Computer Repair of Des Moines — Attraction in Urbandale

I wish that I didn’t feel this way about this place now. They helped my desktop PC when it faced issues on Christmas Eve quite a few years back. However recently, I had to take the same desktop PC back due to it only ever loading up in BIOS with a “Please enter setup to recover BIOS setting. After setting up Intel(R) Optane Memory or the RAID configuration was built, SATA Mode Selection must be changed to RAID mode to avoid unknoun issues. Press F1 to Run SETUP” failure and trying to look it up on my own. Went back three times for the same problem because on their end they couldn’t replicate the error after they forced it out of BIOS. Thankfully, only paid the one time as the first time didn’t fix the issue. On the third attempt, brought my USB devices for them to use them individually to try and replicate the issue. One thing found was my keyboard was causing a certain error where it would also say I had two mice and three keyboards hooked up. Even without, it still errored into BIOS for me. Was taught how to bypass BIOS and turn off BIOS triggering altogether. But, they were not able to fix the issue that was triggering BIOS in general. Left unsatisfied without a true outcome and was told they would have to start replacing parts/I should start with replacing the motherboard/I should consider a brand new build, just to see if maybe the error would stop. Having no resolution was disappointing, especially with what I found out later. I went somewhere else to have my laptop fixed at a super reasonable price, also discussed the issue with my desktop. They told me to try uninstalling my keyboard/mice drivers which I hadn’t thought of before and wasn’t suggested by Computer Repair of Des Moines. It did not work but I appreciated the idea. Eventually, looked up the error again, adding the multiple mice and keyboard issue, and found a Reddit post rather quickly about people with the same issue. Was instructed to change the watch (CMOS) battery in my desktop PC as a dead one can trigger the error. After replacing, my desktop PC works as fine as it did before the issue, no multiple mice/keyboard problems either. I’m very disheartened that after spending as much as I did at this place, they couldn’t take a moment like I had to look it up on their end when all it was was a dead watch battery. Then to be suggested to spend even more money on parts that they didn’t even know would fix the issue. Fixed my desktop by myself, please save your money and try looking up resources on your own first as I will be trying harder next time I have PC/Laptop issues. The stars are due to my disappointment in service that expensive, but not 1 star because the people were very polite to me. Sorry guys, I won’t be coming back.

EDIT: Company’s response as I believe editing a review can delete responses.

“Hi Sydney, Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. We truly value your feedback. We're very sorry to hear that you left feeling disappointed after trusting us again with your PC. During diagnostics, the problem presented intermittently. The system booted normally several times in our shop, which made pinpointing the root cause more difficult. We did test and replace the CMOS battery at one point, but the issue still resurfaced, leading us to believe it could be related to a larger hardware concern. We're glad you were eventually able to find a resolution, and we appreciate you acknowledging the politeness and effort from our team. While the outcome wasn't what any of us hoped for, we'll take your comments to heart and continue working to improve our diagnostic processes. We wish you the best with your system and hope you'll consider us again in the future.”

Since I cannot reply to a response, I want to say thank you for your cordial message. I apologize, I am not sure what would be the reason for your CMOS replacement to not have worked for my PC. But, I had no issues after my replacement of the watch battery. Everyone was truly kind and nice to me, I’m sorry my feelings about the service is so low. Realizing 2...

Be very careful if you are going to bring your computer here. I brought my son’s laptop for an easy fix and brought back a $2000 doorstop after they were done fixing it...

RESPONSE TO OWNER: It's convenient for you to blame the motherboard even though it worked fine before you guys got your hands on it. Thank goodness it never "blew up" when we were using it since it was "malfunctioning" so bad.

UPDATE 3 - Response to Owner: Unfortunately, I was never given any options other than “we didn’t do anything wrong” and “we will fix it at full charge”...neither of which are acceptable given the situation. With regards to the motherboard...it certainly doesn’t work now that your tech “fried” but it worked fine the last time I used it. My computer only needed a battery replaced...that’s it. But I’ll keep spreading the word...several hundred people so far...and counting.

UPDATE 2: Received a response from the BBB. They informed me that the company did not respond to multiple letters they sent them regarding this issue and that the company does not cooperate with the BBB.

UPDATE: I have informed the Better Business Bureau about the complaint to see if they can assist in a satisfactory response. We will see...

