Let's start with a few facts: I am moving overseas in two weeks. that means LOTS of important work…read morewith finances, wills, etc, all having to be done on line. All I have is my laptop, a brand-new Lenovo. Yesterday I put the top down on the laptop, and left for a day in Portland. When I got home, my laptop refused to connect to the Internet. I launched into all the obvious troubleshooting: the modem, even connecting a hard line to my laptop. It's almost 5:30 on a Friday, mind you, and I'm going to be without a computer for...how long? Affordable Computers was six minutes from my house. I called, they said get it here, we'll do all we can and even take it to another shop if we can't fix it by eight. I broke a speed record delivering it to the shop, where their charming yellow lab handed me the Frisbee as the shop took my computer. They said no matter what, it's $199, the emergency rate- believe me I was HAPPY if only they could fix the problem.
Barely an hour later, I get the call. Come on down, we're all done. Turns out that there was some crap Windows app (of course there was), the RealTek card needed to be replaced with an Intel card, and by the way, your VPN was on. And by the way, we're giving you the card, and on top of that, a replacement HP cord for an ancient laptop that I had to drag out of storage just in case only to find out that it had broken. So now I am back to having two working laptops, albeit I now have to re-tape that storage box. Who cares, right?
Jess is that kind of kindhearted super pro tech who understands that when a customer walks in with their face looking like a dead fish and an emergency on her hands, you swoop in with your cape and get the job done. There's no guarantee, not really, that everyone's problem can be fixed that fast but here's my bottom line: computer pros know better than all of us what the typical issues are, especially with new laptops and gear that is loaded with crap that causes all kinds of problems.
They can cut through to more efficient troubleshooting and figure out your issue. When you have an emergency at 5:30 pm when everyone else is closing up shop, and you can bring your gear in and get greeted by a very happy dog and people who know what they're doing and who are dedicated to getting your problem fixed because they get the urgency, you share the good news.
Affordable had been referred to me by a friend year ago, and this was the first time I really needed them. My tech expert up in Portland, who was helping me troubleshoot from his drive home and who was completely at his wits' end, said TELL ME WHO THEY ARE, because he's got friends in Eugene who need a trusted resource.
This is a trusted resource. Jess made sure I knew how to get logged back in now that I had a new Intel card, and I'm back in business.
I have had to deal with Geek Squad and plenty of other folks over the years often to very questionable outcomes. As a journalist, I am done without a working laptop. Affordable understood my issue, and handed me back my laptop in much better shape than when I turned it in.
I can't give anyone a more heartfelt set of five-star kudos than this. And please give the dog an extra scritch for being such a great greeter.
Just for the record: NONE of this is AI-generated. Real person, real review.
