Do you think repair shops rip you off?

cokewithvanilla
cokewithvanilla Posts: 1,777
edited August 2010 in The Clubhouse
So, I have a friends laptop sitting here because he went into a repair shop for a few problems:

Laptop: HP dv7-1245dx
Problem: No Wifi, fan making loud noise
Repair shop quote: $800

At this point, the guy went and bought a new computer. Afterward, he asked how much it would cost me to repair it.

Last night I took it apart and fixed it.

Solution: Replace fan and wifi card - cost $20
Time taken: 1.5 hours.

this isn't unusual for computer repair shops (in my experience), but how about shops that work on hifi gear? Personally, I do not know how shops stay in business with prices like that.

Anyone have similar experiences?
Post edited by cokewithvanilla on
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Comments

  • audiobliss
    audiobliss Posts: 12,518
    edited August 2010
    I just paid $19.99 + tax for a new keyboard for my mom's laptop and replaced it myself, whereas all the shops I called wanted at least $75 labor for JUST the installation.
    George Grand wrote: »
    Jstas wrote: »
    Simple question. If you had a cool million bucks, what would you do with it?
    Wonder WTF happened to the rest of my money.
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  • sucks2beme
    sucks2beme Posts: 5,601
    edited August 2010
    They charge what they need to stay in business.
    And they sometimes don't know what they are doing.
    Added together, it makes me a DIY kind of guy.
    But, yes, fixing old laptops is more often than not
    a waste of time. Those cheap $350 "specials" are often
    much faster than the big $$$ ones a few years old.
    "The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson
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