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Thread ID: 37901	2003-09-21 12:23:00	Target computer repair sting	tedheath (537)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
176851	2003-09-22 03:41:00	Have never liked Target as I feel it is grossly unfair. They did one on jewelers in Auckland and they only used five shops. How many jeweler shops in Auckland and how many could have been far worse than the ones they showed. The sticking reset button came up in a post here recently but I must admit it wouldn't have been my first thought. Fair Go is a far superior program.	mikebartnz (21)
176852	2003-09-22 04:31:00	I did not see Target last night, but I have heard a lot of talk about it. I agree that there are some "computer technicians" out there that shouldn't have a job, but I can't help feeling that we are a bunch of armchair critics. It's easy to say "I would have spotted that" but hindsight is a wonderful thing isn't it :)	segfault (655)
176853	2003-09-22 05:43:00	Nope the biggest problems were the waxheads who just wanted the customer to upgrade the cpu. They werent really interested in fault finding. I wish they would just go back to India, England or Albania or where ever they come from No one is going to begrudge a tech who looks for the fault and cant find it, and says I will take it back to the shop. At least then they can shotgun fault find by changing cards/mb/ram etc. tedheath	tedheath (537)
176854	2003-09-22 05:56:00	>I wish they would just go back to India, England or Albania or where >ever they come from. Funny you should say that,chum,pc tech just gone to England and is working in Manchester,will ask them to send him back on a reciprocal basis.	Thomas (1820)
176855	2003-09-22 06:23:00	after watching it myself ( along with my girlfriend who is a pc tech as well ) I can say we were less than impressed. for the host to complain that one of the techs called out had to replace different parts before he found and fixed the problem , is amazing! Most techs I know would suggest that in some cases if the problem is not imediately obvious, then using the AB swapp method or at least reducing the system in question down to the basic needed for a post and then work from there is the norm. My first thing I was taught by my first boss was to fix a problem with a PC. He created a problem with a faulty resett switch ( easy to do... ) and then got me to work out what was wrong... it took me about five minutes. Although yes hindsight makes it easy to judge, I know of alot of people who are not so gifted in the knowledge of computers ( hell some don't even know where the "any" key is... ) who have no appreciation of the skills,knowledge and time it takes to fix computer problems. Even less do they want to pay you for fixing it! I also wonder if the host of Target would care to subject herself to a "hidden camera test" on something technical that she claims she knows all about? would she enjoy her failures being made national knowledge? Lastly I know a few people in the IT industry that would maybe have made the same mistakes that the staff in the Target program have made, but to call them "cowboys" would be more than insulting! :)	minos#2 (318)
176856	2003-09-22 06:46:00	I make a few $$ on repairs myself and from what I've been told they weren't what I would call common problems. Which is what you get when you fake them. I'm not exactly sure what the problem was with the reset button, but if they just stuck it down then there are heaps of things that will have the same effect. A fault in a network card that never gets used isn't the first place I would look either. Stripping down the system down to a bare minimum is a very good start and would have found the network card, but probably not the reset switch if it wasn't disconnected. I don't think they should have pushed getting a new computer so much though. They should have suggested it might be cheaper and asked the owner what to do. My big problem with target is they never name the consultants so they have no credibilty.	bmason (508)
176857	2003-09-23 16:59:00	------ what I said to internet group ------ A faulty reset button well, well, well. OK what type of fault could we have (1) Reset switch intermittent. (2) Reset switch open circuit. (3) Reset switch short circuit. lets start with number 1, switch intermittent Result: computer would run OK number 2 switch open circuit Result: computer would run OK Number 3 switch short circuit. Result: computer would have trouble booting up. So I would take it that target put a short on the reset switch. Of all the switch type problem you would most likely get would be a intermittent switch and you would not get to see this fault until the computer froze up and you went to reset the computer and found you had to reset the reset button many times before the switch would work, or you might even think the switch was open circuit and remove power from the computer to reboot it. Because most technicians would rate a short circuit reset button as most unlikely fault. this is why they failed. Right