My laptop repair nightmare

[goodfella732]

Do NOT take it to "We are Golden" in Union. Its in the same plaza as Best Buy. I took my laptop in on 6/8 because of a busted charger port. They told me to give them a week and call and check on it because the guy who does most of the repairs comes in on Saturday. I paid them 85.00 for a simple diag charge and left. I called that following Saturday and was told that the guy couldn't get to it and would look at it next week. I wasn't to concerned at that point only because I didn't really have any projects pending and could make do without my laptop for acouple weeks.

Quick background, I do some freelance photography and video work. I used the laptop to do all my editing and processing. Its the only computer I have that has Photoshop and Premiere Pro on it plus my DVD writer. So without it, I cant really do much side work or any work I need for my school. But being that we had most of June off for our little vacation before summer school I figured Id be in the clear.

I get a call on Sunday June 17Th. They told me I need to have the charger port replaced. They gave me a price(225.00) and I approved the work. He said it should be done in acouple days. I didnt hear anything all week. I give a call that Saturday to check on it. The guy who answered the phone told me to calm down, these things take time and the repair tech has alot of work. I told him thats fine, but dont tell me it will be acouple days when its still sitting waiting to be looked at. As long as your straight with me I'm fine with waiting.

Fastforward to this week. I called on Thursday to check on things. I'm told that they are waiting on a part that is back ordered in Japan. I'm now blown away because I had gotten a voicemail the week before saying they ordered the part and it will there on Wednesday and done by the weekend. So now I'm alittle annoyed that its taken a month but I understand that parts get back ordered and all that other stuff but the people I talk to keep giving the run around with things.

So yesterday I get a call saying my laptop is done. Weird how the part was back ordered in JAPAN yet 2 days later its done. I rushed over to Union to get it so I could get some work done. I walk in and my laptop is nowhere to be found. After ten minutes of searching they finally find it underneath 3 other laptops. I almost hit the floor when they showed me my "repaired" laptop..






Yes, my laptop has a tail now. They spiced a pigtail into the motherboard, filled the hole with glue, and now I have a tail. I couldn't believe it. At that point I just wanted my computer back and figured Id deal with the tail even thou its the most ghetto looking repair job Ive ever seen. I even forgave the scratches on the case in my stickers from being buried under over computers. But when they lost my AC adapter then proceeded to tell me that the new pigtail wouldn't fit it anyway is when I lost it. They told me to return in 30 minutes so they could find one that would work. I returned after wandering around Best Buy for awhile to find they were gonna give me a HP charger. I said whatever, if it works and left. I get home and low and behold.....

IT DOESN'T WORK!!!

So I spent my day today back in Union. The tail had come loose because he didn't use enough glue. Or at least thats his excuse. So 40 minutes of my day were wasted so he could reglue my laptops tail back in. I'm now posting all this from my laptop so its working for the meanwhile. I just cant believe how unprofessional and horrible this place is. Sorry for the huge rant but its bothers me to no end every time I look at it.

Cliff Notes:

Never use "We Are Golden" computer repair on 22 in Union.
Spotted Bacon's car in the parking lot
My cell phone's camera is amazing

[Gorilla Unit 33]

Originally Posted by goodfella732

Yes, my laptop has a tail now. They spiced a pigtail into the motherboard, filled the hole with glue, and now I have a tail....
So 40 minutes of my day were wasted so he could reglue my laptops tail back in.

:ROTFL: im sorry but i laughed so hard at that. Truthfully thats the most bull**** sounding excuse they could have used to persued anyone why the **** there laptop would have a tail now haha. I would seriously kick someones ass if my mac book pro came out of the "repair" with a tail. Thats like bringing an M3 into a shop to get some new stock replacement tires and it comes out with some mazda badges and wheels with dirt diggler tires. Like not only did they do the work with ****ty supplies but they totally took it from what it looked like to something it never should look like. I cant believe they think thats professional.

[DoubleOughtCel]

And its in the same plaza as a Best Buy? Whoops. Looks like you zigged when you should have zagged.

[goodfella732]

Originally Posted by DoubleOughtCel

And its in the same plaza as a Best Buy? Whoops. Looks like you zigged when you should have zagged.

I was leaving Best Buy after they told me the GeekSquad doesnt do any repairs that require opening the case. So as I walked out the door I saw this place from across the parking lot and figured luck was on my side. ****in a was I wrong.

[lagos]

200+ to replace that jack.... OUCH. i did mine a few months ago. all you have to do is buy another jack from ebay and solder it in.

to make you feel a little better.... the "tail" they added to the laptop will actually work better then the original jack. normally the power jack going straight to the mother board creates too much stress in that location and the jacks or the soldering points on the board break. moving that connection outside of the case, makes for a more reliable setup

[Honest_Bob]

Originally Posted by lagos

200+ to replace that jack.... OUCH. i did mine a few months ago. all you have to do is buy another jack from ebay and solder it in.

to make you feel a little better.... the "tail" they added to the laptop will actually work better then the original jack. normally the power jack going straight to the mother board creates too much stress in that location and the jacks or the soldering points on the board break. moving that connection outside of the case, makes for a more reliable setup

The cord is still gonna get yanked on or caught on something. I deffinitly would not have expected the laptop to come out with a "tail". You should have been told that was gonna be used instead of a stock replacement.

