Geeks N' Nerds

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because: 
Response to business noncompliance for complaint ID [redacted]:
 
I am not satisfied with the business response.
I paid in full for something I never received.  Because of my being a single female and a senior citizen I am sure Geeks 'n' Nerds Computers (G&N) are taking advantage of me, and I take this very personally.
 
The bottom line is that I am paying John M[redacted] and his assistant for their own incompetence and inability to deliver on the verbal contract they made with me on 10/27/16.  You will notice that in the response G&N have never addressed the question of why Idid not receive any computer at all.
 
I made no verbal or written contract to pay them for any services or fees outside the manufacture of the computer I requested.
 
Before I consented to put the charge on my Visa card G&N staff verbally promised me they would build a computer that would be on a windows 7 platform and coordinate with my existing hardware.  They did neither task and I have nothing to show for this experience except the expense of having walked into a crook's store and had $200 stolen from me.  G&N have betrayed my trust completely and in my estimation should no longer be in business.
 
Direct disagreements with the business response:
 
She returned to the store with her old computer 
 
I did not bring the older PC to the store. I am unable to carry it because of its size and weight.
 
The customer let our technician know that she also had a Century Link modem that had not been set up yet and that would need to be completed 
 
I have had Century Link service since 2/16, so the modem was in place; the issue was Century Link's need to repair the connection wires in the service box on [redacted] Road, which I explained to the tech.  Because these wires were not functioning properly I had lost my phone and internet service a number of times.  My question to the tech was if they knew how to and would hook up the new computer to the modem.
 
The customer explained, in an aggressive tone, how important it was to have the ISP Technician come out as soon as possible.
 
This remark and the two below indicate that tech Colby is extremely personally judgmental and defensive, trying to deflect the responsibility for the incompetence of himself and the staff at G&N by attacking me personally and attributing remarks and attitudes to me that were not present.
 
“Well I was in a hurry and couldn't wait for it so I unplugged it”.
 
I do not speak like this and have never made this statement to the tech. 
 
"At this point she was furious."
 
I did ask why the software was not being accepted by this new computer, and asked the tech Colby why the new machine would not accept a disk I know was workable.  Furious?  hardly.  In fact, he was not able to answer my question about why the specially built computer he brought was not functioning properly and was not accepting normal Microsoft software which was, in fact purchased from Microsoft with my original Dell PC.
 
"...the choice was presented to the customer to either return the system for a refund minus the $199.00 labor charge"
 
This arrangement was made over the phone, not with Colby, but with long distance absentee business owner John M[redacted], 2 days after Colby was at my house failing to perform his job.
 
Consumers are always warned against prepaying for something the consumer has not received by investigative reporters who expose  crooked and criminal business owners (scam artists)  who require payment up front before work is completed.  For the first time in my life I have fallen into this trap, and have informed the Attorney General of Oregon about this matter.  G&N were very aware when I entered the store that I was a woman, alone, and a senior citizen.  Instead of extending the courtesy and grace due to my status as a person, they have chosen to victimize me, misrepresent my behavior and my remarks, and overtly lie about my interactions with the tech, and process to steal $200 from me.  
 
Because of all the errors and misrepresentations of the facts in this response, I suggest that G&N indicate they are very free with the truth and, as mentioned above, operate in an ethically and morally questionable manner.  Sincerely,[redacted]

Our first interaction with the customer was in our Geeks n Nerds store. After some discussion of the issues her machine was having and speaking with her tech savvy friend, it was decided that she would purchase one of our custom desktop computers.
She returned to the store with her old computer and...

an abundance of older software, most of which was end of life. (too old to be compatible with new operating systems). At this time we discussed the fact that the customer's printer, due to its age, would not have driver support in Windows 10 and therefore would not be compatible with the new desktop. We advised the customer to replace the printer; however she decided not to do so due to her budget.  Because it was decided not to replace the printer, the alternative was to install Windows 7 rather than the newest operating system, Windows 10.
The price of our custom desktop computers includes a one hour service call (normally $129) at the time of delivery. Upon delivery of the desktop, the customer let our technician know that she also had a [redacted] modem that had not been set up yet and that would need to be completed as well; we agreed to do the setup as part of theincluded new build delivery. After completing standard set up procedures for the modem, our technician discovered that the customer's phone line was having issues and the modem was not receiving a signal from the customer's ISP ([redacted]).
Our technician called [redacted] using his cell phone from the customer’s home and explained the issue. The ISP representative explained that the [redacted] side of things was stable and there was no activity at the house right now, but that there had been a device using the internet a day or two prior. At this point, the rep needed to verify the customer's account information to continue the support call so the tech let the customer speak to her. The customer explained, in an aggressive tone, how important it was to have the ISP Technician come out as soon as possible.
The ISP tech appointment was set for between 8 and 9 the following morning. Our technician explained to the customer that he had set up her new equipment to the best of his ability based on the circumstances and the customer seemed satisfied with the result, but frustrated that she had no internet access. At the time of his leaving our technician had been on-site close to 2 hours, far exceeding our normal setup time allotment. She had everything she had originally brought into the store in her possession including the Old Computer with its data transferred to the new computer. She also had the new computer setup in her home office with the router, home phone, and printer all connected.
The customer then called our helpline over the weekend and was very aggressive with our staff when expressing her displeasure with the experience. We agreed to come back out free of charge to evaluate the situation and if the customer's needs could not be met, she agreed to return the system with a $199 labor fee for the time we had invested in her project.
Our lead technician arrived the following Monday and found the new system unhooked with the customer's old machine partially hooked back up. [redacted] had resolved their issues but the customer expressed that the new computer just wasn't working the way she understood, and she proceeded to vent about how she found the branding on the computer offensive and how she felt personally slighted by the imagery. (A grenade outline, which is the logo for the motherboard we use and over which we have no contol). After hooking the new machine back up it was found that the machine was having issues booting up due to failed Windows Updates. After bringing this up to the customer, she replied  “Well I was in a hurry and couldn't wait for it so I unplugged it”. After a bit of work we were able to get the system to boot back up again, and the customer said that they were missing some of their old software, She presented our technician with a burned copy of Office 2003 which had a hand written Product Key. This is usually an indication of illegally shared software, so I let the customer know that due to this “shared software” it likely would not function properly, and she would need to purchase a new version of Microsoft Office. At this point she was furious, blaming the computer for not working with her software and taking offense that the tech would suggest she did anything illegal. At this point the customer also expressed issues with the way the system performed with windows 7; we explained to her that Windows 7 was not the most efficient platform and that a new printer with Windows 10 would be a much better solution in the long term.  We told her we would install windows 10 on the new machine free of charge and that she would need to purchase a compatible printer. At this point, the customer called the Tech Savvy Friend she  originally consulted; he agreed with every suggestion our technician was making, despite the customer's protests. At this point, the choice was presented to the customer to either return the system for a refund minus the $199.00 labor charge or allow us to install Windows 10, free of charge, and she would  purchase the new products she needed. The customer chose to return the system and have her old one hooked back up. Our technician hooked up her old system and left. We issued the agreed upon refund of $800.00 the next day, as she had already paid the original cost of the custom desktop, $999.00 by card.
Due to amount of time in terms of labor (10 hours) we spent attempting to meet the needs of this customer, we believe that the $199.00 charge and the $800.00 refund is more than fair and are not willing to entertain any further type of refund whatsoever beyond the the $800.00 already refunded.