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Computer Repair – Need for a trusted repair company!

computer repair you really need a trusted repair company

Have you or an acquaintance of yours ever been ripped off by a computer repair shop? How often does it happen? You may not see reliable stats on the number of computer repair rip offs, but as an industry insider, I can tell that it does happen, and way too often.

My shameless plug here. At PARKERTECHGROUP we do not rip off our customers. We have seen too many customers come in with broken computers that they had ‘fixed’ elsewhere. It is not fun to give them the bad news and we have seen some pretty mad folks once they learn what happened to them.

Here are a few simple lessons to learn to avoid getting ripped off on your computer repair.

Lesson 1: Talk to multiple shops if possible, beforehand.

One time an older lady brought in her computer because she could not reliably connect to the internet. She lived alone and the grandkids were out of state. It was a machine she used to surf and get pictures of the little ones. She took the computer in to her local computer shop. After a $395 bill she got a souped-up computer back – they had replaced her hard drive, jacked up her memory, and put in a high-speed fan, all in the name of getting a better connection to the internet. They did not touch the problem at all. She talked to them and they stonewalled her, so she asked a friend who recommended us. We fixed the problem for $92. The other shop simply took advantage of her lack of computer knowledge.

If the lady had talked to us and the other shop before authorizing the repair, she could have made a better choice.

Lesson 2: Cost versus Performance – lower cost is not always better.

We often get phone shoppers and we can tell when one is simply looking for the lowest price. It is the same with computer repair as it is with picking a roofer or a mechanic. A low price does not mean they are the best choice. There are a lot of back seat repair guys working out of their house or personal car. Beware of these guys. Here today, gone tomorrow.

We had a customer come in for a machine with the proverbial Microsoft error screen, aka ‘blue screen of death’ on his computer. He had a friend who knew a guy…. Long story short, the guy got the machine to reboot, and charged the customer. The customer goes home and guess what? Blue screen of death. A couple days later he tries to find the guy. Nothing. Then he comes to us. We tell him what we think and what it will probably cost and the he decides to try to find the other guy again because we were more expensive. A week later he is back and we fixed his problem. And he had a warranty on our labor and parts. Plus, he knows how to find us.

Lesson 3: Customer and Computer Repair Shop Relationship

This is the big one! I tell clients all the time – you find, keep, and continue to patronize a good computer company. Its like this, you are careful to pick your doctor, accountant, dentist, and hair stylist/barber. Why is a computer repair guy so different? He is not! At PARKERTECHGROUP, we revel in maintaining relationships for years with our customers, whether they are business or residential customers. Why? Because if we do a good job for you, you will come back and you will refer us to someone else. We don’t have to spend money advertising to get you back. And we get to know you and your computing needs better each time. We become a friend. At our shop, we have folks who have used us for almost 20 years. We have one grandfather, son, and daughter set of customers. We really like that and you as the customer will get a lot of free computer advice too!

Lesson 4: Save your valuable information

In many cases, your pictures, emails, and documents are worth a lot more than the computer itself. Do not take your machine to a shop that does not offer to do a full backup of your machine (for free) before doing any work. You should assume that you could lose it all and it does happen from time to time. We ask that question every time a client brings in a computer for work. If tech doesn’t care about your data, he doesn’t care about you.

If you follow these simple lessons for your next repair situation you will go a long way in reducing your chances of a rip off. With computer prices dropping, it makes no sense to over pay for a needless repair.

If you approach your repair with knowledge and questions, then you can have a pleasant repair experience.

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A Quick Update from PTG About Our Services

I would like to use this issue of our periodic newsletter to make you aware of some of the changes PTG is making and how it can help your IT and web technology needs. It is a short read, because we are really busy implementing our new changes.

In our Web World…

We are developing and soon to release a separate website for our website marketing efforts. It is really sharp, with some nifty features that can be incorporated into your website. It is shows a lot of our work for different types of businesses, churches, health care and more.

In our Tech World…

We have revamped our MSP (managed services plan) to bring itemized clarity to our contractual IT support customers. All new MSP customers as of July 1 are this new quoting, contracting, and billing model. Existing MSP customers will be migrated as time permits.

In our Employee World…

One our long term employees, a senior technologist, retired June 30th. Many of our customers will know who I am talking about, but we will keep his name confidential and call him “Bob”. Bob was with us for 20 of the 23 years we have been in business. He was critical to our success, and in light of that, we now have Bob on a consultancy contract, so we will not lose his expertise. So, if you happen to run into Bob, congratulate him on this new venture.

On the Horizon –  the Horizon is upon us!…

We wrote about AI and its buzz in August 2024. We are here, in July 2025, to tell you that it has not gone away. At all. You are seeing it now predominantly in browsers, but it is also being actively integrated into business applications. It has a profound impact on our search engine and digital marketing efforts for our customers. So the tech changes continue, and we continue to evolve our services accordingly.

