CBC Report: With the help of experts from Humber College Institute, we modified a computer to simulate a common hardware failure. Then we called in the nerds. The result? Only three of the ten technicians who saw our machine managed to correctly diagnose the problem.

Posted on October 3, 2007

The market dictates the quality of the service. As long as good computer techs have to pay thousands of dollars for proper training in the hopes of making a little more than minimum wage, then you will continue to see only three out of ten techs correctly diagnosing your systems. Posted by: Jim Cookson | Oct 3, 07 07:42 PM

I am not in the day to day business of fixing computers anymore, but I was appalled at what I saw. I am, however, not surprised. This type of behaviour goes higher up in the technology industry than just front line computer repair techs. I have been a vocal advocate, for years, that people in this industry should be more closely regulated. Good Lord, you have to have a license issued by the province to cut hair, but anyone can put themselves out as an IT professional. Posted by: Trent Collicutt | Oct 3, 07 08:08 PM  

NOT ALL TECHS ARE LIKE THIS. Furthermore, suggesting to look online for solutions is an excellent idea, BUT.... let's be realistic here: how can you be sure the solutions you find are 100% accurate? if you were to google the topic without knowing anything about computers, would you be able to fix it yourself? All I can say to this is, if I had a dime for every time someone would come to me with a slowed-down and spyware/virus riddled machine, after installing ''super-duper-miracle-working computer fixer 2007'' on their system, or being unable to use their computer, because some kind soul suggested for them to ''delete explorer.exe''? also, one more thing... I have to point this out, but the MDG guy who used the virus excuse didn't even use the correct definition for the terminology..... trojans *aren't* the oldest out there.... the ''worm'' is. and furthermore, they *don't* delete data, or screw up your computer, at least not directly... in actuality, what they do is serve as BACK-DOORS for hackers, or other malicious programs to get onto the infected computer and do the damage(hence the name "Trojan", as in "Trojan Horse"). So I give a big, fat "F" to that MDG rep :~). Don't believe me? look it up. Posted by: Vernon | Oct 6, 07 09:02 PM  

I liked the show on GETTING GOUGED BY GEEKS. Like many others I found your college guy's smarmy attitude about the markup to be upsetting (finding a price at an on-line wholesale store).. he seemed to forget about the shipping/handling costs as well as the delay in getting the parts. I have been in the computer industry for over 24 years and have my own business for the last 10 and I'll bet that if I looked at the customer in your sting and said " you need a ram module, go on-line and order one, that should fix it... now PAY ME".. there would be some hesitation because it isn't fixed. I for one carry a great many parts with me and I don't have to tell you selling the parts at cost just isn't good business. (I wonder if Humber College will let me take classes for the same prices i see at University of Phoenix On-line??) My business relies completely on WORD OF MOUTH advertising and rest assured, there are some of us out here that practice good customer service and are honest. The part about the one guy that did the quick fix for free made me smile.. that happens to me 2-3 times a month, too short a call to bill for in good conscience, so you waive the charges.. if i get the customer again because of the freebie, that's great, otherwise I look at like a deposit into the Karma bank. Posted by: Mark Wilson | Oct 5, 07 07:06 PM  

Computers are extremely complex machines; as complex, if not more so than, as a car. When a mechanic misdiagnoses a problem, yes, you can be a little perturbed that you have to waste more time, but the fact is that you can't fix it yourself. That is the case for the vast majority of people. When I worked at Circuit City this past year I felt bad that we charged people to install software, but the fact is that they couldn't do it, we could, so we had to charge them to make it worth the company's time. It's sad how many people want you to "just install it" for them for nothing. Same with hardware. "I'm paying you for the hardware...so why should I pay again to have it installed?" because you'd shock the crap out of it and it would be useless. Anyway, the point is, don't vilify people for doing their jobs, they do the best they can. Posted by: Geekdef| Oct 5, 07 01:26 PM

