online and unable to print. When the customer called the competitor to ask them to resolve these issues, since she was able to get online and print just fine before they worked on the computer, the competitor told her they would come out and work on it, but there would be hourly charges for this service. The customer realized this was unfair and not right, and she called us at Texas I.T. Pros instead. We solved the problems with her computer in a matter of a few minutes.
This kind of thing happens all the time. People charge non tech savvy customers lots and lots of money for sub-standard computer service, and they get away with it because they don’t realize they are being burned. This particular customer’s data shouldn’t have been lost – it should have been backed up prior to reinstalling Windows. The competitor also should have gone the extra mile to make sure the computer would work the way the customer needed it to after the work was done. After all, what good is a computer that won’t connect to the Internet in this day and age? Not much. And the fact that the competitor charged the customer $200 for this “service”? That is ridiculous! On average, we charge around $90 for an operating system reload, including installation of all applicable Windows updates and making sure that all applicable device drivers are installed. We also don’t just do the “reformat and reinstall” repair method for every computer that comes in the door like our competitors seem to be doing. Most of the time we are able to actually fix the underlying problem, not just blow it all away and start over from scratch. This saves our customers time, money, and frustration.
If you’ve been burned by one of our competitors, we’d like to hear about it. We’d also like you to give us a try next time you need help. You will be treated professionally, and with care and courtesy – no matter your age or level of tech knowledge. We promise to treat you right, and we will make sure you are 100% happy with our work. After all, our guarantee is and has always been “If we can’t fix it, you don’t pay” – and that’s a promise you can take to the bank!