from day one this great Target program could not get things right and wondered why TV service people thought the degauss posistor was faulty when they put in a blown mains fuse. Sorry Target I just don't buy you fraudulent crap you are trying to feed us all the time. ------ what someone said to internet group ------ I didn't see the program - but the fault (shorted or stuck reset switch) I've seen on 3 PC's in the last 10 years. It should be a cinch to diagnose, as you'll not even get a video BIOS screen (wouldn't this make you suspect the mobo immediately???) - and therefore check the reset switch. ------ what I said to internet group ------ I agree with most of what you said. But the point I was trying to make is Target is misleading from the start, as I said the first program target put a bad fuse in a good TV and then told viewers "why are these TV service people checking other things (degauss posistors), when they took out a part from a TV and shook it near their ear", it's obvious the target program got it wrong from day one and doing there best to mislead viewers who don't know any better. The network card was good idea and good thinking a very good test to sort the good techs from the bad, but the reset switch was a failure from the start. That would be the first thing I would pull out of a computer, then the modem card, then any other card. and I don't even fix computers for a living. ------- and ------ 3 reset switches in 10? years. how many computers have you look at? how many faulty network cards have you pulled out? haw many mother boards have you found faulty? how much brand new unused computer hardware have you found faulty? ------ what someone said to internet group ------ I agree it's a very rare problem.	Joeie (4605)
176858	2003-09-23 21:22:00	Target has potentially damaged my business, perhaps fatally, by broadcasting their own opinion of mobile computer technicians as being inferior to the service a customer may receive from a 'shop' . Target stated that it would be 'better, and cheaper' to take the comptuer to a shop . I fully and unconditionally refute this ridiculous statement as unfounded and potentially VERY damaging to my own and many other businesses . These mobile technician businesses are built and maintained on the basics of Service, Trust, Efficiency, Convenience . Target has just 'defamed my character' and that of many many other techs they have never even heard of . This is a very serious commercially damaging accusation implying incompetance . It also blatantly states that the 'shop' is better . The shop is NOT necessarily better . . . . . . . . . . . . I've had folks call me out because it was beyond them to pack up the puter and take it to the shop they either didn't haev the time or didn't want to try . . . . also if you take it to the shop you might get it back in a week or two . . . . . . . I'll be there to fix your puter in less than 24 hours without a doubt . . . . . also they said the mobile tech will be more expensive . . . . . . bullshit . . . . . . . I charge $40 per hour flat rate and ALL the shops in my locality charge $65 and up to $90 . . . . . . . Also when you take you puter to a shop you have no idea what they are doing to it but when i fix it for you in front of you you learn a lot and you can haev useful input to the process . . . . . . I've been called to jobs where the client had taken their puter to a shop and then called me out cause all the shop has done is format the drive and reload a very basic version of windoze . . . . . . . . . and 'now I cant use my printer/scanner . . . . . cant get on the net . . . . . . . etc etc etc' For Target to badmouth ALL mobile techs and actually ADVISE folks not to deal with them is pretty serious of them . . . . . I reckon thats commercially damaging to mobile techs . . . . . . and therefore beyond their 'brief' . Faulty reset button . . . . . . . . lol well I'd say that's very rare . . . . . . . . faulty network card . . . . . . . . . . sure . . . . . . . . and cutting the system to the 'bone' so as to eliminate problematic hardware is pretty well good practise . I was so bloody annoyed that they can so easily damage my business and that of others I've made an official complaint . . . . . wonder if I'll ever hear back . . . . .	drcspy (146)
176859	2003-09-23 21:38:00	You are the man I would want to fix my computer drcspy,but be it shop or mobile how do we know they have your integrity?	Thomas (1820)
176860	2003-09-23 22:37:00	>I've been called to jobs where the client had taken their puter to a shop and then called me out cause all the shop has done is format the drive and reload a very basic version of windoze .........and 'now I cant use my printer/scanner .....cant get on the net .......etc etc etc' yep thats often the case. they often need someone to set up all the rest of the gear and get it going. however i must admit that working on a pc in the workshop is far easier. exspecially when you need to download drivers/patches etc.	tweak'e (174)
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