I have to add to the love for these guys. I tend to have more computer issues than most people because I travel for work. It seems laptops are better suited for travel from your couch to your bed than across the country and around the world. The people at TechCollective are always willing to help. When we learned that my hard drive was potentially non-recoverable, they recommended someone who could give it the best shot. (Ends up there were physical holes in the drive so we weren't successful). They have given me advice on better security applications and on laptops that are more likely to handle the abuse I inflict on them. When I brought in my ancient by technology standards Dell, they ran multiple diagnostics but the issue did not replicate. Since they couldn't do anything, they didn't charge me. Who does that? Also, when I come in and tell them something along the lines of "I dropped it off the bed. Then I dropped my laptop case the next day in a parking lot and someone kicked it. Oh, after that, a binder fell on it. Then it got knocked off the desk. . . . Yeah, the processors were running. I was pulling data." They never scream "What the hell is wrong with you?" hey ony ask about what's not working and fix everything they can. I find myself wanting to bring them homemade brownies, but then I think that might be a little creepy. So I'll just have to say they're great rather than expressing it in baked goods. read more

I brought in a computer with a severely corrupted hard drive. Although they were not able to recover the data they did point me towards someone who could. In addition, they re-initialized my system and put in a new hard disk for a very reasonable price. Highly recommended. read more

These guys absolutely deserve all the 5 star ratings that they have received. My laptop crashed on Thursday (nightmare as I am self-employed and everything is on my computer). After a diagnostic test I needed a new motherboard and on Tuesday back in full operation. We have used other companies in the past for our firms computer issues but no more as we have found a great service ... AT LAST :) Friendly, efficient and good pricing. Highly Recommended!! read more

I have been dealing with them on several equipment repairs over a period of several months. i like them for a number of reasons. 1. their prices--you really get your money's worth! 2. their effort, they go over and above what was requested, ( for example offering to install better virus software than Mc Afee for little or no extra charge). 3. if they say they will call you back, after researching something, they do call you back. 4. their location, in the Mission District, is close to Mission St. and major bus and BART lines. If they can, they will do the work while you wait, and their neighborhood is an ideal place to pass the time. bargain shops, eateries, Latino culture, it's great! 5. as a woman, they are respectful and answer my questions. they don't treat me like i am stupid. 6. as a person of color, the same as number 5 [ some people of color work there]. In other words they are alternative and freaky enough to handle what SF has to offer them. 7. as they build their business they plan to branch out into other areas. Their computer expertise already covers a number of areas. i do not know any of them personally, but they gave me free phone help today, and when i offered to pay, they said write a review for us on Yelp! instead. so cheers to some great guys!... Xian read more

I read the five star reviews of Tech Collective. Actually it should be six stars! I called them yesterday afternoon and by evening they had sent Jason to fix my friend's IBM computer. Jason was efficient, identified the problem and fixed the problem all in one hour. What I liked about the company was their customer service. Up and over the mark! Best, Kathleen read more

My iMac 24" 2 y/o HD failed one night out of the blue. Behind on back-ups, etc., in a panic, I called the guys at Tech Collective. Drove the machine in, spoke with Yochai, and in less than 3 days my computer was back on my desk -- operating not only as good as before the crash, but better. The price was more than reasonable and the work was top drawer. The environment is what you'd expect, so don't waste time bitching about it. Hey, they're techies an hackers. Martha Stewart Living the space is not. But the work is as good as tech support ever gets. I live in Marin and they are easily worth the trip to SoMa. read more

Yeah, I know, another 5-star review for TC. Well what else can I say? They spent 3 days tracing a faulty video signal back to the motherboard and charged me what? Hourly? No: fifty bucks flat fee. Your search for the perfect repair shop has ended. read more

