CTS Computers — Attraction in Newton

Don't trust all the positive reviews, this is one of the worst experiences I've ever had. Here's some background of my situation:

built a PC 6 years ago it had been making some noises the power supply smelled like a part had burned out it no longer would boot up

I go to drop it off Thursday morning, am dismissed when I try to explain the situation, and am told to just drop it off so they can do a diagnostic and get back to me. No expectations of fees or turnaround time, which in hindsight I should have asked about.

I call back Friday afternoon, they still haven't done a diagnostic, and say they'll have to keep it over the weekend. After not hearing anything for some time, I call back on Tuesday afternoon and am told they'd get back to me. When I hear back, they tell me the motherboard is dead and will need to be replaced, no mention of the power supply. They blamed me for having built the computer "all wrong" despite it working for 6 years and said it took so long to diagnose because they had to test every part. They were going to charge me about $250 for parts and labor and I said I'd think about it.

After checking with IT professionals I know they said this place seems dishonest, that it shouldn't take so long to do a diagnostic, and their assessment didn't make sense. I plan to take my computer elsewhere but am told that if they're going to reassemble my computer and return it I first have to pay some diagnostic fee that I wasn't told about before, saying I should have seen the sign or asked about the fee (that I didn't know about and which isn't noted on their website).

I've checked online to find that a handful of places nearby do free diagnostics (1-2 hours) and on average have same-day turnaround times. This place doesn't set expectations, takes a long time, doesn't provide updates unless prompted repeatedly, blames you for what's wrong with your computer, makes excuses, and will charge you fees that weren't previously...

CTS has renewed my faith in computer repair. My laptop crashed and would not boot. I brought it to Micro Center where I had purchased it and learned that the warranty had expired 1 week previous. I made some noise and they reloaded the original software but I lost everything. They said computer was old (3 years) and that is why it is slow and will not work well. I brought it to CTS and within 2 days I got back a computer that was better than when I had bought it. They put in a new solid state hard drive and the thing is blazing fast and dependable. I had another issue on a work computer, trying to move only subfolders from outlook to a new computer. Unlike others who posted here I was able to talk to the tech because it was tricky on what needed to be done. They did all the work same day on a Saturday so that I had it for Work on Monday. Laptop was $190.00 for hard drive, spyware cleanup and all labor. The outlook work, which would have taken me all day was $90.00, I mean talk...

There is nothing more tech disheartening than being online and hearing your old computer die out with a Pop! Fortunately a daughter of a fellow senior housing tenant was able to guide me to CTS CTS transferred all my files with beloved photos/docs to a new Acer computer for a nominal price. It's not only the sale I am reviewing but the service I received with my telephone questions when setting the new computer up at home. Lana has infinite patience, knowledge and advice above and beyond what one would expect. You ain't going to find this in the big corporate stores like Best Buy, etc. My advice, buy local, close to home. The shop doesn't need all the big frills. When you walk into CTS, there are computers all over the place, it is crowded, but you are not buying the appearance of a store, just what's in it!...thanks Lana, I got set up really fast and you were right, all I had to do was to "..plug it in". Your service people took care of everything...