Should I pay to not have my laptop fixed?

July 1, 2009 12:40 PM

My girlfriend took her computer to get repaired they charged her $240 on the spot and said it would be an easy fix. They called her 2 days later and said after opening it up it would cost $200. She said it was too expensive. They charged her $130 for labor and left her with a computer in pieces...is this legal? Do we have a right to a full refund?

She wasn't told there was a possibility that it would cost more. She didn't sign anything saying she was responsible for more payment or in the event of non-repair a $130 fee for labor.

They also told her it would cost and additional $100 to put the computer back together. So basically she is out $130, has a lap top in pieces all because she walked through the door of Tek Serve.

It just doesn't seem fair.

posted by Mr. Ugh to technology (25 comments total)

This does seem unjust, and I share your outrage. Perhaps contact the BBB or the division of consumer affairs in your state?

Was it a credit card charge? If so, you may have options available through them as well.
posted by gushn at 12:45 PM on July 1

They seemingly performed a diagnosis on a machine, for which your girlfriend agreed to have them do. They refunded her $110 of the original charge because they misdiagnosed the issue, and the actual problem is more costly.

Exactly what do you believe is not legal here?
posted by SirStan at 12:47 PM on July 1

You might find this and this interesting (the forum post is by the same person who put up the blog entry, but the comments may interest you).

I'm confused. They charged her $240 on the spot and called back and asked for an additional $200? And then another $130 for labour?
posted by futureisunwritten at 12:50 PM on July 1

I used to work for a place like this. At least our prices weren't so ridiculous, but this is how we operated as well. It was a $25 inspection fee to assess and try to quote a fix for the problem. If we opened up the computer and started diagnosing, only to discover that it was more than we estimated, we'd call with the new estimate before we continued.

I don't know about the legalities of this are, but fixing computers isn't really easy in most cases. It's often a combination of software and hardware issues. Especially for laptops, this is hard to quote: parts are difficult to come by for out off the run machines. Often you have to order used refurbished parts at a premium. Generally it's just not worth fixing a laptop.

So yes, that seems normal. However them not indicating to her that it was a quote, charging her on the spot, and charging to get it back to where it was seem suspicious. All we'd charge would be $25. But if we thought it was the mobo, indicated as such, bought it on behalf of the customer, only to discover it was a combination of the mobo and video card we'd get shafted for the part and labor. The motivation behind the $240 up front makes sense to me... but it does suck from the customers perspective. This is why I got out of the business, but that's a story for another time.

You'd be amazed after the quote how few people came in to pick up the machines, which is why we looked for something up front. You'd also be amazed that, despite us being really really low priced, how angry people were that computers cost a lot to fix.
posted by teabag at 12:50 PM on July 1

It may be legal according to what the company has written down on paper, but it kind of breaks the general social contract that we humans agree to that states to be, you know, cool and cooperative. If you can't get anywhere in talking to them, I would take it to BBB or consumer affairs, as stated above.
posted by iamkimiam at 12:53 PM on July 1

I was under the impression we were paying to have a laptop fixed. We had an agreed upon price, had we known that there was a) a chance it might cost more later or b) if at that point we chose not to pay more we would be out a computer and $130 we would have thought twice about getting it repaired. It seems reasonable that those things be disclosed...and if not illegal it seems pretty shady. So what are we paying for? $130 for someone to take apart a laptop?
posted by Mr. Ugh at 12:54 PM on July 1

What was the original diagnosis and the updated diagnosis?

If it was something such as "needs new LCD", which turned into "actually the motherboard is shot", it probably took them 3 hours to strip it down and test.

If its a bad motherboard, ($450 sounds a bit cheap for that), then there's little point in them putting it back together for the next person to disassemble.

As teabag says -- its hard to know what the issue is -- especially with so few parts.. one issue can really be representative of another.
posted by SirStan at 12:55 PM on July 1

Fixing a computer is more like fixing a car than anything - it's not ever 100% certain from a glance what the problem is, and sometimes diagnosing it is the hardest and most expensive part.

I am confused, though - did they quote you $240 or charge you $240 up front? Did they give you an itemized statement? Did they order parts?
posted by restless_nomad at 12:57 PM on July 1

It was a bad power supply, the jack was crushed. The tech looked at it and said he knew what the problem was...and then ran diagnostics on it before we were charged $240 up front.
posted by Mr. Ugh at 1:00 PM on July 1

Dude, you need not defend yourself to scammers on here. You were completely ripped off. They violated the ETHICAL rule of "first do no harm" by opening up your machine and leaving it like that. Legally...you paid for a service (receipts, right?)...and they did not perform. Get it fixed at a REPUTABLE shop that will document EVERYTHING...including the fact that they did more damage to the computer. Take it to small claims court (along with the new receipts)...and get your money back.

Good luck.
posted by hal_c_on at 1:01 PM on July 1

If this is the Tek Serve of tekserve.com, their website says this: "How much do repairs cost? This varies quite a bit. Please come in so that we can do an initial evaluation and give you an estimate for free."

I would talk to the store manager -- not a clerk. Find out exactly what you've been charged for. They might be right, you might be right, but you need clarification before you decide to go forward, either the BBB, small claims court or elsewhere.

