Micro Center — Local services in Merrifield

I rarely write reviews, but my experience with Microcenter has been extremely disappointing and I want to share in case this helps someone. In terms of the store and the products they carry, it's definitely your go-to place for anything PC related. The employees are also super helpful from my experience.

My issue is with their repair services. I hate being that person, but it was such a frustrating experience that I want to share so that Microcenter can improve and others can be aware. I had an issue where my PC was randomly freezing. I brought it to Microcenter in February, and they said they were extremely backlogged. I received no communication from them, so I had to go through the online chat service to be able to reach them. I had to call three times over the course of a week before they finally got an answer, and told me that my GPU was failing and offered to replace it for $600. They had my PC for one month before giving me a diagnosis, which is extremely unacceptable, especially since I had to reach out for any form of communication. Had I not reached out bugging them for answers, I have no idea if/when they would have contacted me about my PC. I also had to bug them again to email me the diagnostic (which was just comments from the technicians, no way to verify the information they were saying but whatever).

I picked it up unrepaired, and I decide to buy a new GPU myself a few months later. I replace my GPU, and the exact same issue was happening. At this point, I'm extremely frustrated. I took my PC to Microcenter because I wasn't able to diagnose the issue myself, and I figured for $40 if they can figure out the issue, it would be well worth it. But they didn't. I don't really understand how they could be THAT wrong by telling me it was a faulty part when my GPU was perfectly fine. I also wasted time, energy, and money replacing it because of what they told me (and I'm sure y'all know those are not cheap!).

I take it back to Microcenter after speaking to a really nice technician over the phone. They assured me that they improved their processes and it would be faster. I 100% agree, the turnaround time was faster, it seemed more organized, and they actually communicated with me throughout the process via text. This time, they said it was one of my graphics drivers and they replaced it and it was resolved (took 2 days). I pick up my PC, and literally hours after using it, the issue happened again. I also want to note that they did a kind of sloppy job of closing up my PC (some hand screws were loose), but whatever. I text them a bit and call because what the heck, they were wrong AGAIN.

At this point, I didn't even want to bring it back. Even though they would look at it again for "free", I had already paid $80 total for the two times I brought it in, and both times they were wrong. It's also weird and sketchy to me that I brought essentially the exact same PC with the exact same issue twice and they gave me two very different diagnoses. I also asked them to check the OS, because after talking to some tech friends it seemed like it could be Windows. The technician I talked to even said "yeah, it sounds like an OS issue." I don't think they ever checked, and the issue did end up being the operating system. I resorted to another PC repair company to look at it and they actually fixed the problem (it was the OS, shocker).

I want to emphasize how INSANE it is that they told me I had a faulty part the first time. It was so wrong and didn't make sense for the issue I was experiencing. Were they trying to scam me into buying a new graphics card? Who knows, but it was so ridiculous. The second time, they literally just reinstalled my graphics drivers. That probably took like 10 minutes. I don't think they really knew what they were doing; they just ran some tests and once the tests came back good they called it a day. If you need your PC repaired, look into some other places with good reviews. I don't think the team here is super knowledgeable/experienced, and they couldn't fix my issue which was...

I will start by saying I am 80 years old and Micro Center has completely taken advantage of a Senior Citizen. I cannot tell you the stress this has caused me.

I brought my computer in because I couldn’t connect to the internet. When I was told it was ready I went to pick it up. I asked to see if it was repaired so he started to show me but all that came on the screen was Dell. Why didn’t they test my computer before they called me? First red flag 🚩Tanner wrote that my computer was an HP not Dell. He said he lost backup but No important Data.??

I left it for a second time. I find out that the tech Tanner lost all my files, basically everything. Second red flag 🚩 They called me to say I can pick it up that it was not completely recovered, but I could use it. When I went to pick it up everything was different on it. Then I find out that Tanner installed Windows 11 in my computer. I did not ask for Windows 11 to be installed and they never contacted me to see if I wanted it installed. Who gave them the right to go into my computer and make changes without my permission.?

So I left it there for a third time. My computer was sent to Wisconsin for recovery. They called me again for the 3rd time to tell me it was ready. Third red flag 🚩 Windows 10 was reinstalled. I was told by Joshua that they upgrade everyone’s computer to Windows 11 without permission. That is a breach of my privacy. That’s funny because when I talked to Corporate they told me that I don’t want Windows 11. There are too many problems with it . So why did Tanner do it ????? If you ask David or Greg a question concerning my computer I get lied to. One excuse after another.

When I got home, my computer would not connect to my printer. Greg told me I had to call Dell. So I did and they charged me $100 to reinstall my printer. Dell told me when they installed Windows 11 they disconnected my printer. Then I find out that my files are corrupted and when you click on a file it was empty. Minor detail : Plus I noticed that my mouse connection was gone. Why would they take that out? My files had legal documents, rental leases. Tax information, all gone. All personal files gone too.

