The Computer Store — Attraction in Columbus

BEWARE! I cannot believe the number of high ratings for this place. That was far from my experience. IT FELT MORE LIKE A SKETCHY CAR MECHANIC than a trustworthy local business to me. For starters, I believe the lack of more bad ratings is a result of EXTORTION rather than consistent great service.

After a week and a half of poor service and back and forth with Saed, I had my girlfriend go pick up my laptop while I was at work. They refused to return my equipment in original condition and issue a refund until she signed some pseudo-legal form that she would not leave a bad/slanderous review online!!

From the beginning...My 4 year old, sub $500 laptop has been getting slower and slower to the point it barely performed basic functions. Saed confirmed my suspicion that my hard drive was going bad.

I originally just wanted to backup my data (less than 100 GB of documents, photos, etc.) and figured I'd buy a new, cheap laptop that fits my minimal needs. Saed talked me into having him replace the HDD with a SSD and transfer my data for $215, and I reluctantly said yes. He also said he'd have it back to me the same day (Friday) or the next business day at the latest (Monday).

Monday, he calls and says he now needs to replace my battery, as mine is completely dead. The failing battery was a known issue when I dropped it off (part of the reason I was reluctant to put more money into it to begin with) but it was functional before that point.

Saed says he can order the battery. It will arrive and I should be able to pick up my laptop by end of week at the latest. I later realize Microcenter 5 min down the road has the battery in-stock for $25 and it can easily be ordered on Amazon Prime too. Waiting a week for a battery to ship seems ridiculous. But again, I reluctantly agreed.

The following Monday! I call back to see if my laptop is ready and told they are still waiting on the battery. I am extremely annoyed.

I call again the next day. I'm told a speaker wire has been accidentally cut and he might need to order a new wire (and wait another week for it to arrive) if I want working speakers. THIS IS WERE SAED STARTS TO SOUND A LOT LIKE A SKETCHY CAR MECHANIC TRYING TO SWIDLE A GULLIBLE CUSTOMER! I curtly ask what my total is, tell him he can make his attempt to solder the wire, and say I'd like to pick it up that day regardless of working speakers or not.

I go to pick it up, and speakers are working without a need to order new parts...hmmm, lucky me?? I then take my laptop and pay $265...$215 originally, plus $50 for the new battery, with a free "data recovery" that was originally $60. I get home and open my laptop, and MY FILES ARE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND!!! The one any only thing I wanted from the very beginning!

It was just a miscommunication with the other employee. Saed apologizes and says he'll have it ready the next day. Again, I reluctantly agree...for a minute. Then I tell him F* it, I want my old hard drive back and a refund. I will transfer the data, as I originally wanted, myself. Saed apologizes profusely and says I can come back the next day. It will be ready, and he will give my WHATEVER DISCOUNT IT TAKES TO MAKE ME HAPPY.

The next morning I call and it's ready. I say I would be happy to pay for part costs, but not labor given the hassle at this point. Saed says he's only willing to give me $100 off, but not all labor costs.

So my girlfriend goes to pick it up...she is far less patient and a little more tech savvy than me, so she is not having this BS. Saed includes the original $60 off "data recovery" in that $100 he said, so he really just meant an extra $40 off the $265 total

HE DID NOT PERFOM COSTLY DATA RECOVERY! My original hard drive was not completely dead. He merely performed a simple data transfer.

After a heated back and forth, my girlfriend has him remove the work he's done (the new hard drive and battery) and issue me a complete refund.

She then fixed it with $80 in parts from Microcenter in less than 3 hours, before I got home from...

My fiancé brought in a laptop I haven't used since 2024 to see if the charger port still needed repair. I reset the password prior and it took about a week before changing it in iForgot.

The new charger I have worked with the charger port, and they said to come in Friday if there are further issues.

I ran into problems logging into the laptop. I tried both my current login password, as well as the current Apple ID password. Neither of them unlocked the disk for me.

My fiancé brought it in for me again today while I was at work. I wrote down as much information about my laptop as I could for their convenience, including the current login and Apple ID passwords. Last I heard they were using an external keyboard to login and it would take about an hour due to the laptop being locked at the time.

Over four hours later, I hadn't heard back, so I called during my last work break. The man who answered the phone didn't listen to what I had to say. He cut me off more than he let me talk, and he snapped at me when asking my name after I just provided it. All he said was to reset the password, which for means another 7-10 days of waiting for me. He didn't elaborate why the password needed to be changed beyond complaining that it kept locking for hours. He said to pick a password that's "actually simple" and relayed this in a blatantly smug tone, as though I were the sole problem and I hadn't tried multiple things to unlock the disk first before reaching out again.

My fiancé picked up the laptop for me. The man spoke to them in no less of a smug tone and spent more time yelling at his wife on the phone than he did clarify anything. He told my fiancé the keyboard needed to be repaired, despite the fact that he didn't relay that to me at all and based on how everything down to the hinges looked the same as when they brought it in, the laptop hadn't even been touched. I'm now waiting to reset the password again and go somewhere else with the request to repair the keyboard if nothing else.

Only positive thing is we didn't have to pay for a man refusing to do his job. So that's a positive if you want to waste your time.

And since the same man likes to respond to every negative review he receives, let me leave this for him to read: No, I'm not interested in destroying your company. I'm not an "agent," and not every negative review is part of a conspiracy. With the amount of positive reviews you have in comparison, your constant war with words over every 1 star review as of late is bizarre. Unless, of course, the rumors of you bribing people to take down negative reviews and leave 5 stars are true.

My issue isn't based on whether or not you did your job right, as this is a matter I'm resolving elsewhere. My issue is you didn't do anything of value. You failed to follow up with me, you talked over me on the phone, you told me one story of what's going on but told my fiancé a different one, and you acted so smug to both of us for someone who didn't even bother to touch my laptop. Maybe if you spent less time yelling at your wife or arguing with people who leave negative reviews, you wouldn't have so many devices to catch up on at your shop.

EDIT: My apologies sir, if you spent less time yelling at your mother you wouldn't be behind. Thank you for clarifying. And yes, I know you invite people to review your business...that's why you bribe them to leave 5...

Remarkable service. My hard drive was going out & bc of the age of my laptop & an important deadline, I had already ordered a new one. Shipping was delayed on the new laptop when my old computer became nonfunctional (on a Friday afternoon of course) and as my deadline approached Monday. I called The Computer Store & they said if I could get it there within an hour, they might be able to have it up and running by the end of the day, or Monday at the latest. I arrived like I was going to an emergency room & they greeted me with the same amount of urgency... already prepped and ready to get started. A man began working on the laptop while I was still checking in. They knew immediately what hard drive was needed, had it in stock, & promised to do all they could to get it running before closing. I was already on my way as closing time approached when they called and told me to come back as it would be finished soon. They were right! Not only were they right, they upgraded my Windows, and repaired hinges to my laptop that had always been breaking and causing the laptop to come apart. They made modifications to the laptop to make sure it never came apart again (unless I wanted it to) and my hinges never worked so well. Later that night when I was having trouble with the computer, I messaged them and heard back right away. They explained how what I was experiencing was a result of new programs loading or updating and that it would be fine soon, just to allow it to update. They were right! I can't believe how far above and beyond these gentlemen went to help me when I needed it most. The expense was less than I expected and as my old laptop has been given a new life, more RAM and updates, when the new laptop I ordered finally arrived, I immediately returned it. I would trust these gentlemen at The Computer Store to help me with any computer needs. I didn't lose any data and my computer is working better than when I first bought it. Thank you so much for helping me meet deadlines! Thank you The...