Walked into a big box store in Denver and saw their 'repair center' was just a guy with a heat gun and a tube of thermal paste.

I was picking up some solder and saw the line. They charge $80 for a 'diagnostic' and their main fix for anything that won't boot is re-pasting the CPU. No proper meter on the bench, just that one trick. It's a racket that gives our whole trade a bad name. How many of you have seen these quick-fix shops pop up, and what's the real cost to customers when the actual fault is a bad cap or a shorted mosfet they never even check for?

2 comments

2 Comments

leet3216d agoTop Commenter

You mentioned the real cost when they miss a bad cap. The scary part is data loss. That "repaired" PC with a failing drive gets sold back as fixed, then dies a week later with family photos gone forever. They're not just overcharging, they're creating e-waste and destroying personal history for a quick eighty bucks.

lane.drew16d agoMost Upvoted

Totally get that. I mean, I'd probably be the guy who missed the cap and then felt awful about it for weeks.