DataCorp Computer Systems

Thanks Nell, we will always do our best for you :)

There's the truth and then there's the whole truth. Paul Merritt phoned us on Saturday 20th admitting he knocked his desktop computer off the desk while it was turned on and it now would not turn on. He brought it in, later, that afternoon and we did a brief look at it, as there was work ahead of him, before we closed for the weekend finding that the power supply & hard drive were bad. In cases like this we have to check everything because the motherboard and other devices can suffer stress fractures. Monday we were completing work prior to Paul's and further testing was done Tuesday. The circuit board on his hard drive was replaced and tested to see if we could revive the drive but no luck. During Tuesday Paul phoned twice and was told that we were busy dealing with other clients and would get back to him. On his third call I told him that the repairs would cost $180 which covered 5 things; power supply, hard drive, operating system, software and labor. This averaged $36 per item. Paul replied that he would come and see me the following day and I figured that meant negotiating. The next morning before I arrived my staff phoned to tell me that Paul was here to pick up his computer and I asked to speak to Paul who would not speak to me. At this stage I did not realize we had a problem. I arrived a few minutes later while staff were still reassembling his computer including reinstalling the motherboard and changing the circuit board back on the hard drive & instead of talking to me he walked out of the store. I followed trying the figure out what was wrong and he started screaming and repeating himself every time I tried to say anything. I said "Paul, you're behaving like" and I made a reference to the title of Tyler Perry's first movie except I used the word "angry" instead of "mad". I'd hoped this would make him realize how he was behaving. He replied that he'd phone the police to which I told him it would make no difference as they were reassembling his computer. At no stage did I raise my voice & I walked back inside and a minute later his computer was completed & as he was nowhere to be seen I phoned him and left a message to this effect. He then walked past the store and I put my head out to tell him the status. He waited for a policeman to arrive rather than take his computer without incident. He told the policeman how I had described his behavior and I admitted it but I didn't use the words that Paul said I did. Apparently owning up to one's actions is dishonest. Paul collected his computer and left without telling us why he was unhappy when he arrived. Paul also said that we should have known he was coming to pick up his computer and should have had it ready. Until I read what Paul had written here I did not know why he arrived in the mood he did. Firstly from Saturday the 20th to Tuesday the 23rd is 2 business days, not 2 weeks. Secondly the quote of $180 for all that was involved was favorable to Paul because I felt bad, not guilty, and no matter how you split it up, $90 for parts and $90 for labor is still cheap. Paul was charged nothing for our services, he was quoted a fair if not cheap price, the work was done in a reasonable time frame although not as quick as we are renown for and if anything wasn't professional it was that he was told he was behaving stupidly. I still don't know what Paul expected would be done as all the damage was on him and we went the extra mile at no charge. Had he expressed his unhappiness with the quote I would have invited him to acquire any parts and we would have used them to save him the money. Don't just be unhappy, tell the person you are dealing with why you are unhappy so that they can put it right. I would have described Paul as a nice guy just having a bad day. Earl