NerdsToGo — Attraction in Bellevue

I left a longer review on Yelp but here's the short version. My custom-built high-end gaming and video editing PC was blue screening and I couldn't figure out why. I've got a 1tb nvme boot drive, a 500gb nvme drive and a 2tb sata where I stored my game data. I took it to Nerds, telling them that I just need diagnosis and POSSIBLE repair. They we're supposed to call me when they found the problem and give pricing on repairs. Right out the gate, they accidentally installed Windows on my sata drive, wiping all my game data before calling to confirm with me how I want my PC configured. They determined that the memory was bad and I had a "broken" windows install on the boot drive. Every time I called for an update over the course of 4 business days, they kept saying they were still installing Windows and testing the memory. The head nerd told me I was only being charged $60 for the diagnosis since they were just diagnosing which memory module was bad and installing Windows. On the fourth day when I called for an update, the tech who answered claimed that they weren't the one working on my PC but they would ask the tech who is what's going on and have them get back to me. Since I was tired of waiting, I decided to go down there in person. That same tech I talked to on the phone acknowledged that they where are the one I talked to before taking me in back to show me what they personally were doing on my PC. Nice. It was almost done and configured the way that I asked it to be. Windows was wiped from the sata drive, Windows reinstalled on to the boot drive along with backed up data recovered and restored, and the other nvme set up as a backup drive. 4 memory modules deemed bad but I agreed to replace those myself. Things were looking up until they tried to charge me for the labor. We had a brief back and forth on what head nerd said before they decided to waive the labor charge. Look, it's great that Windows was reinstalled and backup drive set up along with my data recovered, and they were really polite and chill but they still wiped my game drive and didn't replace any physical hardware. They never quoted me on repairs as I told them from the beginning that I only need a diagnosis so I can repair it myself. The head nerd even confirmed with me the day before that this was our agreement. They need better communication and faster service, along with being more clear on labor fees. While they were at it, they almost left their memory installed in my PC. Thankfully for them I caught as the cover was going back on and was honest enough to let them know. If they had taken half the time, been more upfront with me and not wiped my game data, I would have happily paid them the labor. But, this is bad. Most people would be livid right now. I'm just...

November 2022: The repair was perfect. I had a laptop with a broken touch screen and hinge (basically had to keep my laptop open at 90 degrees). I did wait over a month for the repair. Otherwise, great service.

UPDATE December/january 2022: the part that was installed was defunct. I took it home and it didn't work after one use. Backlight worked but the display didnt. I would have thought maybe a quality check would have been done before giving it back to me. Brought it back in later November / early December for them to replace the part again. I was told they were looking for the part which was hard to find. I followed up after a few weeks into January since at this point, I haven't been able to use my laptop for 3 months (brought it in in early October 2022). One of the solutions besides waiting for the part was to buy a computer through them and pay $200 for a data transfer from my broken laptop. I didn't want to pay out of pocket for another laptop and a data transfer, so I just waited. Couldn't wait any longer by mid-late January, so I called in and on that same day, it they updated that they were able to find a part. I felt like I had to push pretty hard for this to get done which was so frustrating because I was told in October that it would maybe take a few weeks at most. Thankfully, I didn't have to pay for the second replacement since I brought it back in within 60 days. But still, very frustrating to be without a laptop for 3 months.

Another update March 2023: I was using my laptop when I realized it isn't touch screen anymore. They installed a non-touch screen onto my computer and I believe it wasn't disclosed to me. Maybe I don't have my settings right, but before this, it would sense any touch despite the application I was running. Do not go here.

UPDATE March 2023: They gave me a whole new computer and made sure to make things right in the end. Very unusual situation with all of the lemons...

November 19-23, 2019 This was my first experience with NerdsToGo, but after seeing the quality of their work and service I will be a loyal customer from now on! Three people in the Bellevue shop provided amazing service, John, Steven, and Evan.

I took my desktop PC in for two repairs. My husband had bought me a 32-inch 4K Samsung monitor because I keep several windows open when I'm working. The halting behavior after hooking up the monitor, especially when editing graphics, led me to think I needed to upgrade my video card. But before I could take it in for that, a second catastrophic problem developed: my Windows10 upgrade suddenly refused to reboot, and when it finally did boot up, all signs of my network connection and WiFi had disappeared from the system. We took it to NerdsToGo based on online reviews they’ve received and it was a great decision.

By the time we got home, Steven had determined that my Windows10 was missing several system items and explained they would need to remove it and reinstall a good version. I agreed to that work. Then, they ordered and tried to install several different video cards (Evan even drove to Tacoma and back to pick up another card they thought might fit). Apparently, Dell computers are designed such that parts cannot be replaced! In the end they reinstalled my original GT640 video card, but tweaked settings hoping it would work better than it had.

The reinstallation of an uncorrupted version of Windows10, plus Steven’s tweaks, made an amazing improvement My computer has never worked better than it does now!

Based on our experience, both my husband and I intend to have NerdsToGo Bellevue build new computers for us when that time comes. No more Dell...