Staples Computer Repairs Consumer Reviews - Page 2

TOMS RIVER, NEW JERSEY -- I was struck with a deadly VIRUS a week ago. My internet provider is Comcast. I pay each month for computer assistance. I had called 1-800-COMCAST for assistance. I was attached to a tech in Fla. This person may have been a politician by the way she danced around my problem. She finally said she could not me. So she transferred me to a Tech in Texas. That person could not help either and transferred me to Kentucky. It gets better - I was transferred to the Philippines... no luck then to NJ - they tried but no luck - so I was transferred to Missouri, then back to the Philippines again. There I spoke to a tech that tried to help.

I had told each of the spots I was transferred to that the female in Florida had started a service ticket and told me it would cost $199 to have a Service Tech come to my home in New Jersey. Back to the Philippines, this Tech was very helpful and tried to do something. But when he checked there was no info concerning my problem. I was told it would cost an additional $99 to expedite the home visit. This all happened over the course on 1 hour and 10 minutes. A total of $298.

I then hung up and went to STAPLES!!! What a good move. There is where I met **. He saw that I was extremely upset. He spoke to me and not at me. He explained the policy of the store for repairs. He suggested the best plan and after his explaining what it covered, I choose that plan. ** had found almost 200 affected items on my computer.

In my estimation, ** is a Doctor of Computers. The expertise that he showed was nothing less than spectacular. Knowing exactly what to say to the customer, calming the customer and reassuring the customer that "All will be OK". Boy, what a representative for your organization. I would put ** in the Outstanding Employee of the Month status.

PLANT CITY, FLORIDA -- I'm hoping my experience will get out to a few people and will get passed on about this store at 1866 Jim Redman Pkwy. I have just moved here from out of state about 6 months ago due to the economy and I don't know where a lot of places are so I took my desktop computer to Staples on a Sunday to have it cleaned up of viruses, malware and Trojans. Now I'm not the smartest person on the computer but I do have a fair amount of knowledge to know how to troubleshoot and find some problems.

With that being said, at first I was not impressed with the IT guy that was there. I explained to him what was going on with my unit, he seemed to talk in circles without saying anything when explaining what was happening and what he could do and told me that he would have it taken care of in a few days. Reluctantly I left it with him. My wife called a few days later and asked how things are going, she was told that they are just getting started with it and had a few more things to do.

A week went by and I called, I was told that they found the problem and should be ready by that afternoon. When I went to pick up my computer that Tech recommended a different anti-virus so we bought it at a price of $60-70 (total price of this experience was about $200). When I got my computer back my background photo was wiped out, my defragmenter, calculator and a few other programs and icons were missing. Needless to say I was not taking it back. I dealt with it until a week ago 12/9/11 when I had another issue with a Trojan. When I explained to the Tech what was happening with my computer he knew exactly what had happened and I dropped it off.

To make this long story short, that Tech found OVER 1600 Trojans, malware, worms and other viruses. When I approached the manager of Staples he basically told me that the warranty had run out and that's too bad. DO NOT HAVE YOUR COMPUTER SERVICED AT STAPLES.

STAMFORD, CONNECTICUT -- I bought my laptop in the Staples & they offered me if I want to buy one more year extra insurance, and I got it. They told me if my laptop break they'll fix it, and if it's break more than 3 times, they'll replace it. But guess what? My laptop broke 5 times :/ Still didn't get any replacement. It's always same problem (black screen, shutting down by itself)...

Every third month my laptop is broken and I'm dropping off to the Staples so they can fix it, and they were keeping my laptop 3 or more weeks, which means, they spent more time with my laptop than I did. Anyway, last time I insisted for replacement, they told me I need to speak with someone else. They can tell me anything about it, so they gave me the number of some supervisor from Staples. I called and explained what was the problem, and lady goes like "Can you take battery from your laptop, and plug in, then start your laptop, then shut it down, then put a battery", then this and that…

So of course I told her "I'm sorry I can't fix it. I can't test it. Even people from service couldn't do anything about it. They were just fixing temporary..." So I told her I want to speak to somebody else about replacement, then I got so, some guy on the phone, and I explained to him everything, every detail, but he told me that I can't get any replacement because my laptop was fixed two times at the HP and 2 times at the Staples... and I go "so??"

Then he told me my laptop should be fixing 5 times at the Staples, then we can talk about replacement. OMG. I was totally upset, 'cause they really don't care about it, they don't care about anything, they just care how to sell it to you & that's all - later just forget about them.

Anyway, I drop off for the 5th time my laptop to the Staples, and told them they should fix it as soon as possible, 'cause I have to go to Europe (in 20 days) & stay there for a 4 months & I need it as soon as possible. I call them today and they said my laptop should be fixed in 3 weeks... They are CRAZY!!! I said, "I don't care anymore, just want replacement!!!" So they are supposed to call me. I'M NOT GOING TO BUY ANYTHING OVER THERE!!! I'm not going to make step in that store!!! Bad, bad, bad.

