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PC Repair Rip-Off!

<I>PC World</I> went undercover to see how well four big national computer chains diagnose and repair simple problems. We discovered a couple of standout stores--and a shocking degree of incompetence.

  

Fast and Loose With Warranties?

Aside from what appears to be at best an inaccurate claim to have replaced a hard drive, there is another curious aspect to the Carlsbad RadioShack case. It involves warranty repairs. The Compaq PCs used in our investigation were in fact still under warranty. Our reporters, however, identified the machines as being out of warranty, posing as worried consumers who expected to spend their own cash. To our surprise, several stores took the initiative to check directly with Compaq, and learned that the machines were indeed covered. (We authorized only one repair under warranty, although two other stores replaced parts under warranty without our permission. PC World reimbursed Compaq for all warranty expenses the company incurred as a result of this story.)

On the surface, a store's investigating warranty status looks like great service. But each time we encountered this apparently beneficial service, the store urged us to replace perfectly functional parts. You might shrug and think, "If it happened to me, why not go for it?" But a new hard drive means you lose your data. In all three of the cases where parts were replaced under warranty, we were charged for labor, even though the warranty covers labor. And in the long run, manufacturers pass along costs associated with warranty abuse by jacking up PC prices.

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