The Computer Tamers

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Warning!! Beware of these incompetent crooks. I had the common problem of a bad connection with the AC adapter. I bought a new AC adapter but that didn't fix the problem. The only other possible thing that could be wrong with it was a bad power jack. This part is soldered to the motherboard. This is a repair I can do myself, but I would have to order the part and I needed the computer (my wife's) working quickly so I decided to give Computer Tamers a try. I called and explained the problem to Jaison, the owner's son. He said to bring it in. If they had the jack in stock it would take about an hour to repair and the part would cost about $20. I dropped the computer off at the Eastbrook Mall kiosk. I asked the woman at the counter if this was the same business that used to be on Bridge Street in Willimantic. She told me it was. When I asked her where the shop was now, she told me--get this--it was at an undesclosed location. When I asked her where she told me she couldn't tell me due to security issues. I should have ran then. What security issues? Disgruntled customers looking to strangle someone?



They diagnose the problem as a fried motherbard. For the price of replacing the motherboard I could replace the computer. They will bring the computer back to the Mall kiosk and I can pick it up on Wednesday, the day before Thankgiving. They remind me that I will still have to pay the $55 diagnosis fee, That was fair since they did diagnose the problem, right?



When I got home Wednesday afternoon, I was not convinced the motherboard was fried, so I took the computer apart and inspected the power jack and motherboard. Instantly I found the problem. One of the solder joints holding the power jack to the motherboard was cracked, breaking the connection to the power supply. I litteraly took me ten minutes to fix the connection, and most of that time was waiting for my soldering iron to get hot. After resoldering the connection I reassembled the computer and turned it on. It runs perfectly.



Twelve days, three separate diagnosises and it appears they never looked at the computer or took it apart. If they had they could not have missed the problem. Friday, the day after Thanksgiving I called the Computer Tamers and spoke with Jaison. I made my displeasure very clear and demanded my diagnosis fee of $55 be refunded because they failed to diagnose the problem. Jaison told me he would have to talk to his Father, Joseph Allen Stein, the owner of Computer Tamers, and then get back to me.



Finally, Joseph Allen Stein, called me. I asked him if he knew the situation. He said he did. He told me I should feel lucky that my computer was working. I told him I wanted my $55 diagnosis fee back. He said I had signed an agreement that the $55 diagnosis fee was non refundable. I told him I understand that, but that had failed to diagnose the problem, thus failed to earn the diagnosis fee. He disagreed. I told him I would take him to small claims court and that would cost him another $75. He smugly told me that it would be a great learning experience for the two of us.



I paid their bill with my debit card so my bank is now investigating my disputing the charge. Hopefully they will refund my money. If not, I will take them to small claims court. It's not a lot of money, but these losers need to be taught a lesson. Besides, I looked up their names in Connecticut's court records and they have been defendants in several lawsuits and have lost them all because they never showed up for court. I'm sure they won't have the guts to show up this time either.