[SexyDSM95]

LOL! I would have gotten that back and gave them the stare of death with a reply of "seriously?" For a little extra dough you could have gotten a brand new laptop.

[Intercooled T]

wow, I don't even know what to say.

Let's see here, did you really authorize them to 'fill the hole with glue' and ghetto rig this laptop? Take them to small claims court, seriously.

[Broken5hift]

LMAO. wow, just bring it to me next time. i could of ruined your laptop for half the price

[mr_eh]

Originally Posted by Broken5hift

LMAO. wow, just bring it to me next time. i could of ruined your laptop for half the price

bwahahaha...

i like the fact its GLUED in place.

i al ready said my peace on the other forum, but still

god damn.

[Intercooled T]

I had to re-read again and I'm a little curious now...did you pay $225 for the 'tail'? I'm assuming $225 was for the original part so why wasn't the original part replaced?

[Broken5hift]

cleanneon should save up for this mod

[Gorilla Unit 33]

Originally Posted by Broken5hift

cleanneon should save up for this mod

LMFAO!

[goodfella732]

Originally Posted by Intercooled T

I had to re-read again and I'm a little curious now...did you pay $225 for the 'tail'? I'm assuming $225 was for the original part so why wasn't the original part replaced?

I paid for what I assumed to be a repair of the charger port in the case of the laptop. If I was told that the only way to fix it was to have this thing hanging out the back I would have declined and probably went someplace else.

[GeforceXtreme]

I have done a few of those DC jack replacements and they are a lot of work to do. First off you have to take the entire laptop apart and keep track of all the 5 billion small screws. Then after you get the motherboard out have to remove the old connector and install the newer one. I am about ready to do this on my friends laptop and I sure hope it powers up once I am done with it. Took me 2 hours to get the DC jack out because I think the company that fixed it before used Weld to freaking hold it in. I could have done the “wire” job that company did however it does look pretty ghetto. But being this laptop I am working on is a Toshiba, they fail pretty darn quickly. So I hope it will last at least 6 months. Most of the time people just tell me to order them new laptops instead of replacing the DC jack. Being you can get them so cheap now. Its pretty pimp for me getting a pretty new laptop for free.

[goodfella732]

Originally Posted by GeforceXtreme

I have done a few of those DC jack replacements and they are a lot of work to do. First off you have to take the entire laptop apart and keep track of all the 5 billion small screws. Then after you get the motherboard out have to remove the old connector and install the newer one. I am about ready to do this on my friends laptop and I sure hope it powers up once I am done with it. Took me 2 hours to get the DC jack out because I think the company that fixed it before used Weld to freaking hold it in. I could have done the “wire” job that company did however it does look pretty ghetto. But being this laptop I am working on is a Toshiba, they fail pretty darn quickly. So I hope it will last at least 6 months. Most of the time people just tell me to order them new laptops instead of replacing the DC jack. Being you can get them so cheap now. Its pretty pimp for me getting a pretty new laptop for free.

Thats all well and good about the amount of work needed. Its why I brought it to someone and paid a good amount of money to have it fix. Its let saying for me as a mechanic jerry rigging up your car. No way will that stuff fly. You pay me to fix your car the correct way. This isnt how it should be done. And if its the only way then I should have been notified.

[GeforceXtreme]

Originally Posted by goodfella732

Thats all well and good about the amount of work needed. Its why I brought it to someone and paid a good amount of money to have it fix. Its let saying for me as a mechanic jerry rigging up your car. No way will that stuff fly. You pay me to fix your car the correct way. This isnt how it should be done. And if its the only way then I should have been notified.

Yeah PC work can be $$ depending on what you have done. The guy i used to have come out to work on our Panasonic All-in-one printer beast, charged like $160 an hour. Lucky for us I found someone else. I try to do as much work as I can possible on it, but sometimes you just need a certified professional to do it. He wanted to charge $200 for a memory chip plus like 2 hours of labor for the printer. However online you can pickup the chip for $40 bucks and remove one panel to pop in the chip? Man what an overcharge. Another time i can remember when I was outside washing my car I saw a Geeksquad guy coming out of some womans house and drive away. While he was driving away the woman came outside yelling saying you ****ing Rip off.

If you ever need any pc tips or help feel free to send me a PM.

[goodfella732]

After calling them Im even more annoyed. OMG!!! The guy that said he was the manager had nothing to say other then he is sorry. He said its working so whats the deal?

[SexyDSM95]

IMPO I would get your money back...get a data migration done and a new laptop

[goodfella732]

Im filing a complaint with the BBB. The dickhole manager also imformed me they never order parts from Japan. So now Im being lied to on top of everything else.

If I get a new laptop, your wanna move all my stuff over Sandy? The only requirement is that its done in a bikini. lol.