Tech Finger, LLC — Local services in Orange Park

It's a shame that I had a poor experience with this company, as I had high hopes to establish them as our go-to computer repair company. We deal with moving claims and frequently see damaged computers that need to be assessed and repaired, and hoped they would fit the bill. I purchased a used laptop for my business and was having some issues with it (blue screen, random shutdowns and restarts) and brought it in to have it repaired. The staff offered to install a new solid state drive, which they stated would likely fix any problems I was having, although I was already spending more than I had hoped I would. Upon picking it back up in a fairly reasonable time frame and paying ~$260, we had the same problems almost immediately. This leads to me to believe either their diagnostic skill are lacking, or they did not take the time to find the real issue. The laptop was brought back to them, and the invoice states that the data was backed up, then the OS was reinstalled and reloaded. There was nothing on the computer, save for dropbox, so the backup was unnecessary. This service was $100. I picked it up the next day and asked what the problem could be. Their response was that it was probably a virus, and to check my dropbox file, and not to download any 3rd party service providers such as Spotify, because they have "ask[.]com" toolbar add-ons and sometimes have malware in with their downloads. I have the same dropbox profile on three other computers, and spotify on three other computers, and have never had any virus or malware programs, nor has spotify ever prompted me or had any option for ANY toolbars. This led me to believe that the problem was still unknown, and I had a feeling I would be back. Their monthly security service plan also seemed to be a sure sell (to them) as it was packaged as a silver bullet, and it was offered during every one of my visits. I then paid their $100 invoice for the "data backup with OS install and operating system reload." The next morning I plugged the laptop, turned it on, and ran the AVG security software they installed. Midway through the scan the computer crashed, went to a blue screen, then restarted. The same problem I had from the beginning. I called immediately around 9am, no one answered, so I left a voicemail with my problem description and contact information. I received no call back so I decided to stop in around 2:45pm. Once they arrived (I waited in the parking lot for 15 minutes for them to come back to work) they ran through exactly what I had done that morning, and could not recreate the problem. So they then ran a blue screen history program and found that the problem was bad memory. Why this wasn't done in the first place, is dubious. I probably wouldn't be writing this review if the next part did not happen. I had hoped after my $100 ($360 including the SSD) total charge they could sell me some used memory at a fair price. They happened to have some new G.Skill DDR3 2X4GB Ram, that had a $55 price. Quite a mark up, considering it can be purchased from newegg for $30-40, and a chimp could install it. I asked about used memory, and he offered me 4GB used memory sticks for $35. This is a ridiculous price for used memory, as new 4GB for a laptop runs for around $20-30. I then went to Best Buy and purchased 8GB of new PNY RAM that was on sale for $40 plus tax. I installed the RAM and am currently typing this review on the laptop now, with no issues. Before it would crash about every 30 minutes or so. That being said, if you're having computer issues, you're better off setting your wallet on fire and fixing it yourself than taking it to tech finger. I hope to receive and encourage a response from the staff, and perhaps some explanations that should have been explicitly...

Thank you for reading my review.

Let me start by saying that based on my day-one interaction with Robert Carroll (manager at Tech Finger), I would have given Tech Finger 5 stars.

I was going to write a long, drawn out explanation of my experience. Instead, I'll just write the highlights.

Cheapest I could find in Jacksonville Stated it came with a 30 day guarantee Robert (manager) was nice and seemed knowledgeable I insisted it was the charger but he insisted it wasn't, also stated he didn't have a similar charger to test it Quoted 3 - 5 days to complete a DC Port swap out Took nearly twice as long with no real explanation or follow up Robert told me when he received the part is when he finally popped the laptop open and tested the DC Port, which ended up being OK Robert ordered me a replacement charger, without my consent or knowing, and insisted I buy it for $85 I declined to purchase the charger, Robert seemed unhappy about it Scheduled a time with Robert to pick it up (which he was OK with), left work early to pick it up Arrived at Tech Finger location over 30 minutes before posted closing time, store was CLOSED and Robert was gone Called Robert and left a voice mail, no response and no call back No attempt was made to contact me and let me know he wouldn't be available and to reschedule Attempted to contact one of the co-owners, no response Finally contacted Robert the next day to pick it up after I got off work Picked it up and paid $35 for bench fee only. Robert said he paid $65 for the charger and would not sell it to me cheaper than $85. I found the same one for $35, brand new on Amazon. This review would've saved me $5 but I didn't want to write it until my experience was complete, I would suggest you do the same ... it's well worth the $5

Would I recommend Tech Finger? Would I go back? Maybe. I would recommend you research your issue thoroughly prior to seeking their help and attempt to solve it first. Had I purchased the charger from Amazon, I would've been out only $35 instead of $70 and worst case scenario, I'd have to replace the DC port AND have a...

Based on all the shining reviews posted here, I decided to bring my HP Laptop in for repair. I thought it had a broken hinge. The Tech took it apart immediately to diagnose the problem. The hinges were fine. Two Standoffs were broke off that secures the front to the back basically. The computer had been dropped, unknown to me. He pointed out the Hard Drive had popped up, out of place. (It's held in by two of the screws that secure the back panel to the laptop). It's not secure once that panel and screws are removed.

Long story short, He tried to sell me a SSD (Solid State Drive) and wanted to upgrade my Ram. I told him everything works fine and I'm happy with it the way it is. I just use this computer for the internet. I just want the broken cover(s) replaced. He persisted about the HDD possibly being damaged, if not now, Down the road. Again, I told him I'd deal with that when it became an issue. Basically, he tried to sell me a bunch a stuff I didn't need. I was disappointed especially after reading all the great reviews here.

I decided to do the repair myself.What aggravated me was how he tried to take advantage, even after I told him I had a backaround in Electronics/Computers. No one wants to throw money away on things they don't need. Be careful. Do your homework. If you know nothing about computers, find a friend you...