Happy Hamster Computers

Reviews 3

LA

Lara Gardner

I bought a computer from Happy Hamster after struggling to maintain an old laptop I use for work years past its sell-by date. When it finally crashed, they managed to scrape some material from the hard drive for me. Windows 10 had recently reared its ugly head and, upon hearing my complaint that I did not want a computer with Windows 10 on it, sold me a business-class laptop with Windows 7. I paid more than I would have for something at Costco or the like, but figured with the warranty from HH and Windows 7, what could go wrong? Plenty, as it turned out. The thing started crashing nearly immediately. I took it into HH. They blamed my anti-virus software, highly rated anti-virus software a close friend has used without issue for years. I removed the anti-virus software. The issues persisted. Blue screen 2-3 times a day. Crashing constantly. I took it in again. And again. And again. Each time, they blamed something in the software, everything BUT the computer (which turned out to be refurbished, not new, but whatever). They tried to sell me their service to seek out dangerous viruses, because that had to be the problem. It couldnt possibly be that the computer they sold me was a lemon. They finally said they could send it back to the manufacturer, which would take at least a week. Now, maybe all of this wouldnt be such a problem for some people. Doubtful, but its possible. However, I used this computer for work. My livelihood depended on it. In addition, I was in a masters program and using it for school too. In no way was it possible to be without it for a week. I didnt have a backup. I didnt have $800 to throw at another computer. Never once did they offer a loaner or offer an exchange. They just kept shaking their heads and doing really nothing at all. Finally I took it to another shop who set up another user and charged me $250 to do so, something HH had done during one of my many visits and had not worked. It didnt work this time either. They also wanted to reinstall Windows, something I would have done, too. However, since the install disks werent given to me by HH, neither of us were able to do so without, you guessed it, sending it back to the manufacturer. One thing they did confirm and determine was that none of this was being caused by some big, bad virus, HHs go-to answer for all I was experiencing. I finally determined I was going to have to suffer through until I really had a week to send it back to the manufacturer. Nearly a year later, and close to the year warranty deadline, after dutifully backing everything up 20 different ways, I was able to leave the computer for a week while I went on vacation. I took it into HH, gave them the mile-long list of trouble I had been documenting since minute one. (Every time the thing blue screened on me, I would save the report Windows gave of the problem.) When I returned from vacation, it turned out they had not sent it off to the manufacturer, but had reinstalled Windows. I brought the computer home and the blue screen issues had resolved. Yet immediately upon return, any time I booted up the computer, I was shown yet another warning, that my battery capacity was "dangerously low" and that I needed to do something about it. The one day I took the thing off electric power and ran it on the battery, it died within ten minutes. I dashed off an email to HH asking why the battery suddenly had no capacity. I was told that batteries are notoriously iffy that way and I could get a new one for about 40 bucks. This for a battery I had been using less than a year, and mostly plugged in. I have no faith in Happy Hamster. They might be able to recover lost data for people, but dont buy their computers. If the computer you buy from them does not work, they will not fix it or replace it. They will give you the runaround and expect you to figure it out alone. The only reason Im giving them 2 stars instead of 1 is because the one fellow with whom I mostly interacted was extremely sweet and polite. I really liked him. Happy Hamster I dont like. Not one bit.

KE

Kent Nerburn

So, I traded in my old G4 tower at the Mac Store and failed to migrate all my data, some of which went all the way back to Power Macs and Mac IIs, and was on old hard drives, zip disks, and even floppys. The Mac people threw up their hands, as did the local store famous for dealing with old, outmoded programs and technologies. Just on a whim I stopped in the Happy Hamster while I was driving by. Lucas, the technician who greeted me, took my box of junk, went in the back and came out with old zip drives and connectors and things I could not begin to understand. Inside of 20 minutes, he had opened everything and ascertained what existed and what did not exist, showed me how to migrate what remained, and made clarity out of a mess that had defied the efforts of everyone else. And he did it all with a smile on his face. There are two great dangers in dealing with computer and software issues. The first is people who think they know what they are doing and do not. The second is people who state categorically that something cannot be done when in fact it can. Finding the sweet spot between these is a joy and a relief. Lucas was that sweet spot. Ill be back whenever I need any assistance in doing or undoing anything on my computer. Save yourself the grief and go there first when you have needs. It is worth it, they are worth it, and it is always a good thing to support local enterprises that do good work. Happy Hamster is a gem of a store and a wonderful find. I am lucky I stumbled in there when I did. I have found my computer store.

KA

Katy Mayo-Hudson

In a total panic, I went to Happy Hamster this afternoon. I had taken my completely functional laptop to a coffee shop to do some work, and it wouldnt boot up. Zilch. Nothing, Nada. I called a couple of friends who are computer savvy and asked them if there were any tricks. No tricks. So when I landed at HH, I feared the worst - new laptop dead, you have to find the god-forsaken receipt and send it back to Dell to sit in laptop purgatory. I only hoped I could get access the hard drive since all my work and many family photos are on it. Misa greeted me at the door and immediately began problem solving, opening up the back after a few minutes of futile attempts to boot it up, then calling Kyle Hansel from the back to help with the battery. Long story short, they diagnosed that it had gone into some kind of shut down mode that lifting the battery out and replacing allowed to reset. It booted up! Misa then spent the next 20 minutes making some needed improvements to my software - all on his own initiative - installing ninite to free me from the plague of windows 8 tiles, getting rid of an unused virus protection that was slowing my computer, and disabling programs that were running in the background. These guys were great. Super helpful and attentive to me and each person that walked in the door. The customer service was phenomenal. I will be back, as will everyone who asks me for a place to get their computer woes solved. Thank you HH!