I found these guys from Yelp. No weekend hours, but open til 7 M-F. BIG PLUS! I brought in my PC because the CD drive wouldn't open, wouldn't play, just very suddenly stopped. The guy started looking at it right away. He made it seem like it would be fixed in a jiffy. So I hung out. It was a very comfortable and friendly atmosphere, fun in their geeky way. After about a half hour, I asked if I should leave it with them overnight, and the guy said that that would cost me $80, but if we kept it as a walk-in visit, it would be $35. I stayed. Turns out I needed a new drive installed. Total time to have my computer working again was just over an hour. Cost was $35 plus the part (under $75 with tax). I was very happy to wait while he fixed it, very happy to *not* have to leave it, and very happy to pay what felt like a very fair price for the amount of expertise they bring to the table. These guys ROCK!!! It's the Mission and parking can be an issue. I found a metered spot around the corner, and left a couple times to feed it. The last time, I just moved my car to their sidewalk until they were done. read more

I called Tech Collective to get help with a home network that had utterly fallen over as a result of a Comcast technician's incompetence. They dispatched Jason, who arrived promptly and, as far as he and I could gather, solved the problem within 3 hours. It turns out that the fix required a much more complex interfacing of my home Sonos system with the tiered network that was required to cover my house. Jason spent many hours on his own time reading online posts to diagnose and ultimately fix the problem -- even though, strictly speaking, it related more to the intricacies of Sonos than to my home network. Jason's dogged determination to get the whole problem solved was hugely impressive. When I tried to compensate him for the extra time he spent wrestling the issue to the ground, he refused, telling me that this was a new kind of expertise that would serve him well in future consulting projects. Jason is a top-notch craftsman with flawless customer service. I recommend him without reservation. read more

When I tripped over my laptop cord last week and shattered my LCD screen the first thing I did is call Yochai. He calmed me down, helped me find the part I needed and had my computer back in tiptop shape in no time. I would recommend this company above all others not just for the excellent service, but also because Yochai is very upfront about how much time it will take and the limits of his amazing technological abilities. Megabyte Messiah, thy name is Yochai. read more

These guys are the best! Several weeks ago they fixed my computer - the MAIN computer - in my dental office. Whole thing started when none of the applications would run, so I contacted Windows tech support (big mistake). After being on the phone with them for about 4 hours, they managed to actually make the problem worse such that the computer wouldn't even boot up. It was about 10pm at that point and I decided to give up and go home. I found Tech Collective through Yelp and emailed them around midnight, asking if I could bring the computer in the next morning. I checked my email in the morning and Yochai had emailed me back at 12:40 am...apparently these guys never sleep! So, long story short, after 1.5 days, my computer was running better than ever and I am the happiest dentist because of it! 5+++ stars for Tech Collective! read more

Tech Collective has provided me with incredibly helpful tech support, both at home and at work. They are affordable, responsive, professional and knowledgeable -- it's a huge relief to know there are great tech people I can call who can quickly address my issues for a reasonable price! read more

These folks are the best. I have had trouble with a couple of laptops which they have dealt with efficiently, with good humor. They are just professionals -- malfunctioning computer equipment; malicious software; and corporate rip-offs offend them, and they have a desire to set things right that comes before their business motivations. Friendly, off-beat, half a block away from the best coffee in SF (Rodgers), Tech Collective is awesome. read more

These guys rock! They fixed my Imac in 10 minutes and didn't even charge me. I tipped some burrito money for the awesome and quick job.

Yet another well deserved 5-star review. I have used them several times, including virus removal, hard drive repair and data salvage. Great service & nice, competent people. 5 thumbs up. read more

I am so pleased with my TechCollective.com experience and cannot sing enough praises about this company nor recommend them highly enough for home IT support.. I needed assistance with setting up my laptop and work station at home to that I could remote into my desktop at work (i.e., telecommute). I found their company from an online search; then called and first spoke with Ricky. He was very courteous and patient, and while gathering my information, had already begun to write an email to Jason, to whom my case would be assigned. Within two or three hours, I received a call from Jason, who was willing to come to my apartment on a Sunday AM (at no additional charge). Jason arrived right on time (again, on a Sunday, at 9 AM) and immediately got to work. At all times, he was courteous, neat, and respectful of my property. He was extremely methodical, meticulous, thorough, and always remained calm, flexible, and personable. He worked very efficiently; yet was willing to explain what he was doing and answer questions. I always felt assured that my laptop and workstation were in the most capable hands. Jason had some additional suggestions that he incorporated and which have since made my home computing setup so much more functional and smooth-running. I am very grateful for his expert work. I highly recommend this company. Jason did an outstanding job, and I would have confidence in anyone else assigned for future work because I know these folks take tremendous pride in doing an excellent job and have a commitment to preserving and protecting the reputation of their company. read more

