Is my local computer shop trying to overcharge me?Please Help!

Dr.Dre

Okay so recently my 3+ year old laptop started giving me a bit of trouble.I could no longer connect to any wireless network in range.So i brought it down to the local computer repair shop and told him i cant seem to connect to any wireless network anymore.He tells me that they will have a look at it and let me know.

3 days pass and I get a call from the man saying my laptop is fixed. It turned out that it was in fact the wireless card inside the laptop that broke( which is why i could not connect anymore). He then told me that they would give me a USB wireless adapter to replace it which was the cheaper option than getting a brand new wireless card for inside the laptop. I asked him how much it was going to cost me and he said 30€. I have no idea how much one of these costs so I said that's fine.

Then he went on to tell me it would be an additional 75€ for the removal of the viruses that were on my laptop.I happen to know a very generous amount about computers and software myself and I have always had virus software and malware/spyware software installed on my laptop so this seemed very strange. I ran regular scans on my laptop which always showed it was free of all types of computer malware. Is this guy trying to con me out of 75€? And should i have a case not to pay him for this as I am almost 100% sure i had no viruses on the laptop? Furthermore I told him I was having problems with my wireless connection and then he tells me he removed all the viruses which is not what i asked him to do in the first place?

Can I please get some help on this as I feel he is trying to take advantage of me thinking I know nothing about computers and that I would gladly pay him the 105€ for fixing my laptop even though i feel he did very little.

dmc17

€75 for something you didn't ask for. No thanks!

From a quick look on ebay the usb adapters range from about €10 to €35 so that may be about right. I wouldn't imagine a replacement card would have cost a whole lot more though so it seems a bit of a half assed attempt.

As for the second charge, I'd say thanks for the complimentary virus scan which I didn't request. Here's your €30 and I won't be back.

Dr.Dre

dmc17 wrote: »

€75 for something you didn't ask for. No thanks!

From a quick look on ebay the usb adapters range from about €10 to €35 so that may be about right. I wouldn't imagine a replacement card would have cost a whole lot more though so it seems a bit of a half assed attempt.

As for the second charge, I'd say thanks for the complimentary virus scan which I didn't request. Here's your €30 and I won't be back.

Yeah i looked up the price of the adapters on amazon and ebay and good ones seem to be going for a bit less than 30€.

I'm just wondering now will they not be charging me for the service of looking at the laptop itself in the first place! I have no problem paying them about 30€ for their service and for the new adapter but the extra 75€ for a scan i did not ask for is ridiculous.

It seems very fishy as well because from the day I got my laptop I have had virus software that was always running and updating itself and i performed regular scans so Im sure I had no viruses.

Dr.Dre

Im also wondering could they not have a case by saying I brought in my laptop to have it fixed and they fixed it regardless of my request to check out the wireless problem I was having?

wexie

No doubt someone will come along with the precise details of the consumer law but it would seem to me it will largely depend on precisely what you asked the 'computer shop ripoff person' to do. Did you ask them to 'fix my laptop please' or 'fix a problem with my wireless connection'.

Unless you'd specifically either requested virus removal, or given them permission to just 'fix whatever you deem needs fixin'' there's not a hope in hell I'd be paying 75 euro for 'virus removal'.

If they give you any grief about giving back the laptop I think I'd actually go in swinging with the consumer agency and what have you.
There may well be decent computer 'repair shops' out there but in my experience they seem to be a hot bed of rip-off merchants preying on the less computer literates.

wexie

oh, and if they don't like it just tell them to put it back the way it was

dmc17

Dr.Dre wrote: »

Im also wondering could they not have a case by saying I brought in my laptop to have it fixed and they fixed it regardless of my request to check out the wireless problem I was having?

Well, you brought it in to have the wireless problem fixed. Using their expertise they plugged in a usb adapter and it worked so they just give you that rather than going to the bother of actually replacing the wireless card.
I wouldn't be paying for the virus scan unless it was mentioned to me previously and I had agreed to it.

Dr.Dre

wexie wrote: »

No doubt someone will come along with the precise details of the consumer law but it would seem to me it will largely depend on precisely what you asked the 'computer shop ripoff person' to do. Did you ask them to 'fix my laptop please' or 'fix a problem with my wireless connection'.

