Rent-A-Techie

12/15/2014 I pick up the laptop to take home in order to complete several important emails related to my retirement from work. At that time, Mike tells me he is quitting and it would be best for me to wait until after the holidays for more help since Justin is alone. 1/5/2015 I call the RAT office and explain my situation to Debbie, new office manager. 1/6/2015 I deliver the laptop to the office and meet Ray who explains that I have a motherboard issue and all warranties have expired. Later, Claude is assigned to my problem and he detects and corrects corrupted MS Office 2003 program. 1/15/2015 I pick up the laptop. Claude is confident he has solved the blue screen problem. Upon taking the laptop home, the blue screen events occur daily 1/15, 1/17, 1/18, 1/19, 1/20 and on every day, but not so frequently. I report this to Claude. 1/29/2015 I have a $398 quote from Claude of the price of a new replacement ASUS laptop, but Debbie tells me that Justin thinks I should be able to pay less to fix it. No one has told me what the cost of a replacement motherboard is. Justin has agreed to provide labor at his cost to configure a new laptop for which he charges $250. This does not cover the pain and suffering I have experienced following the advice and instructions of RAT staff over the last year. I compose a timeline of computer service support from Rent-A-Techie over the past year and send it to Justin. 1/30/2015 Justin recommends that I purchase a HP laptop from Best Buy for $400. He will configure this new laptop at no charge. For the first time, he acknowledges my situation as a Rent-A-Techie customer: ?I?m sorry you?ve had so many issues.? 2/1/2015 I find his verbal apology unsatisfactory, especially as an owner of a business I have used for a year. I send Justin another e-mail asking him to take responsibility for his staff as they did not explain how serious a blue screen event was and they did not investigate the problem when I reported it. If they had acted, the defective laptop was still under warranty and could have been replaced at no cost.I invite Justin to work with me to develop a mutual solution to my situation. 2/3/2015 I contact Angie?s List to learn how they could help me resolve my situation. They explain their conflict resolution process with a specialist in computer support services. 2/5/2015 Justin responds explaining about lemons and blue screens. I still do not feel he is taking responsibility for 1. the lack of information about the risks of re-furbished laptops 2. Mile?s failure to act within the warranty period when told the laptop had a serious problem.I tell him that I am going to request Angie?s List Resolution process to resolve the issue. 2/5/2015 I contact Angie?s List and provide a review over the phone. My goal is to resolve this issue, continue as a customer and have Claude Jones service my computer exclusively. 2/7/2015 Claude calls and offers to come over today on his own time to work on the printing problem. Justin has questioned why I have mentioned Claude and if he is in the middle. We agree that Claude?s employee relationship with Justin should not be endangered. I explain that my last e-mail was to update him and explain why I am asking for his services exclusively. Since the printing problem has been described as a result of the defective motherboard, I decline his offer. I tell Claude that I believe Justin owes me a high-quality laptop replacement.Claude says he is sorry for what is happened and will pray for me. On a call back to Claude, I tell him that RAT has had D and F customer reviews in the past two months and Angie?s List may not be recommending it. I ask Claude, if he should decide to leave this faltering business, to let me know so I can work with him in the future. He agrees.

I called Rent a Techie and told them I needed a tech to set up a new iMAC computer for me and to transfer the data from my old iMAC to the new iMAC. This included data from my old Dell computer also. I requested a tech who knew Apple Computers and was assured by a person named Mike that he would get me a tech who could do this work I needed. The tech who came to my home was named Stefan. He was clean cut and very polite. I told him what I needed done and sat and watched him. I noticed that he had gone online with his phone quite a bit when he was trying to transfer data. He was going to online help. He kept trying different things to get the computers to transfer data and before too long, it was clear to me that he did not know what he was doing. He did not know very much if anything about Apple computers. I tried to be polite and give him a chance. After about two hours of him trying to set up my computers I became concerned about the charges as he was no where close to finishing and he kept trying to look up online how to do this work. When he took my Dell apart to get the hard drive out, he had to borrow a screw driver from me because he said he did not have one. Several times I called AppleCare because I took out the Apple online insurance with them. I tried to see if I could get help for him to complete his work. I had to wait as they had a 15 minute plus wait time. A couple times he seemed to be getting his work done so I hung up. Finally, I had to put an AppleCare tech on the line to talk to him to tell him how to do the transfer and some other things he had problems with. It was clear to me that this tech did not know what he was doing. I told him that I was concerned about the charges because I am retired and on a fixed income. What should have been a two hour job was over three hours going on four hours. He said he transferred the data over and set up my new computer. I found out today that he didn't hook up my printer and everything was done wrong. After he left I checked my files and everything was mixed up and in the wrong place and data was not transferred over correctly. I had to call AppleCare and they remotely looked into my new computer and said data was not transferred correctly and I am now in the process of working with an Apple tech to correct the problem. I paid the tech but I am left with a not very good feeling because the job was not done right and I am having to try to do this myself. And I had to pay them for a job that was not done correctly. I would never, ever, get this company again. I know they have a glowing record but this is what happened to me. A couple months ago I was having problems with my Dell as it was very slow and not working right. A Rent a Techie guy came out and with confidence he told me my computer was working perfectly but it was my internet company. I believed him and gave him a glowing report but now I have my doubts he diagnosed the problem correctly as my internet company is okay but my Dell quit shortly after his diagnosis. If I had it to do over again I would not give him a glowing report but I believed him. Later, I learned he was fired. I did call Rent a Techie to complain because the work was not done right. The person working there named Mike said the owner was on vacation but he would let him know what happened to me. No one ever called me back. My money was good honest money but all of this has left me hanging and trying to get my computer running correctly. Something is wrong here, to have to pay for work that was not done correctly. All I wanted was a good job done but I did not get it from this company.

