Consumer Reports Survey

If you have received this newsletter, you may already be a customer of Computer Troubleshooters – and according to the June 2007 issue of Consumer Reports magazine, that makes you a pretty smart person.

Consumer Reports surveyed over 23,000 computer users and created a picture of what computer support is really like today. They asked questions about how effective each computer support provider was at resolving the problem, pricing and general satisfaction.

First up was support from manufacturers, such as Dell, HP, and Lenovo. Most manufacturers offer some level of free support, at least during the computer’s warranty period. Not surprisingly, the free support was the lowest ranked of all computer support sources – according to the survey, the free support was only able to resolve the problem a mere 53% of the time. Paid manufacturer support, both from “premium” support lines as well as extended warranties, was only slightly better at 62%.

Next Consumer Reports looked at data regarding what they called “independent” services, which included services from large retail chains (such as Geek Squad or Firedog in the US), and also non-affiliated, truly independent providers and franchises like Computer Troubleshooters. Both types of “independents” scored really well when compared to manufacturers. Retail-based services were able to resolve 84% of the problems on Windows-based PCs. Their pricing was fairly high though, often double or triple the rates charged by the non-affiliated service providers.

The non-affiliated provider category included single-location stores, online repair services and franchises like Computer Troubleshooters. Hands down we performed the best, resolving problems more than 93% of the time, and usually being much less expensive than the other paid options.

Talk to your local Computer Troubleshooter about how you too can get the best computer service for less.