Was I charged too much for laptop repair?

annejohn91

I sent in my laptop to a PC/laptop repair shop 2 weeks ago as my laptop kept freezing and the wifi wouldn't work at times. I got a call yesterday to say it was ready, the guy explained that there was water inside the laptop and that is what was affecting my laptop.

He said he had to clean it up. I am glad it is fixed but overall he charged me 95 euro. Would that be correct? They did spend 2 weeks running tests and then they finally opened it. Nothing had to be replaced but would that be the going rate for the repair? Thanks

Ghost Train

I suppose if somebody had to spend 2 or 3 hours troubleshooting problem they'd want to be charging that sort of price.

Alanstrainor

Yeah 95 is fine. Whether or not it'll be fixed is the bigger question however!

annejohn91

I am so glad that they fixed it because I went to 2 places already and they couldn't find what the problem was. I just wanted to know because a few friends of mine said I shouldn't have been charged that much but I assume the repair guy did spend a number of hours trying to diagnose the problem

annejohn91

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Whether or not it'll be fixed is the bigger question however!

so far so good. I would slightly move the laptop and it would freeze before getting it fixed. It has been a few hours now and its working perfectly

dmc17

annejohn91 wrote: »

I sent in my laptop to a PC/laptop repair shop 2 weeks ago as my laptop kept freezing and the wifi wouldn't work at times. I got a call yesterday to say it was ready, the guy explained that there was water inside the laptop and that is what was affecting my laptop.

I didn't think it would freeze in this weather....:D

coylemj

annejohn91 wrote: »

I am so glad that they fixed it because I went to 2 places already and they couldn't find what the problem was. I just wanted to know because a few friends of mine said I shouldn't have been charged that much but I assume the repair guy did spend a number of hours trying to diagnose the problem

How much did your friends say would be a fair price for several hours technical work?

Alanstrainor

95 is very reasonable, and it seems that they managed to find the root cause and rectify the issue. They could have charged more imo.

Your not just paying for the time directly on your machine, you pay for the years of experience and technical no how of the engineer.

ObeyTheSuit

I'm REALLY surprised it's working after finding water in it.

Usually that foobars the machine completely.

jayo26

annejohn91 wrote: »

I am so glad that they fixed it because I went to 2 places already and they couldn't find what the problem was. I just wanted to know because a few friends of mine said I shouldn't have been charged that much but I assume the repair guy did spend a number of hours trying to diagnose the problem

the problem is that mates think they can do better or know better but the fact is that you brought it to two other places that couldn't fix it and the last place the man could so obviously he knew his stuff and had a better knowledge and this is what you pay for the only other option is to keep bringing it to cowboys and it ends up left in a corner somewhere thinking it cant be fixed.

mass_debater

95 is about right if they opened and reassembled a laptop

SMJSF

Yes I paid the same price when I dropped a cup of tea into my laptop. I jumped when I seen a spider and the mug fell right onto the open laptop.
and got the back 2 days later!

Skerries

SMJSF wrote: »

Yes I paid the same price when I dropped a cup of tea into my laptop. I jumped when I seen a spider and the mug fell right onto the open laptop.
and got the back 2 days later!

was it on the web?

annejohn91

thank you all for the feedback. I know nothing about technology so just wanted reassurance. Laptop is still running smoothly.

Overheal

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Your not just paying for the time directly on your machine, you pay for the years of experience and technical no how of the engineer.

