For private individuals, it is a strict ‘payment-on-collection’ policy. We don’t have card processing facilities at this moment, however aside from a cash payment (the most convenient method) there are a few methods that you can use to pay us with, such as a direct bank transfer, the Barclays Pingit app, or PayPal. You can use our reception laptop to make your payment safely if you have your details to hand, or you can use your smartphone if you have the relevant banking apps loaded. An invoice in PDF format will be emailed to you before the end of the working week (due to our accounting/admin cycle) and will be marked off as paid.
For business customers we offer the standard 30-day terms from the date that we issue the invoice (usually the same day you arrive to collect your computer/s), and all of our payment methods and details are on the invoice for your convenience. Once the invoice is paid, we will email you a copy of the invoice again, marked as paid. If payment is delayed beyond the 30-days, this would be classed as a late payment and we reserve the right to charge interest until payment is paid in full. This would be the statutory rate (8%) plus the current Bank Of England base rate. If this situation occurred, we would send revised invoices with the interest added.
We are indeed registered under the Data Protection Act 1998. For you, this means that the personal identity details that we store will not be shared with any third party, nor sold to any third party. This data is kept in a secure database on our web server to which only we have access to. We do not hold anything sensitive such as financial details or dates of birth, nor will we ever ask for such details. We store the following data on our clients:
First Name and Surname, Postal Address, Mobile Phone Number, Landline Phone Number, Email Address.
This data is housed within a secure database on our web server to which no third party has access. This data will also be present on electronic invoices that we issue to our customers, all of which are safely stored with no third party access and with security in place to stop unauthorised access.
We also store CCTV footage at our premises for crime prevention purposes.
Under exceptional circumstances we may be asked by government agencies to share the above data with them without your consent for the following purposes:
• the prevention or detection of crime
• the apprehension or prosecution of offenders
• the assessment or collection of tax or duty
As a data processor, we would have to share this information without your consent, for the purpose of not prejudicing their investigation.
However, for any other reason to any other third party, we will always seek your consent before sharing data and you are entitled to refuse. Regardless of this, there is no reason or motive for us to share any of the above with a third party.
If you have any other queries regarding our data flow and procedures, please get in touch with us. We welcome all questions and queries no matter how small they are – data flow is a serious subject and even more-so in our current day and age where there are many privacy concerns.
We offer an on-site callout service to our business customers, and we can also offer the same service to private individuals too. Charges will vary depending on time and distance – please contact us to see whether a mutual day and time can be agreed, and to get a quote for cost.
For business customers, we have a different pricing structure. Please contact us for more information.
We issue an invoice to all of our customers, whether private individuals or business customers.
For private individuals, we will ensure that we take your details for the invoice in advance (either on drop-off or collection) – we will require a full name, address, contact number, and an email address that you currently use. An invoice in PDF format will be emailed to you before the end of the working week (due to our accounting/admin cycle) of when you collected your computer and paid for your repair. The invoice will be marked off as paid.
For business customers we offer the standard 30-day terms from the date that we issue you your invoice (usually the same day you arrive to collect your computer/s), and all of our payment methods and details are on the invoice for your convenience. Once the invoice is paid, we will email you a copy of the invoice again, marked as paid (as soon as possible after your payment is made). If payment is delayed beyond the 30-days, this would be classed as a late payment and we reserve the right to charge interest until payment is paid in full. This would be the statutory rate (8%) plus the current Bank Of England base rate. If this situation occurred, we would send revised invoices with the interest added.
We do not repair printers, smartphones, tablets, games consoles, TVs, and other standalone consumer electronics. We specialise in computing hardware only with the exception of a few makes and models of tablet computers.
If you require a repair on your tablet, we still ask you to submit an enquiry because we do repair certain models comprising certain faults. If you happen to have a model with a fault that we can repair, you’re in luck!
Currently the online market is flooded with what we call compatible/replica/replacement batteries, at very aggressive prices. Prices that are too good to be true, and this is because they are too good to be true. What you receive is a very poor quality item that has been made by an eastern manufacturer due to the lack of availability from the laptop manufacturers themselves, but also because everyone wants the cheapest possible price. Many of these batteries are dangerous to use, but in reality what the customer gets is a battery that performs quite well for a year or so, but deteriorates quickly. Sometimes even sooner.
