Our diagnostics charge – a proper service at a fair and honest price

In 95% of cases our repairs are entirely successful, in part because we’re good at what we do and thanks to our vast experience spanning nearly 20 years. We want to be upfront with customers about the chances of success, what is involved technically and what can’t practically be fixed. However, we don’t do guesswork or make wild speculation without proper diagnostics. That would be unprofessional and could easily be wrong.

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Nobody can tell if something is repairable or not simply by looking from the outside. It does sometimes happen that an item is near-impossible or impractical to fix (e.g. non-availability of replacement parts) or it might simply be beyond economic repair. Particularly in the last case, the customer can’t tell if the issue is being caused by a simple £5 internal cable/connector, or a £400+ motherboard fault – we can after diagnosis. Our diagnostic service provides the customer with a fully informed choice before proceeding. It will provide you with the final cost, the parts needed, the time involved and also avoids any guesswork. It's often the most basic faults that look so terminal, just like a cheap 50p blown fuse can stop your car dead. So, would you risk scrapping a £1,500 Apple Macbook for a £5 cable and some labour?

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For diagnostics, you don’t pay the full repair charge - only a fixed fee appropriate to the time required to strip down, test and check parts availability, costs etc. This fee is £20, typically a fraction of the repair charge and covers the technician’s time and overheads involved in thoroughly diagnosing your device. We’ll always keep you informed about charges including this one– if we need you to agree to anything, we’ll contact you first to confirm.

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“No Fix, No Fee”- it’s a very bad and risky idea

How much time are they actually going to spend Investigating your fault?  

It’s undeniable. “No Fix, No Fee” seems as if it really ought to be a no-brainer, and a good deal for the customer, right? Well, it’s a great selling point, and some of our rivals do offer it. Let me explain why we won’t offer no-fix no-fee and why it’s not sensible for you either.

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“No fix, no fee” means companies are unwilling to risk their time diagnosing your device unless the problem is plainly obvious, i.e. not needing diagnostic equipment, detailed tests and skilled labour. This means your device is more likely to be written off as “unrepairable”– which might not have been the case with us. They can’t afford to diagnose anything less than obvious faults, we do, because it’s the proper, prudent and professional approach.  

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Why? Simple answer - they probably couldn’t afford to. Let’s say they spend an hour on diagnosing a problem (and believe us, there are jobs that take much longer than that). Now imagine that it turns out the problem isn’t fixable practically or financially - something they, us nor you could have been sure of in advance. That means they won’t get paid for the wasted hour or more of technician’s time needed to uncover the truth. Most companies using the “no fix, no fee” trick won’t take the risk, because they can’t afford to waste time. It’s more sensible for them to cut their losses and run after basic (and quick) checks, and then return it to you as “unfixable”. Of course, it may well have been entirely fixable with a little more time and prudent technical skills....and you’ll never know that your expensive device was easily repairable as you condemn it to the bin from cavalier guesswork.  Let the buyer beware!