Computer Qwerx

Great having my «own» computer dude. He was very patient with me, explaining everything very carefully. I am a senior, and finally found my go to place. Wish he was quicker, but I can deal with that. VERY kind when I was near hysteria– now that’s a great place!

My computer was fried by lightning and insurance offered to repair it. So took it here for diagnostic. Ended up needing total replacement of guts… Took a little longer than if hoped. But in the end I was happy having my baby back.

Doesnt everyone wish they had a brother or local nerd-​in-​law that you could call on when your electronic equipment is possessed by Gremlins? I finally found one! Well, 20 other Unilocalers found him first and I just followed along.
I’ve tried out plenty of independent as well as Big Chain so-​called Geek Squads and it’s Big Bucks and lingering problems.
Then there’s Bill, the owner of Qwerx. Patient, not condescending. Cheap like my favorite box wine (ie: fixed rate about ¹⁄₃ of what I had paid elsewhere for less service). A workaholic willing to work with your workaholic schedule. Drop off, or fix there. Printers, installs, troubleshooting, upgrades, stable anti-​virus programs, settings, friendly advice, how-to’s and a good sense of humor… he even told me exactly how to fix my possessed (did I mention electronics have it out for me?) droid phone at 11pm via facebook message when Google wasnt producing useful answers. In exchange for cookies.
And just because the man can do anything with a computer, cell phone or gadget doesnt mean he abuses it. He uses his power for good. I watched him skillfully turn away a kid who had brought in an iphone that obviously wasnt his to unlock. Oh, he will unlock a laptop and immediately reports it when that laptop turns out to be stolen property. Part computer nerd, part Batman. In fact, I almost hesitated to write that bit because I dont want to give away his secrets but then, how many criminals read Unilocal reviews?

Bill was patient with me, I am not a computer person. He helped me get my laptop back up to speed so I could apply on line for a job. He quoted me a price and even though he did way more than he agreed to, he did not charge me more. They do beat the Geek!

I would really like to be able to give them a good review but their customer service is just not good. My desktop became severely infect with viruses so took it in here to be cleaned. Bill assured me he would preserve my email then reformat the hard drive. He did, but the backup file created for Outlook does not work. You are supposed to receive 30 days of free phone support, which may be true if you can ever get a return phone call. Bill assured me he could get the file to work, but repeated calls to get this done have gone unreturned. If I was able to get him on the phone, he put me off to later in the day or the next day, then no answer to my messages.

I purchase a used laptop in September to replace my old one. They transferred my files for a minimum fee. Unfortunately, the hard drive crashed in May. They replaced it at no cost (except labor), even though it was past their warranty period.

These guys have always been awesome. Bill recently went above and beyond to help me understand my new tablet and a whole host of other helpful things I didn’t even think of. Very grateful!

I brought in my old tower. They checked it out for free. When they told me it was toast, I asked if they had a hard drive to transfer my old files. They said it would be cheaper to buy the hard drive elsewhere. They put my needs above their profit. (I also overheard a phone call where the owner was trying to explain how to make someone else’s repair less expensive.) Ask yourself how many other businesses would do that. They definitely have my loyalty.

Not only are they great at fixing and resolving your computer issues, they also provide excellent customer service!

Brought my laptop in for a problem I had with it regarding the charging component. After I ruled out that I didn’t have a bad charging cable, I took it here due to the good reviews and not being satisfied with the price other shops were trying to charge me after diagnosis. Should of just took it to the geek squad at Best Buy or bought a new laptop instead of here. It took them TWO MONTHS total to finally fix it and now that I’ve had it back for a couple of weeks now I’ve noticed the bottom cover is loose and was not put back on properly as well as one of my usb ports no longer working so I’m down a usb port which isn’t good for me because I was limited with just the 3 it came with however the charging problem was atleast fixed after putting a new motherboard in and I pray to God it doesn’t go bad because they ordered it from eBay with only a 30 day warranty on it. Would I go back or recommend this place to anyone I know? Absolutely not. I know these guys are harmless and mean well but John Taffer needs to save this place and school these guys on how to successfully run a business, big time! The owner is inexperienced on how to deal with and satisfy angry, disgruntled customers as are the rest of them who get butt hurt about it. And they all get pretty pissed when a customer complains, talks to them badly or calls the shop too much. News flash: you work in a service-​oriented field where you are hired to SERVICE the customer and yes, they are always right even when they’re not and say things that piss you off! I witnessed a few times when I had come in to see if my laptop was done some angry customer at the shop complaining and how they handled them and it was pitiful and epic at the same time when once, the owner stated he had no choice but to «fire the customer» to their face, uh??? Lmao, usually you want to win your customer over and keep business coming back but ok! Side note: they did eventually apologize to each other and he offered to come to their home and fix the computer in question after the shop closed. Still, I’m suprised the customers even put up with that and accepted his offer, wow!
Seriously though, I hope they take this review as helpful criticism to improve customer relations instead of feeling insulted because I do support local businesses and want them to succeed as I run my own business as well but at home. It’s interesting to see so many others have a good experience with them, I guess I was just one of the few.
Pro’s:
–They offer a discount for anyone who owns a business in or works in downtown
–They have an automated text/​email system to update you on the status/​diagnosis of your repair (when they actually use it)
–They are pretty laid back as long as you are patient and kind to them
–They are dog friendly; I’ve seen a dog in the shop a few times so if you’re allergic beware
Con’s:
–Shop is very unorganized, dirty and smells like a sweaty gym sock every time I’ve gone there (Should of instantly saw this as a red flag for me)
–Very poor at communicating with you what’s going on, if your job will take longer than originally quoted and why; frequently forgets to call you back
–Numerous times I was told my laptop would be ready the next day and when I showed up it wasn’t and the reason was because they were «slammed» however I noticed it’s because they can’t keep up due to a lack of qualified staff to handle the variety of repairs they are faced with (only one guy knows how to solder so expect yours to take much longer if this is needed for your repair). Again, a call would of been nice so that I didn’t waste my gas or time from my day off.
–Went without a very vital piece to my business for 2 months even though I was originally quoted for 2 – 3 days, this is extremely unacceptable. If you don’t have the resources or staff, be honest and communicate this to your customer instead of making excuses!
–I felt like my repair was put on the back burner to other repairs that they could fix much more quickly than mine even though I’m sure they had received mine first
–EXTREMELY poor at handling angry, disgruntled customers
–Quality of the repair was a C at best
–Lacks professionalism in every aspect
–Inconsiderate and insensitive to you, the customer
The owner will swear they are doing a good job due to the number of years they have been in business and all the good Unilocal reviews they have but take all of that with a grain of salt. To the owner: You can do better!!! Your business would grow ten fold if you made at least a few improvements I suggested especially regarding honest, timely and consistent communication with your customers. Let’s not forget the customer always comes first and is the reason you even have a business!
In conclusion, if you are patient and have an easy repair then sure, take your electronic (s) here to be fixed. Otherwise, due to my own experience with them, I’d recommend to stay far away until they make the above suggested improvements.

