on 1/8/03 3:31 PM, Mac Canada at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > http://www.cpused.com/ > ***MAC CPUSED Toronto
Shudder. I wouldn't wish these buggers on my worst enemy. Rip off artists, both in their price list, in the service they provide and in the fees they charge for repairs. Not only are their repair fees exorbitant but they don't tell you up-front that they'll f*** you up the rear for even looking at a computer (if they'd been honest up front I would've taken it elsewhere and not been turned into a very dissatisfied customer). To tell us that my partner's laptop's power/sound card was broken (which I knew (since I saw the trip happen and opened up the computer myself), and told them what was wrong *and* I very *CLEARLY* told them I wanted them to tell me how much it would cost to repair and asked them right away what it would cost... no answer)... Anyway, for these jack asses to tell us what we already knew was $75. To repair it $400!!! I went to a tech I regularly deal with and he did some fishing and told me that they were over-charging by about $200 -- he'd get the same part *new* from Apple for half of what they were telling me it would cost. In the end he ended up being able to *fix* it for $40. If I'd wanted to, I could've gone onto eBay & I could've bought a sound card for the Lombard for $30 and paid this fellow to install it (which would also have cost $40... a Lombard takes more than 5 minutes to open up). Not only is mine a painful experience, but someone else I encountered while I was having our fiasco had an even more painful experience. He dropped off his laptop to be evaluated for sale/trade in (I was witness to both of his encounters with CPUsed). He very VERY explicitly and *clearly* (I was a bystander and fully understood his word and intent) explained to the tech that he had to back up his hard drive before he would agree to trade in or sell his computer and that he would take it home after he got the quote from CPUsed to back it up. The tech also mentioned that they could transfer the files from his old computer to a new laptop, if he decided to buy a laptop from them when he got his quote (this was before he explained his intent to take his computer home to be backed up which the tech fully acknowledged and agreed was a good course of action). The guy comes back a day later to pick up his computer (& I was there to pick up our laptop). They had erased his HD and charged him $75 for the privilege of having his data erased (it seems $75 is their base rate... you don't have to pay for a male hooker, just go to CPUsed and get anything done to your computer). The manager wasn't at all helpful and the fellow who took in the computer disavowed knowledge of his previous day's conversation, *even* with my having witnessed the previous day's conversation. He fell back on the contract which had to be signed which stated that testing a computer for trade/sale could involve erasing the data. It took this person a number of days (with me having documented both conversations) before CPUsed even agreed to try to recover the data on the HD which they so conveniently erased. He only got a fraction of his data back. I don't know about his money, but he's another person who will *never* do business with them again. I don't mind disclaimers. I think they're a valuable and necessary protection against perception of guaranteed fixes in dicey circumstances by ethical companies. But, companies that have charges hidden in fine print and do not properly warn of dangerous procedures are not behaving in a decent manner -- CPUsed was borderline in the case of our laptop & assessment for repair -- I should've read the small print and not gone on the tech's word. However, small print should not have been doing the job that was rightfully theirs -- to notify us UP FRONT of the charges. A decent business will do so. But, in the case of this other gentleman where he very *clearly* (there was no doubt in my mind) explained to the tech what he would do (drop laptop off for evaluation and then take it home afterwards to back up data, and he even *asked* whether his data would be safe) CPUsed was completely in the wrong in the way they dealt with him. They should have honoured their tech's promises of data security, and when they failed to live up to it should have compensated him at the very least, done everything in their power to recover the data, and not also done him the indignity of charging him $75. I'm used to businesses being cut throat. What I'm not used to is management which has no ethical compass and does not honour its employees assurances, and a company which charges extreme premiums to have a very poor customer service and ethical compass (although, most often I find that the most honest and up front businessmen are not those charging the highest prices... I guess a decent person cannot also be gouging her customers... it would go against their nature). The funny thing in all of this, if you can consider it funny, is that even if he'd bought another laptop from these con artists there is no way his data could have made it to that laptop since it had already been erased. That's simply downright atrocious service, and it wasn't just a case of one bad apple (if you'll pardon the pun). The fact that the manager was as spineless as the tech, despite my having witnessed the original and subsequent conversations with both the tech and the manager was a really bad representation of this company. Caveat emptor. I would try http://www.carbonation.com before ever going to CPUsed (I haven't dealt with Carbonation yet but I just get the feeling they are a more decent company from their advertising and from word and mouth (I've heard some rather nasty comments about CPUsed in the past few months... I made the mistake of selling a laptop to them and taking store credit... at least they can't jack up the prices on Apple hardware so I bought a computer on behalf of a friend... I'm wishing I'd sold it on eBay instead, now). Eric. -- Mac Canada is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... 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