1. "Collective". Owned and operated by the excellent folks who work there. 2. They know their stuff but takes the time to explain it for the button pushing non techies like me. 3. Fast, quotes up front, kept me updated. 4. See #1. read more

Jason and Willy absolutely rocked it for me. I needed to have my internet access balanced throughout the my house (instead of just one side). They checked it out, gave me a plan and followed through with the utmost completeness. They also went the extra mile in helping with my switch to MonkeyBrains and now I have the fastest service throughout my house and the best in the neighborhood. Absolutely recommend TC. read more

I've had great results with these guys previously, but most recent event is even better. Called for appointment and explained symptoms with laptop. They said they could repair it but I probably would be better off getting a new laptop. They gave me a model recommendation based on my criteria. I was already thinking of replacing it, but they made up my mind for me. They could have repaired my laptop and I could limp along until it finally died. But their recommendation (especially on what model to get) was outstanding. These people are great! read more

This place is amazing. Tom worked with me on sorting through 13 devices to find the files we lost. Then, when the hard drive we provided him failed, he was totally understanding and didn't charge us more when we brought back a second hard drive to transfer the files again. Finally, when a single file -- out of thousands -- was found to be not playing correctly, Tom worked with us to look at another backup storage device to send us the file. Finally, he sent it to us via Dropbox, preventing us from having to make another trip back to the office to collect the file. I've never had such amazing service in my life. And every step of the way, there was great communication on the part of Tom and the staff. Thank you, Tech Collective. You all are totally amazing! read more

Niko always saves the day! Anytime we need help with our small architecture firm he has an answer to our tech issues. Thank you TechCollective! read more

I had the pleasure of working with Niko from Tech Collective on a project a few months back. He was very knowledgable, and went above and beyond to make sure everything was a success. I high recommend them, and look forward to working with them again in the future. read more