Just watched your story about computer geeks who repair computers. The first problem is that most schools that teach computer repair are putting people who are not properly trained to fix problems in the first place. They teach from a book not any hands on experience before they graduate. Certifications should be given when they past a written test and a hands-on test like the one shown on your show. I agree some of the pricing is way to high but if you want the service "right now", pay the price given or be prepared to wait. I am a experienced IT helpdesk person who could have a business on the side fixing computers, but two things stopped me from doing it. People who do not know how to use a computer and should not be using a computer and people who want it fixed for nothing. Thanks Posted by: Peter Hynes | Oct 3, 07 08:09 PM

Great start to the new season! Man, it seems that no industry is completely honest these days. I'm glad that I know my computers. Although, it is really sad that computer technicians and that part of the IT industry are really taking advantage of people like that. I hope that the government clamps down on this. Posted by: Andrena LeBlanc | Oct 3, 07 08:16 PM

just watched the story, or should i say half the story. CBC you make me glad I watch CTV news. That was a very unfair spin on the industry, and only one sided. It is like this in any industry that fixes stuff. 2 min diagnosis for free...... why should you get it for free? Want to get ripped off, go see a dentist, or a vet. Things cost money. Posted by: canadian tech | Oct 3, 07 09:08 PM

As a previous post indicated if you can't do the work yourself be prepared to pay for it. Parts delivered on site with the technician will always cost more than buying from an internet site or store, the tech or company has to first obtain the part then carry it as inventory,monitor usage, reorder for inventory etc etc. That being said if you need to pay for service you should use some common sense and as mentioned do a little research before hand about the problem you are having, at the minimum it should give you a better understanding of the terminology. If you own a computer IT WILL FAIL at some point, be prepared. Posted by: Wilmo | Oct 3, 07 09:12 PM

There are many people out there that should be slapped for doing what they do for a living. But without them, what would we complain about?! My company would have got the RAM stick bang on (about $155 repair includes the RAM). The missing system files would have been more costly then the $60 though! We would attempt to find the cause of the missing files. Files generally don't mystically disappear, and I don't want you back in my store with the same problem in a week! Bad RAM or a bad Hard Drive are usually to blame when files go MIA, or one of your children have a sick twisted sense of humour. So we would have to test the HD and RAM to be sure they are ok before we would go ahead with the XP repair. Keeping in mind if you simply "repair" Windows XP, you are looking at roughly 70 MSUpdates that have to be redownloaded and reinstalled before Windows starts behaving again. Which of course we would have to do. All in all this repair in my store would have cost roughly 2.5 hours ($150 (60/hr))and would have taken 2 business days, and it would not have been possible to do in your home since the tests take a long time. Pickup and delivery service is usally $42.50 each way, however, after this show; I am considering free pick up and drop off!!! Yikes! Free tips...FREE TIPS...... Get Antivirus, Get a REAL router (firewall), Get a Uninteruptible Power Supply, scan with Ad-Aware from Lavasoft & SpyBot from safer-networking(FREE) once a week, and have at least a 1GB of RAM in your computer when using XP! Delete your temporary Internet Files, empty your recyle bin, compact and archive your email folders, and clean up your desktop regularily. Oh...and dont use the restore option in Windows, it rarely co-operates. Safe Travels! Lawrence Posted by: Lawrence Hickman | Oct 3, 07 09:18 PM

Hi, I watched your program with great interest as I also perform on-site and off-site repair of computers. I was amazed at the poor skill levels being demonstrated by the majority of techs depicted. Particularly with the bad RAM issue; that is a no brainer. I would have conducted the analysis a little different though. It has been my experience that 70% or more of the problems that home computer users face are software related not hardware. Specifically, I would have provided a mildly infected computer as the "test" subject for the unsuspecting "techs". I take issue with your pricing examples though; comparing prices with the web is unfair as you are not including the shipping and/or duties/taxes or the wait for delivery. To close, I am quite disappointed with the results of your expose as the incompetents make us competent good "guys" all look bad. Cheers, Steve in Winnipeg Posted by: Steve | Oct 3, 07 09:48 PM

