Dork’s Computer Repair In Heath, Ohio.
I noticed that there is a new computer repair shop in Heath, Ohio called Dork Force. The name had me laughing so hard I had to take a picture. I know nothing about Dork Force, other than the name is funny.
Dorks?
Maybe I just haven’t kept up with current slang, but a Dork has never meant anything complimentary. Geeks, that’s different, that implies that the person is only smart about technological aspects of life, but lacks in other areas, Dork implies lack of knowledge in anything. Hopefully the name means nothing here.
If they’re good, the area needs these guys. There are many broke computers that need repaired. I don’t repair computers and viruses because there’s no money it. Folks think it should be done for free in the first place, then you end up spending many hours correcting their problems and educating them. By the time you add up the bill for the time, they could have just bought a new computer.
When your suggestions are ignored, the customer comes back to you and explains that your service is no good because they have the same problem again. You find out that they’ve done the same things that you told them not to do. They’ve somehow disabled everything you set up to protect them. In the process, they’ve told everyone they know that you don’t know what you’re doing and you’ve ripped them off.
In short, there’s better ways to make a living with computers. If Dork Force has figured out a way to fix your computer for less than buying a new one and clear a profit, not to mention pay the rent in the strip mall, my hat is off to them and I wish them the best.
I can tell everyone to Be Careful Of All Computer Repair Shops!. You can easily be ripped off with this type of business. Like I said, I don’t know anything about Dork Force, but I know plenty about computer repair shops in general.
- Are they installing the free Microsoft Security Essentials program?
- If the repair is within $100 of a new computer with high performance numbers, get the new computer. They should be suggesting this to you.
For those who wish to keep their computer out of the shop, install Iolo(turn off the anti-virus protection) and Microsoft Security Essentials(turn on the anti-virus protection) and you’re about as secure as you can get.
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12 Responses to “Dork’s Computer Repair In Heath, Ohio.”
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If they can’t fix it… I have personally had my computer issues resolved by MSM. They are in Downtown Newark.
I used MSM and Alphalink back in 1996. I want to thank them for quoting such astronomically high prices that I couldn’t afford them and it forced me to fix my own. That led to a new career.
Don’t get me wrong, they may provide an excellent value now, but I still see where it’s difficult for a repair shop to beat the price of a new computer and it takes an ethical shop to tell you this. Both businesses are still around and have high profile customers, like the city, that are willing to pay the prices.
I don’t care which shop you go to, know the price of a new computer that’s better than what you have and take that into consideration before paying for a repair. I have listed all of Newark’s computer repair shops and like anything else, you should comparison shop.
I know of only one customer of Dork Force. My second had knowledge indicates that pricing and approach are similar to Geek Squad. They did tell this person it would cost an additional $400 to repair and that she should consider purchasing a new computer. For about $100 they backed up her data to Cd and sold her they would dispose of the computer for her. I told her to go back and at least retreive the hard drive.
For what it’s worth, I will recommend only one repair business in the Newark – Heath area and it is PCS computer repair. They are honest and reasonably priced. Down side is they are swamped with business so be prepared to wait for the repair to be complete.
That sounds like a fair deal. I think $100 is a little steep for a drive backup, but it depends on how extensive they are. I’ve seen some that they did a full backup, then you find out they only backed up the “My Documents” folder.
I agree that they customer should receive the hard drive! You can drill a hole in it and give it back to them to be sure it’s useless. Backup or not, I just keep the old hard drive in case there is something I need to retrieve later. Even it it’s going bad, there’s a chance you can retrieve data.
On a side note of security, I’ve never seen shop yet that doesn’t take at least a quick glance at what is on your computer. In some cases, they can’t help it. In others, they’re just nibby.
Thanks for the short review on PCS too. I repair my own, so I only have aged experience with shops as a customer.
I have some inside information on the Dork Force. I happen to know that this business was opened by two former Geek Squad employees that worked at the Heath Store. I checked on their prices and found that they charge roughly $50.00 for a diagnostic service just to look at the computer. A virus removal service is $99.99 so this means that you will have to pay $150 total. This is a better price than Geek Squad but while I was shopping around I found a computer repair shop in Hebron that I wnet with. They offered to look at the computer for free.
Thanks for the information. $50 is steep just to look at it, but it does take time to “just look at” them. Even auto mechanics are charging just to take a look anymore, so I guess it’s a charge to be expected.
I wish that folks would try some Iolo, but not running them both at the same time, has kept my computers running great.