We brought in a two year old Alienware 17 R2 laptop that wouldn't turn on. We knew that it needed a new battery because it had been giving us a warning about not being able to charge the battery. The tech used a charger to see if would start. It did. He told us that it couldn't access the battery. He said they would have to do some more analysis and they would get back to us.

I got a call about a week or so later saying that the tech had plugged in the computer to analyze the problem with our laptop. He said that when he turned it on he heard a large "pop" and said he thought the motherboard was "fried". I reminded him that the computer had been turned on and was working before we left the store and asked him how this could happen. I asked him if he had used the same power cord or a different one and he said he had used a different one. He again told me he would take another look at it and give me a call back. He apologized and was very professional.

The tech called me back again later and said that he thought the mother board and the keyboard were both likely unusable. He said they had found replacement parts and that they had also found a used replacement computer online that they could possibly use to transfer the data to. He said it depended on what I wanted them to do and he named off the prices to fix the laptop in each scenario. I informed him that when we gave them the computer to "fix" it only needed a battery and a charge cord. I told him that I didn't think we should be liable for damage that they had done to the computer. I told him I would be willing to cover half the cost,or something along those lines, to fix or replace the laptop they had damaged. He said that he would talk to his manager and get back to me on Friday.

The tech called me again on Friday and told me the manager didn't think it would be an issue but that they needed to speak to the owner and that he would get back to me again on Monday.

This morning, Monday, I get a call from a very rude woman who informed me she had spoken with the owner and that they did not believe that they had done anything wrong. She said the mother board was “obviously” faulty and that it could have done that to whomever would have plugged it in...pretty convenient. I told her that we gave her a working unit and now it is completely useless after they worked on it and that I wanted to have some sort of remedy. She informed me again that they didn't do anything wrong, that they wouldn't work with me to rectify the situation, and that they didn't give refunds.

PLEASE be careful if you plan on using this store. In retrospect, I truly wish we had gone anywhere else. At this point I wouldn’t give them another cent beyond what they charged me to wreck...

So my pc has been in and out of the place for 2 months now. I bought all brand new parts from well known places. I had them build my pc for me. I had to take my cooler back because loose wire wasn’t starting it. No problem I replaced it. Pc finished assured me everything worked and tested good told me I can recycle my retail boxes for parts. I listen to them took it home notice a problem for next few days of my games crashing and returning back to desktop. 1st time I brought it back they said they will run tests it seemed like they didn’t do all of it from what I understood so they did it and found out the motherboard was dysfunctional not picking up half my RAM. Keep in mind I no longer had the boxes to return it due to their assurance. They told me best bet right now is to buy new motherboard at their place and so I did. Took it home and within a few days bios issue pop up late at night. 2nd time returned it they did more tests and they determined that the PSU was also unstable. And they did bios setting changes. Had to buy another PSU at their shop. (At this time the stores i bought my parts from no longer wanted to take back my product I bought due to no boxes for it.) Took it back home to test it and still had bios issue still. Week later I went back. 3rd time they were taking it apart out of the pc and test benching it while changing more settings. Gave me it back and said everything is a 100% good and wanted me to test it at home. Days later still same issue. 4th time went back now they are telling me it might be a RAM issue. Had to get RAM over there told them I will no longer be spending money over there and at this point needed to fix it with their own parts for free. They agreed. Took it back home same issue. At this point it’s been 30+ days. Took it back 5th time for bios issue still. Manager is only one can touch it. Told me my warranty expired and I needed to spend $80 to refresh it. Told him no cause I have been having the exact same issue since day 1. He agreed with me. He test benched it again found no problems once he put it back in the pc case it no longer booting. So now he needs to disassemble the entire thing cause he thinks it might be a assembling issue causing the bios issue. He said if this doesn’t work I have to ship it to a microcenter…I’m past the point of patiently waiting for the fix. All these brand new parts I had to return it even some of it I couldn’t return and still having the same issue. Im not saying they don’t know what they are doing but they do not know the fix and should have told me sooner because it seems I will have to ship it to a microcenter. Wasting all this time and money just for this result. It also doesn’t help that the place is flooded with new orders for repair and seems like they don’t do their due diligence on the pc’s. I’m frustrated they can’t resolve this issue. And now I’m being pushed off at the microcenter. If this issue gets resolved I will edit to...