Fourth red flag 🚩 So I called Micro Center and talked to David who is the supervisor and he told me “we are DONE “ ! Would not help me . Asked for Greg to call me. He finally did several hours later and told me the same thing “ We are Done” So I am left with a computer with none of my documents there that they lost.

I should mention that I was without a computer from July 2nd to July 28th. When I brought it to Micro Center everything was working fine… just a simple fix to get my internet to work. So, why did they go into my computer and change Windows on it. They had access to all my files and information as well. Honestly, I don’t trust them at all . I’m very concerned about all my information . If they went into my computer to change things I bet they looked at files as well. Can you tell me why they needed my password to fix an Internet problem? I am very concerned about them going into my computer. I do not trust these people .

I have contacted their Corporate Office and they are investigating my situation. Two guys in Corporate who got on my computer told me to take it back to the store because they have the ability to fix my problem. I called Gillware where they sent my computer for recovery and they said why don’t you go back to the store and they can plug it into their computer and fix my problem. The problem is Micro Center won’t do it. They have been investigating my case for over a week now and they won’t give me any updates either. I won’t hold my breath waiting for them to call me! I had no choice but to report them to BBB, Consumer Protection , etc.

The manger Greg and Supervisor David lied about everything. So dishonest, they really think us customers are stupid. Talks to you very condescending, he is a joke as a Supervisor.

All I can say is Stay Away ! There are many reputable computer repair shops in the area . Micro Center...

So normally I’m down with this place. Really solid selection/stock, and the employees are generally pretty helpful and you can count on them to check in on you pretty frequently to make sure you’re doing alright. Problem is it really seems to be all about making a sale more than making sure someone is well taken care of. I dropped my PC off last Monday for diagnostic on what I was thinking is a failing AIO CPU cooler. Check in was pretty smooth, they did an initial test on the bench while I was there to see what I was talking about. Upon confirming that the CPU temps were climbing with no drop or plateau (for lack of a better term), they checked it in for diag. Sweet, no problem. Paid the diag fee and went on my way waiting to hear from them having been given a week timeframe on when to expect some form of response (again, no problem). This is where I start to scratch my head and ultimately get annoyed and frustrated. I hear back from the technician doing the diagnostics saying that “it looks like your water cooler pump has died. It needs to be replaced.” Which I find weird as I felt the coolant being pumped through the unit, with one pipe being warm and the other being cool along with the fact that the PC has been used pretty sparingly over the last three years. But I’m a powersports technician, not a PC tech so I asked if there was any warranty on the product and mentioned my confusion on it going bad with so little use to it. The response I got was as follows, “Aio typically last 3-5 years, it is passed the 1 year warranty of the cooler and no warranty was purchased on the build.” Which, at the time I thought was no big deal. I discuss options with the technician but ultimately decide to just pick up and explore more options to fix as at this time I can’t constitute paying upwards of $450-500 for new part and labor, which labor rates are a bit wild in my opinion. They’re about on par with auto shop labor rates, but whatever, it’s a business and they need to make their money too. Fast forward to today, I go in to pick up my tower. Pickup was smooth, the guy in the service area friendly and quick with helping get me squared away. I go to look at what was in stock for different cooling systems. I find a couple that I’m curious about and go ahead and pick one to go verify if it is compatible with what I already have. One thing I noticed, though, that made me wonder was that most had listed a 5 or even 6 year manufacturer’s warranty on the box. So I ask the sales man in that department if they have access to purchase history as I want to make sure of a couple things. One, what did the AIO I purchased three years ago come with as a warranty and two, would the one I found be compatible with the CPU I purchased at the same time. We verified that what I had purchased came with a 5 year warranty on parts AND labor. Upon seeing that, I then ask about how I could get that covered to which the sales guy pushed it off as “You didn’t buy our warranty package, you’ll have to take it direct to the manufacturer,” and proceeded to worry about putting his barcode stickers on the two items I had in my cart while brushing off my follow up questions. At this rate I’m pretty upset as I would’ve thought that, one, I would’ve been told by the service tech about the physical part having a five year warranty (not whatever this phantom 1 year cooler warranty they had mentioned) and two, that since the warranty from Lian Li covers both parts AND LABOR, why would they not be reaching out to Lian Li to figure out a solution. Why should I, as the consumer, have to become the communicator to get this covered when it’s pretty apparent to me that the manufacturer will cover everything involved and Micro Center will still manage to get their cut out of this without it being any cost to myself as it is still well within the warranty time frame. I’ve now wasted a week of my time and now have to figure out how to get the AIO warrantied and be without a working PC for a longer timeframe than...