Posted by Calvin in From the editor, Personal Computing | 16 Comments
Where do you have your laptop repaired? Official or unofficial service centers?
Dear readers, those who owns a laptop, where do you have it repaired when the warranty’s over? To official service centers? Some third-party repair shops?
I always refer people to have their laptops checked out on official service centers to ensure that parts used are original and new and that it’s being repaired by skilled people. But should that always be the case especially when unofficial repair centers are cheaper?
Here’s what happened to my sister-in-law’s old ASUS 1008 netbook which they bought from the US. The problem was it suddenly stopped charging but it would still run off what’s left of the battery though.
What I did was remove the battery and plugged the adapter but the netbook still won’t turn on. So I thought it must be the charger. I advised them to bring it to ASUS at SM Megamall to have it checked and maybe have a different charger used on it.
So they did. ASUS tried using a different charger but it still won’t work. Upon further examination, they concluded that there was a problem with the motherboard and it needs to be replaced. The total cost? P12,000!! Gee, that’s almost the price of a brand new netbook of the same model!
Eventually, they thought of just getting a new netbook instead. However, a friend referred them to somebody who repairs laptop. This guy found out that it was a motherboard problem indeed but only with the AC port. I don’t know what he did but the netbook was now up and running and it cost them P4,500. We wouldn’t know if the part replaced was old or new and it’s still early to tell if it will break down again in just a few months but they were happy with it.
I’m not saying that you should avoid official service centers. You might be risking the warranty, parts that would easily fail, or making your laptop’s condition worse. I’m asking you guys if what’s your experience dealing with official or unofficial repair centers to help those who would be having the same dilemma as my sister-in-law.
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This was my problem last year with my old laptop, a Dell INspiron 1525. When the original battery started having problems, I went to an Delll store to get an original battery but was dismayed when the shop only sells PC’s, laptops and accessories, not batteries. I tried to order online but the closest Dell Store was in Singapore. The Customer Service agent i was talking to suggested that I just order through a friend and have them mail the package to me. Too much hassle for a simple item.
I was able to get a generic battery online which worked fine until the power charger conked out wherein i encountered the same problem all over.
I finally replaced my laptop and just bought a MacBook, which has Official Service Centers and supplies all over the Philippines.
Ang hirap kasi sa mga service centers dito mas mahal pa ang mag pa repair kesa bumili ng bago or konti nalang ang add mo may bago kanang gamit. Kaya yun i end up letting unofficial repair shop do the job. ok naman so far so good.
i still send our laptops in the official service center, admittedly YES they charged you much higher than the other repair shop.
But it will 100% work again and i noticed that it also extend some years on the laptop.. i have here a HP presario v3000 with a replaced motherboard and LCD and still working great! although it is almost 6 yrs na!
Usually, it’s an official service center for me. But when one of my laptops had a similar problem (wouldn’t charge), I took it to my electrician friend and he re-soldered some part of the AC port attached to the board. Cost me a hundred pesos, but probably only because we’re friends.
I would send it to an official service center if it’s still under warranty. Otherwise, I would “consider” risking it to an unofficial service center. I currently have keyboard problems and my warranty already expired… My first move could be to take it to an official service center “just to get an idea” of how much it would cost.
I think it was better to go to the official service centers, although more expensive than the third-party repair shops, what can we choose?After all,the laptop’s more important.
true not unless the cost of repair is almost the same as getting a brand new one, unless of course the contents are too important for you.
be careful in dealing with SST Laptop Repair in Festival Mall. i brought my laptop there for repair of a damaged casing. but when they returned it to me, one of the locks on the monitor was chipped away. now it does not close properly. i tried to make them responsible for it, but they keep telling me it was already that way when i gave it to them. (they are telling me they know more about my laptop than i!!!!) please be careful.
thanks for the heads up Francis!
sir pa share naman yung narefer na repair shop sa inyo
Sir ask ko lang din, meron po bang nakakarepair ng mismong laptop charger? (toshiba) kasi yung cord na nilalagay sa pasukan ng adapter sa laptop eh mapuputol na, Then nagconsult ako sa toshiba megamall and they said, they dont repair that kind of sira on the charger, instead they offered me to have a brandnew laptop charger costing PHP 4000. Mahal eh, kaya naghahanap ako ng alternative.
it’s elbert online microsystems – 8926047
I am pro official centers for my laptop repair, simply can’t risk my laptop to a quack. Most of the time people think that if they take help of the unofficial centers they have an advantage because of the reduced price they have to pay. Sarcastically they will have to pay a bigger price in future.
Depends on d staff, not on official shop or not. My preffered shop services only laptops and is run by a kano for 14years in Cebu. His deep knowledge and competence of laptops is something d official shops only can dream off.
oh? where is this shop located in Cebu sir?
Kahit anong brand ng laptop nyo,Pag may hardware problem at warranty pa. Ipatingin mo sa authorized service center.
pag out warranty na at pag mainboard problem. For sure d mo na pagagawa sa kamahal ng repair cost sa authorized service center.
Kung gusto makatipid, pa check mo sa unofficial service center na capable magrepair ng mainboard. Basta meron sila equipment at familiar sa BGA chip reball or replacement.Big possibility maaayos. syempre maganda rin bigay dapat repair warranty
I know this entry is old but I also want to give you guys a heads up about SST Laptop. The branch I went to is in Ayala Center Cebu (as someone who just moved to Cebu, this is the only one I know of since it was easiest to find) The staff is very rude and condescending. Yeah, fine. There are a lot of jerks in this world, I get that. But that’s not the worst of it. They promised to get my laptop done in 2-3 days. On the FOURTH day I called them and was rudely spoken to. She told me that they haven’t even repaired said laptop. She even suggested that I do a “pull out.” I was busy so I sent my maid to get it. The employee grabbed the slip from my maids hands (“hinablot”) was the exact word she used and kept rolling her eyes at her (“inirapan”). Totally unprofessional and inconvenient. I have no idea what her problem is. I JUST WANTED MY LAPTOP FIXED.
After all this grief from those assholes, I think I’d rather just pay some IT guy from across the street. At least I can get it in less than a day without any drama. Never again.