John’s wife’s laptop died, and his local Geek Squad wants $800 total to replace the motherboard. John says he found the motherboard for $150, and he wants to know why Geek Squad thinks it will require $650 in labor. So all you IT and geek readers out there, we ask you: is this a fair price?
Here’s John’s story. The first paragraph is really more about how Best Buy screwed up yet another easy sale by failing to offer the bare minimum of service. Paragraphs two and three are about the motherboard.
My wife’s laptop died about a 2 weeks after the 1 year warranty expired. We paid about $1000 (including tax) for it from Sam’s Club. We contacted HP on the off-chance that they’d be cool about it and cover it anyway. No luck. So my wife, desperate to get her laptop working, decided to take it to The Geek Squad. First, they told her that they couldn’t diagnose it there that they’d have to send it away to do so. She uses this as her work computer, even though we bought it ourselves, and couldn’t wait to get it back. So she said she’d buy a new one then and there and have them transfer the data to her new laptop. I’d already found one that would be good for her while she was at the Geek Squad counter and we went over to it. We couldn’t find a store associate anywhere. So my wife went up to the counter to have someone come over to help us. We told them where we’d be standing/waiting and they said they’d send someone right over. We waited, and waited, and waited. No one. My wife was fuming at this point and she went back up the counter and demanded that they give her back her laptop, and told them that they just lost out on a guaranteed $1200+ sale then and there.
But it gets better.
So, desperate to get her laptop working, she had me take it back the them the next day. They sent it in ($89 just to look at it, btw) and 2 weeks later the diagnosis is that it needs a new motherboard. I looked online and a new HP motherboard for this unit costs $150 to a consumer like me. This means, they’re charging $650 minimum to install a motherboard. Being a year old, I could buy a brand new laptop that’s almost twice as good for that same price!
We found this “Ask a Geek” article from a year and a half ago that says you should expect to pay anywhere from $250 to $500 for a new motherboard, but that’s including the cost of the motherboard, a new operating system license to replace the one your computer came with (which likely is not licensed to work on the new hardware), and 3-4 hours of labor to swap out the part and reinstall everything. Opinions? Advice? Suggestions on better places to go for this sort of computer repair?
“The Cost Of Replacing A Motherboard” [Ask a Geek]
(Photo: tarale)
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Dell just replaced my motherboard on my laptop under warranty. I didn’t need a new license or to reinstall everything. The hard drive is intact.
I know that on-site support costs a more, but to me it’s worth it. I don’t have to release the laptop into the hands of someone and guess when I’ll get it back.
Not many tech experts here I see. If I were to do this repair I would be charging an hourly rate so you would only pay for the work actually done. My estimate would be $150-300 in labor. This depends on how hard it is to get the current motherboard out and put everything back together and the possibility of issues that might be encountered. Some laptops are a huge pain. On the other hand this might only be a 30 minute install. I do most of my work rather fast, since I know what I’m doing (unlike Geek Squad). Either way Geek Squad charges you full price, but a local tech charges for the work done. I can’t see this possibly taking over 3 hours though.
Tell you what, go to computer-q.com and send me an email with your model number. I can look up your laptop and give you an idea of how long it would actually take to replace the motherboard. I’ll tell you how to find a good repair tech in your area or maybe even find one for you.
@narq: That is way too much. You can’t get a MB replaced in under 30 min? Wow. Now if you’re going to back up data and reinstall the OS, then that is a fair price. But just the MB, come on man.
@lvhotrain: $150 to $200 to replace the board is a fair price. Especially if you have to pay for insurance, millage, certs, tools and everything else.
The scariest computer repair horror stories start with “I took my computer to Geek Squad”…
Anyway, I do a lot of laptop repair for the students at a college I work at. If the laptop is not under warranty, or the warranty has been voided by the milk spilled in it, I will fix it (for $20 + price of parts). (such a deal)… the general public gets a per hour rate.
ebay is good places for parts if you know what you are looking for.
[www.innovidian.com]
Very fine small print at the bottom of this website.
Tech Assurance Premier requires a minimum 3 month commitment. Tech Assurance Premier does not cover monitors and/or peripherals, laptop/netbook screens, motherboards, processors, and/or batteries.
What’s the point of paying $30 a month if they don’t cover the most important part of the pc? That’s like buying health insurance and telling you sorry we don’t cover the heart, brain, eyes, and anything else that makes you alive but we do cover the common cold and flu. Another ripe off company.
