Computer Guys Inc — Attraction in Missoula

I always strive to support local businesses, so when my MacBook battery started dying frequently, I chose Computer Guys over shipping my laptop to Apple.

I dropped off my 2018 MacBook Pro laptop, explaining that the battery life was short and system diagnostics indicated a replacement was needed. They charged a $75 upfront fee for their own diagnostics, assuring me that if it was the battery it could be replaced in less than a week, in-house, and I’d get a new keyboard & trackpad for no additional cost since it needed to be removed for the battery replacement. Despite me being confident that only the battery needed replacing, I agreed to the diagnostic fee and was told they would call Monday to confirm the repair.

They called on Wednesday instead. They apologized, saying they couldn’t replace the battery in-house, the repair would take longer than a week, and the keyboard replacement was no longer included. Every initial assurance was now false. They claimed this was a ‘rare situation (1 in 1000).’ I was empathetic. They needed to send the laptop to Apple, which could take weeks and would cost $500, insisting ‘this was Apple’s cost with no profit for them.’ I found this unnecessary to mention to a customer.

Still wanting to support a small business, I politely requested: A partial refund of the $75 diagnostic fee, or A discount on the $500 battery cost, considering the delays and unmet promises.

Their response: No.

I chose to pick up my laptop and send it to Apple myself. I was OK with losing the $75 if it meant not having to continue this experience.

Final score: Cost: $75 Days without laptop: 5 Fixed Laptops: 0

Next, I submitted a ticket to Apple. They sent a shipping box within 24 hours, and I received my laptop with a new battery 36 hours after shipping, all for $268.95 (receipt attached). Even with the original $75 charge, I saved over $150 from what Computer Guys quoted.

Post-game analysis:

If you have an Apple device in Missoula, consider shipping it yourself directly to Apple for repairs.

A simple $20 discount could have saved Computer Guys from...

SO FRUSTRATED right now and want to warn people! Our business computer died so we took it to Computer Guys in Missoula, MT. After one week they finally looked at it and a few days later told us the hard drive was failing. I was told they could order a new computer for me with the features I wanted or I could get one on my own. I spoke with Joe Swanson, THE OWNER, for a long time about what we needed and pricing, then put a down payment on the new computer and he ordered it. It took 4 days to arrive, then we finally got it back Friday afternoon and realized he ordered THE WRONG COMPUTER!!! He was conveniently gone already on Friday when we realized this, so I left a message for him to call me Monday morning. He never called, so I called him. He did not apologize and got very defensive right away, even though we had been without a computer for 3 weeks at this point due to their mess up! He did not offer to help get the situation solved and completely misrepresented what he had said the day I ordered it. We immediately purchased a new computer from Costco with ALL the features Joe said were no longer standard on computers and had Computer Guys put our information on it, for which they charged an additional fee! DO NOT GO TO...

I brought my external drive in to recover old photos and documents. The employee did a very poor job explaining to me how to follow his process of recovery when I was picking up the computer (he left instructions with the front staff only), which then required the receptionist to go to the backroom to ask him questions three times. Reluctantly he eventually came to the front to explain and when I asked him to show me how to recover the items, he said it actually probably couldn't be done. I left distraught and frustrated thinking I had lost years of sentimental family photos and important documents. I was disappointed in the customer service. However, when I returned home, I played with the external drive and backup disc a bit under supervision of a Mac user, and I was able to recover ALL of the data myself. I was extremely disappointed in the overall process at...