All staff members were very professional, knowledgeable and friendly in the home and office. They offered advice without reservations. They earned my trust and I will definitely continue to call them for service.

I really appreciate what they did and they did a good job.

He took down the information concerning the problem we were having with our computer one day. It was fixed and ready to be picked up the next day. The computer has been working fine ever since. We were very pleased with the promptness with which our computer problem was addressed. If we have any more computer problems, we'll be contacting Rent-A-Techie right away.

It went very well. Josh explained everything to me and told me why my internet was slow. He answered all questions I had and also provided more helpful suggestions to me when surfing the internet. I am very pleased with the service he provided and would definitely call them again.

Showed up on time, went about his business, answered questions & was very efficient & friendly.

That was perfect. He was great, he updated us to a better anti-virus software and he gave me a lot of information about things that I asked him. I would give him all A's. I used the deal shortly after I purchased it and I didn't spend anything extra.

Used Angie's List to find computer specialist and read reviews for Rent-a-Techie. I bought a new Dell last week and when clicking to update Adobe reader, my computer was infected by a virus and malware. I tried to get rid of it: have Norton anti-virus and ran Microsoft Malware removal tool with no luck. Called Apr 28 and had appointment the next day between 12:30-2:30p. I told Mike that I found them on Angie's list and then Mike said there was a $30 coupon to use for Angie's list subscribers. Justin, the Techie, called to say he was running late and would be at home 15 minutes late. Justin showed up, discussed with him my problem. He diligently went to work and found not 1 but 3 virus that my Norton nor Microsoft couldn't find. It took him 45 minutes to get rid of these viruses & malware and he asked if there was anything else he could do. I asked if transfering my files from my old computer to the new one would transfer any viruses. He stated not likely, but offered start the upload my thumb drive for me anyway. I am extremely pleased with Justin's professionalism. He was not bothered by my questions while working. I will use this service again and have asked them to send me reminder for next year to check and tune up my computer.

went well. Tech was very knowledgeable, professional, and friendly.

I have a Dell all-in-one desktop computer, an older model (2007-8). It was freezing, very slow, random popups. I found this company via Angie's List. Their hours include Saturday which is very convenient. I dropped off the computer on a Monday with a young man who appeared appropriately "techie". He took down my list of concerns and assured me that it was worth it to fix the computer instead of purchasing a new one. I did not want to spend hundreds of dollars repairing an older computer, when newer ones are only a bit more expensive. Jacob was very helpful in assessing my level of use, approximate cost, and likelihood that I'd get a couple more years out of the current computer. He promised that I'd have my computer home in a week, as I'd requested. The following few days I was in contact with a different fellow, Robert, who apparently did most of the work. Robert called daily to give me an update on what he'd found in my computer. There were a few missed communications in terms of what was going to be done, and by when it would be done, but ultimately all the work was done and computer back at home one week later. Computer is working GREAT. The estimate was right on point. The computer even came home shiny and dust-free, much cleaner than when I dropped it off :)

I signed up for and paid by credit card to the special in December. Then I heard NOTHING.....After contacting Angie's list (the Angie's List service people were surprised and extremely helpful). Finally.............after my complaint to Angie's List the company finally contacted me and came for the service. Service such as it was???????? Then at the end they wanted me to pay the cost of $89.00 per hour. I said, "Are you kidding?" I paid for the special and had to show the tech a copy of my credit card bill to prove I had already paid for this hour. NOW, my computer is even slower than before and I still have XP which will be no good on April 8th. I now will have Computer Renaissance work on speeding up the computer and putting on either Windows 7 or 8. I think Angie's List is the best thing since sliced bread but this special was no special at all and worse, bad service, etc. etc. etc.