Because of the struggle to get the eastern manufacturers to make high quality batteries albeit at a slightly higher price premium (because most of the time they’re still fitting the batteries with poor quality lithium-ion cells and making even more profit), we simply cannot find a manufacturer or distributor to stand alongside with where we can honestly say that the battery will be of a high quality. And because of this, we don’t sell laptop batteries nor do we make recommendations on where to get the best possible examples. Simply put, we don’t want to be the bad guys! Because in the case of laptop batteries, a lot of the time there will be a bad guy – the distributor, the retailer, or the eastern manufacturer.
There are a few laptop brands where you may be able to seek a battery directly but at a price premium. However you can be assured that you’re receiving a high quality battery that’ll last a good few years if not longer, and more importantly will be safe to use. We have bought replacement batteries for Dell and HP laptops directly from themselves, but most other manufacturers don’t provide any means to obtain a replacement battery.
Due to the cut-throat nature of computer part prices and the sheer quantity of parts out there, we only stock commonly required parts that we use regularly such as hard disk drives, solid-state drives, RAM memory, laptop DC power sockets/jacks, and LCD screen replacements for common laptop models. We have also accumulated a large storage of varied laptop and PC parts across the board. If you would like to find out if we have a part in stock, please leave us an online enquiry and we will get back to you.
You may also want to find out about part availability to see where we can provide a fast turnaround on your computer repair. When you make an enquiry with us for your repair, we always check our stock first prior to quoting you and the turnaround time that we give you will always reflect whether we have the part in stock or not.
Remember, we also have access to next-day-delivery on many computer parts. Again, this will always be reflected in the turnaround time that we quote you for your repair.
Although we are a registered business, we are currently not VAT registered – all of our pricing is exclusive of VAT.
Our turnaround on repairs can vary depending on the type of repair – we will always give you an accurate turnaround when we quote you, but as a rough guideline:
– Software related repairs usually take between 1 to 2 working days (in many cases including Saturday as a working day).
– Hardware related repairs can take anything between 1 to 5 working days (weekends excluded) due to delivery of ordered parts and the uncertainty associated with delivery time. We do stock a lot of common parts, and have access to next working day delivery with many items, therefore for common hardware repairs you will be looking at no longer than a couple of days.
Throughout the year we may be enduring a busier period and the turnaround time may be longer than normal – we will always do our best to let you know of this when we quote you or when you are arranging a drop-off with us.
The online marketplace is flooded with eastern manufacturers selling laptop chargers at prices that are simply too low to assure you of a high quality replacement. Or, the sellers are persuading you that the charger is a ‘genuine’ charger, which most of the time isn’t true. If you have ever had one of these substandard chargers to hand and compare them to your original, you’ll feel the difference. The substandard charger will feel lighter in weight, the wire may be shorter and feel very plastic, and the plug may not fit the laptop socket with a firm fit. Generally the whole charger just doesn’t feel assured.
These chargers are dangerous for many reasons. One, because of the poor quality cable and plug, and also because it may not be outputting an accurate voltage and this may cause irreversible damage to the laptop. Thirdly, the charger may not be up to providing the required power to the laptop for prolonged time. You may even feel that it gets hotter than the original charger did. This will be down to the poor quality power circuitry that isn’t up to providing the wattage that it is rated for.
Laptop manufacturers use a handful of OEM manufacturers to make their chargers. These OEM companies manufacture at the highest quality, hence why the big laptop manufacturers use them as their subcontractors. These OEM manufacturers also sell chargers third party to distributors in the western world, and we are able to source them. We keep chargers for the very common laptop brands and models in stock, so if you require a charger please contact us to check for availability and cost. They will cost a little more than the cheaper alternatives but not by much, and you can be rest assured that you’re receiving a high quality charger. Our distributor also gives us a 1 year warranty on all chargers (excluding excessive wear and tear).
We provide a pick-up service to business customers at additional cost, and can do the same for private individuals too if you find yourself inconvenienced and can’t get your computer dropped off to our premises. Please let us know if you require this service and we will quote you for pick-up depending on your location. There may be time constraints as to when we can do the pick-up. Evenings are usually the most convenient.
We provide a drop-off service to business customers at additional cost, and can do the same for private individuals too if you find yourself inconvenienced and can’t get your computer picked up from us. Please let us know if you require this service and we will quote you for drop-off depending on your location. There may be time constraints as to when we can do the drop-off. Evenings are usually the most convenient.
