Computer Answers — Attraction in City of Albany

Entering the large space, I removed my backpack and scanned a place on the front counter to set it down, as it contained my ailing computer. The front counter was covered in various computer parts, laptops, chargers, ect.. what you would expect to see perhaps on the bench behind the counter. An employee promptly noticed me and removed the majority of the components with what I sensed was hasty disregard for any of it, the pile was moved like a heap of refuse. All that remained was a scattered pile of screws that looked like those used to hold laptops together. This left me a bit uneasy but I proceeded none the less. Removing my laptop from my backpack, I began a dialog with one of the salesmen, where I disclosed my issue, an inability to charge my laptop. I suggest a quick test of the AC/DC adapter via multimeter to count out that possibility immediately. With what I can only say was complete disregard for my suggestions , now talking over eachother, two of the employees insist they will bring in their own adapters and test my computer out. I find this strange, perhaps a sign of their computer genius, that they can decipher the exact voltage and ampereage of the necessary and appropriate adapter by simple grace of its presence, and no actual investigation into what my adapter says. "wow," I think to myself, "they must really know their stuff!" In their reluctance to actually, physically test my adapter, they spend twice as much time as the test would take, explaining to me ( a physics graduate and semiconductor engineer) how a power surge can render an AC/DC adapter useless. I agree, and reiterate the simplicity of the multimeter test, they again decline, with the rebuke that they will bring in their own personal chargers tomorrow. He enters me into the computer system, puts a sticker on my laptop and adapter. I leave without and computer or much confidence. The next day I left my phone at work and was a bit put off to find no communication about my, albeit free, computer diagnostic. Come Tuesday evening, no communication. Tuesday evening I arrive at the store. I engage with the clerk, "I dropped off a computer I would like to pick up ." He asks my name, once. I tell him and ask him if they made any progress on my power issue. "I am not in the store often." he replies. He asks my name again, this time I spell it out slowly and begin to realize it may not be coming up in the system, as he starts to ask me what type of computer I brought in. My concern grows and I begin to scower the workspace with my eyes, whereupon I see my laptop, where it was placed 2 days ago, on the "intake" shelf. It had not moved a bit. Another employee, the one who helped with my intake, and insisted he would bring his own adapter to test, interjects with excuses about the lack of diagnosis " my charger was actually different than your, the whole was a different size. I forgot to call you." I put my computer in my backpack and leave, having gained nothing but the exercise it took to ride my bike there, who knows how long my computer would have sat on that shelf before someone felt like calling me, if they were even able to find me in the system. TL:DR Dropped computer off for free diagnosis, heard lots of talk saw no action, picked computer up 2 days later from same exact place i dropped it off at, no diagnosis, I was not even logged in their systems. HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU AVOID THIS EXPERIENCE GO SOMEWHERE ELSE

i appreciate your swift response, and leave you with a favorite quote of mine:

"excuses are nails in the house of failure"

Things you could do to help with this issue: 1.Travel to a location of my convenience and test my AC/DC adapter with a multimeter and spend the 30 seconds it takes to check if it works pick me and my computer up and bring it to your store where you fix the issue and drop me off at home order a replacement AC/DC adapter and have it sent to me Create a time machine and go into the past to warn me not to waste my time. any of these would be...

I am a local medical student who relies on the use of my laptop for studying. One morning, the charger port on my laptop cracked, so I headed to the local "Computer Answers" to see if they could provide a quick fix to a simple problem. I brought it in on a Saturday morning and was told I would receive a call later that night with the diagnosis. After not hearing for 12 hours, I called the store. I was told this was a "very easy repair" that would only take a few hours to fix. I was informed it would take about a week for the correct part to arrive and would be ready to pick up the following weekend. I agreed on a price, having no idea how much of a mistake this was.

After not hearing for two weeks, I started getting annoyed. I need my laptop and not having it was starting to affect my grades. I called for an update and was told the part had arrived and it would be ready in the next day or two. A week passed and I still had not received a call. I called again and was told the same thing - that it would be ready in a day or two. I figured they were busy and tried to remain patient, even though they were already two weeks past the date that we agreed on. After 4 weeks in total had passed, I started calling every day to see what the hell was going on. Initially, they were giving me the run around, saying it would be ready that night or the next morning. Eventually, they admitted that only one person at the store was capable of performing the repair and that he only worked 1 or 2 days a week. I asked for them to call this guy and have him come and work on my repair which was already 3 weeks late, to which the guy on the phone laughed and said "he is the president of the store, we can't tell him when to come in." This really pissed me off. After about 6 weeks, the guy finally came in to finish my laptop. They made it seem like he was doing me a huge favor by spending the afternoon devoted to my repair. He tried to replace the part and then all of a sudden my computer stopped turning on altogether.

