Consumerist: Undercover

Denver TV Station Tests Computer Repair Techs

Chris Walters — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 10:48:18 EDT

A Denver TV crew unseated a RAM chip and then took it to seven different repair centers for a diagnosis. The resulting displays of incompetence were pretty evenly distributed, with two Best Buy Geek Squads, one Circuit City Firedog, and one locally owned repair center (CTI) all failing miserably ("It's the motherboard!" they each said). Of the three locations that correctly diagnosed and fixed the problem, Action Computers charged $50, Geek Squad charged $30, and the Firedog tech who hands-down won the challenge "reinstalled the memory cards in less than two minutes, free of charge."

So what does this prove? That you should learn to troubleshoot your own damn computer! Or more realistically, that you should troubleshoot the computer technician before taking him at his word:

Powis said customers need to ask questions when bringing a computer to any repair shop, including if the employees are qualified and what if any certifications and formal training they have.

He also said knowledgeable technicians would, in most cases, ask to keep the computer to perform diagnostic testing.

"Computer Shops Fail Undercover Test" [Denver's Channel 7 News] (Thanks to Jim!)
(Photo: redjar)

When "FireDogs" And "Geeks" Don't Know What's Wrong, You Pay

Meg Marco — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 17:25:11 EST

Channel 10 out of Columbus, Ohio recently conducted a sting operation in which they equipped themselves with an easily repaired laptop and took it to Geek Squad, FireDog and Micro Center to see who could figure out what was wrong.

The station's IT guy changed one settling in the BIOS.

"This is definitely something you can find out while you're doing your diagnostics or troubleshooting," 10TV's IT guy, Josh Waibel said.

Here's a summary of the results:

Circuit City FireDog
Consultation: $64.04
Diagnosis: "The hard drive is working correctly. Your operating system is fried on it, though," said the technician. "The operating system is essentially dead."
Additional Cost: $130 to reinstall the operating system.
Total Estimated Cost to Repair: $194.04

Best Buy Geek Squad:
Consultation: $62.98
Diagnosis: "It just clicked and that's usually an indicator that the hard drive's bad." "It's clicking - making some weird sounds - which is not a good thing."
Additional Cost: $80 hard drive, $39 hard drive installation, $129 operating system installation
Total Estimated Cost to Repair: $310.98

Micro Center:
Consultation: $74.67
Diagnosis: Repaired

Computer Technicians Put To Test [10TV](Thanks, M!)
Video [10TV]

Market Workers Caught Urinating Near Produce

Ben Popken — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 18:13:09 EST

Nothing makes for fresh produce like sewage, open urination by workers, and storage next to rat-infested garbage and Port-A-Potties. That's what a hidden camera investigation by Joel Grover found at a So-Cal produce processing area found at the Seventh Street Produce Market in downtown LA. The market services thousands of SoCal restaurants and stores.

A lab test of samples at the market confirmed high levels of E. coli, Fecal Coli forms, and Listeria, which can cause food poisoning.

Unfortunately, there's nothing a consumer can do, really. Except to make more meals at home, and properly store, wash, and cook food, using appropriate temperatures. — BEN POPKEN

Contaminated: Produce Market Investigation [NBC4] (Thanks to Dave!)