Top Secret Techs — Local services in Katy

NOTE: This is going to be a long review. I need to capture all the important reasons I only gave Top Secret Techs a 1-star rating. So, please bear with me.

On Monday, Dec 16, I reached out to Robert to find out if he could fix a performance issue I was having with my Windows 11 PRO laptop. He said he would perform a hardware scan first just to make sure it was not a hardware issue and would get back to me later on that day to let me know if the problem was hardware related. Towards the end of the day, he called me and let me know that the hardware scan reported no major issues, which meant from a hardware perspective, my laptop was fine. At that time, he suggested reinstalling windows and he would keep the laptop until Tuesday morning.

Before the reinstall, I made it clear that I wanted to have ALL my C drive files backed up. I told him a little while later in a text that I wanted him to export and backup my Chrome and Firefox bookmarks as well. Also, when I filled out the form that Robert required when I dropped off the laptop, I specified that the laptop was a HP Windows 11 "PRO" (emphasis added) laptop. Well, when I saw laptop icons were moved to the center, I checked in the settings to see about the system, to my absolute shock and dismay, Windows 11 HOME had been installed!!!! This was completely unacceptable because he had me fill out an intake form when I dropped the laptop off and I made it CLEAR that the laptop was PRO, which he would have seen If he had bothered to read his own intake form!

On top of that, I looked on the C drive for my old files and none of them were there!! I asked him where the files were and he said that he “misunderstood” me and thought that all I needed were the bookmarks!! So, ALL of that sensitive important data was LOST!!!

All this meant is necessary files I needed were permanently gone, the wrong operating system had been reinstalled! He then made a lot of misleading suggestions. 1) He said that maybe he could “remote” in and reinstall it, but ended up finding out he couldn’t. 2) He ASSURED me that one drive backs up files “silently” so the files that were overwritten during the reinstall were most likely stored on one drive. Of course, when I logged into my one drive account, none of the data was there! 3) He said he would run a special file recovery program that might find those lost files. However, he called me towards the end of the day and said those “files” turned out to be junk files and not any meaningful data! Not once did Robert say “I’m sorry for not backing up your data” or for his gross negligence in not reading his own intake form.

While his prices are fair, what is that to me when his mismanagement cost me all my data and the wrong operating system being installed?!? With this company, I did what I thought was my due diligence. It has a 5.0 rating on google with over 1k reviews!! What this demonstrates is google reviews can be misleading no matter how impressive they may look. This company's lack of professionalism just does not square. I guess every business has a bad day. It is just unfortunate I happened to be the one who suffered as a result of it.

RESPONSE TO THE OWNER: From your reply: "You stated you didn't have much on the laptop since it was 3 months old but only wanted the bookmarks for Firefox and Chrome with I backup up."

That is a lie. I have attached a copy of the text message. You sent me a pic of my desktop. Notice I say "so please back that up AS WELL (emphasis added)", which demonstrates I told you to back up all my data and I was asking you to back up the chrome bookmarks as well. Rather than just man up and say that you made a mistake, you proceed to lie and say I told you I only wanted the bookmarks backed up!! Totally unprofessional and unacceptable. It confirms my review rating.

RESPONSE UPDATE : This is my whole point. You shouldn't be debating with me as a customer. Rather than just apologize, you want to argue with me about something that the attached message clearly proves! As a customer, I should be...

I really don’t know how this place has five stars. I guess I’m the unlucky customer that had the worst experience ever. I drop off my PlayStation 5 on March 11. After several calls trying to get the tech to perform diagnostic test to my PS5 and figure out what was wrong with it, 6 weeks later he said that he will be able to repair it and it will cost $190ish or so. I said, great! A week later I called and he said that he cannot fix it and that there’s really nothing he can do. I asked him to have it ready for me to pick it up and he said he would. I got there 2 days later and the PS5 is not put together. At this point, I don’t even know if it’s the PlayStation I dropped. There are so many parts everywhere around the shop, which is the garage of his house, several all of them non-labeled. I really don’t know. How can he tell which one is which. I strongly discourage anyone to come to this place.

UPDATE: The reply of the owner does not compelled me to change my review. The owner needs to admit that “dropped the ball” with a costumer that sincerely believe the reviews she read. I can’t understand why you would not provide a status of the diagnostic/repair. Every interaction we had during the time you had my PS5 in your shop, I initiated it. The first two messages I’ve sent after dropping the console were ignored. Hence I decided to call each time. I understand you must be busy, but taking 7 weeks to diagnose an issue, tell me it’s reparable and then not, doesn’t speak good about your business. If not paying for the diagnosing was the reason why I didn’t get the kinda service I was expecting, you...

I was looking around for a place to fix my PC, Top Secret Techs was the first to show up. Something about the name told me damn this seems professional then I seen like 700+ reviews and 5 Stars. Damn near blown me away seemed too perfect, went to check if he had anything lower than just the 5 stars, nope. Across the board it seemed like everyone was satisfied. It was a bit sketch, honestly thought it was botted responses and when I showed up to the place to get it done I was really confused. Seen some guy in a garage in a random neighborhood. Literally almost did a U-Turn and went home, but I gave it a try. Came up with my PC, told him my problems and left it with him. Not gonna lie, was still sketch to me. But after a few hours, probably around 3-4ish I got a text basically saying it was finished. He said it was a busy day especially it being a Friday and he had customers coming through even while I was coming up and while I was leaving and still managed to get it done in a couple of hours. I came around to pick it up, I asked him a few questions and he seemed really chill to just answer even when I was just throwing him with question after question about the PC. Answered all my questions thoroughly and while I was doing so it seemed he had numerous customers. He knows what he's doing and does it well, you can definitely see why he gets the reviews he gets and...