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crazy fees to fix computer
JohnnyCache
Starting DefensePlace at the tableRegistered User regular
Starting DefensePlace at the tableRegistered User regular
a buddy of mine took his dell XPS to a "local mom and pop" type computer repair place.
The charged him 75 for diagonostic labor (so far) and want to change a 600 dollar "cooling unit" before they can "get it running and look for the real problem"
I think the implication that they can't test the other parts and the cost of the cooling unit are lunacy, and the 75 bucks up front is even a little much. I told him for that, we could mount the working parts in a new case. He's on the fence.
Your thoughts, forum? Are these fees out of line and is there some issue with dells or something that would prevent testing the ram/cpu to see if they've overheated?
The charged him 75 for diagonostic labor (so far) and want to change a 600 dollar "cooling unit" before they can "get it running and look for the real problem"
I think the implication that they can't test the other parts and the cost of the cooling unit are lunacy, and the 75 bucks up front is even a little much. I told him for that, we could mount the working parts in a new case. He's on the fence.
Your thoughts, forum? Are these fees out of line and is there some issue with dells or something that would prevent testing the ram/cpu to see if they've overheated?
JohnnyCache on
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What happens with the machine when you boot it? Beeps? Nothing? Explosions and fire?
Is this really a question? Tell those rip off artists to get bent and go to a different store. $600 for a cooling unit.... .... yeah.... maybe it can also move through space/time and provides unlimited energy for humanity.
Use the internet to find a well reviewed place. Customer feedback matters in situations like this.
The $600 "cooling unit" is outright nuts. There is even no part in the computer worth that much unless it has a super high-end GPU or "Extreme Edition" CPU of sorts.
You are right in your assumption.
after you tell your friend to get his computer back from ma and pa scamsalot, I'd be interested to know what kind of 'cooling unit' (whaat?) in a computer they think should cost $600
I can has cheezburger, yes?
I don't know the model offhand
it MIGHT have some kind of liquid cooling or something but yeesh
I host a podcast about movies.
weird
Also, olol to look for the real problem.
I'm sure. Or I can do it. I don't have the machine in front of me, or the details would be posted.
@bowen no, 600 for sure.
I host a podcast about movies.
I do agree it's a cooling prob of some sort. I told him that, for free.
I host a podcast about movies.
But sheesh, like others said get the PC away from them.
I host a podcast about movies.
so he had modified it and voided the warranty?
otherwise, couldn't he just send it to dell for a fix?
If it's just a cooling issue it would at least reboot/freeze in the bios but it should at least post something. If not, it's another issue altogether like a hosed bios.
But seriously, get that computer the fuck out of there and consider it a lesson learned.
Charging 600 dollars for a part when they don't even know what's wrong!? I'm willing to bet the technician was formerly a mechanic... They must think you're friend is stupid, rich, or stupidly rich.
Get the computer back, write down the service tag (usually on the very back or top of the tower) and look up the computer on Dell's website to see if it's still in warranty and contact Dell about possibly getting it repaired under warranty.
If your friend is even considering spending $600 to fix an old computer, tell him to just get a brand new one and install the old hard drive
I would be careful with this. I once had a customer come to us after compaq tried to charge him $400 to repair his 2 year old laptop and without even knowing what's wrong with it either.
That said I'm not sure why they couldn't just remove the waterblocks and set a standard HSF or something on the CPU, and boot into the BIOS and underclock the machine so it won't overheat. That way they could find out if there are other issues involved and can put off the water-cooling stuff repair until other stuff is fixed, if necessary.
If it were overheating, it wouldn't reboot. It would just turn off when it hit the cutoff temp. If the heatsink is installed incorrectly it could easily hit cutoff temperature before the system posted.
This.
It's not that the mom-and-pop store is necessarily trying to riff your friend off. Chances are, even if you called Dell and ordered the replacement part, I'd not be surprised if they quoted you the same cost. Some of the XPS systems (before Dell fully positioned Alienware as their top-end) did in fact use exotic hybrid cooling systems. It doesn't take much of a stretch to see replacement parts being $OMGWTFTEXAS.
The real question is, is it worth sinking another $600 on top of $75 into an old computer, especially when you're not sure that'll fix the problem (or ensure similiar expensive problems aren't experienced later)? That answer's pretty likely to be "no". Most of the time, computers are fixed by replacing the parts until there's nothing left to replace. An expensive cooling system may just the be start of this - followed by replacing the CPU that may or may not have been damaged, a new (Dell-propritary) motherboard, etc.
Salvage the hard drive (or at least the data). You can probably save the DVD drive, though not much else. Head over to the computer build thread. As mentioned already in this thread, $600 alone can purchase a modest working computer system (minus peripherals like a screen and such). For a little more, you'll get a nice system, one that uses conventional parts and is much cheaper to repair or upgrade than the old Dell.
Frankly, I'd ask for my $75 back.
Well, I mean, they had to look at the computer and determine that they didn't have the ability to fix it
Realizing you can't do shit is expensive, man
I host a podcast about movies.
Apparently the mobo has a measure built into it to prevent boot if it doesn't have one plugged in
I host a podcast about movies.
I host a podcast about movies.
The $75 is sunk cost. And not unusual for a diagnosis fee. Most places will charge up-front and usually that fee is credited towards the repair. People tend to authorize the repair because they already feel they're so far in... mor won't hurt that bad.
It's not a good deal. Your friend can kind of ague that if they're sending the unit to Dell to reapir, they're not really doing much in terms of diagnosis, and they relaly should reduce or waive the diagnostic fee. But getting it repaired isn't a good deal, even if he's stuck with the $75 fee.
To be fair, he would have still had to have paid $75 even if they'd told him that it was unsalvageable. Which essentially, it is. If it was a car, it'd be totaled.
I've never done one myself but just looking at a picture of it, it doesn't look that complicated. But again... sometimes with those things you just never know. Depends on where it is in the case.
In case you cannot get that one you could look to a store that specializes in Dell parts. Here we've a store called Discount Electronics that has tons of Dell parts, and they ship. If their site says it's out of stock, call anyways and check, the site inventory is often off.
They could be into this system for a couple grand and it still is probably fairly decent if it's only 1 year old so it may be worth looking into fixing up. If you do fix it for them make sure they compensate you, at least with plenty of beer or something.
They aren't sending it to dell they want to order the part from dell and Change it.
If he eBay's one I'm sure I can change it.
Sorry for odd grammar and triple posts I'm phone posting
I host a podcast about movies.
I host a podcast about movies.