19/08/2026
PSA - I.T/computer repairs.
Something recently come to my attention that I genuinely believe people in our local community need to know about.
A local computer repair business is charging $350 to transfer files from an old computer to a new computer using a USB drive. Yes. $350.
When one of my customers told me what they had been charged, I honestly couldn't believe it. I thought there must have been more involved — data recovery, a failing hard drive, some complicated migration, something.
So I contacted the business myself and asked for a quote for the same service. $350.
As someone who runs an I.T. business myself, I understand better than most that businesses have wages, rent, insurance, equipment, software and other expenses. But let's call this what it is: $350 for a straightforward computer-to-computer file transfer is, in my opinion, daylight robbery in plain sight.
I'm not talking about recovering data from a dead hard drive. I'm not talking about a complicated business migration or recovering corrupted files. I'm talking about taking someone's files from one functioning computer and copying them to another.
Older or vulnerable people, people who aren't confident with technology, and people who simply don't know how computers work can easily assume that a price like this must be normal.
That's why I'm posting this
I am NOT naming the business, because this isn't about starting a witch hunt or dragging another local business through the mud. It's about making people aware that this is happening. And it doesn't hurt to get a second quote from another place.
I run my business in Wauchope, and if someone came to me with a $350 quote for something this simple, I'd be telling them to get a second opinion before handing over their money.
Businesses need to make a profit. Absolutely. But customers also deserve to know when they're being charged an extraordinary amount for something that is, in practical terms, a very simple job.
$350 to copy files via USB isn't just expensive. It's an absolutely outrageous price for the service described to me.
Know what you're paying for. Ask questions. And if a computer repair quote doesn't feel right — GET A SECOND QUOTE.
In todays time when everything is super expensive and prices are only going up. $350 can go along way. and it should go further than a simple USB data transfer which takes less than 10 minutes of active labour.