HAMILTON, NEW JERSEY -- Although I did not meet ** in person until I picked up my repaired HP computer, I had a number of phone calls during the time my computer was in the repair section of Staples store #1590. He kept me posted on the problems that arose with repair of the 2 1/2 month old computer that had evidently been exposed to a virus. ** was very polite and kept me posted about the problems that occurred.

When it had finally been repaired, I went to the store and met **. He turned out to be even more personable and helpful than his calls provided. He went over a number of things that could prevent further problems with the computer and suggested a purchase of a problem solver program that would be a good purchase for the future. He enrolled me in the program and explained the usage. ** is a very effective member of the Staples organization.

SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA -- These people will promise you everything until it's time to produce results. My laptop has been sitting on the counter in a UPS box all day. They have lied and been deceptive since I took it in. Now they say my programs will not be on the drive even though a backup was performed prior to the repair. To make it short and avoid the sordid details... Staples is very friendly and "can do" when you first come in the door but once they have your hardware, you cease to be of interest to them. User beware... These people couldn't care less about customer service or following through on their promises.

Update: I just got off the phone with Staples. They wiped my drive and say it's my fault the programs are all gone and cannot be restored even though they did a backup before doing repairs. Nothing was ever said that they could not restore programs, only data. These people are very bad at what they do. Avoid Staples at all cost.

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA -- A non techie friend brought her Toshiba laptop to Staples to see what the cost would be to replace the cracked LCD screen. The price they quoted her was $595.00 which is $200 more than the laptop cost new. When she asked why it would be so costly, the reply was merely "That's what it costs."

I took it upon myself to write to Staples via their website and explained that I know an OEM screen would cost $75-$90 retail (aftermarket probably $20 less) and that any competent tech could replace the screen in under 1/2 hour. I asked how it is possible to charge so much for this repair. Inconvenience? Outright thievery is what I would call it. I took the laptop to a local computer store and the screen was replaced for $130 parts & labor.

HOUSTON, TEXAS -- Don't get me wrong, I like Staples. Some of their brands are better than name brands... But the tech repair sucks! In September I took my laptop to Staples to have it repaired. Sometimes when turn it on, I get a black screen... So to avoid the laptop crashing, I took it to Staples and paid the $69.99 fee. 3 days later, they called me telling me that I need to change the hard drive and the battery. I told them to go ahead and change the hard drive but do not want the battery. After a week they called me that I can pick up my laptop.

Aside from the fee, I still had to pay $120.00. 40 days later, the damn thing had the same problem again. I called earlier and I was told that they only cover a 30-day warranty on labor. That means I have to pay another $69.99 to have it checked again. They should have figured out what was wrong with it in the first place. I AM SOOOOOO NOT HAPPY ABOUT THIS!

LAKE STEVENS, WASHINGTON -- After downloading and installing the latest MS Windows update yesterday, the computer would get only to the "Windows resuming" and then go directly to a black screen. There was no error message. I tried a hard reboot several times, unplugged it, let it rest, nothing helped. The machine wouldn't go into "safe reboot" mode or any other mode except black screen. This morning I was at Staples first thing. It's the only "computer" store in my area and I was pretty certain if they were going to be able to fix it at all, it was going to be too costly for me.

Handed the man my computer, he set it on the counter, did some kind of magic and the computer was running in under one minute. Then he cleaned it up for me and charged me the outrageous price of $10.85. Needless to say, I wanted to leap over the counter and give him the biggest bear hug I could. My computer is my life, especially in the winter when I am sometimes trapped inside for days at a time. I will not hesitate to go to this store again for repair or any other reason. They are friendly, helpful w/o being overbearing, and the store is bright, clean and well organized.

MCMINNVILLE, OREGON -- I took my computer in to McMinnville, OR Staples for a $9.99 "speed up". When I picked it up, they told me everything was fine. I got it home and didn't have access to any files or programs. Like they had all disappeared. Took it back in. After a week, they called and said that the computer had a virus. The files and programs were there, just hidden by a virus. Hmmm, no virus sighted when they did the initial "speed up." Suddenly they want $150 to clean up the virus. I don't think so. Could this be deliberate sabotage? I certainly hope not. But at any rate DON'T TAKE YOUR COMPUTER TO STAPLES for any kind of work.

EasyTech's virus removal and optimization services are not worth the $169.99 I paid for them. This service was offered on existing machines my family owns at the time I purchased a new laptop from the guys here at the store. Needless to say, the customer service after the computer was purchased and they had my almost $200 for the repair, completely dropped off. Not to mention, the machine, which had been repaired, still had traces of a Trojan Vundo on it.

With the economy and everything, I cannot afford to purchase more services to repair the already 'repaired' laptop. I did a search for online companies that can perform repairs via internet services. I was able to come across a company that did connect to my machine and clean up EasyTech's mess. Luckily, this only cost me $104.99 compared to the almost $200 at Staples. Secureremotesupport.com was the company that did it. The technician was very friendly, and was able to perform the repair on the spot. Wait times were a big thing to me, because as you know it, most computer repair shops turn around time is TWO WEEKS.

24 hours was a much better sounding arrangement to me. Secure remote support's techs took care of me, and I'm sure they will you. My best suggestion would be to at least look around before you make a decision on a company.