If they’re ex Geek squad employees, I don’t know what to say. Geek Squad runs the gamut with barely qualified folks to good technicians that just ended up there by accident. The thing I would look out for is if they’re using Geek Squad repair software. If they are, they’re running on illegal software it probably isn’t up-to-date. It’s really common for technicians to download the software illegally and a few times Geek Squad has thrown a few surprises at people doing this. Bad diagnostic software can ruin a computer. I’m not saying the Dork’s are doing this, but I am saying it’s prudent to ask them what they are using.
First off, I would like to start by saying that these guys are AWESOME! My search for the perfect computer repair place is finally over.
If you’re anything like me, then you’ve probably taken your computer to many different local places, trying to find the best price and service. Along with price, another couple important elements I always looked for were cleanliness and order. I didn’t want to have to risk falling down the stairs with my computer in my arms, because some guy in his “basement repair shop” could save me 20 bucks. I also didn’t want to take my computer to some guy’s “home/business” and have it sit in a stack on his livingroom floor for 3 weeks, collecting dust and awaiting repair, just to save a few dollars. I wanted to find a place that I could walk in and feel safe and confident enough to leave my computer, and that’s exactly what I found when I walked into Dork Force.
Now I must admit, when I walked in to Dork Force for the first time, it was not at all what I expected. Having been in and out of all the other sloppy, disorganised places that call themselves “computer repair businesses”, I was kind of expecting the same thing…this was not the case. Inside, it was very neat and clean. It sort of resembled an art gallery with the paintings they had hanging on the walls, which was a very nice and pleasing aesthetic touch. The floors were beautiful hardwood and there was even a waiting area with a table and chairs, and a coffee machine for early birders like myself. Dork Force was neat, orderly, and clean-cut…everything I wanted to see in a computer repair store.
My wife and I brought our computer in to have them remove some nasty viruses that had us pulling our hair out (we believe our son had something to do with the viruses…of course he denies everything). Dork Force had our computer repaired and working the SAME DAY! Granted, we dropped it off a little after 9am when they opened…but even then, the DOrks said they can normally diagnose a computer, remove infections, and have it repaired within a 24 hour period.
I don’t know about you, but to me, my computer is my life. I use it to communicate with my friends and family, do my banking, research and so on. I can’t even breathe without it. To have my computer up and running again in such a short amount of time was definately a breath of fresh air, compared to the horrible wait times I’ve experienced at places like Bite the Beast and Geek Squad. I probably wouldn’t have minded paying the Dork Force double what I did, if I knew I was going to get such quick service.
By the way, just a clarification on the above comment about price, the Dork Force’s computer diagnostic charge was only $40, which is still a lot cheaper than Geek Squad’s $70 fee. I remember paying Geek Squad well over $200 to do what Dork Force did for only $140. On top of that, it took Geek Squad almost a week (6 days to be exact) to fix my problem…and even then, it still wasn’t quite right. Dork Force fixed my computer problems correctly, in one day, for a lot cheaper.
Bottom line is, while there are probably a few places out there to take your computer that will save you a buck or two, do you really want to chance pinching pennies for a complete loss of cleanliness, quality, and service? For me, the answer is NO. I am a Dork Forcer for LIFE!
If you have a computer problem, go see the Dork Force…you won’t regret it!
If you’re taking your computer to someone who would let you risk falling down his stairs or lay it on his living room floor for 3 weeks, no wonder you had problems! Most private repair people will either take care of it all for you or repair it at YOUR house.
Geek Squad, Bite The Beast, sorry I had to let this comment through. It stinks of someone from one company trying to bash another. I could be wrong, but that’s what I would take it as. You don’t have to bash other businesses to promote another. It could be a friend of Dork Force thinking he’s doing them a favor too.
I’ve heard of Geek Squad doing a fine job and I’ve heard of Bite The Beast doing a fine job. I’ve certainly heard of many private repairman doing a great job too. I’ve been in Newark for a long time and I’ve been in computers for a long time. I know the companies that this guy is bashing, and though I think their prices are a little high, they do a fine job. I also know the rent that Dork Force is paying is high.
I’m getting some other red flags from Dork Force, but I’ll leave you to think about this. They’re claiming to be the cheapest in the most expensive rent in the area? Things don’t add up there. Double check that they are using licensed software on your computer and that they sign a confidentiality form concerning the data on the computer. These could be really talented folks and they really can pull this off, but I’m not seeing it yet. This post certainly doesn’t sway me.
