I don't know if this also happend in the rest of thw world but it's a problem I face everyday in Portugal... the reputation of computer technicians and computer repair services!

Let me explain my problem a little bit better!

If you read my profile you know I have a computer service company in my country. Every new client I get start the conversation with a phrase similar to this:

• Can I trust your company? The last guys which repaired/sold my computer just ripped me off...

This leaves me very frustrated and it makes me do some extra work to show the client that not every computer service company is like that!

Some of the stories I hear show me that there's definetly some guys out there that just shouldn't be working... but these is a little part of all the "spectrum" of companies that exists! There are great guys working in this business, really clever and who really want to help everyone!

So, Where's the problem?

This is the question I sometimes ask myself. Where can I find the root of this problem and can I fix it or at least help to fix it? Can we change people's mind on this matter?

With the major rule that computers play in our society nowadays, would't it be great to know that you leave it in good hand to be repaired?

I think that the problem relies in one of this matters:

• The society is misinformed and once the myth was instaured, there's no wayback... Should we call the mythbusters? :p
• The saying "you tell one person when you like a thing, but you tell 10 when you don't like something..." is really being applied in this particular case
• The Computer Services Companies are causing this on themselves...

I wrote this last item because I see that lots of Portuguese Companies don't try to show how good they are, which are their qualities, how they stand out from the rest of the market...

Instead they just keep saying bad things about the competition... It's the first thing they do: "where did you take this earlier? they really messed it up..."..

This is one thing I really try to avoid! I try to defend the other guys and just offer a good service to resolve the client's problem. Don't they understand that the market is big enough for everyone? That competition is healthy and it helps you improve you business by internaly comparing your service to theirs?

I think we can compare this "myth" with the car mechanics one...

How can we end this "myth", anyone can help me?

Does this happens in your town also? Do you trust your computer repair company/guy? Leave me your feedback or answer my poll please!