It is inconceivable to me that I'm the only person in the City of San Francisco who's had a bad experience with TechCollective. I can't understand how 158 different people each gave this place a 5 Star rating. My parents have a computer, which my mom uses for email and to play this mind alertness game. The game comes with a DVD that you load onto the computer. The DVD stopped working last week shortly after I deleted a bunch of unused files/programs left on the computer by my younger brother. I figured I must have inadvertently deleted the wrong file. So over the weekend, I looked on Yelp for local tech support shops with excellent ratings. Of course, I found TechCollective which pops up first with again, 158 5 Stars reviews and not a single negative thing said about them. So I was like, wow, that's the place to go. First thing Monday morning, I drive over there with my parents Dell desktop computer, and I'm the first (maybe second) customer in the door when they open at 9:00 a.m. One of the shop guys greets me, I explain what happened and he says he can probably just fix it right then and there. I explain that I really have to get back to work, and to please just fix it and I'll pick it up later that day when I get off work. He says no problem. I ask how much it'll cost, and he says it's only a "Quick Fix," which is $35. I'm like wow, that's great. Right about then some manager type pops out from the back office and says they "really recommend" a full tune up, and says he'll do the tune up and fix the game DVD problem for $80. I say that's fine, but really, the focus must be on fixing the game. No problem. The guy says we'll call you later today when we're done. I ask them to please use email and he said fine. I leave and think that while I really didn't want the "full tune-up," in the end, it's fine -- it's my parents' computer, they don't do maintenance, etc. So it's later in the afternoon and I haven't heard anything from them. I email the general email address on their website and get back an email from "Ricky" stating that they have not started on my computer, there are a couple of jobs in front of me, but that they'll get to it later that day or tomorrow. I'm like, "What?" I thought this was a "Quick Fix" that you were literally doing while I was waiting there? So I respond, that's alright, but I definitely need it back by the end of tomorrow (Tuesday). I receive no response. Late Tuesday afternoon: I get another email stating that the computer is still being worked on, and that it won't be ready that day. I send an email back telling them that I simply didn't understand how a "Quick Fix" turned into this 3 plus day project, and to please just stop doing whatever you're doing with it and I'll pick it up after work. He emails me back with a long lecture about store policy, blah, blah, blah, that if you drop off a computer, it usually sits for two days before anybody starts working on it. But you can pick it up, and oh, by the way, the DVD game isn't fixed. Needless to say, none of this store policy stuff was ever mentioned to me when I dropped it off Monday morning. I simply responded, "I'm picking it up after work and I'll take it some where else." So here's where the real fun starts. I show up at the shop at 6:00 p.m., and ask for my computer. The guy says, "Oh, we just started working on it." I'm like "really," your other person emailed that they'd been working on it, but it wasn't finished. Whatever. I just ask for the computer. About then a "manager" pops out and says that I need to "sit down" so he can explain how I was "confused." Now, I'm not a big fan of goofball managers telling me to "sit down" so they can explain how stupid I am or that I'm confused. I simply told the guy that his shop had two days to do the "Quick Fix," and to please just give me the damn computer. We go back and forth in a ridiculous exchange, and I finally got the computer. But not before having to pay $35 for yup -- the infamous "Quick Fix." Yup, I paid $35 for a "Quick Fix" despite the fact the computer was never "fixed," and whatever was done certainly wasn't "quick." I left and brought the computer over to Bay Computer Repair on Valencia that evening. THAT'S the place to go. The guy took it in, and called me back the next day and said it was fixed. Apparently, it was a pretty complicated fix which leads me to believe the Tech Collective guys probably couldn't figure it out. If that was the case, I wish they had simply just told me that. I certainly would have understood. But this "Quick Fix" nonsense is ridiculous. Update: Yelp, what's going on? There are finally several negative reviews about this place, and yet, you still give them a perfect 5 Star rating. I'm still out $35 from this place. "Quick Fix." Please .... read more

Sucks. had simple problem, told me they would at least look at it that day. checked later in day, still said it would be looked at. never called me back. next day, told me I was next in line (I had been told that 24 hours earlier.) For the first time, i was then told there is "a two to three day" turaround for looking at your laptop. Since they had attitude to boot, I picked it up the second day before they worked on it. How many of the cooperatives friends wrote these great reviews I wonder? The customer service was bad and they acted as though I was lucky to have found them. $80 to see why laptop only worked on external monitor (with juice going into laptop monitor), maybe is not outrageous, but it is hardly a deal. Glad i got my computer out when I could. read more

I am late in this review, but since I was about to call them again to solve a problem, I thought I'd weigh in here. They came out and extended a wireless network to the front half of my very complicated house, when three other people (including my company's IT guys) told me it couldn't be done. A year later, it's still working perfectly -- in fact, it's faster than in the back half, which is where the cable modem actually is. Plus, they spent some time de-installing programs I didn't use and otherwise making my MacBookPro work better and faster. Incredibly affordable too! read more

My computer had a hard drive problem while I was out of town. Based on the overwhelming strong reviews, I waited until the TechCollective was open to have them help me upon my return. To make a long story short, they didn't do the proper work until 2 days later (I was told I would probably have everything complete in a day and a half) and only then did they realize, they didn't have the right hard drive and sent me somewhere else to start all over again. This was extremely frustrating and I did not feel they were very sympathetic to the situation. read more

mmkk so i had a sony vaio.. dude! i caught the worst virus.. like somehow my computer set up its own screen name and password.. so i couldnt even log in.. and it only gave me like 10 seconds before it shut back down again! anyways..Tech collective has a $100 dollar flat rate fix.. any problems you have.. just take it to them.. no more then a week to get your computer back if you have the worst of the worst problems! they restored my computer and restored my data! i ended up getting a mac.. but still great work! read more

I had a really good experience with TechCollective. I think it was Tom that helped me and he was really patient with my many, many questions. read more

They cancelled w no explanation an hour before our arranged visit to our house for residential service assistance. The person I scheduled the appointment with did not inform me that the appointment we scheduled would be treated as optional for them (whereas I had arranged my schedule around it). Very unprofessional. read more