 

I hope you enjoyed this update, and as usual, we welcome you to connect with us for your technical and web IT needs. Stay cool!

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Should I Choose a Local Website Development Company?

If you have been in business for even a short time, you have seen the emails and received the phone calls stating that such and such national SEO company can do wonderful things for you. They promise big results, number one Google rankings, and leads, leads, leads. But you may be wondering why you should pay big bucks for a national company to help your web presence locally. How can they do it? Is it worth it?

The simplest answer is this: generally, if you sell products nationally, a national web development company with good SEO work might be the answer for you. But you can expect big bucks on your credit card charges. They have to charge more to keep their sales engines running. All those annoying solicitations are people who have to be paid.

If you are a local business and the majority of your sales, if not all, are local, then it probably makes sense to use a local web services company. Here are a few reasons to consider.

First, local almost always costs much less than national. There are exceptions of course. Some local web firms have ‘national-itis’ disease, and charge thousands for a site. Big city local firms tend to do that. If you find that to be true in your big city, then look for a web firm outside the big city. You will be shocked to see the difference in pricing.

Secondly, a good local web company will know that local reviews are key to your online success. They will coordinate your site with your SEO strategies and focus on your selling area. Local does not necessarily mean your town only. It can be multiple counties. But even in this case, a local webmaster is going to be even more in tune with your target area than a national firm.

Thirdly, a local web company can be more flexible. Nationals make their money on volume and utilization of the same technologies over and over. Your local guy is going to be more receptive to things that your company stands out for.

And last, but most importantly, a local web company is reachable, especially if you want face-to-face meetings. A reputable web company is keenly aware of its own local reputation and will be very willing to make things look good and work for you.  A video conference is better than email or phone, but face-to-face will always be best.

At PARKERTECHGROUP, we base our entire web services portfolio on what we have described in this newsletter. We provide websites for companies in our town and our surrounding counties.

You have heard the phrase “buy local.” It is a good motto for web technologies too.

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2024 Christmas Shopping Safety Tips

Again, I find myself saying, “where has the year gone?” After a very busy 2024, we are coming into the holiday season. Malls, online shopping, lots of goodies, and perhaps travel, will be on our credit cards in January. As we are out and about, or flipping plastic, it is important to stay safe. Here are some tips that we can consider in order to be safer from scams and criminals.

First, let’s look at online shopping. It’s a big deal. From scammers to porch pirates, we have to be on our guard. Last year, an estimated 250 plus billion dollars were spent online for the holidays. Over 12 billion dollars in porch pirate thefts were recorded in 2023. That is a lot of money. In the USA alone, there were over 460 billion dollars of fraud in 2023.

Before going online to shop, are your computers and phone devices up to date on their operating systems (Windows, Android, etc.)? If not, make sure you update them, which will give you the latest known protections against hacks. Don’t forget to keep your anti-virus software up to date too. If you haven’t done it already, get a malware protection software app too, like Malware Bytes. They have a great free version and a paid version that will catch things like spyware that some anti-virus programs do not.

Be careful where you buy from. Don’t buy from a “store” in an email link. Consider never leaving your credit card information on a store’s database, in case they are hacked. Data breaches are everywhere. Yahoo in 2013, 2014, First American Financial in 2019, Facebook in 2019 is just the tip of the iceberg. And remember to look at the web address you are on (at the top of the screen). If it doesn’t have a https (instead of an http) at the beginning, bail out ASAP! And it is important not to use public WI-FI to make purchases. Your local pizza maker is the best ever, but self-installing a wireless router for his customers is not like making dough!

But let’s turn our attention to shopping in person. Just as with most of the tips above, this series of tips are well known to all. We just need a reminder once in a while, right?

You need to think about how you look to a potential crook. If you are dressed extremely well, wearing expensive jewelry, and distracted with your phone or kids, you may get noticed and watched. Ladies, if you have to carry a purse, secure it. You also need to keep your head on swivel in the parking lots. FBI statistics indicate there are almost 2000 violent crimes every week in parking lots or when walking to a building (stores mostly). Herd mentality is good advice here – shop with other adults when you can. A group is not a good target for most thieves who are looking for soft targets. A parent carrying armloads of gifts is a gift to thieves. Keep yourself free to run or fight. 

Try not to use ATM’s, even if it is a drive up. ATMs are watering holes for bad actors. Be sure to have a record of your credit cards at home in case they are stolen or lost. It will speed up the important task of canceling the cards before too much damage is done.

And most importantly, try not to shop at night.

I hope this reminder list of common-sense safety tips is helpful to you and from all the folks at PARKERTECHGROUP, we hope you have a merry and safe Christmas and holiday season this year! 

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