At any rate, they should have returned the machine in the same condition. I can see why you'd be upset.
posted by sageleaf at 1:01 PM on July 1 [2 favorites has favorites]

"a) a chance it might cost more later"

That is a fairly naive statement to make. Have you never had a car in for repair, only to find out a new belt involved a new AC compressor ($50 job to a $500 job). Have you never had someone come in to your home to quote a furnace repair only to find out it needs a whole new blower ($40 job to $400 job)? If not -- take this as your first of many such instances. Estimates are called such for a reason. No one is perfect.

"So what are we paying for? $130 for someone to take apart a laptop?"

Ultimately -- yes. What is their hourly rate, and what did they do? If they had pulled it apart to find a disconnected hard drive, and put it back together, would you expect the repair to be free? Stripping down a Macbook/Macbook Pro can take 30-45 minutes, and then swapping parts for a diagnosis can be time consuming. The worker wants to be paid. THe company needs to cover their costs. The client pays.
posted by SirStan at 1:01 PM on July 1

As others have mentioned, it's not absurd that they would charge a diagnostic fee for inspecting the laptop in the event it couldn't be repaired by them; it does take time and effort to diagnose computer problems. $130 is hefty, but it's not ridiculous; you wouldn't think it that strange to take your car into a local mechanic and end up with $130 in labor costs for diagnostics before the repair could begin.

It's completely ridiculous, however, that they handed back the laptop in pieces and then charged her for the diagnosis. She paid $130 for diagnostic services, not $130 for Tekserve to break it more than it was broken. An auto mechanic wouldn't do diagnostics on your car and return it with a door taken off if you didn't like the quote, even if the problem was inside the door assembly and they needed to take the door off to provide the quote.

If they had reassembled the laptop and provided it in the same condition, I'd say that it was an unfortunate loss of $130. However, since the laptop was returned in pieces, I'd say that you were due a full refund, an apology, or a complimentary reassembly. You should talk with a supervisor there.

Some more specifics might be helpful in figuring out what went wrong.
posted by eschatfische at 1:12 PM on July 1

I don't quite understand the question either, but it's pretty uncool for them not to have put it back together for her. That sounds like a spite move to me. Is it possible she was a bit rude or nasty to them? I've never heard of a place doing that to a customer before.

In any case, I know people have their objections to Yelp.com, but it's worth posting on there, too...
posted by prior at 1:14 PM on July 1

So you have given them $240, they asked for $200 more, and are now saying that to put the thing back together they need $130? So it would cost you a total of $440 for the repair or $370 for the diagnosis?

(If the the jack was subjected to enough force to crush it, it almost certainly will have other broken stuff. I'm reserving judgment on their billing practices until I have it straight in my head what's going on.)
posted by restless_nomad at 1:20 PM on July 1

No, $240 for repair initially. They wanted an extra $200 if we wanted to fix what ever else they found wrong. We balked and said no thank you. They said well the computer is in pieces...if you want us to put it back together (unfixed) it will cost you an additional $100 but either way it will cost you $130 for trying to fix it. If we wanted it back intact plus labor (minus repair) we would have to pay $230.

It may be naive but it doesn't seem fair. Save it sirstan, I know life isn't fair. But clearly you can understand this is a frustrating situation.
posted by Mr. Ugh at 1:27 PM on July 1

Ok, no, they're basically double-billing you for their diagnostic fee. Paying it once is perfectly reasonable - paying it twice is absurd. I'd have a long talk with the manager, were I you.
posted by restless_nomad at 1:31 PM on July 1

So I just got off the phone with my GF she did call the manager and got them to take it down to $60 fee for the labor. Still seems high to me but i guess we'll cut our losses. Surely, we will never go there again. Thanks for the support (most of you.)

-Mr. Naive
posted by Mr. Ugh at 1:43 PM on July 1

I'm late to the party but I just wanted to pipe up and say that an ethical business would lay out their fees and charges in some sort of contract which customers sign before having their computers cracked open. If your girlfriend didn't get an explanation and a form to sign, then your initial reaction is entirely correct--it's not fair.
posted by Meg_Murry at 1:56 PM on July 1 [1 favorite has favorites]

At the very least the diagnostic fees includes putting it back together again and delivering it in the shape you gave it to them. They are double-billing you on this. Call their manager.
posted by damn dirty ape at 2:31 PM on July 1

Send this to Consumerist and look up the definition of "clip joint."
posted by rhizome at 2:31 PM on July 1

$130 for a laptop diagnostic is high but not unreasonable but they should've been upfront about it and returned the machine in the condition it was prior to the diagnostic.

An agreed-upon price with no strings and "ifs" and "buts" should be adhered to though, or at least there should be some compromise.

Laptop repairs can be especially difficult. Cost: where I work, even when we're quite sure about our diagnostic, we try to be clear about the worst-case scenario (e.g., motherboard replacement) and potential costs. Then, there's time: as teabag noted, parts aren't always easy to come by.
posted by lmm at 7:42 PM on July 1

I'm sorry you don't appreciate some of the responses, but honestly, this question is very confusing.

Can you please clearly answer exactly how much of your money (or your girlfriend's, whatever) this company has right now? Oh I see you just got the computer back with a detailed diagnosis for $60? Was it reassmebled, or did they leave it in pieces as indicated in your question?

Also, what was the detailed diagnosis? We know they thought it was the power connector, but we also know they decided, on further inspection, it was something else....
posted by Chuckles at 9:20 PM on July 1

They left it in pieces. We never got the "detailed diagnosis" just that it would cost more to fix.
posted by Mr. Ugh at 7:17 AM on July 2

So on the total transaction, was it $300 ($240+$60), or $60?
posted by Chuckles at 2:16 PM on July 2