Local ‘nerds’ battle ‘geeks’ for computer repair business

By Erin Hyden

Business Today

“Technology... is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other,â€wrote C.P. Snow in the March 15th 1971 issue of the New York Times. Just as Snow wrote in 1971, the problem still exists today: When technology works it’s great; when it doesn’t, especially with computers, it can be a catastrophe.

Even more catastrophic can be the turnaround time of having your computer repaired.

Corporate computer repair entities, like the Best Buy Geek Squad can help, but often they have to send your computer off for repairs. Then there are the locals. One such company is Computer 21, who uses local workers to do in-house, on-location and sometimes over-the-phone technology repairs. The “nerds†at Computer 21 claim superiority over the more recognizable geeks and are no knock-offs.

“We were around before the Geek Squad. We’re about eight years old,†says Computer 21 founder, owner and technician Andrew Bard. Bard started the business by accident after dropping out of college and quitting his job in the same week. He says that he was tired of school and a robbery at his bank job made him think twice about what he wanted to do with his life.

“I just fell into it. When that robbery happened I decided that I need a change. I had little to no experience with repairs and I kind of learned as I went along. There was no plan, there was no anything,†says Bard.

Now eight years later, according to their posted list of services, Computer 21 has expanded to computer and work stations, laptops, servers, networks, phone systems, x-boxes and PS-2s, personal relationships and weight gain.

Bard also promises some of the fastest response and turnaround times in the area as well as a customer service motto that customers can appreciate. “If the customer needs it done we’ll find a way to do it,†says Bard. He says that the average response time in an emergency situation is under three hours and the average repair time is three to four days. “We do everything that we can in-house. This way the customer actually gets their computer back sooner. We only send off things that really need to be sent off,†says Bard.

Bard says he tries to provide a personal touch with repair services. Clients meet the technician performing the work.

“It’s nice to have one location where customers can come and if it plugs into the wall we can fix it,†says Bard.

Bard says that even though they are a smaller company, they are able to do big jobs. “Two-thirds of our work is commercial. From what I understand the Geek Squad does mostly low to moderate residential work,†says Bard. He also says that when it comes to cost Computer 21 is cheaper in the long run. “From what I’ve seen we’re cheaper. Our minimum cost for repairs is higher, but most jobs take long enough that we become cheaper.â€

The Geek Squad offers flat-rate repairs, says Paula Baldwin, spokeswoman for Best Buy. Company surveys show customers prefer to know the costs up-front.

The Geek Squad does focus on residential users, Baldwin says. Commercial customers used Best Buy for Business, she says.

Best Buy isn’t trying to put companies like Computer 21 out of business, Baldwin says.

“There are all these comparisons being made all the time, but we feel there is room for everyone,†she says.

Along Computer 21 is also a retailer of computers and other gadgets. “I guess you could say we’re a one-stop shop that prides itself on being I.T. (information technology) contractors and we have never had a job yet that we couldn’t tackle,†says Bard.

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The cost of repairs vs. buying new

The nerds at Computer 21 use these guidelines when a customer is stuck with the repair-or-buy-new dilemma.

If the total repair bill is going to be 40 percent or less of what a new machine would cost, repairs are recommended.

The average bill is $120 to $150, at a rate of $60 per hour. Laptops are generally more since the machine must be taken apart for repairs as opposed to a desktop which has panels to work from.

Buying a new computer with Miscrosoft Windows means that it would actually have Windows Vista, which Computer 21 owner Andrew Bard describes as horrible.

Buying new also means that you may be able to almost instantly use your computer instead of having to wait for repairs, even though the average turn-around time at Computer 21 is a few days.

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