BrainWave Computers — Attraction in Beaverton

This is our first time to build a pc at a shop, we had no idea how much it is gonna cost, so we reached out to this place for pricing and availability to disassemble my old pc parts and build a new pc beforehand. We were told that we can come in on Saturday without scheduling a reservation and it can be done in an hour with cost of $200 for everything ( We provided them all the information for pricing). When we got there, they told us that we need to pay an additional 50 fee if I want it to be done today, because there are many other tasks before us. We were VERY upset, it is not what we were told but we paid. After they disassembled my pc, Erik told me that actually they are providing me disassemble service and a same day service which should cost additional $100-200 and $100 respectively. But since the $250( 200 +50 express fee) was agreed and processed, they just wanted a good review, so we agreed. And we left old motherboard, CPU and GPU for testing because we don't need them anymore and want to sell them as used parts. After a week on Friday, we received a email from Mark says our parts failed the test, and they do not want to buy them, but we can donate the parts to them. In this case, we replied to the email said we want the parts back and we visited the store on Saturday (same day we replied). When we got to the store, Erik told me that the parts are still under testing, we were so confused and asked him to call Mark to align the information. And Mark told us that the motherboard seems to be okay, he will run additional test on it , but CPU and GPU have finished the testing and failed. SO, we asked them to give us back the CPU and GPU BECAUSE THEY HAVE FINSIHED THE TESTING. 3days later, Mark sent us another email says when he got to the shop, no test is running on my parts and he CANNOT test the motherboard BCAUSE we took back the CPU and GPU, and ask us to take the motherboard back. But on Saturday, when we asked them if we can take the parts back, they told us that looks like the testing were failed and stopped, and no test was running, that's why they were able to give us the parts back. I just do not understand why do they need MY CPU and GPU for a single motherboard test? (So if I just want to sell my motherboard, I need to prepare CPU and GPU to u as well?) And looks like the internal communication is terrible. (Nick is great and very helpful tho) In addition, during the PC building, the CPU AIO cooler I brought in was too big to fit in the PC case, so we purchased a ID-COOLING FX240 INF 240mm Liquid CPU Cooler for $99 in-store because I just want to have a PC running for now. When I got home, I found out that it only cost 69.99 online. I DO UNDERSTAND small business usually up charge a bit to make profit, but upcharge by 40% of the retail price, isn't it too much? As a recommendation， to whoever is planning to purchase the parts in-store, please double check the price beforehand. Unless you do not care about the price and just want to get the thing done. Update: 1. You said the CPU and GPU failed the test. Why would you need failed parts to run the motherboard test? 2.You weren’t there on Saturday. When we arrived, we were told the test failed and stopped because it wasn’t running. You don’t work on Sundays. Why say you planned to run tests on the weekend? When we called Friday, the shop said no appointment was needed on Saturday and it could be done the same day. But on Saturday, we were told “many tasks” and that it couldn’t be done in a day unless we paid extra. The comment on part pricing is missing. The 13th gen CPU overheated, which can be partially fixed by BIOS updates.The GPU “can’t run at 100%”does that mean it doesn’t work? 6.We explained the PC worked fine before the rebuild (just a upgrade). You said it might work for daily use (gaming), but still failed the test. Your first result email suggested we donate the “failed parts”—seems like a way to get free parts to resell for profit, which is suspicious. I value honesty, transparency, but I didn't see it in...

The owner's inference that my report wasn't truthful really crosses the line. My tech-savvy friend who was with me during the conversation with Brainwave's manager remembers the conversation exactly as I stated. He did, however, point out that we were standing on the short side of the L-shaped counter where no sign was posted; perhaps it was posted on the other side of the counter. In any event, the manager never referred to any signage. In addition, two different Brainwave staff tried to sell me a new hard drive which was not needed. The second time this happened, I was told that mine was old and obsolete. I asked how long a hard drive should last and was told 5 to 10 years; I replied that mine was only two years old.

In response to owner's reply: I only received generic emails saying Brainwave was working on my job. And, when I complained about 3% added charge, I looked for and saw no such sign and none was pointed out to me.

Unfortunately, Brainwave staff failed to deliver adequate service or return calls when they said they would do so. After 1 1/2 weeks with my laptop their technician called me with a couple of questions and told me he would have the job finished by the next day. Three days later I called and was told no further work had been done since. I asked to be called back the next business day and was assured that I would be called. No one called, and the same thing happened when I called again two days later. After they had my laptop for 2 1/2 weeks, I called and asked to speak with the manager. He did not take the call (though he was there), and the technician said that no further work had been done in the past week and that he would complete the job that day. He did, and I went to pick up the laptop the next day. When paying I was told that a 3% charge would be added for using a credit card. Since no one had told me that previously and no sign was posted stating this policy, I refused to pay the charge and stated that had I known of the policy I would have brought a check with me. I then spoke with the manager and complained that no further work had been done on my job for a full week and that I had not been told of the extra charge in advance. He agreed to wave that charge if I would not write a poor review of the service I had received. I agreed. But then I saw on my credit card statement that the charge had been added, even though I had a receipt for the agreed upon payment amount. I called my credit card company, and they are crediting me that extra charge. Though the work Brainwave did on my laptop was adequate, the service...

Disappointed in quality of service we received. Brought desktop in for troubleshooting. Several software apps and Chrome browser failed to open, some others worked just fine. Suspected a registry issue based on error messages, but I know just enough to be dangerous, so figured it would be better to turn it over to a professional to repair.

Mark told us he would need to recover data files, reinstall the OS (Windows 8.1) and would reinstall the software I provided.

Brought it home after paying $180+ for the repair. Could not connect to home wireless. Took it back in and found they needed to reinstall a driver for the wireless.

Brought it back home and discovered I couldn't open Outlook (this had been reinstalled by Mark after the OS reinstall and was one of the programs that was part of the initial problem). Error message was the same as when I brought it in for repair the 1st time. Called Mark and was told I probably just need to reinstall it. When I said that I expected everything to be set up and working when I got it home, he got a bit defensive. Told me it was easy to do and doesn't take long and proceeded to give me instructions on how to do it myself.

Yes, I could have reinstalled the OS and the software myself. I am not a Windows 8 fan and am not the primary user on this PC. Where someone who knows what they are doing can complete the tasks in a few hours, it would take me days, with much internet searching, trial and error and frustration.

After 2 attempts at reinstalling Outlook without success, I had to revert to the previous version just to have something that works. Mark tried to tell me there was something wrong with my disk, or maybe some incompatibility with a Microsoft update. Same version from the same disk is working just fine on my husband;s laptop with Win8 OS. Bottom line is that Mark did not check to verify that the work he did fixed the problem, and it turned out it wasn't fixed.

Overall, I think there is just a misunderstanding between what Mark thinks he is providing and what some of his customers expect. He told me he was paid for data recovery, OS and apps reinstall. Yes, he did that, but I thought he was paid to fix it so that it worked the way it did before we had...