Computer Shops Fail Undercover Test

DENVER -- In a time when almost everyone owns a computer, it is safe to assume that at some point there will be a problem that requires expert help to fix.

The Call7 Investigators took a perfectly good, working laptop to an expert at TechSkills, a school that offers certification programs in multiple disciplines within information technology, healthcare services and business.

That expert, Mike Powis, first confirmed the laptop was in good working order, then helped us create a simple, easy-to-fix flaw in the laptop.

"It wouldn't get much easier in terms of a repair," Powis said.

He simulated a problem that is known in the computer industry as "chip creep" or "ram creeping," when the computer's memory cards are dislodged either by bumping or dropping the computer, or from a sudden temperature shift.

"It can cause the chip to shift enough that it doesn't have a complete connection," Powis said.

Call7 then took the laptop to seven computer repair shops in the Denver metro area.

Results are in the article.

You can only be grateful that the dodgy repairmen chose to work on computers and not passenger jets.
There was a similar test done on car mechanics in the UK: a TV show rigged up miniature cameras on the underside of a vehicle and then took it around to have the brakes checked. The lazy ones got exposed on prime time in that case; boy, that would have been fun.

My my... That IS scary. This is why I come to D-A-L

the trouble is unlike cars where it's normally some back street garage that'll rip you off with computers it's the big stores as people see the adverts for the tech guys

Now I think about it, I recall a friend having trouble with her computer a few years back. The tech she called in told her she had to get a new computer because the hard drive was full.
B'sterd.