BattleGrounds Of Long Island

On 9/22/18 my laptop computer died. The battery stopped charging and the screen went black. I brought the machine and associated cables and hardware to Battlegrounds Computer Repair, 401 William Floyd Parkway, Shirley NY 11967 a total of 4 times. On 9/22 they told me "Your power strip is bad" and sold me a new one which lacked the connections I needed. I returned it and went to a hardware store, spending $32.55 for a new one.

On 9/28 the problem recurred in exactly the same way. This time Battlegrounds told me "Your charger is bad", took and discarded my old charger and sold me a new one for $$43.44.

The problem recurred in exactly the same way on 12/12/18. After I stopped tearing my hair out, I decided to experiment with the setup. I unplugged the new charger from the new power strip and plugged it into a grounded wall outlet. It worked like a charm! The battery resumed charging.

Out of curiosity, I reinstalled the old power strip. Again, it worked like a charm.

I reinstalled the new power strip and, remembering that I own a little $1.99 two-prong-to-three-prong plug adapter, I disconnected the power strip, plugged it into the adapter, and plugged the adapter into the new power strip. It worked like a charm.

I also concluded that there was nothing wrong with my old charger, which Battlegrounds threw out.

I then returned to Battlegrounds and slowly and carefully explained the above sequence of events to the owner. His reactions: a) "Power strips frequently go bad"; b) "Adapters frequently go bad" and c) "So, the real problem was the fact that the $1.99 plug adapter didn't work?

I must admit to being frustrated here. I started to go through my account all over again when the owner asked, "What do you want? People who complain usually expect something?"

He then said, "Your new setup leaves your computer in danger because it isn't grounded."

I just left.

By my calculations, Battlegrounds cost me an unnecessary $120 (the value of two adapters plus an extra power strip).

There are two possible conclusions here: either they don't know what they are doing, or they make recommendations solely on the basis of profit.

Make your own decision about patronizing them.