Not to mention the use of a licensed business, subject to laws of commerce - like warranties of service. Try explaining to people 10 times a day why it's not in their best interest to pay their nephew to wall mount their television and well you know why I quit retail now.

annejohn91

gutted the laptop is broke again. Well the internet wont work as the f12 button remains red and cannot find any networks. Looks like I have to bring the laptop back to be fixed

jayo26

annejohn91 wrote: »

gutted the laptop is broke again. Well the internet wont work as the f12 button remains red and cannot find any networks. Looks like I have to bring the laptop back to be fixed

What model laptop is it.

annejohn91

HP Pavilion .. less than 2 years old. Freezing just occurred there again so its a waste of my money as it is not fixed at all. It is strange that it was working perfectly for a few days and then just now it isn't I should just buy a new one.

jayo26

annejohn91 wrote: »

HP Pavilion .. less than 2 years old. Freezing just occurred there again so its a waste of my money as it is not fixed at all. It is strange that it was working perfectly for a few days and then just now it isn't I should just buy a new one.

Try bringing it back for him to look at again just don't pay anymore for it. Was it running perfect before you damaged it? Would it be possible that their is a lot of virus or bloat ware making it freeze?

TallGlass

What type of load is the CPU under?

My best advise. Wipe the machine with a new install of windows and troubleshoot from there.

Can't imagine it would be functioning at all if there was water in it. Sure it would rust the board even after a week or so

Grayson

annejohn91 wrote: »

HP Pavilion .. less than 2 years old. Freezing just occurred there again so its a waste of my money as it is not fixed at all. It is strange that it was working perfectly for a few days and then just now it isn't I should just buy a new one.

When I read your op I thought it was a bit weird. Its damn hardf to repair water damage. Generally it needs a hardware replacement. Otherwise your talking about either soldering or just drwig it out.

I'm on a tablet with a dodgy keyboard. So its annoying to type. But google safe mode. Run the laptop in safe mode for a while. See if it works. If it works its a problem with windows. That means its almost certainly not water damage. If it crashes in safe mode then IIT could be water or it could be hardware.

Good news is that its easy (and cheap) to fix a problem with windows

annejohn91

TallGlass wrote: »

What type of load is the CPU under?

My best advise. Wipe the machine with a new install of windows and troubleshoot from there.

Can't imagine it would be functioning at all if there was water in it. Sure it would rust the board even after a week or so

I wiped it before I sent it in for repair and installed windows again. It made no difference unfortunately.

annejohn91

Grayson wrote: »

When I read your op I thought it was a bit weird. Its damn hardf to repair water damage. Generally it needs a hardware replacement. Otherwise your talking about either soldering or just drwig it out.

I'm on a tablet with a dodgy keyboard. So its annoying to type. But google safe mode. Run the laptop in safe mode for a while. See if it works. If it works its a problem with windows. That means its almost certainly not water damage. If it crashes in safe mode then IIT could be water or it could be hardware.

Good news is that its easy (and cheap) to fix a problem with windows

Tried that And it didn't work in safe mode, thanks though. If the repair guy can't find the problem I am assuming I lost the 95 euro even though its still broke or am I entitled to a refund?

Sherfin

If you press the F12 key (Flight mode) does the light go off ?
What OS are you using ?

annejohn91

Sherfin wrote: »

If you press the F12 key (Flight mode) does the light go off ?
What OS are you using ?

No it stays on I am using windows 8

Riesen_Meal

annejohn91 wrote: »

Tried that And it didn't work in safe mode, thanks though. If the repair guy can't find the problem I am assuming I lost the 95 euro even though its still broke or am I entitled to a refund?

Doubt it tbh,

Did he take photos of the liquid ingress for you?

Be nice to see if its all over the board, or even got in there in the first place - if it's intermittently freezing I would personally think its the hard drive, that's usually what happens before they eventually give up the ghost...

Yes, I know you reinstalled windows recently but that could well be possible to do even with the HD on its way out....

At this stage new basic laptops for surfing etc can be got for 250 quid, obviously you can pay more for better specs but for the price you have spent so far you may better invest elsewhere....

Sherfin

If you go to the search function and type 'flight mode' can you switch it off from there ?

jayo26

Fieldog wrote: »

Doubt it tbh,

Did he take photos of the liquid ingress for you?

Be nice to see if its all over the board, or even got in there in the first place - if it's intermittently freezing I would personally think its the hard drive, that's usually what happens before they eventually give up the ghost...

