The Five Most Costly Misconceptions About Computer Repair and Maintenance

4)You can always get a better deal on computer software, equipment, or services by shopping online or at big box stores.

The key word here is "deal". Sure you can always find a cheaper price if you shop online, but you might actually end up getting the short end of the stick. As with anything in life, you get what you pay for. The computer industry is loaded with pirated software, second or black market products, or products that were manufactured, found to have issues, and now need to be dumped to unsuspecting consumers. Suppliers simply cannot give you dirt cheap prices AND Champagne service. If you are getting a cheap bargain, chances are you will get very little if NO service after the sale. If something goes wrong, or if you just have a question, you might find out that the "customer service" line only goes to a voice mail box that never gets checked, or that you have to submit questions via e-mail that takes DAYS to return. Before you buy ANY computer equipment, make sure you know the answers to these questions:

(a) How long have they been in business? The last thing you want to do is but a "lemon" of a computer from a fly-by-night organization. Thanks to the Internet, ANYONE can setup a website and start selling computer equipment, parts, and software. That is why you want to look for a company that has been in business for at least 10 years.

(b)What is their guarantee or warranty on the equipment or services that you are buying? As a standard rule, they should offer a 1 year replacement warranty on all parts.

(c)How do they handle returns and exchanges? Do you have to ship the defective item back to them on your dime or do they arrange to have it picked up?

(d)What is the turn around time for an item? This is why many people prefer to buy all equipment from a local vendor. If something goes wrong, you can drive to the store, speak to a real person, and get and instant replacement in most cases.

(e)What type of help desk support they offer? If you are like most people, you want to speak directly to a knowledgeable technician when you need help. However, most companies only offer e-mail and web-based support, and charge a hefty fee for anything outside of that. Which brings me to the next question...

(f)Is your support free or charged by the minute? Make sure you are very clear on what support is free and what is fee-based.

(g)Where is their help desk and customer service office located? Many of the big vendors are shipping their help desk support overseas to save money. While this works out great for them, it can be incredibly frustrating when you are trying to communicate with their customer support representatives. Do YOU really know how to install, configure and troubleshoot this new device? If not, you may want to consider hiring a qualified technician to install it. Quite often, drivers and software can conflict and cause problems and unless YOU have installed this device before, it might be worth the small fee to get someone else to do it. CMS recommends products that we are familiar with and authorized to sell by the vendors.

5) All computer repair shops are created equal. Your best options will be the one who offers the lowest price.

As we stated a moment ago, you get what you pay for. A cheap price usually means a cheap job. Really good technicians do NOT work cheap because they are in high demand. The only technicians that will work cheap are those that are just starting out who are grossly inexperienced. With your valuable data, precious family photos, favorite music files, and other irreplaceable documents at stake, do you REALLY want the cheapest technician working on your machine? We take the view that most people want value for money and simply want the job done right. You will find that we are not the cheapest and we do not apologize for that. You will also find that we are not the most expensive. We simply feel that we should offer a good service at a fair price. That's why Computer Maintenance Service has been able to stay in business for over almost 20 solid years.

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