Answers — Local services in Lake Como

Short story - paid for a new screen which was not given to me; Answers could not correctly repair laptop, suggested I get a new one, and I ended up fixing the problem myself in minutes.

In March of 2017, I brought in my Leveno laptop to Answers because the screen would not always turn on. Their diagnosis found the hard drive needed to be replaced. Nick, also recommended that I downgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 7. I picked up the repaired laptop on March 30 and was billed $300 for the hard drive plus $75 for anti-virus software I did not request, want or need. Nick agreed to remove the anti-virus software from the computer and the bill and I returned in a few days to have the software removed. After a couple of weeks the same problem with the screen returned, but when I brought it in to Answers the screen would start up. The problem re-occurred a couple of times, so on May 24 they installed a new screen for $214. That did not resolve the problem so they kept my laptop at their shop for several weeks. I called a number of times and they failed to return my calls. At one point they stated they were waiting for a cable. In October they replaced the cable and that did not resolve the issue. They told me it may have been a defective new screen and were waiting for a replacement screen. In mid-November Answers informed me my laptop was still not working and it was time to replace it. They suggested a refurbished laptop that was originally $2,000+. I said I would review the suggested laptop and get back to them. I took my non-working laptop home and decided to do some research online regarding the screen not coming on. The research indicated one problem could be a bad RAM card. Since I had given up on the laptop and was about to toss it, I decided to open the laptop case to see if switching the RAM might fix the problem. As soon as I opened up the back of the laptop, I noticed a loose connection. I pushed the connection in, put the back on, started the computer and the screen came on and has been working perfectly since. I also noticed that the screen on my laptop was the original screen, not the new one I paid $214 for the supposed replacement.. I went back to the store to inform Nick of the loose connection and old screen, but he was not there so I left a message with another person at the shop. Also, downgrading to Windows was probably ill advised, as I continue to get messages that my computer will not upgrade critical Windows software because I need Windows 10. Nick never got back to me, so I sent two letter, one by email and one hand delivered to his shop.

See Nick's reply. This should give potential customers more concern. He blames the customer for his mistakes. The fact is that after trying to fix my laptop for months, he told me it was beyond repair. As I stated in my original review, I only opened the laptop after it was deemed not repairable, noticed the loose connection, connected it and the screen worked. In fact I am writing this review from that laptop that Nick said was no good and offered a replacement to sell me. I don't claim to know more about computers than "Answers", but with my limited skills I stumbled on the fix. Nick cannot seem to comprehend the facts here or decides to ignore them. I know the screen I got back was the original because of distinctive marks/scratches on it. I told Nick's associate at the shop about the screen being the original and he explained that Nick may have been testing the two screens to determine if the replacement screen was defective. Not sure what Nick's point is about stating that I disconnected the cable when I took it apart - fact is that after plugging in the cable, all is good. Except of course his removal of Windows 10 continues to cause issues. That's my story - just the facts. You can decide if Nick is the kind of person you want to deal with. The true test of good service is when something goes wrong will they admit their faults or blame...

Nick sold me a reburbished Lenovo IBM Thinkpad 3 yrs ago for $750. Since then it has crashed twice, and both times had to be cleaned and cleared of viruses: $300 each time. On Wednesday the system was operating but I couldn't connect to any networks. Brought it in, Nick told me he'd call the next day and let me know what needed to be done. I had to give him $50 up front. At 11 o'clock on Thursday morning I drove over to the shop since I hadn't heard anything from Nick. The shop was closed and nobody answered. I called twice; it went to voice mail. No one got back to me. I had to have a laptop for work. If I don't work I don't get paid; I teach classes online. I had to cancel Thursday's classes. Didn't want to cancel Friday, so I ended up going to Staples, getting a brand new HP 17 and two years of service and tech support for much less than I've paid to Answers these past three years. And...18 months to pay it off, interest free. Bottom line, I am all for supporting local small businesses. But the service here is sporadic at best, and you will wait days, possibly weeks, for your device to be repaired. Thank God for Staples. They had me up and operating the same day, and I was to...

I took my macbook pro to Answers last week to find out why my computer no longer turned on. The tech informed me it could be one of 2 issues but the laptop was only 6 months old. I bought it on Amazon so I assumed I couldn't get it fixed within the warranty. Steve called Apple to assure me that my laptop was still within the repair window and made sure I took it to Apple to get it looked at. Instead of Steve taking my money and charging me he went above and beyond to make sure Apple took care of the issue for free. He saved me over $1100 dollars in repairs and took none of it. This is a computer shop that I can recommend to anyone looking for honest service and will even go out of their way to save you money. Thanks Steve for doing this for me. As a full time worker and full time student, this was huge and I can't recommend you...