Be careful out there!
I took my laptop there on Sept 13, paid the $50 diagnostic. They discovered my hard drive went bad. So I agreed to let them replace it. I asked about getting a couple (4-5) word documents off my desk top and they said it would be $70 to burn it to a DVD… OUCH! I opted to drive back to the strore with my thumb drive and get the docs myself… took me 2 minutes. So they called me about 3 hours later and said it was done. I was impresed for sure at the speed. I picked my laptop up and almostt crapped my self looking at the bill. They charged me $99.99 to RE-install my OS… WTF? I have the disk at home… Damn $200 later I have a functional laptop again. Or did I? Not so much 4 days later the “brand new” hard drive was shot. At least they said they’d fix it for free, including getting my docs for work printed for me. But this time they had it for 3 days and when I got it back they switched my 320G for a 250G hard drive…. Had my husband not brought the old drive home in the new box… I would have never known about the switch…. They gave me a coupon for 10% off my next service… I think I’ll pass.
This is the type of repair that is difficult for any repair center. What many fail to over look on bad motherboards and drives is that sometimes the components didn’t “just fail”. Sometimes things make the fail. Something may have shot to much power to your hard drive to cause a failure, since that issue wasn’t resolved, the same thing happened to the next hard drive. Finding these issues takes time and money that $50 just doesn’t cover.
All of the charges listed here are comparable to other shops. The problem is that they add up quickly and it’s hard to justify the costs. Myself, a bad motherboard or hard drive means a new computer. If I can find a cheap hard drive, maybe I’ll replace it.
What I would seriously question here is that if the hard drive was bad, they should not have been able to retrieve the documents at all without VERY expensive procedures. This is a huge red flag. It’s very common for a shop to just say that a hard drive is bad because there is a software problem that they cannot figure out. It’s easier for them and less expensive for you to just say that it’s bad for a chance to reinstall the OS.
Regardless of the particulars here, the best suggestion for you would have been a new computer with a warranty.
Hello,
We are responding to the “Mad local” and the “admin” who replied to her comment. First off everything this client posted with the exception of Diagnostic costs is correct. I do apologize to her if she feels slighted about the OS service, but that is what we charge to re-install the operating system, pull drivers, updates, etc. Additionally, she put the new drive in quotations indicating that it was not new when it most certainly was, and if requested by the client I would be more than happy to provide my shipping invoice and RMA number for that drive.
Now on to the next issue, I contacted the client on the 28th of this month after reading her post on us. I was very cordial, simply inquiring why she posted a negative feedback and if there was anything we could do to make her a satisfied client. She responded with “I did that before you guys fixed it again” and then hung up.
The biggest issue that we have is that her post is incomplete, after she posted this, she called us upset that we installed a 250 GB drive in place of the 320 GB (which I admit was a error that I personally made, evident by the fact I gave her the 250 GB box) but we agreed to quickly rectify the situation by cloning the contents of the old drive to the new 320 GB. The client came in the next day at 8:45 pm, we cloned the drive, verified functionality, pulled some remaining Microsoft updates, and she was complete the next morning at 9:15. If the client still isn’t satisfied and won’t even discuss options to make her satisfied, so be it, there is nothing I can do about that, but please post complete information as to the services we offered allowing people to make an informed decision.
With respect to the Admin post, a bad drive does not necessarily mean I can’t pull data, read errors may be anywhere on the drive and S.M.A.R.T. failures indicate that the drive is going bad but not necessarily there yet, the only time data retrieval becomes complicated is when the mechanics are failing or the read errors are on parts of the drive which contain data, which you are most certainly correct, does require expensive equipment/software. In this particular case, the drive failed read tests and SMART, but the mechanics were still good and the errors were on boot/windows files, not data areas.
Thank you for your time,
Dork Force, LLC
641 S. 30th St.
Heath, OH 43056
(740) 522-3675
Owner, I wish you the best, but you’ve entered a business with a very bad reputation and you’ve thrown red flags that would cause me not to recommend your services. Finding and replying to a negative post is a good step towards changing my mind though.
I know the difference between a hard drive going bad and one that is bad, this one was going bad from the description given. Replacing it with a smaller drive is a common “mistake” and common is not where you want to be in this business. Requiring the customer to return and take their time for these types of “mistakes” is a problem in my view.
Thanks for the reply. I do encourage everyone to consider the sources of these posts. If they leave a real name and contact, I post it. If there is none and it’s negative, I’ll remove it.