@DePaulBlueDemon: chumia40 are you a employee of this company? This company is a ripe off. Just like geek squad.
GS would have ordered the board from an OEM. I would not be suprised if the MB cost $450-$550.
$800 is a tad steep. However, eBay prices for motherboards should not be used as a measure of getting a reliable laptop repair quote. eBay parts come from various sources and prices vary drastically. Also, the parts bear absolutely no guarantees from the manufacturer.
Generally speaking you’re looking at $400 for a motherboard for just about any system factory direct. Some might run higher for more powerful systems. I’ve seen Toshiba prices as high as $600 direct from them.
eBay is not a bad route to go, and I’ve had a good amount of luck with them. However I do warn my customers that while I will guarantee my labor I cannot provide any guarantees on the parts themselves. I buy from sellers with good + feedback and a good DOA policy.
I can actually answer this question with some expertise as this is what I do for a living. Going to best-buy was a mistake, but for other reasons than price. I’ll stick to the issue at hand.
For what ever reason laptop manufactures charge absolutely ridiculous prices for motherboards and lcd screens. I perform in and out of warranty work for Dell, Lenovo and Apple and I can tell you that all manufacturers do this. If a laptop is reasonably current, the motherboard purchased from the manufacturer is commonly in the $500-600 range + shipping – dealer cost. Once the laptop gets some age on it you would think part prices would go down, but instead they go up. The companies claim limited supply and higher demand, so in that case dealer cost for $700ish is not unheard of.
It is true that you can go to ebay, blue raven, or other websites and purchased used boards for much less. If it were my computer that and I decided to fix it, that is what I would do.. However, these used boards do not carry a warranty most of the time, and even if they do the companies can be a lot harder to work with than the manufacturer; due to this a lot of computer repair places will only quote prices from the manufacturer as they want to be covered if something goes wrong. Myself, if a customer comes in in this situation, I will quote them a price based on ordering the part from a dealer, it’s an insane price and I try to move them away from repairing. I do not sell computers, I am only a repair center, but I will advise them to just replace it. If they are set on repairing I will give them the part number and allow them to go search for it online and buy it and I will install for a fee, usually $75. I do explain to them that if the buy the part, there is no warranty from me and most of the time it works out just fine.
So, was $800 totally out of line… probably not… insane.. yes… but was best buy ripping them, probably not (at least in this case)
On average, a private IT person would charge $100 for the part, and $50 – $75/hr for labor at about 2 hours. So the math is:
100 + 150 = $250 < $650
Geek Squad are salesman and give IT people a bad name. They are the equivalent to crooked mechanics asking to change your “Blinker Fluid”
it should cost a lot, you are expecting a lot of expertise for very cheap. motherboards in laptops are very proprietary, they are hard to purchase, expensive, and the installation requires expertise that is generally uneconomical to offer for most folks. fiddling inside a laptop is much harder than a pc, the risk of damaging other components when they are so small and crammed together and costing the company a large chunk of cash is quite high. once you add these factors together the cost should be high, and so its not really worth it to do replacements for cheap laptops unless you want to try it yourself.
I agree with lots of posters, this is not a task you want to take on yourself. Replacing a motherboard difficult and time intensive. If this is your first dis assembly you will break at least one thing while taking it apart. I guarantee it!
The problem is, laptops these days are meant to be disposable. If something major breaks like the motherboard you need to accept buying a new one is your best option.
I’m on the moderately expensive side of consultant repair techs I’d say that this is about what you’d get with me, IF I were to try it.
I wouldn’t. It’s far too involved. I’d tell the client/customer to get a new laptop.
The last time I poked around a laptop’s motherboard I spent a good 3 or 4 hours. I f I were charging it would have been $600 easy, but I wasn’t replacing the motherboard itself.
Geek Squad isn’t the place for that, go to someone that specializes in the model you’re repairing. They’ll do it quick and are less likely to screw something up.
And honestly, just don’t go to geek squad.
@chumia40_El_Señor_Justicia: Do us all a favor and just go die in a fire, mkay?
I am a computer tech and have been for well over a decade. the problem with retail companies is that their margins are so low (amount of profit per item) that they try to make it all back on their repair sales. so they usually double the price of the part. so if it would cost you $200 for a part, they will sell it for $400 or close to that. now depending on the brand, type of computer, etc. there are motherboards that cost $600 but that is rare. i would recommend finding a independent repair shop that is authorized to work on that brand or at least some other major name brand computers. find out the level of experience and certification of their techs and ask them if you can bring in your own parts. although not usually what they prefer it can save you some money. however, be aware since they did not provide the part, they will probably not warranty the repair. because if the part fails, you provided it. it has nothing to do with what they did but with where you got the part from. so they will not want to be held responsible. chances are they deal with certain vendors who will offer them certain return privileges as well as they trust them and the parts they get from them.