Top notch service from friendly techs who can explain things in plain English. I’ve used them twice, and they are now my go-​to computer repair and consultation service. Most recently, they cleaned a very nasty (Trovi) virus off of my computer, set up Internet security, reinstalled all of my software, and backed up my data on my own computer and on their own servers. The price was very reasonable, and, because they support downtown St. Pete businesses, if you let them you know you work downtown they offer a discount. This is really the best alternative to high-​priced, big-​box computer service.

This place is great! They fixed my laptop for a fourth of what HP wanted to charge me and did so in half the time!
My internal screen was broken and they were able to provide an estimate for repair and parts costs immediately. They kept me updated throughout every step of my repair via text, email, and telephone.
Both staff members were professional, funny, and knowledgeable! They obviously know their stuff and I will be taking my laptop to them any time it needs fixing!
Thanks guys!

So my computer crashed and I needed to fix it ASAP. I looked on Unilocal and found this place with 5 stars so I was impressed and I thought I should give it a shot after I read all the amazing reviews. I took my laptop there and the owner was very friendly and he gave me the price which was about 170 or so I forgot that was maybe about 3 months ago. The 170 was for a used hard drive and downloading a new windows, I was like ok sure I need it for school work. It was all done the next day so I was really happy. Anyways the reason for the 1 star, a month later I get this message on the computer saying I need to activate the windows and that I need a product key because the windows they downloaded was apparently like a trial period kinda thing so I called and one of the guys there apologized and said I can bring it over anytime and he will take care of it so I was relived. Another month after that I get the same exact message so I called again and he said the same thing so at that time I was really upset because the first time I went to get the same thing done he said one of the guys that fixed the computer prob made a mistake and put the wrong product key so I asked him how come I got that message again so this time he said well maybe there’s something wrong with the hard drive that he installed like really man you come up with an excuse every time. So few days ago I got the same message for the third time and you know what I’m not gonna bother to call again bc they will come up with anther excuse. I’m honestly really disappointed in this place after the great reviews I read. They could’ve told me that they can’t fix my computer instead of all the run around and me losing money. I don’t appreciate lies and I will not recommend this place to anyone I know. I should’ve took it to best buy or something to get it fix but I was trying to support local business but I guess I was wrong for doing so thanks a lot for wasting my time! Shame on you for opening a business to rip people off!

These guys are awesome. I came in with a budget and they worked around it to make me a nice gaming computer.

Bill was very thorough in his commitment to excellent customer service. Upon hearing my disgruntled experience Bill took it upon himself to do everything possible to turn experience around, and he did. Always being professional he went out of his way to make sure I was a happy customer. Bill is a good guy and he’s going to take care of you.

Awesome company, Bill is a great guy, you can’t go wrong here!

Awesome company, the guy there took a quick look at my system and was able to tell me what was wrong with in a minute, and I got a great price for what I am having done. they have moved though to a new location don on 1^st ave north and 9^th st.

Okay. first of all I am a tourist in St Pete and did not use this business for repair. However. I did notice the owner, Bill do a random act of kindness. I met him in a Subway buying a sandwich for a homeless man outside the store. We started chatting and he said one of his coworkers gives half his lunch to the homeless daily. I know this is not a service review but if someone cares about their fellow man and their community I am guessing they care about their work and your computer ! Nice people usually do nice work

Found these guys after a move from their old St. Pete store front and glad I did! Quick diagnosis and even quicker repair. I would be very comfortable using this company again.

I took my 4 year old laptop to Qwerx for repair as the monitor had gone out. Right in the store they were able to tell me what was wrong with it and the possible solutions to the problem. They said they would get back to me in 2 days. Five days passed before I heard from them but they told me the estimate for repair I asked if I could trade them that laptop for another one. They made me a great deal and transferred all my pictures and documents onto the new computer. Brian even stayed late that day to make sure I got the computer on the day he said it would be ready and helped me to my car. The prices were very fair and the service pretty quick for a computer repair shop.