It went great, Josh came on time and took care of all my issue. Still working great.

Excellent service and Josh Simpson was very knowledgable! Computer runs like a charm now!

I initially asked them to help provide internet service to the end of the house where it was spotty at best. They provided a system that never really worked well. Many calls back and forth and always a problem scheduling. Call backs went from usually to no returns. The owner/CEO was least helpful towards the end and never returned calls at all in spite of emails. What we hoped would be an answer to our problems turned out not to be.

They checked out the hard drive and found no problem. Returned the unit at no charge.

I have used Rent-a-Techie (Josh) twice within the past month. Josh fixed my emails. I could not send or receive emails. Computer was slow. He did a great job and cleaned it up for me. Yes, I would definitely use them again. They are the only ones who have serviced my computer since I have been in Tucson (for over 8 years). Josh is the latest tech we have dealt with - very nice, personable, good sense of humor, knows what he is talking about. He is very good at his job.

I needed a new hard drive, they installed it and ran recovery disks. Updated windows. | |I cannot say enough great things about this company. I have used many differant companies over the years and this one is by far the best. I would never use big box companies just for the fact of customer service. Josh did my repairs he was very up front in telling me what could be done to save me money. He knows his computers. I have since had him out to the house to repair a second computer which he had running in no time. He is a great person to work on all your machines.

I found another in home computer repair service which correctly identified and then repaired the problems with my system.

Installed new wireless router configured wireless security and got computer & printers set up properly for wireless.

I was having trouble getting the monitor to display and was only able to get it to operate after spending many minutes rebooting and anything else I could think of. The monitor manufacturer tried to help over the phone and said I must have a problem in the computer. I called Rent-A-Techie and was able to get a same-day appointment. Josh arrived and subbed in a video card without success. He then felt the motherboard might be the culprit and took the computer to their shop. About an hour later he called and said the computer was fine and that his initial diagnosis was not the real problem, that my monitor must be bad. So I purchased a monitor, picked up my computer at their shop, went home and hooked it all up, and everything is fine. They could have taken me to the cleaners and replaced the motherboard, then said it must have fried my monitor, or who knows what, but the integrity of Josh made my day! If I have issues with anything else, these are my go to guys.

I did use them a couple of years ago. They did a very nice job and were very quick with it. My computer grounded to a hault and he had to get out all the viruses and even gave me a tip to put in another virus killer and I have been using it since and it works great. He came in a timely manor and they worked at my house on this.

I had purchased a new PC, but after setting it up and trying to connect to my home network, I had all kinds of technical problems that I hadn't experienced with previous PC. I wanted the PC and network to be analyzed in my home. The technician was very pleasant and showed up on time. He spent quite a bit of time trying to determine what the problem was. At the end of the day, the technician wasn't able to determine what was wrong or how to correct the problems. He did suggest that I install the operating system (XP Home) that I had on my previous PC on the new PC and see if that solved the problems. As it turned out, the tech was correct. After spending far too much time on the phone with Gateway tech support without success, I finally broke down and sent the PC back to the factory. They determined that the problem was that the installed operating system (XP Media Player) was conflicting with several of the programs that had worked flawlessly with XP Home. They installed XP Pro and returned it. It worked fine after that, but by that time I was so fed up with Windows (I also had the misfortune of experiencing the Windows ME fiasco) that I gave the PC away to a family member and bought an iMac. It's only Apple products for me now.

Very helpful and trustworthy

I asked several computer repair companies (whose names I got off of Angie's List) for an estimate of the cost of replacing my cooling fan in my laptop, and only heard back from two of them. Rent-a-Techie responded with a clear estimate and how long it would take to do the job. The cost of the repair was very reasonable and so I selected them. I called and talked to a friendly person about when I could bring it in, if I could hang onto the computer while waiting for the part and such. They were very accommodating. I brought the computer in and the technician wasvery friendly and checked the computer quickly so he could order the right parts. He spent some time looking for a supplier with decent prices, and when he wasn't satisfied with what he found, he said he would do more research. He actually did it! He found the part for $20 instead of the $60 he found while I was there. I was impressed! When the fan came in, they called me, I took the laptop over and in spite of the estimate of 3-5 days turnaround time, he had the part installed that same day! He had checked the temperature of the laptop before and after installation to make sure the new part was doing what it was supposed to do. The actual charge was exactly what they had given me in the estimate. I was very happy with the service and will use them again!