I had an awful experience with TechCollective. The internet on my computer has not been working and multiple people in my life who work in tech and are computer savvy warned me that the way my computer is acting means it has a pretty bad virus. I was told I need to wipe it out to get rid of the virus, but I felt bad asking a friend to spend the few hours on it that he said it would take so I went to TechCollective. I left my computer with them for several days and when it was returned, I realized that nothing was fixed. They did give me a refund, which I appreciate. However, they cannot return the time I lost without my computer when I could have gone elsewhere. In addition, when I called to ask if I could schedule another appointment to have them actually fix my computer, they basically said that it was too complicated. I feel an agency whose job is to fix computers should be able to fix mine. They also condescendingly reminded me how they did not encounter any difficulties with my computer for the several minutes they explored it. If my computer is not working, something is wrong with it. I definitely recommend other companies in San Francisco for repairs. read more

Ask for Ruben. Definitely recommend due to him and only him. Quick, friendly service and advice. I had a very simple fix, which he kept me updated throughout the time he need to resolve it. And best of all he is honest and did not charge me outrageous rate as his fellow co-worker tried to do by trying to charge me $120 when I went to pick it up. read more

excellent place to go to! i found tech collective using yelp, and i have to say i agree with everyone who has left a rating, they are the very best! thanks to yochai who fixed my external harddrive for a mere $100; for the info that was on there, i would have paid much more. if you have any such problems you have to go to them! read more

Jason is my tech boyfriend. I love him. I love TechCollective they can fix any type of computer -mac or pc and they are fair and fast and best of all they are a co-op. Forget Lenovo- I go straight to these guys for any computer issues that come up. They are brilliant. read more

Another 5 Star review for these guys! They've helped me out several times now and the service has been amazing every time. They were the ONLY people that helped us solve an internet issue in our home that stumped multiple other people (and they did it all within one day!!) and they also helped me add more RAM to my laptop so I could continue to use applications like Photoshop without having to go out and spend a ton of $$$ on a whole new computer. Their prices are really reasonable and they are always the first business I contact whenever I'm having IT issues. read more

I hardly know where to begin in describing how good Tech Collective is, so I'll just describe my dealings with them chronologically. My computer totally got hosed with some nasty viruses. As it happened, at the same time I was looking to upgrade my hard drive to 500 gigabytes from 120 gigabytes and the same thing with my two external drives, which I use to make backups. Oh, and one of my existing external drives hadn't worked in about three months and the other one died. In a stroke of luck, I managed to use the crippled external drive to restore my system, but I wanted my newer files, so I asked Tech Collective to do a data recovery on the drive that croaked. Let's start with price. Tech Collective's price for data recovery is a flat $150 and if they can't recover your hard drive, there's no charge. If you've checked around, you know that's an incredible deal. To sweeten the deal, Tech Collective uses a slow, processor intensive process to recover the drive, which optimizes the possibility of successfully recovering the drive, whereas most places use a swifter method that runs a good chance of wiping out your data for good. Finally, Tech Collective holds onto your data for several weeks, just in case something goes wrong, which turned out to be a very good thing in my case. Here's another awesome deal. If your machine has been hosed by a collection of viruses, worms, and Trojans, Tech Collective will run a series of programs on your crippled machine and clean it up for a breathtaking $100. Yep, that's right. Anyway, back to my personal experience. In about a week and a half (they had quite a back up of orders at the time), Yochai let me know that the drive was ready. I took the drive home and it failed. I won't bore you with the details, but this was the beginning of an odyssey that lasted several weeks. I went back and forth with those guys for at least 12 hours on the phone. They downloaded the recovered data to my new 500 gig drive two more times. And not once did they ask me for more money. Finally, I felt guilty and asked them if they wanted more money. I think I ended paying them forty bucks more. Cheap! A couple of weeks later, I was customizing an Xbox into a media center and was pulling my hair out. I was stuck, so I called Yochai. He got me back on track in about ten minutes. Money was never mentioned. Then, a week or so ago, my computer got hosed again with a nasty collection of viruses, the same ones that got me the first time. As it happened, I had a week old backup, but I didn't want to lose my latest data. I had the bright idea of backing up my new data to my other external drive and copying back after I had done a bare metal restore. The only problem: I needed one more external hard drive. I called up Yochai and told him my plan. Even though I would have bought the hard drive from them, he talked me out of it and told me how to go about rescuing my machine. Not surprisingly, soon my computer was virus free, I had saved all my data, and saved the money I would have spent on the hard drive. Once again, I felt guilty because Yochai had provided a service that would have cost a minimum of hundreds of dollars anywhere else and forfeited a sale of a hard drive on top of it. I asked him if he was sure he didn't want me to pay him something for his trouble. He flat out refused and said that if I wanted to help, to write a review on Yelp. So here I am. So, in summary, this is why you should use Tech Collective: 1. They're competent. These guys totally know what they're doing. They've got a Windows guy, they've got a Mac guy, they've got a Linux guy. They've got all the bases covered, they learn from each other because they're a coop. 2. They have integrity. These aren't the sort of guys who keep screwing up your computer and charge you anyway, and then charge you still more to fix it. If they commit to fixing your computer, they will work with you until it's done, and chances are that they'll never ask for another penny beyond what they originally quoted you. I don't know about you, but I've never heard of this sort of service in regards to computers before. Ever. 3. They're reasonable. No, scratch that. Tech Collective is cheap. Tech Collective is one of the few businesses I've ever heard of where the value of the services they provide is consistently greater than what they charge. (By the way guys, if you read this, keep your prices low. People will love you for it and you'll have more business than you know what to do with.) Basically, if you go to anyone else to fix your computer, especially some big box store, you'll richly deserve what you get. Which is screwed. Long live Tech Collective! read more

