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KSHB Investigators: Technical Difficulties

February 5, 2007

We don't want to know how. We don't want to know why. We just want it to work. When you computer doesn't, you call in the experts. Will they fix it, or try to take a megabyte out of your wallet?

In an NBC Action News hidden-camera investigation, we took a computer in perfect shape and added our own special glitch.

The inside may look daunting to the general public, but a computer repair tech has been trained to find the problem and fix it. NBC Action News Investigators Nichole Teich uncovered that some computer repair shops have some major technical difficulties.

You plug it in, turn it on, and just expect your computer to work. But when you get the dreaded error message, you don't have a clue how to fix it. You can keep pushing buttons or call the experts for help.

The Yellow Pages are full of self-proclaimed experts – nerds, geeks, even doctors of data. But who can you trust? Teich goes undercover to some of the most popular fix-it places: The Geek Squad at Best Buy, Microcenter, CompUSA, and in-home technicians SuperTechs.

The patient: a 2-year-old Hewlett-Packard.

"It's as good as brand new, out of the box," said expert George Throener, a network engineer for a metro college.

Throener has a degree from Devry and 17 years of computer repair experience. Instead of asking him to solve a computer problem, we asked him to create one.

"The cable that connects the hard drive – we're going to reverse it," he said, "which will effectively stop the hard drive from working."

It's a problem so simple, Throener says, it would be easy for a computer tech to find. The red line on the cable should be pointing up. On our test computer, it points down.

"This is a very easy fix," Throener said. "All we do is turn the cable back around and power it up. It's the first thing they should check."

But will they?

The first stop was the Geek Squad inside the Lee's Summit Best Buy.

"It's not spinning up at all," said the Geek Squad tech. "It's completely bad. Probably just the hard drive went bad."

Completely bad? The tech didn't even open the case. He had a hard time even opening it. He pulls, prods and tries with all his might to get the cover off. Three minutes later he looks at the cable, but comes up with the same diagnosis.

"You have to get a new hard drive," he says.

The bill: $238 to fix something that isn't broken. This time, the Geek Squad fails our test. Remember, you are paying them for their expertise to find the real problem with your computer.

Will the techs at MicroCenter do any better?

"To find out exactly what it is we need to run a diagnostics on it," the tech proclaimed.

The test computer was left overnight. We went back the next day for the verdict.

"It looks like the hard drive was bad."

Little do they know when the techs put the computer back together, they actually put the cable back on correctly, but the tech never bothered to turn the computer back on. Instead, they tried to talk us into a $280 repair.

MicroCenter failed our test.

The techs at CompUSA got the now-working computer to test.

We did not know that MicroCenter unknowingly fixed the test computer. At CompUSA, the tech simply pushes the power button and the computer starts right up. But even though the computer is working, the tech still comes back with the wrong diagnosis.

"It's getting ready to fail," the tech said, saying the best option was to get a new hard drive.

"You could tell on his face he hadn't checked it over," Throener said. "He was just interested in selling you a hard drive. I'm sure he gets a commission or points for that."

"Now would be the time to do it before it totally fails," the tech said, pushing for the hard drive purchase.

Throener shook his head in disbelief. "Unbelievable. I thought there was going to be a couple of instances, but as bad as it was, I was shocked."

The in-home visit from SuperTechs took a different turn: "No IDE fixed present, that is not a good thing," the tech said while examining our test computer.

Instead of trying to immediately sell us a new hard drive, he said, "Right now I'm looking to make sure it's not just a cable problem."

That simple search allows the tech to fix the problem in under five minutes.

"So it's alive," we asked. "It's alive," the tech responded.

When Throener watched the SuperTech technician on our hidden-camera video, he was impressed.

"That's awesome. That's how it should've been done at the other places," he said.

We contacted all of the companies involved in the test. Three responded.

The Geek Squad at Best Buy says, "Computer problems often have many sources and can be hard to pinpoint ? consumer satisfaction remains our top priority."

CompUSA responded by saying, "Our customers have come to expect professional and reliable technology service ? we are committed to delivering it."

MicroCenter did not respond.

Tips from our Cybersleuth to avoid getting taken:

1. If the repair is major, get 2nd opinion.
2. Always have a good back-up of your data.
3. Check the BBB Better Business Bureau.
4. Talk to friends, who have they had success with?
5. If possible, ask to talk to the tech who actually did the work.
6. Ask questions, why did it fail? Could it be anything else?
7. Don't feel like you have to make a decision in the store, think about it and talk to friend.
8. Talk to friends who know computers, does the diagnosis match, could it be something else?
9. Be sure you request to get the bad parts back and destroy them.

More tips on what to do before you call a computer repair tech.

The results of our test were based off of a one-time only visit to the companies involved. KSHB NBC Action News does not support or endorse any of the companies featured in our investigation.