Yes, I know you reinstalled windows recently but that could well be possible to do even with the HD on its way out....

At this stage new basic laptops for surfing etc can be got for 250 quid, obviously you can pay more for better specs but for the price you have spent so far you may better invest elsewhere....

Good advice but beware when getting rid of your old laptop that its still worth money, the screen alone isnworth 50quid second hand.

annejohn91

Sherfin wrote: »

If you go to the search function and type 'flight mode' can you switch it off from there ?

no it doesn't work

annejohn91

jayo26 wrote: »

Good advice but beware when getting rid of your old laptop that its still worth money, the screen alone isnworth 50quid second hand.

it appears to be my only option but paid 550 for this laptop and its only 18 months old. Its weird that it worked great for 4 or 5 days and then all of a sudden both problems arose again today.

the strange thing is I never let water spill into it not that I am aware of so when he told me that there was a lot of water found I was quite surprised (I am not lying but I just wish he explained to me exactly what he done to 'fix' the laptop)

Sherfin

I'd bring it back in to the guy who fixed it initially. It may be something simple that we can't see here, but he might see straight off. Ask him for more details on the 'water' as it does sound very strange as others have said. Hopefully, if a quick fix, it'll save you a few quid rather than buying a new one

Riesen_Meal

annejohn91 wrote: »

it appears to be my only option but paid 550 for this laptop and its only 18 months old. Its weird that it worked great for 4 or 5 days and then all of a sudden both problems arose again today.

the strange thing is I never let water spill into it not that I am aware of so when he told me that there was a lot of water found I was quite surprised (I am not lying but I just wish he explained to me exactly what he done to 'fix' the laptop)

How come you didn't bring it to the retailer you purchased from?

As I'm sure your warranty is definitely gone by bringing it to a third party to open it up

If you spent 550 on a laptop and only got 18 months surely you are entitled to a repair, replace or refund? Is it fit for purpose?

Hard drives surely are a consumable, (again, ASSUMMING it is that) - its not out of the realms of possibility that one could fail after only 18 months, it can happen anyone, just bad luck, but then surely the retailer has to step in?

I'd really like to know what the repair man did for 95 quid - take it apart and clean with isoprol alcohol?

Would like proof of the liquid damage though if you genuinely can't recall your laptop getting a soaking?

Anyone else using it when you were not around?

annejohn91

Fieldog wrote: »

How come you didn't bring it to the retailer you purchased from?

As I'm sure your warranty is definitely gone by bringing it to a third party to open it up

If you spent 550 on a laptop and only got 18 months surely you are entitled to a repair, replace or refund? Is it fit for purpose?

Hard drives surely are a consumable, (again, ASSUMMING it is that) - its not out of the realms of possibility that one could fail after only 18 months, it can happen anyone, just bad luck, but then surely the retailer has to step in?

I'd really like to know what the repair man did for 95 quid - take it apart and clean with isoprol alcohol?

Would like proof of the liquid damage though if you genuinely can't recall your laptop getting a soaking?

Anyone else using it when you were not around?

I had a lot of trouble with the retailer as it was bought online via a popular online retailer but they said they are not responsible because theh said they sell for another retailer (prob cant mention the names) so it was back and forth so I decided to get it done by third party as I was sick of arguing by phone and email.

I definitely didn't allow any water to spill and its just myself and partner in the house and he didn't spill anything. The repair guy said there was a lot of water found. I have no clue about laptops so I took him on his word as he said it is now fixed.

I am afraid that I bring it back tomorrow and they say its fixed yet again and charge me more money.

Gadgetman496

I wonder if it's heat related?

Does this problem raise it's ugly head when cold (short period of use) or is it more prevalent when it in use for a prolonged period?

annejohn91

the problem occurs at random times (mainly short period of use) the internet would not work immediately when I turn the laptop on. brought the laptop back there and the repair guy wanted another deposit off me. I told him no as I already paid 95 euro and he believes it could be a virus issue even though I said I wiped the laptop and re installed windows.