With the advent of online videos and ‘teardown’ guides for a large proportion of the laptops out there, many people will feel the urge to have a go themselves. How hard can it be, right? There are many types of repairs that you may be able to do yourself with some invested time and without much complication.
As easy as it can be made to look online, you’ll find that there is still an understanding and skill level required to conduct certain types of repairs, as well as having the right tools for the job. Unfortunately for us technicians, it takes more of our valuable time to rectify a repair that has gone wrong, than it would have done if we repaired it from it’s initial state. Because of this, our pricing may be a little higher than it would have been.
In some cases however, we will refuse the repair altogether as technicians generally don’t like to deal with electronics that have already been opened up by an unqualified individual. We have had cases where we have quoted a customer for a repair, found that it took a lot longer to complete because of a previous botched attempt that resulted in broken connectors inside, and we still had to honour our quoted price. We have also had other cases where we have been blamed for damage caused by the individual that had attempted a repair initially (or a previous technician), but tried to claim that we were responsible for the damage. In the end, we lose out. And if we do find signs of a previous repair that appears to have been performed by an unqualified individual, or signs of tampering, we won’t commence our repair and will contact you to collect your laptop. You won’t be charged.
We price-match at our discretion, and the reason for this is because quality of repair can vary between technicians. We will ask for the details that you received from the competitor regarding the repair.
For example, two car mechanics performing the same repair; one mechanic may have a better quality/standard of work than the other, albeit at slightly higher pricing. The end result can be different with either mechanic.
When we price a repair, we take many factors into consideration – time taken, repair quality, care and attention, knowledge and experience, repair innovation, quality of tools, component quality, amongst others. We believe our pricing reflects these factors, at the same time offering an affordable and reasonable price to the end-customer. Therefore if a competitor’s price is too aggressive for us to match with these factors in mind, we may decide not to offer a price-match. However, as the customer, you need to ask the competitor the right questions to ensure that you are receiving a repair of the highest standard, because as the saying goes – “you don’t get something for nothing”. Professional technicians working at high standards will not drop their pricing too much, and so you need to decide whether you’re willing to take the risk on lower pricing if you’re unsure of their quality assurance, or any of the above factors for that matter. Damage or further issues inflicted by a poor technician cannot be undone, only repaired at even more than the initial cost.
If you have a laptop or PC that is running really slow, it’s usually one of two causes:
Operating System Related: The most common reason is due to spyware/malware/ransomware causing the system to run slow. Background processes, hijacked web browsers, and hoax anti-virus software are just some of the reasons why the system is unresponsive and slow. You may even be encountering issues with software not running correctly, web browsers infested with popups and not browsing the web, browsers redirecting you to bad websites, to name a few.
Hardware Related: There is another possibility where it could be a faulty hard disk drive. Being the main storage that your whole operating system is running off, if the hard disk drive has underlying faults such as bad sectors or bad reading heads then these can cause the operating system to run excruciatingly slow and feel very unresponsive when you’re trying to click on programs and icons. Hard disk drives are mechanical after all, containing a lot of high speed mechanics and they can become faulty very easily especially with laptop hard drives.
Both: This scenario is very common nowadays and half of the time that we get a slow computer booked in, following a hard drive diagnostic we’re finding that the hard disk drive also needs to be replaced. There is a snowball effect where a user is having operating system related issues due to a lot of malware/spyware infections. The system feels sluggish and unresponsive, there are unwanted background processes running, and the browsers are suffering from heavy popup activity. The user is unable to shut the computer down so he/she holds the power button down (or removes the battery if it’s a laptop) to turn it off. The user has no choice but to forcefully turn the computer off every time it is on because he/she can’t shut it down safely. The user keeps trying to use the computer rather than bring it in immediately for repair. The problem with doing this, is that it is inflicting damage to the hard disk drive from the abrupt shutdown. Hard drives can’t survive abrupt shutdowns regularly. When a hard drive is abruptly shut off, the reading heads retract very fast, and inevitably can get damaged. The system is getting slower and slower because of this snowball effect, and eventually the hard disk gets so badly damaged that the operating system either freezes totally at boot, or even worse the system fails to detect the hard drive anymore. When this happens, data recovery isn’t even possible by us.
If you are encountering a slow computer, the wise thing to do is to bring it in to us as soon as possible instead of trying to continue to use it. The first thing we do is run a comprehensive third party hard drive diagnostic. If the hard disk drive has issues, we will quote you to replace it, and load a clean installation of the operating system. If the hard disk drive passes the diagnostic, then it’s a software based issue only and we can proceed with just cleaning the operating system. This is done by either trying to clear the cause (if it’s fairly mild spyware/malware/ransonware), or to back your data up and reinstall the entire operating system from scratch. This is usually the best option if the system is severely infected and unusable – you can start with a clean slate.
