CrashMasters Computer, Phone & Tablet Repair — Local services in Norton Shores

TL;DR: Gave unrealistic timeframe expectations, also lacked overall communication and listening skills. Never received call that they gave up on the computer and it was awaiting customer pick up. Unclear regarding what troubleshooting steps were performed.

Saturday, Aug 3, 2024, 12:56 Brought my HP desktop to CrashMasters because it will not turn on, keeps restarting every 2 seconds. I explained to the technician (DJ, I think) who, to my understanding, was the PC Repair person since he said he is off Sunday & Monday but will be able to look at it and give me a call on Tuesday. I explained that I’ve already replaced the Power Supply Unit (PSU) and was worried it might be the motherboard. Tech pointed out the dent in the cover of the tower and said that might be the cause of the problem. It took a little bit for them to understand that the dent was caused by the cover getting squished from a door while it was off there for could not cause a problem. I left the store with an understanding that I would get a call on Tuesday with his findings.

Tuesday, Aug 6, 2024, 14:06 Called to get status update since I didn’t hear back yet. He stated that a bunch of computers came while he was off, and he is going through them, and it probably won’t be until Wednesday for him to look at mine. I am still puzzled how computers coming in after mine would affect when he could get to mine, but anyways...

Thursday, Aug 8, 2024, 15:05 Called to check status since I didn’t hear anything on Wednesday. The gentleman that answered the phone started giving me a slight attitude explaining the standard 5-7 business days to troubleshoot a computer. I cut him off and said I only am calling because of the timeline I was told when I dropped off the computer and when I called on Tuesday. It wouldn’t make sense for me to be calling so much if I was told 5-7 business days. The employee on the phone told me he would let the tech know I called for an update.

Thursday, Aug 8, 2024, 17:15 Tech called me back telling me he believes it is the motherboard. He can’t check the PSU because it’s proprietary, but he is still going to check the CPU but most likely it is the motherboard. He said he will price one out and call me to let me know what the cost would be to fix it. I wasn’t clear on the timeframe of this but based on the last call I didn’t want to sound like I was rushing them even though I was going out of town in about a week and hoped the computer could be repaired before then.

Wednesday, Aug 14, 2024, 10:01 I gave them some time as to not rush them and received the type of response I got on Thursday. I only called to inquire about having someone else pick up the computer on my behalf when they were done with it since I would be out of town for a few weeks. They advised me the computer as already ready for pickup and has been. They stated that they were not able to test the PSU or CPU as these were proprietary and that replacing the motherboard would be too expensive to even do. They recommended me to come in so they could do a custom build for me with a new PC when I returned.

Monday, Aug 19, 2024, 17:37 I went to the store to pick up my PC. I asked them “what they did for the $40?” He started reading off the monitor very quickly. I recorded the conversation and slowing it down I still can’t make out what he said. After that the response I received was “The $40 for the diagnostic just covers the basic check out of the entire system, lets you know what’s going on and the whole 9. That’s what you agreed to pay for when you-” This still didn’t tell me what was done.

Overall Prior to bringing the computer there I tried out different RAM, SSD, & PSU. I figured they had equipment or knowledge to be able to further test the PC better than I could. This appears not to be the case. The computer is valued at $850+ (with 16gb RAM, 1tb SSD, and 500w PSU upgrades I have) and I can order a motherboard for S199 on Ebay.

If CrashMasters has a different view of how this all occurred, I’d be...

Though I know the owner responds to every negative review, I believe my experience cannot be explained away with misunderstandings or is any fault of my own.

Firstly, when they say they are going to call, they do not call. It became a running joke of our house after a few days. Finally after having my laptop for days without a diagnoses or any communication, they swore they would call Wednesday night before they closed. Needless to say, we didn’t hear from them until the next morning after the owner say my first negative review. Also, they took my laptop apart right away so I couldn’t even take my computer back.

So, flash forward to four days since I dropped the laptop off. They finally decided it’s the battery after spending four days messing with the mother board. The owner told us it was definitely the battery and definitely not the board (remember this for later). I took the bad review down because they swore they’d make it right.

Finally, after a week and a half I get my laptop back with a “new” battery. I do the charge up and let die thing you’re supposed to do with batteries. When I finally open my computer not a single program will turn on. So we bring the laptop back and this was also their fault. They fixed it that day.

So I can finally use my computer three weeks after I originally dropped it off. That’s until the battery refuses to take a charge. I call today to tell them the battery won’t take any charge. Now, I know enough about computers to know you need some power in the battery to turn the computer on. The battery just doesn’t accept the juice it needs to turn on. Now they tell me it’s a mother board issue. I asked how it could be the motherboard when they had just told me it was not the mother board. I think the most frustrating thing about working with this company is that they have an answer for everything but do not accept fault. Just admit that MacBooks aren’t your strong suit. They have plenty of great reviews for fixing phones and video game counsels.

When I saw the way the owner responded to negative reviews on here, I knew better than to work with them. My husband and I were going to take my laptop to Affordable iStore after the first time they broke my laptop. But the owner is a good talker so we trusted him. I really honestly wished I had followed my gut. He swore he would make it right.

Today we asked for a full refund but were told he’d rather just replace the battery. Honestly though, how many times should I let them break my laptop? We’ll probably never see a full refund and I have to pay more now to have the Affordable iStore fix my computer. That cost is in addition to the $700 replacement laptop I had to buy to get me through these three weeks. It has cost me now close to $1000 all because I trusted the wrong people. Bring your broken phone screens and PCs here, but don’t even let them touch your Macs.

My husband and I will never trust CrashMasters again. We feel mislead, lied to, and honestly we feel stolen from. We feel entirely cheated.

I should tell you right now though that we were waiting for his calls. Our voicemails were not full. We never missed a call. We tried our best to be patient. But we would go days without hearing anything from them. Like many people, the pandemic has caused me to work from home. My laptop is my life line. I told them that at the beginning. It doesn’t seem they were concerned about that. Maybe they thought they could fix my Mac. I will never know. All I know is nearly $1000 later and my MacBook is worst off than before. Just go to Affordable iStore, Apple users. It is so much less...

NEVER LEAVE YOUR ELECTRONICS HERE!!!

This place is part owned by a kid named James. After taking 38 days to fix my PS4 Plus, no one told me it was done. After calling the Apple Ave location where it was dropped off, I was told it was at a different location and they'd have it done and delivered to where I dropped it off for repair.

Their policy states that anything left for 30 days or longer they get to keep.

They took over 30 days to fix it, they took over 2 months to tell me it was fixed and another month to get it to the location I dropped it off at.

Citing their policy of 30 days, they kept it and sold it despite the fact that it wasn't fixed within 30 days nor was I told it was fixed and it was not at the location had dropped it off at.

Rather than make things right, I was told by James that it was my fault for not picking it up on time. That would've been impossible considering the repair took longer, and communication was non existent.

I wouldn't have bothered with this review, but the smug attitude I encountered was highly unprofessional and cared nothing about the fact that they sold my stuff before I was told that I could pick it up.

Most service based businesses will attempt to make things right when they screw up.

This was made out to be my fault, apparently James either didn't want a happy customer. Selling my PS4 Plus before I was told it was done is just taking advantage of a made up policy that allows for confiscation of your electronics BEFORE your even called and told to pick it up.

NEVER drop your electronics off here, lest you're...