Unless you'd specifically either requested virus removal, or given them permission to just 'fix whatever you deem needs fixin'' there's not a hope in hell I'd be paying 75 euro for 'virus removal'.

If they give you any grief about giving back the laptop I think I'd actually go in swinging with the consumer agency and what have you.
There may well be decent computer 'repair shops' out there but in my experience they seem to be a hot bed of rip-off merchants preying on the less computer literates.

Well I walked into the computer shop and told the man I was having a problem connecting to the wireless network on my laptop and asked them to take a look at it so i feel that that should be enough to go against paying for 'removing all the viruses'.

I would consider myself to be very good at computers as ive fixed almost any problem ive had with my laptop over its life time and have fixed many problems for others around me. The problem is my knowledge doesnt extend to the hardware side of things which was obviously the problem in the end, which is why I brought it in to be seen.

Another interesting thing to note is that the day before I brought it in to be looked at i reinstalled Windows 7 and so when I actually brought it into them it had no anti-virus software installed so maybe they thought they could tell me I had loads of viruses because I'd no anti-virus installed even though it was only anti-virus free for a couple of hours...hmmm

MiskyBoyy

The wireless adaptors can be got for €13.49 in Argos and a similar price in Tesco I think: Nano WiFi Usb adaptor

Their price of €30 if it includes their time then it's fair but if they're charging you €30 and also charging you extra for their time then it's a rip off.

As for the virus removal, you didn't ask them to, to find there was a virus on your laptop they would have had to do a virus scan which you didn't ask them to do, and if they did happen to find a virus, it would be then down to them to ask you did you want it removed for a fee but you didn't ask for it at all so yeah, I'd say they're trying to rip you off on this point.

wexie

Dr.Dre wrote: »

Well I walked into the computer shop and told the man I was having a problem connecting to the wireless network on my laptop and asked them to take a look at it so i feel that that should be enough to go against paying for 'removing all the viruses'.

I would consider myself to be very good at computers as ive fixed almost any problem ive had with my laptop over its life time and have fixed many problems for others around me. The problem is my knowledge doesnt extend to the hardware side of things which was obviously the problem in the end, which is why I brought it in to be seen.

Another interesting thing to note is that the day before I brought it in to be looked at i reinstalled Windows 7 and so when I actually brought it into them it had no anti-virus software installed so maybe they thought they could tell me I had loads of viruses because I'd no anti-virus installed even though it was only anti-virus free for a couple of hours...hmmm

Maybe mention to them you had just put a fresh windows install on and therefore it's extremely unlikely there were any virusses virae bad things on and see what they see?

Sounds to me they're just chancing it, unfortunately they've probably gotten away with this many times. :mad:

dmc17

Dr.Dre wrote: »

Another interesting thing to note is that the day before I brought it in to be looked at i reinstalled Windows 7

That's interesting too as I did the same just the other day and was having problems with my wireless after. It would drop the connection and say there were no networks available even though it was working fine on my phone. I was pricing a replacement adapter but after installing all the windows updates, including an updated driver for my wireless card it seems to be fine.

Were you having the problem before the re-install? If not, it may be worth trying to update the driver yourself. If this solves your problem it will answer a lot of your questions.

hardCopy

Ask them for a log from whatever virus removal tool they used.

Where I work, we service machines and its standard produced to document any chargeable work we do, be it logs or photos or whatever is relevant.

Dr.Dre

dmc17 wrote: »

That's interesting too as I did the same just the other day and was having problems with my wireless after. It would drop the connection and say there were no networks available even though it was working fine on my phone. I was pricing a replacement adapter but after installing all the windows updates, including an updated driver for my wireless card it seems to be fine.

Were you having the problem before the re-install? If not, it may be worth trying to update the driver yourself. If this solves your problem it will answer a lot of your questions.

Yeah I was having the problem before I reinstalled windows dont worry!

Dr.Dre

hardCopy wrote: »

Ask them for a log from whatever virus removal tool they used.

Where I work, we service machines and its standard produced to document any chargeable work we do, be it logs or photos or whatever is relevant.