Just to clear something up: technically speaking, a new motherboard is considered a new computer. If the OS has been purchased seperately, the license can be transferred to the “new laptop”.
However, if it is an OEM license, and the motherboard is replaced, according to Microsoft’s licensing agreement the OS cannot be transferred and a new one must be purchased.
Not that anyone does this.
@chumia40_El_Señor_Justicia: Die in a fire.
The O.P needs to either research how to swap out a motherboard or let the “pro’s” do it. Not saying BB Geeks are pro’s ( because they arent ) but your paying for a service THAT SOMEONE can complete for you.
If im sick, should I second guess about going to a doctor when he’s going to bill me say….500 bucks for medicine when i can make my own concoction for 50bucks.?
650 does sound a bit extremem but, something like this would cost that much.
in short Yes; it does seem like the right price, sad but true.
best thing to do is scrap it, get a new one and either
1) get a nice desktop for anything cpu hungry if your wife can do most of the intensive stuff at home and get a cheap netbook for portable things (i do this setup for school, great for easy things but as i said if you need a beasty laptop this isnt the option)
2) get a laptop and get the best coverage plan you can.I used to be in geeksquad(i know…) so this is kinda skewed to one side and theres certainly alternatives which are better. usually through local repairs it runs about the same through calling them up and asking. laptop repair IS nasty work.
granted all of thats opinion, now isnt it?
I own and operate a small computer repair business based out of Iowa. I replace laptop motherboards all the time, and I charge $129 as a flat rate for the labor. It takes me about 3-4 hours total with diagnosis, ordering the part and reassembling the computer.
The prices of replacement parts can vary wildly from less than $100 for a popular dell or HP to almost $500 for a rare Sony Vaio. Usually a customer’s total bill comes to around $280-$300 total. I don’t know if the board this guy found online is new, remanufactured, has a warranty or not, but $150 seems reasonable for a common board with a minor warranty. Usually when the price of the repair is close to the cost of a new computer, I tell the customer and let them decide. If they decide not to have me fix the computer, I only charge a small diagnostic fee for my time ($50) and send them on their way.
What this all boils down to is that you shouldn’t waste your time with BB, find a local repair shop that can do the job in-house. Even when waiting for the part to come in the mail, I average 3-4 days TOTAL turn around time for a laptop motherboard replacement.
You can replace one of these yourself inexpensively with a PC repair kit ($15-20 at Staples etc).
It’s not very difficult, and you can google for directions on how to do it.
As far as the OS license for the hardware…save yourself $90 and call Microsoft Support. You’ll be on the phone for about 20 minutes, but they’ll get your Windows license working with the new hardware. Explain that the motherboard fried, and they’ll hook you right up.
Best Buy is a waste of time and money. They’re well on their way to becoming Circuit City: Part Deux
You need to check out:
[h20000.www2.hp.com]
Given the potential problems of a broken motherboard or an intermittent short, buy a new laptop. They are so cheap and you will have a warranty. Probably better networking too. As an IT director with 30 years experience, I would say you are being penny wise and pound foolish.
$800 is alot of money for a mainboard replacement… but it can depend on the design of the laptop. I have replaced boards in ultra-portable laptops that were such a major pain in the ass to work on I wish I had charged $800 for the work.
John, if you have developed a relationship with a tech shop and trust them, consider buying the board and have them install it and charge by the hour. Remember there is always the chance of damaging something in the laptop during the repair process.
Otherwise, if you have any mechanical aptitude consider replacing it yourself. Look for a service manual on the web if the mainboard doesn’t come with instructions and go for it… you may have to buy a couple of torx screw drivers. To add to your comfort and confidence consider taking pictures at every step of the desconstruction process for reference during reconstruction. Now, the reason I say this is that even if you mess this up you will have had some fun and can use the remaining $650 you would have paid to buy a new laptop.
Or, cut to the chase and just buy a new laptop with the $800.
@GreatWhiteNorth: Last thought… I support all those who have already advised to avoid the chain stores in house repair service. Although you may find a good techie… more than likely you will have your machine worked on by a tech who was selling cd’s last week and stereo’s the week before that… questionable skills if any.