I just watched the Marketplace report on computer technicians, and found it very interesting. I am absolutely shocked by how much of this is actually going on. There are many people who understand very little about how their computer works, and that these companies would take advantage of that for their own bottom line is disgraceful. As a technician myself, and the owner of a home business repairing computers, I use the simple but honest policy of "If I can't solve your problem, the work is free." If more techs followed that, perhaps some trust could be put back into the tarnished reputation of this industry. Posted by: Mark Carroll | Oct 3, 07 10:00 PM

I found this episode a little skewed and lacking of facts. Firstly a computer tech can't just come in and tell you right off the bat what the problem is. Without time to diagnose the problem he's going to make a guess. There are only 3-4 things that will cause a computer to not post. CPU, Motherboard, Ram. Take your pick, its a 30% chance that you will be right. So those 3 out of 10 guys you brought in, where the 3 out of the 10 that managed to guess on the first go. Prices... The mark up/inflation of the item/product they are giving you is justified. Firstly they are installing it for you. Secondly they have delivered it to you. You could easily take the time out of your busy day and spend 1 hour reading up about it, but since you didn't, or don't have the time to, you pay someone else to do it, thus you pay more. That $50 extra that you pay paid for his 1 hour to go get the part for you prior to visiting. There is no such thing as a free lunch, so quit asking for one. Unless there is a way to have the computer tell you the problem, there is no way to assess the problem with 100% accuracy. There will always be mistakes, and unfortunately you will have to pay for them. But this is a problem with all services provided, car repair, home repair, etc. If you don't know, you get ripped off. It's that simple- but not everyone out there is out to rip you off, there are a many good, honest workers. Internet + school + educate your self and guess what, you won't find yourself needing a repair man to change your light bulb. Posted by: alex | Oct 3, 07 10:02 PM

This report was so focused on the bad guys that us honest guys got totally buried. This show gave absolutely no praise or gratitude to us honest techs that WANT to HELP others and go out of their way to be more than honest to save the client money. I've been in IT Consulting for a long time but recently invested $20,000 on starting a tech business and this story will hurt me a lot. Recently I serviced a senior citizen and got his PC runnning a hundred times faster. I was there almost two hours and charged only $100. Last Sunday I helped a client with a blue screen which again was almost two hours for $125. A couple weekends ago I helped some students completely frustrated with their wireless connection, charged only only $60 and this was on a saturday. I wonder how the "wizards" at Humber College might fare out in the field... Posted by: lazer30 | Oct 3, 07 10:06 PM

This piece comes not too long after a sting by The Consumerist on Best Buy in the United States. As a senior computer technician and a service manager, I am deeply concerned with this type of bad publicity. When it comes to diagnosing a computer, there are really no official guidelines easily available to the computer technician community as a whole. I have actually been looking at the idea of sending the equivalent of a secret shopper in the retail business into a service location with a "loaded" computer problem to gauge how a service location is performing. As it stands right now, the media is the only real source of this type of feedback for the computer service industry. Posted by: Jared Howkins | Oct 3, 07 10:07 PM

I was intrigued by this recent story, since I have been working in the computer industry for nearly five years now. You had every right to point fingers and expose some really bad practices. On the other hand, remember that three fingers are pointing back at you. I am sorry to say, but many people are "dumb" when it comes to their computers. People need to learn the basics of software and hardware before investing hundreds, sometimes thousands, of dollars into a computer. Are you not going to learn about a specific GIC or mutual fund before you invest your money? If they do this, they might not be so easly messed about. All the advice at the end of your show was dead-on. Everyone needs to keep their PC updated. I did not think it was fair that you pointed out that one guy was charging $120 for 1GB of memory. Was the memory stick that your "scholar" pointed out for sixty or so dollars, the exact same stick of memory?? At least the tech found the problem and he seemed to be an independant guy, so he also has to make some money somewhere. If he is going to buy the stick of memory to sell it to the customer, why would he charge the same price?? That makes no business sense. The website that was selling it, was selling it at a profit and the company that sold it to them, sold it at a profit. Pointing out that one guy was late, was lame at best! The cable guy, plumber, any repair guy, are never on time! Overall, good story to make people aware. Posted by: Amateur Geek |