Yeah thats a great idea. If they genuinely found viruses on my laptop(which i find it impossible to believe) then surely they would have a log that I could take a look at. Only problem then is could they show me a log of someone elses and I would have no way of knowing it was from my laptop or their's?

col.in.Cr

Dr.Dre wrote: »

Yeah thats a great idea. If they genuinely found viruses on my laptop(which i find it impossible to believe) then surely they would have a log that I could take a look at. Only problem then is could they show me a log of someone elses and I would have no way of knowing it was from my laptop or their's?

fck that,they are having a laugh,refuse to pay anything and get a wireless adapter yourself

Dr.Dre

col.in.Cr wrote: »

fck that,they are having a laugh,refuse to pay anything and get a wireless adapter yourself

Would love to do that but obviously Il have to pay them for their service of looking at the laptop...even if it only took them 2 minutes to realise the problem...

Merl1n

I know of novice computer repair people mistaking cookies as a virus infection

So they may have done hat you didn't ask for and scanned the computer and picked up cookies

I wouldn't pay for what you didn't ask for

bette

There are viruses which can prevent you from accessing the tinternet. Your anti virus may not always detect these beasts. When you do a reinstall you may have to reinstall the lan drivers. But as ever, it's better to get dud advice from anonymous comedians on the old google thingy.

Your repair person has to examine the machine you fecked up and that can take time. Now unless the repair person is a philanthropist he will need to be paid for his time! Do you work for free?

wexie

bette wrote: »

There are viruses which can prevent you from accessing the tinternet. Your anti virus may not always detect these beasts. When you do a reinstall you may have to reinstall the lan drivers. But as ever, it's better to get dud advice from anonymous comedians on the old google thingy.

Your repair person has to examine the machine you fecked up and that can take time. Now unless the repair person is a philanthropist he will need to be paid for his time! Do you work for free?

soo....he had a virus stopping him from accessing the internet, possible I guess.
Because of it he reinstalled Windows....still with you on that one.
He forgot to install the WAN/LAN drivers after the fresh install....and therefore still couldn't access the internet...

So tell me then where he picked up this virus they're asking him to pay 75 euro removal fee for?

:rolleyes:

dmc17

bette wrote: »

There are viruses which can prevent you from accessing the tinternet. Your anti virus may not always detect these beasts. When you do a reinstall you may have to reinstall the lan drivers. But as ever, it's better to get dud advice from anonymous comedians on the old google thingy.

Your repair person has to examine the machine you fecked up and that can take time. Now unless the repair person is a philanthropist he will need to be paid for his time! Do you work for free?

Unfortunately, the examination in this case seemed to consist of plugging in a wireless usb adapter and flogging that to the customer with some unrequested extras.

Tails142

You should have used your generous amount of computer knowledge to fix this problem yourself in the first place.

Would be a bit rotten if you just went off and bought a wifi card yourself after them telling you that it is what you need.

wexie

Let's say, hypothetically, that OP did indeed somehow magically pick up a virus over his wireless that wasn't working. Maybe a bluetooth virus?

How long exactly would it have taken the computer repair guy to diagnose and fix this at 75euro?

Say 15 euro an hour? 5 hours.... to troubleshoot a clean Windows install.

True professionals at work....

adocholiday

Robbery OP. I wouldn't give him a cent for that 'virus removal' crap. If I were you I would ask him what virus removal tool he used, what virus was found, how it was affecting the machine, log details etc.

This lad is a chancer straight and simple. Even the USB adapter is a short-cut. Most laptops can have the wireless card replaced internally. He just took the lazy way out and hopes to sting you for extra money.

I would definitely be challenging him on it. And even if it was genuine, €75 is still outrageous. Most virus removal, as I'm sure you know, involves running a few programs and coming back 2 hours later to delete anything it found with a click of a button.

I have removed some viruses that required some extra work (researching the symptoms, editing registry keys, finding erroneous processes etc) but they are few and far between.

yoyo

adocholiday wrote: »

Robbery OP. I wouldn't give him a cent for that 'virus removal' crap. If I were you I would ask him what virus removal tool he used, what virus was found, how it was affecting the machine, log details etc.

This lad is a chancer straight and simple. Even the USB adapter is a short-cut. Most laptops can have the wireless card replaced internally. He just took the lazy way out and hopes to sting you for extra money.

I would definitely be challenging him on it. And even if it was genuine, €75 is still outrageous. Most virus removal, as I'm sure you know, involves running a few programs and coming back 2 hours later to delete anything it found with a click of a button.