They then tried to sell me on buying a new motherboard from their store, but I already learned my lesson and then some. I politely asked them to put my computer back together and that I was coming to get it to send to Lenovo. I should have given it to the professionals who knew what they were doing from the start. Yet, just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, I was in for another surprise when I arrived to pick it up. They handed me back my laptop without the stylus and without the charger. When I told them they were missing, they started searching through the entire store for them. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Everything was completely disorganized and everyone's stuff was mixed with each other. They ended up finding my stylus but could not find my charger, so they simply took someone elses and handed it to me. Shockingly, this charger broke within one week of use. After sending my laptop to Lenovo, they uncovered many more damages that were likely due to the botched repair job. I ended up having to get my entire hard drive and mother board replaced, essentially wiping away 3 years of medical school notes and work. And, to make matters worse, this store failed to put half the screws back into the computer, so now there is a constant little opening on the bottom of my laptop.

To sum it up, the service at "Computer Answers" was absolutely terrible. It took 5 weeks to realize they were not capable of completing a repair that they promised would take a few hours, while also managing to further damage my laptop and lose my charger. During this ordeal, I did not receive a single call to give me an update. I had to call every day to see what the hell was going on. This was one of the most unprofessional places I have ever come across. I would not recommend this store to anyone. They are 1 star in every way possible. Stay away.

UPDATE: Everything I mentioned has absolutely nothing to do with software updates at the store like the...

Came in with a Desktop that needed an new power supply and a touchscreen laptop that had a broken screen. They told me these were simple repairs that could get done within two weeks. As the process went on they told me that the cost for the screen would be more than expected. I was fine with that and paid for the other screen component.

My problem up to that point was the complete lack of professionalism by the staff. Every time I inquired about the price of the part or how much the total costs would be I was met with uncertain answers. One time I was even told I hadn't paid for a part that I certainly had paid for. This was frustrating considering I was trying to save money by getting these computers repaired instead of buying new ones. I made sure to keep my receipts after that.

After an extended amount of time waiting to hear back about the repairs I called in to ask how they were going. The person I spoke to at the time told me they would look into it and that they would call me back, they never did. This would later become a pattern every time I would call. I became even more frustrated and just went to the store because it seemed like I needed to actually show up to get any answers. I was then informed that the repairs for the screen were being done and that the desktop would need more time as the part had not arrived yet. This was after more than two months after I had first asked for service for what I was told would be simple repairs.

When I came to pick up the laptop I was simply told that an attempt was made to reach me a while ago but the my voicemail was full. I suppose they called once and didn't try to contact me further. No apologies or anything either. At that point I was just glad part of the repair was finally done.

Still more months passed and the desktop I gave them was still not done. I called several times and they kept telling me that something went wrong with the shipping or purchase of the part and that they would need to contact their vice president to get the part ordered again. I heard this explanation FOUR times in the span of three months and every time I was told I would get a call back and never did. Every time someone said that they would take care of the issue and bring it up the ladder, I never got any confirmation of this. It had now been nearly 6 months and they had not been able to change the power box on an HP desktop.

To make matters worse I also recently found out that the touchscreen on the laptop they "fixed" does not work as a touch screen only as a display.

I foolishly decided to call again and told them that If the part for the desktop hasn't been sent and the computer not repaired that I wanted my money back. The person on the line again assured me that they would get back to me with an answer form someone in a higher position. I did not hear anything and so I had to physically go to the store that day. The person there did not know about my situation at all and told me there were no refunds and that the most he could do was give me store credit. He then told me I could also call Dwayne at Clifton park.

To his credit Dwayne was professional, he heard me and said that I could take my computer back and that he was going to get me a refund by tomorrow. Although I was skeptical about being called back, to my surprise he did call me back and I came the next day for my refund for the cost of the part.

Ultimately, I wish I could give them a good review, it seemed like a great idea to come here and their reputation made me trust that things would at least get done to a high degree of quality, but the level of unprofessionalism from the staff was just unacceptable. Additionally, the work that was done on the laptop was subpar. Trying to get these devices fixed became an ordeal and ultimately a disservice. My desktop is the same as it was before and my laptop touchscreen...