Riesen_Meal

annejohn91 wrote: »

the problem occurs at random times (mainly short period of use) the internet would not work immediately when I turn the laptop on. brought the laptop back there and the repair guy wanted another deposit off me. I told him no as I already paid 95 euro and he believes it could be a virus issue even though I said I wiped the laptop and re installed windows.

A virus (generally) won't get in under windows, I doubt its a virus tbh....

To be on safe side, run adwcleaner and malwarebytes, but I doubt it to be honest....

Another thing I would try is to find the exact model of laptop, then try download the wireless card drivers for it, sometimes windows update can get WiFi drivers wrong (its happened me) where you would get BSOD for no reason, only to find windows installed the wrong driver automatically...

Especially if you wiped it, you may need to hunt for the drivers after that, or did you just wipe it with the recovery partition?

annejohn91

UPDATE:

I got a call from the repair and he said that my wifi card (maybe he said something else) was moving around and they have stuck it back (my words :P) so that should stop it from freezing and also the internet should be back working

sKeith

wifi card should have been screwed in. Maybe he forgot to put the screw back in when reassembling the machine. in my opinion, this extra repair should be covered under the origional 95 repair price.

annejohn91

sKeith wrote: »

wifi card should have been screwed in. Maybe he forgot to put the screw back in when reassembling the machine. in my opinion, this extra repair should be covered under the origional 95 repair price.

I hope so as I never got a chance to ask him as I ran out of a lecture to answer the call.

To be honest, I wont be paying any more because if that was his mistake he should not charge me

jayo26

annejohn91 wrote: »

I hope so as I never got a chance to ask him as I ran out of a lecture to answer the call.

To be honest, I wont be paying any more because if that was his mistake he should not charge me

Do say to him that he would of removed the WiFi card when he was cleaning out all remains of the water the first time he repaired the laptop so it should of been put back properly say you will be a returning customer if he is nice to you now also it would only take two minutes to check the WiFi card so I didn't take long or cost anything

annejohn91

jayo26 wrote: »

Do say to him that he would of removed the WiFi card when he was cleaning out all remains of the water the first time he repaired the laptop so it should of been put back properly say you will be a returning customer if he is nice to you now also it would only take two minutes to check the WiFi card so I didn't take long or cost anything

Brilliant thanks I'll say it to him then hopefully he is a nice guy as I am broke so won't be able to pay anymore :P

mass_debater

You usually don't need to break open a laptop to access the Wi-Fi card, it's usually got it's own compartment you can access by removing a few screws. It's one of the things that has to be removed to open it fully

frankoreagan

Would the machine still freeze if you were connected by ethernet cable?

Cuddlesworth

mass_debater wrote: »

You usually don't need to break open a laptop to access the Wi-Fi card, it's usually got it's own compartment you can access by removing a few screws. It's one of the things that has to be removed to open it fully

Depends on the laptop. The HP consumer models used to be the worst for making everything as difficult to get to as possible.

Gone Drinking

To repeat what the others said, 95 is a fair price if they were able to resolve the issue.

I'd be of the opinion however that there's an issue with the Wifi card in the laptop and reseating it (as they've probably done twice) seems to resolve the issue temporarily.

Don't pay them anymore for the second job they've done, but also don't be surprised if the issue returns shortly.

If the problem does come back, disable or remove your current WiFi card, get a lend of an external USB wifi adapter, install that and try it out for a few weeks. If the problem doesn't return, you could try purchase a second hand Wifi card for that model laptop on ebay.

rcanpolat

Laptop freezing and dropping WiFi at times? He said there was water in the laptop? Sounds like bs to me.

That's a software issue. If water was on the boards it would short out and not work again... Not cause the system to lock up and WiFi to drop. Next time pm me!