Comments on: Dodgy Computer Technician Reports – Real or Just Media Looking for Ratings?

By: gunslinger

gunslinger — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 22:57:13 +0000

I agree for the most part with what you are saying. I started advertising on a free local website about two years ago. About six months later there was a flood of computer technicians advertising on that site. Just for the fun of it I called some of these techies. I ran different problems past them. Sure enough it was just as I suspected. Most of these guys and girls knew how to run C. Cleaner, spy bot and do a defrag. The worst part is their rates were actually higher than mine. It’s people like this who give all computer technicians a bad name.

By: Virgil

Virgil — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 17:02:45 +0000

Well, aside from the Media, isn’t it all about the $$$$ ?
I have been repairing systems now since the “Golden Days” of the 80866’s and can tell you that as of the past 5 years or so, I have noticed that in my opinion, it really is the lack of experience with these “Geeks” who do this stuff. For example, I had to work with a guy in the past that if there was a problem with the system he could not explain away or know about, he would always suggest a complete format and a re-install off our servers. I don’t know about your opinion, but mine is rather low of any Tech that can not simply diagnose the problem “CORRECTLY”. I just guess I’m old school.

By: Terinea Weblog

Terinea Weblog — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 11:51:41 +0000

As previous people have commented, the media can always make it spin in either direction. Don’t believe the hype.

Jamie

By: Leslie Porter

Leslie Porter — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 14:12:30 +0000

As a matter of fact I did see that episode on CBS and while I know the media can distort things to a very high level, I err on the side of caution. I think that it is possible that some of the technician may have been dishonest or like it appears, may have lacked experience. I would say that as I am growing my business that I try to be honest and forthcoming with a diagnosis. I have seen several articles posted on here that make that a very important part of our business. I for one do not have a non profit mentality, so if I am called to repair something, depending on the situation, I may or may not charge for my services. Again, it can be a chance to offer more services etc. I have friends and family that are probably just like some of the people represented on the show. They really don’t have a clue when it comes to computers and would not want them taken advantage of.

By: mityay

mityay — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 17:48:44 +0000

The media reports are mostly a bunch of rubish. While most of the technitian do not overcharge or give false diagnostics, many of them feel like they can say anything to the customer who will not understand a word anyway. This time they got caught on camera.

By: gunslinger

gunslinger — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 17:13:37 +0000

I almost forgot: $25 or less for RAM? What they did was look on tiger direct or ebay and find the cheapest RAM on the site with no regards to compatibility with the customers system. $25 will almost cover the cost of my gas to get there, I guess the tech is supposed to install it for free and take a loss on the RAM as well.

By: gunslinger

gunslinger — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 17:07:47 +0000

Ok, let me start this rant by saying that I think the media is always %100 bullshit. They edit things to slant the story the way they want it,always.
As for the techies that were on this,I think most were being honest but maybe gave a diagnosis way too soon and were a little high on their rates. You can’t just walk in and look at a system and say “hard drive failure”. Although the $2000 price was taken out of context he should not have said it unless he first knew the drive was bad, second , knew the customer had important data on the drive and third , was asked how much data recovery cost.
As for the missing RAM pin, I have never seen that in the field and don’t think I ever will.
Why did they have best buy guys even giving their opinion? Why do they assume that the people at the school know what they are talking about? I had an instructor in one of my computer science classes tell us that if you password protect your account and forget the password the only thing to do was to format the drive. We were all shocked because this guy was so smart in other aspects of computers. A degree does not a computer technician make.

By: Jason Porter

Jason Porter — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 16:25:58 +0000

I’m not going to comment on these individual cases, but I will say this…My personal opinion is that the media is just like another reality TV show, they edit and show only what they want you to see. Remember to always try to “read between the lines” with them. That said….when in business for yourself don’t be the dodgy one and always CYA (cover your arse). If you don’t someone will inevitably bite it!

By: JohnR

JohnR — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 16:24:50 +0000

Inexperienced, mostly. And I have some sympathy for the “stripped RAM” diagnosis of “bad ram, replace it” – because *I* don’t repair bad RAM. I discover that it’s bad, replace it with new, and trash the old stuff.