PCU INC

I did not find this provider on Angie's list, I was told by a local merchant that there was a computer store in town. One of my computers was not functional. I met the owners and spent some time talking with them. They were very friendly and the store was spotless. I did not have the computer with me at the time. After discussion, we agreed that the best way to deal with the problem was to start over, to simply wipe the hard drive clean and reinstall the operating system. I was told more than once that I had much more knowledge of computers than their usual clients. I brought the computer in two days later and left it with one of the owners. I also brought my own Windows XP Pro reinstallation disk for them to use, the one that came with the computer. At that time, I became aware that part of their service included the installation of certain software programs, including an antivirus program and Open Office. I again explained that I was simply expecting to receive a clean hard drive with a reinstalled operating system from my disk. I informed her that I specifically did not want Open Office on my PC since I needed to use my own programs. I also spoke to her about an antivirus program that I was thinking about using but was not sure yet and wanted to research further. Since the store was not busy then, we spent some time just hanging out and talking about things in general. She is a lovely person but seemed rather insistent about the antivirus program they use and told me that I could always uninstall it if I didn't want it since "I knew what I was doing." I was not comfortable with that and I realize now that I should have been much more assertive at that point and should have insisted on exactly how I wanted things to be done. However, I did reiterate that I did not want Open Office installed and thought that I was clear about wanting to receive a clean system with a reinstalled operating system from the disk that came with the computer. The computer was ready to be picked up the very next day, zero wait time. I confirmed at that time that Open Office had not been installed. However, they did install their own preferred antivirus program and apparently some other unfamiliar third party software that I had not authorized. Since they do not accept checks, I paid with a credit card and left. I think that a computer specialist, like all business owners, should strive to satisfy their clients. I have now spent unnecessary hours learning about and then uninstalling unwanted programs from my computer. They also installed an unfamiliar audio driver. A reinstalled system (especially an older system like XP) obviously needs to be updated but I cannot understand why they would not use generic drivers intended for a simple refurbished desktop with a plain vanilla Windows OS, certainly not a jazzed-up gaming machine. Also, since my original request was only for a clean hard drive and reinstalled XP Pro, and I gave them the disk for that purpose, I would certainly have installed any necessary updates and drivers myself. My system tray was full of unfamiliar icons, including the unfamiliar audio driver which I am now told by the owner will remove the sound from my computer if I uninstall it. In my work, I have to use proprietary software to edit previously transcribed medical records that download to my PC as MP3 files, and I am now having some difficulty using my own software program to listen to these files because the audio controls seem to competing with each other. I think that while this company is knowledgeable and competent, they should not impose their personal preferences upon a client. I think that it is not appropriate to install third party software on a client's computer without being authorized to do so, on the assumption that "I could uninstall it if I wanted to." And I definitely think that when specifically informed of a client's wishes, a company should strive to accommodate that client. I should not have to argue or justify what I want to have on my own computer. It's a very uncomfortable feeling to let someone work on your PC and then become aware that what is now on your PC is not what you expected to be there and not what you want to be there. In addition, while money is not the issue here, I did not pay them to spend hours of my own time researching and undoing what should not have been done in the first place. A suggestion to PCU might be that in the future, if a client does not wish to have them install any antivirus program, a waiver might need to be signed indicating that PCU would not be responsible for removal of any viruses, trojans, malware, etc. unless the customer could verfiy installation of such a program on a date preceding the infection. A simpler suggestion would be to just install what the customer wanted rather than pushing their own preference, and if the customer changed his/her mind in the future, he/she would then have the option of uninstalling or returning to PCU to pay for further work. I realize that PCU likely has many clients who prefer to let them handle all aspects of installation and maintenance of hardware, software and data, and that the company is used to operating in this manner. However, they seem to have certain policies about how they do business that do not include accommodating individual requests; this resulted in a very unpleasant experience for me and we will unfortunately not be doing business with each other in the future.