@GreatWhiteNorth:
Just like how outside of a big chain you may find a good tech. OR, you may find a kid who built his own desktop once and now thinks he knows what he’s doing.
If you pay the Geek Squad to replace a motherboard, and they break something, it is seriously likely you will walk away with a new computer.
If you pay Jonny-the-Tech to do it, and HE breaks your computer. Your likely to get… a broken computer.
200-300 for a new mainboard easy for a laptop. Labor takes a bit of time, but not like what BBY wants to charge. 2-3 hours, tops, then an overnight burn in to ensure the board is good to go.
If the laptop’s model # was given then one can easily get to HP’s spare parts page to see how much they want for a new board.
I am a computer tech and even I won’t bother with laptop mobo repairs, which are neither cheap nor easy. One client had an out-of-warranty Acer mobo fail (it was actually the power connector) and Acer wanted $600 to repair it… but they would repair the same problem up to 3 times at no additional cost (other than shipping). I said “Hellsno” and she put the $600 towards a MUCH faster new computer ($800 total).
it’s a fair price if:
a) you are not willing to do the replacement yourself (there must be some reason why)
b) you can’t find anyone else to do it cheaper
which means you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself and you haven’t bothered to explore your market any further so you are charged the convenience tax.
The motherboard probably costs best buy $300-500 I bet. Just b/ you found it online for that price doesn’t mean Best Buy’s 3rd party supplier for those parts isn’t marking them up a lot. I worked at a retail store and it went the same way.
It’s kind of like car parts, you can get the part for $50 and replace it in 1 hour. Or you take it to the shop and they come up with $400 bill.
A fair price would be the cost of the hardware and $100.00 labor. Depending on the laptop as to whether it will ever go back together properly. Cheap laptop normally equals cheap plastic clips that break the first time they are pulled apart.
I used to be a manager at Geek Squad City, the repair location GS sends laptops to. I guarantee you that they aren’t charging $650 in labor, no matter how much the “gah geek squad is your mistake cause everyone should know how to take apart a laptop like i can” crowd QQ’s about it. Had they asked, GS would have provided an itemized breakdown for the price.
Geek Squad/BBY doesn’t go out to newegg when they get you a quote, so they aren’t going to always get the best deal; they are a rediculously large business, not some dude down the street fixing your lappy. They have a parts contract with a company, and are bound by the prices on those parts. Those prices are NOT set by GS.
I haven’t worked for them in 2 years, but at the time, they were doing a million things to bring down the price. One of which was reclaiming motherboards and parts out of junked out laptops, so they could install them for MUCH cheaper than the parts company usually charges.
Regardless, as with anything in life, if you get quoted way to high of a price… just don’t fucking buy it! Or get a quote from somehere else. Not every over priced item needs internet whining.
Fun Fact – The price that you, as a consumer, pay for a part and the price that a Service Center (such as Geek Squad’s) pays for parts are very different.
We’re talking $200-400 memory modules, $300-500 Hard Drives. Now when that cost is covered by an insurance backer (in the case of a service plan) or the Mfg, it’s no big deal. But in a case like this it’s a rough spot.
If you’re able to order the part, and another shop isn’t able to do the work for you locally (or Geek Squad isn’t able to do it in store), they should be able to send it out with YOUR part, and do the repair that way for a relatively normal labor charge (compared to what other commenters have mentioned.)
I wouldn’t attempt a mobo replacement on a laptop unless it was a true junker and I had the luxury of using it for practice.
Having said that… Anytime I do open the bottom panel of a laptop, even for simpler operations like switching out a hard disk or adding memory, I find it’s a good idea to take lots and lots of close up pics along the way with a digicam, especially and in particular of all the screws just as I take them out. As I remove them, I arrangethem on a crudely-drawn mockup of the back panel, scotch-tape them in place, and photograph them again, all in the hopes of remembering where each one is supposed to go when it comes time to put the thing back together. So far it’s worked. Maybe some screws have gone in the wrong slots once or twice but the laptops always started working again. I read these tips somewhere once and thought they were a good idea.
But honestly, digging too deep into a laptop’s innards is not for the meek. In OP’s case, I’d download the data onto an external disk – or just put the hard disk from the laptop into an external enclosure – and get a new laptop. As he himself notes, he can get a better, faster machine for less than the cost of the repair.
