Advice Required on UK Remote Support Providers

[gosser]

Hi All,

 

I'm a new member so please accept my apologies in advance if this is not posted in the right area!

 

I’m after the names of some established IT support providers in the UK for ‘home’ users that I can just pay a monthly fee in case either my desktop or my Wife’s laptop have any problems. We are both absolute beginners where computers are concerned and at the moment, due to time constraints (and a lack of confidence!) would rather pay a small monthly fee than have to attempt some of these fixes myself.

 

If there are any companies that you would recommend (or recommend I avoid!) it would be very much appreciated.

 

Many thanks in advance,

 

Jeff

[KenB]

Hi Jeff and welcome to ExTS

 

I note that you have posted this on a few forums.

It will be interesting to see what advice they suggest elsewhere :)

 

I’m after the names of some established IT support providers

I am not aware of any that I can recommend - this is not to say that they don't exist.

Somebody here my be more up-to-date

 

You need a local firm rather than a national one in my opinion.

Also - why pay when there is nothing wrong?

I understand the need to possibly spread the cost but you may never need their services.

 

I did find this company ( This is NOT a recommendation )

click here

 

This covers repair / theft / damage and works out at £30 per year - which sounds like a good deal to me.

The machines need to be under 6 months old.

You would obviously need to do a lot more investigation.

What happens when the machine is over a couple of years old?

Is there an age limit?

Does it cover software problems? ( this includes operating system problems )

Or is it just hardware?

Does it cover replacement parts or just the labour?

Does the pc need to be sent away - if so where to?

Who does the repair?

Home visits?

etc etc

 

I suspect that there will be limitations and only major breakdown will be covered.

 

The majority of computer problems are relatively minor - and more of an inconvenience.

"Cannot use the internet" for instance.

This is where forums like this come in. ( Not that we cannot advise on bigger problems )

 

The guys and gal here are very good at what they do and advice is easy to follow.

We are used to explaining to complete novices.

If you run into any problems you know where we are :)

 

I note that one piece of advice ( another site ) was for you to clone the hard drive - but they didn't explain what this was or how to do it :)

 

Basically we would advise you to copy anything that you do not want to lose. ( photos / files etc )

You can do this using a memory stick or DVD disk.

Cloning ( or imaging ) the hard drive is simply making a copy of the complete drive so that you can use it to re-install everything if the need arises.

 

We can explain further if you wish :)

[Plastic Nev]

Hi, I would also be looking in the local press for local mobile technicians, there are three or four in my area who visit, at least one offers a no fix no fee, though no idea as to what the charges are.

 

Nev.

[seedy21]

Hi ,

 

I would just talk to your local IT shop, where i work we do offer free advice with problems or simple fixes.

 

Anything else is chargable but you can ask for are help here, have a quick look around the site :)