Windows 10: Best Buy's Geek Squad

I would not let "The Geek Squad" fix my crystal Radio Set that I built about 55 years ago.

 

I don't disagree with your basic premise but I don't think $100 for a system restore is unreasonable under the circumstances. I've done it myself-when the restore is due to a problem it's not a 'start it & forget it' situation IMO. Depending on the system it can take up to a couple of hours to do the restore and if the tech monitors it then he's spent a couple of hours fixing your PC. To some people it's worth it knowing that someone who knows how to respond to a problem is monitoring what might-or might not-be a simply operation.

 

My computer to this day has virtually nothing on it , nothing to keep , nothing saved , nothing downloaded . In all honesty a system restore takes well under 5 minutes on this thing lol, i think around two minutes actually , very fast.

I don't know the going rates for computer repair , if $100.00 for a system restore is what it costs than i believe it . What i see these days is your paying $100.00 minimum regardless of how simple the fix may be .

 

Couple years ago I was considering a plug-in-hybrid Ford (car) till I learned you HAD to use the Geek Squad if you wanted a home charging unit ...http://www.ford.com/cars/fusion/trim/seenergi/

 

Now that's just weird. I didn't see anything about using Geed Squad on that page but there's a lot of sub-pages I didn't go thru so I'll take your word for it. It sounds wrong to me (ethically, I mean, not that you have it wrong) unless Ford covers the installation cost. In that case they can use whoever they want.

 

I'm retired now but when I was working I 'officially' charged $75/hour with a half-hour minimum. 5-minute fixes I generally didn't charge for at all. I say officially because I preferred to charge a flat rate for a job. I let the customer make the choice but as I explained it, if I blew the diagnosis I took the loss. Or they took the loss if it turned out to be simple but I rarely did work for strangers & people who knew me knew I was honest.

I don't recall ever working on a system that had 'nothing' on it though-maybe that's why I think system restores take longer.

 

Diagnosing a RAM issue is difficult? Aren't these usually caught and reported by the POST?

 

I am one of the very few i believe who never saves or keeps anything lol , i think i have 8 total programs on the laptop and just the operating system but everything else is basically bare.

Here is what i have below, things like pictures, folders, documents etc... is always empty.

 

It depends. Of course my experience is several years out of date but what I remember is that the POST only checked the 1st stick. OTOH there were plenty of RAM diagnostics around, even free. The only problem was suspecting a RAM problem so you'd run those. I found it worthwhile to run one 'automatically' as part of my diagnostic process.

 

It depends. The module can cause a short, which can cause any number of electrical symptoms. You either wouldn't get a POST (which is why many of the techs diagnosed it as a motherboard problem) or you could get no video (which is why some diagnosed it as a video card issue). If you're lucky you can get beep codes, but really.. how many people know those anymore.

 

When RAM is faulty, your PC will not boot. You will get a message when it boots up to the bios screen (not sure what it's called)

 

Here's my list, the same as fredc, all my folders are empty as well. I have WD My Cloud Drives that I use to store things on.

 

Yeah, if i didn't know better i would think are's are identical actually .

 

I'm self taught ,and have been reading and helping on help forums for many years now,,,i work at fixing computer on the side and work in your home[on some issues] or mine, an-d I do system restore/system reload ,,,for as little as 35.00cdn .......I can put in most new laptop lcd for 30$ or so - the cost of the new screen of course ,,,, only about 8 screws to take most of the ones I have done so far ,I would like to make 100.00 to do a restore ,but I'm afraid no one would bring me the computer if I told them that it would cost that much