A few things to consider…
I agree that the mainboard is probably not a new one for that price. Likely a used one, or possibly the wrong one. Now, as to whether the labor charges are fair…
Yes, you can do it yourself. I’ve done it myself. I, however, am not your average user. When you pay for professional work of any kind, you’re paying for several things. You’re paying for the expert knowledge, you’re paying for time, you’re paying for the work to be insured or otherwise covered in case of an error or mistake. If you do it yourself, you take the risk of breaking something or otherwise messing something up, and there is also the time to consider. Is $600+ in labor fair? That’s sometimes hard to judge.
check out http://www.blueraven.com
It’s the actual send it service best buy uses.
They charge a flat rate to fix laptops, HP is usually $279-289. The computer shop I work for goes through them to repair computers that have unavailable or expensive (read: more then repair cost) motherboards.
Laptop motherboard, I would typically charge 1.5-2 hours of labor. You can’t really get a motherboard from a different model of laptop due to the precise form factors used, so you’re left getting a drop-in which will have the same hardware and shouldn’t give you any hardware/licensing trouble, so you don’t have to reinstall the OS. Depending on the model, you’re looking at $80-150 for the motherboard itself, so you’re looking at $185-290 in parts/labor.
You can try to save a few bucks buying the part yourself, but when customers do this it doesn’t work out because: they usually can’t get as good of a deal on the part, they get the wrong part, or if the part breaks they’re the one that has to pursue the warranty unless they want to pay us more money to handle it for them. By buying the part from the service provider the entire warranty is in their hands and is their problem.
You may have been able to buy a new motherboard for $150 off of eBay (do so at your own risk, BTW), but in truth the part probably costs Best Buy, or any other repair shop for that matter, 2-3 times that amount from HP. I was looking to repair my sister-in-law’s 3-4 year old laptop cheap and sell it, but I couldn’t find a new motherboard for less than $100. Those were pulls from laptops that had other issues. I would be very wary of a laptop motherboard for a 1 year old computer being that cheap. Chances are it is probably refurbished or is a pull from a system with other issues.
But I would run far, far away from the Geek Squad anyway. My cousin’s wife got quoted something like $250 to replace her DVD player in her laptop from them, when the only problem with it was it had come unseated. I re-seated the drive, put the retaining screw back in, and had it working in less than 10 minutes.
Your problem lies in the fact that you are thinking about dealing with best buy. THEY SUCK ASS. It’s not a hard concept to grasp. Here’s a novel idea: support a local computer shop. You will find that it won’t cost so damn much, and almost as important, you will be keeping money in your community.
Sorry to be crass, but if I’m reading this right, the price of anal sex is now $650.
An experienced geek can replace a laptop board in about two hours. At a ridiculous 100$ an hour, that would bring the total to 350$. So, if they quote you more, then they are not skilled.
people, I know most won’t read this comment but contact private dealers in your area ! You don’t have to take it to a brand store, there’s a lot of qualified and HONEST people working hard to make a buck and will do this for way less than geek squad ever will.
out of warranty repair for failed motherboard is 398.00 if it is not customer damage then $$$$$
Ok, a lot of you don’t seem to understand the legal issues that are driving the price up.
Technically you can reinstall an windows OS from the restore CDs or just use the same hard drive and it would boot up fine. Most manufactures use their own image which is usually a volume license. Using a tool like key finder will show you that the license key in use on your system is not the same as the OEM sticker on your computer. Those images from HP/Dell etc are usually in some way tied to the BIOS also so you can’t load it on another manufactures machine. So while it does work; you cannot legally reinstall your OS onto a newly replaced motherboard. That OEM license is tied to that motherboard and legally you cannot run any volume license windows software without having a legit OEM license. So Best Buy is covering their ass by incorporating that MS windows license into their costs or they could get sued by Microsoft. Of course, Microsoft won’t notice home users that fix and reinstall themselves but they could go after a big company like Best Buy for millions.
So cost breakdown:
Motherboard – $150 (probably comes with a year warranty)
MS Windows OEM – $100-$150 (home vs professional)
Labor for 2 hours – $80×2 = $160 (Replace motherboard only; don’t forget that although its only a $15 dollar an hour job they also have to pay benefits; insurance; and make a profit)
Total = $460 -$410
Of course they could take the long way of reinstall your OS and moving your data which might bring it up to $800 and they might also sell only Retails licenses of Windows which are nearly $300 for professional back in the day.
Personally I would never ever take my computer to them…way too many horror stories and they will hire any clueless kid to “fix” your computer.