Computers & laptops
It will not turn on, or it takes ten minutes to.
Both are usually fixable and usually cheaper than you are expecting. I will look at it for nothing, tell you honestly what is wrong, and tell you if it is not worth mending.
What I sort out
The everyday things, mostly. If yours is not on the list, ring and describe it.
It is full of pop-ups
Adverts appearing over everything, a browser that will not go back to normal, or a message telling you to ring Microsoft. That last one is a scam, and I will show you why.
It has got painfully slow
Nine times in ten this is a mechanical hard drive that should have been an SSD three years ago. It is the single biggest difference you can make to an older machine.
The screen is cracked
Laptop screens are a part and an hour, not a new laptop. I will price the part before I order it so there are no surprises.
It will not start at all
Could be the power supply, could be the drive, could be a setting. Free to find out which.
I have got a new one
Set up properly, everything moved across from the old machine, and the old one wiped before it leaves.
I want one building
A machine specified for what you actually do with it, built and tested, rather than whatever a shop is trying to clear.
What it costs
A starting price for the category, because I would rather quote your actual machine than publish a number that turns out to be wrong for it.
£30 call-out. That includes the first hour on site, and it comes off the bill if you go ahead with the work.
£60 for the bigger jobs — wall mounts, full system installs, several machines at once. Same terms.
Across the bridge, add £15 toward the toll. Everything below is a starting price, and parts are on top where they are needed.
For longer work: £50 an hour, or £500 for the day. An hour is the smallest I bill — I will not invoice you for fifteen minutes. Past about four hours the day rate is simply cheaper, so that is what you will be quoted; I am not going to run the clock up to the point where you should have bought a day of my time.
Computers & laptops
from £30
Looking at it and telling you what is wrong is free. Repairs, upgrades, reinstalls and data recovery start at £30 plus any parts.
No fix, no fee on anything software-side. Ring me and I will give you a real number for your machine before I come out.
Where I come out to
New Holland, Barrow and Barton-upon-Humber, Goxhill, Immingham, Brigg, Scunthorpe, Grimsby and Cleethorpes — and over the bridge to Hull, Hessle and Beverley. If you are just outside that, ring anyway and I will tell you straight whether it is worth it.
Questions I get asked
Do you come to me, or do I bring it to you?
Either. Most things are quicker sorted at your table with you there to say what it has been doing, and some jobs — a screen, a stubborn reinstall — are better taken away and brought back.
Is it worth mending, or should I just buy a new one?
That is genuinely the first thing I will tell you, and sometimes the answer is no. A machine that needs £180 of parts to be worth £120 is not worth mending, and I would rather say so than take the money.
Will I lose my photos?
Not if I can help it. Getting your files off safely comes before anything else I do, and if a drive is failing I will say so before I touch it rather than after.
How long does it take?
Most software jobs are done the same visit. Anything needing a part ordered depends on the part, and I will give you a real date rather than a vague one.
What if you cannot fix it?
Then you do not pay for the labour. That is standard locally and I am not going to be the exception.
Do you work on Macs?
Basic things yes — setup, data moves, obvious hardware. Deeper Mac board work I will point you at somebody better placed, because pretending otherwise helps nobody.
Tell me what it's doing
Tell me what it is doing and roughly how old it is, and I will tell you what I think before I come out. A photo of the error message helps more than you would think.
Or email [email protected]
