New Computer Repair Business for Orange, Culpeper, and Warrenton
By Jeff Curtis | Posted: Friday, October 09, 2009
As the owner and principal technician of Acme PC repair I want to start by offering my education credentials; I have a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and computer science from SUNY, New Paltz and a Graduate Certification in Digital Forensics from the University of Rhode Island.
ACME offers full business and residential support for laptop and desktop computers and many networks. Computers are integral to business and most homes at this point and having a computer down can cost money and plenty of frustration. Viruses have gotten easier to get and can do more and more damage to your computer and even steal your personal identity or drain a bank account.
With money as tight as it is these days keeping an old computer running may be the only solution available but you can’t be spending too much money on repairs or getting ripped off by unscrupulous repair shops. We keep costs down by keeping the overhead lower, that’s why we don’t have a storefront. We pass those savings on.
We start with a $50 diagnostic fee and pride ourselves on getting it right the first time. Then we offer a few different priced solutions. Maybe we can find used parts, refurbished parts, non OEM parts, and then of course the highest priced solution is using OEM parts. This $50 is taken off of the cost of the repair if you choose to go forward.
If we are doing data recovery alone there would be no diagnostic charge and no charge at all if we can’t recover your data. The hourly fee is $50 an hour and billed in ½ hour increments.
Services include:
- Virus/spyware removal
- Data recovery
- Hardware replacement/upgrade
- Maintenance contracts offered
- Software installation
- Network installation and repair
- Password recovery
- Free pickup and delivery in a 10 mile radius
- Blue screen recovery
- PC based security camera installation and setup
- Much more, just call and ask
A friend mentioned an issue with her daughters 8 year old laptop (Pentium M processor chip), both hinges were broken completely off but the computer was fine, ran fairly fast, had no real issues. She had taken it into Culpeper to one of the guys in town. She was given a price of $35 per hinge and $75 to install them for a total cost of $145. Needless to say, she decided it wasn't worth it and the daughter continued to prop up the screen when she used it. I looked at it, went out on EBAY for replacement parts, found the hinges, brand new pair for $9.79 with free shipping. The plastic covering piece I found used for $.01 with $5.00 shipping. It took me half an hour to repair at a labor cost of $32.50, so the total cost of her repair was $47.30 to have the computer fully serviceable again. They couldn't afford to replace the laptop for even $500 but putting $150 into an old one is a hard decision to make, but she felt that fixing it for less than $50 was well worth it.
Another repair shop disappointed customer told this story: The shop repaired a flash drive with a customer supplied part and the tech said it was easy, then charged them $120 for an hour of his time!
I am keeping my rates down, about half of what the other guys are charging, and will show people where they can get parts for less and I will put them in, or I can order the parts for people who don't want to bother plus a small servicing fee.
Everyone seems to have a computer repair horror story. I want to change that and give people honest, reliable, service at a reasonable cost which you will know upfront, no surprises.
This is not a new endeavor for me, I’ve been taking care of local businesses and residential customers for about 10 years in this area.
There is a page on the website with tips and suggestions for self help with hints to speed up your computer and clear malware if you are so inclined. Please feel free to email or call me with your suggestions for this page.
Customer comments can be found on the website: www.acmepcrepair.com
I look forward to serving your computer needs.
Mary Lou Hamilton