Part of our repair process is to ensure that we repair your laptop in a very careful manner. We treat your laptop as if it were our own. We use anti-static mats that won’t create scratches and blemishes, and we also place laptop chassis pieces on top of microfibre material whilst carrying out our repairs. We disassemble and reassemble with the utmost care and attention, ensuring that we don’t create any unnecessary damage from screwdrivers and other tools. Patience is the key!
There are some repairs where very slight blemishing is inevitable, such as with laptops that use plastics that are clipped or glued together. With the amount of cost-cutting that is present in the manufacturing sector, some laptops simply don’t reassemble cleanly but we do our best to ensure that the laptop looks like it was never repaired. We will let you know if your laptop is a model where we ‘may’ create a blemish or two, but rest assured it’ll be minimum. And in the majority of cases we are able to prevent creating any blemishes altogether.
We do indeed repair DC sockets on most laptop models. Pricing varies between laptop models – please contact us for a quote on your laptop.
As the laptop needs to be fully dismantled for such a repair, we carry out other complimentary services within the quoted price, such as:
– Create extra reinforcement around the DC socket area if possible,
– Clear the heatsink/fan area of any dust buildup that is causing the laptop to unnecessarily heat up more than normal,
– Clean all internal chassis areas of dust and dirt,
– Apply a fresh layer of thermal paste (we use Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound – it’s an industry standard) between the processor and heatsink,
– Tighten any loose screws and fittings inside the laptop that have worked loose over time, especially screws that are holding the screen hinges to the base chassis,
– Repair any other broken ports, commonly USB ports or audio jacks.
Whilst the laptop is dismantled, we will advise of any other viable upgrades before we reassemble. You’re already paying us for the labour and it’ll make economical sense to carry out small upgrades or improvements whilst we are in progress, that will have a small impact on the final cost (if any).
Due to our congested workflow of which a large proportion involves business customers, it’s simply not viable for us to offer free pick-up and drop-off services without taking payment for this extra service due to time taken and the possible disruption it can cause, especially to our business customers. We are a business after all, and you have to ask yourself, what nature of business is able to offer this kind of service (which we would class as a ‘premium’ service) for free? Are you sure you’re not already paying for it in another way i.e. within your repair cost or even other hidden costs that may be thrust upon you later? To put it simply, a highly regarded technician is a busy technician, and a busy technician isn’t going to have available time to offer these services for free – it’ll make more sense for him to charge a little extra for this, which would be the normal thing to do. There is also a trust factor as well. We have found that the general public have peace of mind within themselves if they’ve delivered the computer to us in person at our premises.
Warranty periods on our repairs differ depending on repair type and the components we have replaced. Components that endure a lot of wear and tear by the end-customer (such as power sockets, hinges, keyboards, motherboard-mounted ports, generally anything mechanical) we will warrant at lower periods. The most common warranty length that we offer is a period between 3 to 6 months, with the exception of repairs involving components such as hard disk drives (1 to 3 years) or solid state drives (1 to 5 years depending on manufacturer). When we offer you a quote we will always state the warranty that we can offer on that specific repair.
There is no warranty on software repairs/services, as the day-to-day running of an operating system by the end-customer is something that’s out of our control once we have released a repaired computer back to you.
For private individuals, it is a strict ‘payment-on-collection’ policy. We don’t have card processing facilities at this moment, however aside from a cash payment (the most convenient method) there are a few methods that you can use to pay us with, such as a direct bank transfer, the Barclays Pingit app, or PayPal. You can use our reception laptop to make your payment safely if you have your details to hand, or you can use your smartphone if you have the relevant banking apps loaded. An invoice in PDF format will be emailed to you before the end of the working week (due to our accounting/admin cycle) and will be marked off as paid.
For business customers we offer the standard 30-day terms from the date that we issue the invoice (usually the same day you arrive to collect your computer/s), and all of our payment methods and details are on the invoice for your convenience. Once the invoice is paid, we will email you a copy of the invoice again, marked as paid. If payment is delayed beyond the 30-days, this would be classed as a late payment and we reserve the right to charge interest until payment is paid in full. This would be the statutory rate (8%) plus the current Bank Of England base rate. If this situation occurred, we would send revised invoices with the interest added.
