Tech Advanced Computers — Local services in Ferry Pass

Abysmal. If I could leave zero stars, I would. I'm embarrassed that we called these people and sad that they left my husband and mother feeling so low.

We contacted Tech Advanced and spoke with Klaus last week to have him help my mother hook up and learn how to use a brand new laptop that my husband shipped to her days before.

It was a simple laptop, no frills. She doesn't know how to do much online and we merely wanted an easy way to communicate with her.

We explained to Klaus that we would be out of state, had sent her a gift and had high hopes someone nice would be able to show her how to turn it on/off, how to access her email, connect it to the internet and find the applications she likes (or any other very basic questions she might have.)  Basically hold her hand through using it for a few simple functions.

There were two phone calls to explain this and make sure he had our number in case of any questions or obstacles.

There were no computer issues. He was just supposed to walk her through using a new laptop that was already turned on and operable. It was literally on and waiting for him to show her how to use it.

The technician went to her house, never introduced himself except to ask whether she owned the cars in her driveway (who asks something like that?!?), ran two hours of "updates and programs" (on a new computer that was ready to use out of the box) and didn't say anything to my mother at all during that entire time beyond what her pin and passwords were and then a request to use the bathroom.

He never explained or showed her how to do a single thing. ZERO customer rapport. ( Do tech companies in Florida not have ANY standards of propriety or etiquette?)

When she asked why it was taking so long to set up after sitting and waiting for his help for two tedious hours and only then because she had an appointment to meet and would be late, he told her repeatedly that it was a very slow and inadequate laptop. He literally told her the laptop was "not a very good laptop" and then several times that her i-phone was better quality and faster than the laptop.

He wasn't hired to set up an apple computer, so he should have left his bias silently at the door.

Way to not just waste someone's money and time, but also to diminish the essence of making someone smile with a holiday gift.  My mother asked if he could at least show her how to log into her email before leaving and he pointed at the screen to show her the icon, but then didn't walk her through any of it. She was never able to log in. She asked for a business card or some way to know who he was, he didn't have anything.

From the moment he left, nothing on the laptop was accessible. It ceased to work. Days later, the screen is now pixelated and blurry. It gives multiple errors and fatal exceptions that were not there prior to his visit. None of the icons or toolbars are accessible. The laptop freezes or turns on and off multiple times when the keypad is touched.   He apparently destroyed a new laptop and left my mother feeling very low; practically in tears, because she didn't want to tell us how badly it had gone.

My husband is in IT. It will be interesting to see what was done to the device when we return.

Went out on a limb calling this company. Shame. We only did so because we couldn't be in town when my mother needed help and Tech Advanced had people available. What a complete waste of time, good will, money and effort to make family happy during...

The sales staff can be lacking at times. Technicians take a breath of patience before entering. First off I will state that I do not find a "Restocking Fee" to be unreasonable at all. Especially when it is clearly defined and posted.

I try to frequent and recommend my own customers to Tech Advance for any parts that I either do not have on hand or do not carry. Small Business should support each other.

I visited the store today to purchase a Serial Port to USB Adapter Cable. Unfortunately it was not functional with the Touch Screen I needed to install for my client's point of sale system. So I returned to the store to return the USB Cable and to exchange for a PCI Serial Port Card. The younger and newer employee stated there would be a restocking fee and stared at me as if he felt this would dissuade me or as if I were taking his lunch money. I said this is fine, how much is the restocking fee? "I'm not sure I'll have to ask." and the employee walks over to the office of the manager on duty, then came back to say "Its $3" Again I asked, Yes, but how much is the fee? What percentage is it? To which the employee replied "Well it depends on the condition of the packaging, and this..." I stopped him, told him not to bother with the speech, I needed to get my part and get back. The young man proceeded to return the cable, deduct the $3 Random Fee and charge me for the PCI Card I needed. As I was putting in my PIN and and getting ready to leave, the employee again tries to give me his rhetoric about the Restocking fee to Condition of packaging ratio. I again tell him to stop, tell him I'm not mad at him, that I'm not even mad at all. I just find not having a set value restocks to not be a smart way to run a business. The fellow didn't even verify if all contents were intact or inquire if the cable seemed to be faulty at all or even a "Was it a different interface than this?" For the sake of thoroughness, the packaging was a blister pack and cut neatly and straight around is edges with scissors. Still complete in one piece. Which is more than can be said for most "Restock" items you will see haphazardly taped together and hanging next to their still new counter parts for usually about 10% less. This is not to mention that when I returned to my client, completed my work and started to create their invoice. I found that the big fella had given me the receipt for the $19.99 returned Cable and NOT the receipt for the $34.99 Card or even both!

This was just today's episode, I've had sales persons previous in here "Correct me" about a centronics versus a parallel cable interface. Another time argue with me that "Thermal Paste is the Same as Thermal Adhesive." and finally upon my last visit about two months ago, return a faulty Gigabit NIC, another employee made the comment that "Ya know in online stores they charge a restocking fee."

Most techie kids would love to work at a place like this even if they have to deal with retail customers all day. But this heavy set fella always carries himself like he's in retail hell and on...

The store usually is good and I am able to find parts that I can not get at the big chains (Bestbuy, Office Depot). I am usually satisfied with their service and happy with their prices. I have never had to return an item that I bought there but today I purchased a EVGA Supernova 550GM power supply. I got home and opened up my rig to install the power supply. As I was unboxing the PSU I noticed that cables were missing (MB 24 pin & CPU Cable) most important cables. I called the store to see if they had another in stock so I could come in and exchange the PSU. After a little wait for the employee to ask the manger I was told that they will not be able to take the product back for a return or exchange because all the items are not there. I understand if I were to lose or damage the parts but this was not under my control and would have not known unless I opened the box at the store. Now I am stuck waiting for EVGA to be available on Monday to try and see if I can get cables for this PSU and if they are not willing I have just wasted over $100 for a faulty product sold to me.

UPDATE: I was in contact with one of the managers and we talked about the issue with the return. The manager was happily to offer a full refund (there were no others in stock so an exchange was not an option). If they did have one in stock I would have done an exchange. The manager went out of his way to make everything right with this purchase and I defiantly recommend this local business. There was a bit of a misunderstanding with the options that were allowed within their policy with the customer service representative I originally spoke to when I received the original...