Quick and Cheap Computer Fix

Monday morning, just as I was getting started on work, my computer suddenly displayed the Blue Screen of Death. When none of my usual tricks seemed to fix it, I realized I’d have to find a pro. I bought the computer over two years ago at Surcouf, but the warranty already expired and I figured there would be a long wait and huge fees to take it in to their “Village des Techniciens“. But when I called a different repair shop in my ‘hood, they told me they wouldn’t even have time to look at it until Thursday. So I unplugged the desktop tower, put it in a shopping bag, and decided to try my luck at Surcouf, no rendez-vous necessary. There was no waiting at 11am. They told me a diagnostic takes 2-5 days, unless I wanted the “express” for €40. Seemed a bargain to me! After 20 minutes of poking around, they told me I ran out of memory (might have been RAM, I was too busy silently thanking the computer gods to pay attention). Extra memory cost me a whopping €30. The time to put it in and clean all the dust out was billed at €9, and took almost an hour. In the end I paid €79, plus €20 for the round trip taxi. The technician helping me always announced the fees as if there was an extra zero in there. Considering the fact that I was sure I’d be going home with a new computer, €79 was a total steal. Next time I have a computer problem, I’m going right back to Surcouf instead of spending hours trying to fix it myself first! 🙂