This can be tricky with some laptop brands and model lines. Usually you’d find this information beneath the laptop on a label or sticker. You may also find this information on a display sticker located on the laptop’s palmrest area. You will always find it on a sticker located on the outside of the laptop box with a specification, but most people tend to throw the box away.
If you are struggling to find this information, don’t panic – we have a Plan B! Take pictures of all the labels beneath the laptop and also beneath the laptop battery after removing it, and email/Whatsapp them all to us.
Otherwise, keep reading for assistance on where to find the information.
Here are some guidelines for the most common brands:
Acer: You will find a model name and number on a display sticker (with other specification information) to the right hand side of the touchpad below the keyboard, e.g. ‘Aspire E1-571’. Otherwise, it’ll definitely be beneath the laptop on a white sticker. If both are worn out or lost, turn the laptop on and enter the BIOS by pressing F2 repeatedly on the Acer logo before Windows boots, and the first page will have the model information.
Asus: You will find model information on a display sticker (with other specification information) to the right hand side of the touchpad below the keyboard. An Asus part number will be between 4 and 6 characters, and will start with a capital letter, e.g. ‘X5DC, or K52F’. It’ll definitely be beneath the laptop on a white, dark, or even a transparent sticker. If no sticker is present, it may be beneath the battery. You will find this information in the BIOS as well. Usually it’s the DEL key that’ll give you BIOS access and you need to start hitting this key as soon as you turn the laptop on, before the Asus logo shows. Keep hitting the key after the logo appears too. If this doesn’t work, restart and try the F1 and F2 keys.
Dell: You will find a model name and number engraved or printed on the laptop plastic, somewhere on the keyboard/palmrest area. Likely to be above the keyboard on the left, e.g. ‘Inspiron XXXX’, or ‘Latitude XXXXX’. Otherwise, it’ll definitely be beneath the laptop on a white or more commonly a dark sticker. An easier method is to find the Service Tag for your laptop (beneath the laptop on a white sticker, or find it within the BIOS by pressing F2 on the Dell boot logo), go to the Dell Support website and you can find your laptop model and configuration by entering the Service Tag in. This is also all that we require too.
HP/Compaq: You will find the laptop model series on the screen bezel usually, e.g. ‘Pavilion G6’, but this is too general. To find your part number, look beneath the laptop for a sticker containing part number information. HP have also been hiding this sticker away underneath the battery (along with many other stickers) on many of their product lines. So, for a ‘Pavilion G6’, the part number is going to look something like this: ‘G6-XXXXxx’ where the four X’s are a 4-digit code, and the ‘xx’ will be two lowercase letters. They use this numbering convention (or a very similar convention) on the majority of their lines so that is what you’re looking for. As with most laptops, you can find this model information within the BIOS. Hit F10 after firing the laptop up on the HP/Compaq logo screen before Windows boots, and the first page should show the model details.
Sony: Sony use a confusing part numbering system. On their older laptops pre-2009, you can find a part number usually starting with ‘VGN-xxxxxxx’ on the screen bezel in the bottom right corner, and a different part number beneath the laptop beginning with ‘PCG-xxxxxx’. The ‘PCG’ code is simply a chassis code. The part number on the screen bezel is the one that you require. For Sony laptops 2010 onwards, the same applies – your full laptop part number will be on the screen bezel in the bottom right. It will also be beneath the laptop on a white sticker, and on some newer Sony laptops you’ll find this white sticker hidden beneath the battery because the part number on the screen bezel is a shortened version. Common models begin with ‘SV’ or ‘VPC’ and are proceeded with more letters and numbers, but more obscure models will begin with other letters too.
Toshiba: The model information will be beneath the laptop on a sticker, for example, ‘Satellite Pro L450’, or ‘Equium A200’. This may be proceeded by a dash, and a few letters and/or numbers. Along with this model range you also require a 6 character code beneath this, which is also a sub-model number that indicates the precise specification/build of your laptop. It’ll usually begin with ‘P’. There may be other characters proceeding this but all that’s required is the 6-digit ‘PSXXXX’ code. As with the above, this information is also available within the laptop’s BIOS. Hit F2 after firing the laptop up on the Toshiba logo screen before Windows boots, and the first page should also show the above model details.
And remember, you only need to endure this task once. If you’re struggling, don’t remember Plan B!