I have removed some viruses that required some extra work (researching the symptoms, editing registry keys, finding erroneous processes etc) but they are few and far between.

€75 is fairly normal for a proper removal job, that would consist of running programs, manually verifying system running ok in many cases. Then the important part to it is the running Windows Update (this can take hours... Vista especially :O ) then updating web browsers, flash, java, itunes, you name it.
I never understood this run a few scans and you'll be grand attitude, virus removal should consist of the removal of the virus and also preventative measures to lessen the chances of it happening again. In this case though, I fail to see how a fresh Windows install could be infected so soon after a fresh re-install, especially with no internet access after the install

Nick

biko

You didn't ask for a virus scan and tbh this is something most people can do themselves.
I'd pay the 30 and take the laptop and go.

Overheal

Dr.Dre wrote: »

Yeah thats a great idea. If they genuinely found viruses on my laptop(which i find it impossible to believe) then surely they would have a log that I could take a look at. Only problem then is could they show me a log of someone elses and I would have no way of knowing it was from my laptop or their's?

Ask him in person and either he will have it ready and go get it, or he'll be surprised and unprepared for your request. if hes unprepared, hes full of it.

$30 is reasonable for a usb dongle but normally a repair shop should call you with a diagnosis before performing any prognosis. for instance in our facility we charge $35 to send any unit out to our center for a full diagnostic. you get a complete breakdown of cost and scope of work, you can authorize whatever you like but if you authorize nothing, we simply send your unit back with no further expense. its terrible practice to presume consent, if not unethical.

I don't see how a virus played into this issue. he said your wifi adapter hardware was faulty. he issued a usb replacement. other posters argue the virus blocked wifi access; then surely the hardware is fine?

Imo he can legitimately charge diagnosis but not repair. The $30 is for the dongle. But only if you agreed to a diagnosis fee. IANAL but I've handled plenty of contract work in SC and state lien law I don't think extends to services they did that you did not consent to. For instance I cannot put a lien on your house for payment of carpet that I installed in a room you didn't consent to. Ergo, short of an agreed diagnosis fee, he can't hold your laptop based on my read of the situation. but holy molly don't go in there saying stuff like 'I know my rights', unless you actually want to fully research the statutes

BloodBath

Totally dodgy business practice. Refuse to pay it and tell him you are reporting his business for illegal practices.

You didn't ask for virus removal. He didn't clear it with you and €75 to install an AV and run it is a total ripoff anyway. I would try speak to the owner of the shop to tell him what his employee is doing. How many people is he doing this to? Is he even putting it through the system. Is €75 their standard charge for virus removal. If it is or the boss agrees with the practice I would report them.

Duggy747

Don't pay the €75 (that's pretty damn steep for virus removal) if you didn't even mention anything about a virus, just wanted to get the wireless problem fixed. Did you sign anything or were given anything when you dropped it in initially?

I never do anything to a machine unless the customer is fully aware and agrees. If I notice viruses on it while it was in for something else, for example, I ring them, let them know and make sure they agree or don't agree to a removal service.

Some shops do this thing of doing repairs without informing the customer and then slapping them with a bigger price tag than they expect, makes it look bad for the rest of us.

BloodBath

Some shops do this thing of doing repairs without informing the customer and then slapping them with a bigger price tag than they expect, makes it look bad for the rest of us.

It's illegal for a start.

Allyall

OP, what model Laptop is it?
You may have already said, i couldn;t see, but sometimes (a lot of the time) a wireless card is as easy as installing RAM.

remove 4 screws (two on the cover plate and two on the card) - Slot it out, and replace.

They can be bought from as little as €10.

Even if they were to put a virus on it, if you had just reinstalled windows before you gave it to them, then i presume you would have no problem wiping it and doing it again, so i wouldn't pay the €75 for virus clean.

Is it at all possible that you just didn't have the correct drivers installed for the wireless card?

~ I also am a bit confused as to why they would offer an external wireless card instead. :(

dmc17

Allyall wrote: »

~ I also am a bit confused as to why they would offer an external wireless card instead. :(

They had one to hand, stuck it in and BOOM, it worked, problem fixed. No taking out screws, no testing of internal card. It's the half assed way of doing things