I took my laptop in to get repaired. It was not charging and they looked at it and basically said yeah we can fix it, but you will put 60% of the full value, just get a new computer for an extra $100 and it will be way faster. I appreciated the honesty and that they didn't just fix it for a profit. It's great finding honest people in the city. read more

There are many reasons why I always try to patronize small, locally owned businesses. Maybe it's because I used to own one myself and know how hard it is. Or maybe because I think it's just the right thing to do...always choose local over any out of the area chain. But the fact is that you also get seem to get treated the right way when you deal with smaller business. That is SO true with respect to IT Collective. Yesterday I was in a desperate place as I could not locate some files that were super important to me. My last gasp attempt to find the information was to bring two old, dead laptops in and hope that somehow they would be on the hard drives in these dinosaurs. I knew it was a long shot but it was well worth the $100 to see if they might be there. But, of course; they we not. So, Taran from IT Collective called me the very next day and told me that there was almost nothing on either drive. I was bummed but not surprised and figured my $100 gamble was a bust. But Taran, being the professional he is, was not done helping me. First, he reduced the charge to $50 as he realized that I did not find what I needed. And then, he stayed on the line with me and helped me figure out how to find what I needed by going to a specific site. Basically, Ian charged me half of what I expected and found the information that I thought I'd never see again. Do you think a bigger company would have treated me that way? Not a chance. I am now an IT Collective loyal. You are awesome...Thanks Ian! read more

Came in with a dead laptop, left with renewed confidence and a great sense of how to avoid future issues. Guy was hyper competent, friendly but not fake. Would absolutely return and would recommend this place to anyone and everyone, MAC or PC. read more

Amazing business. They have been extremely responsive and helpful in solving our problems quickly, even during off hours. After Comcast screwed up our internet connection on a Friday, we were able to work remotely with Brian on a Saturday morning to get our network fixed and back up and running. I highly recommend their services, although I think they are limited to working with businesses, and not residential buildings. read more

thought it was too good to be true, but in fact all the reviews are for real - this place is great! this morning: showed up with my partially functioning laptop, no appointment necessary. dude spent 15 minutes diagnosing the problem (fried adapter). gave me advice on where to get a new one & how to avoid getting one which could fry my computer. and... for how much? free! i left a nice tip and walked out with a smile. and subsequently used said laptop to write this review :) read more