PSA: I saw a repair shop in Portland charging $75 just to look at a laptop

I was walking around the industrial part of town last week and saw a new shop's sign. It said they charge a flat $75 'diagnostic fee' for any laptop, even if you don't get the work done. It got me thinking hard about our trade. On one side, that fee covers our time and skill, and stops people from wasting it. We all know how long a real check can take. But on the other side, it feels like a big wall for a customer. They might just throw the thing away if it's an old model, which is bad for everyone. I've always done free estimates, but maybe I'm leaving money on the table. What's your shop's policy on this? Do you think a high look-at fee is fair, or does it scare off good business?

3 comments

3 Comments

taylor.reese13d ago

Is $75 really that crazy for a pro to figure out what's wrong? I mean, a decent dinner costs that much. If someone's gonna toss a laptop over a fee, maybe they weren't serious about fixing it anyway. Free estimates just get you a ton of people with 10 year old machines wanting free advice.

wesley_jones13d ago

But a decent dinner doesn't leave you with a broken laptop.

oliverhernandez13d ago

Yeah, I was the same about free estimates. But "people with 10 year old machines wanting free advice" is so real, it changed my whole view. A fee just filters out the time-wasters.