Paladin InfoTek

I own several small businesses.  My primary desktop computer is an HP Media Center m7760n purchased in early 2007.  Over the 7+ years I've had it I have upgraded hardware (power supply, fan, memory, hard drive), operating systems (Vista to OS 7 to OS 8.1) and added dozens of new applications.  The performance has become very bad - 15 minutes to boot up - 60 seconds to open an application and I wanted to keep it alive until I could select and acquire a new system to replace it.  I contacted Paladin InfoTek and scheduled a time and agreed on a price to get this help.
Phil Saladyk, owner of Paladin InfoTek, logged in remotely to my computer at the appointed time and while I sat and watched he searched my computer for viruses, malware, burdensome applications and then made changes while monitoring key indicators of performance.  He was able to speed up my system by about 20%.  Then, based on the applications he saw on my system and on information about my work processes I had provided him in an earlier email he gave me his recommendations for the specs of a new computer to meet my needs (CPU type, amount of memory, disk size, operating system, audio/video card(s)).  
I am extremely pleased with the service Phil provided.  He was on-time, he did what I asked him to do and, based on his recommendations I located and purchased a new computer.  I will keep my current computer for limited applications.  Phil did not sell me the computer nor did he get any commission off the sale.  I have used Paladin in the past and was again pleased with their service.  I strongly recommend this company for providing technical support and managed services to small/medium businesses like mine.

The repairman arrived in a timely fashion.  He was very knowledgeable and helpful.  He was thorough but fast.  We would use them again.

The service was excellent--prompt, punctual, professional.   I could not have been more pleased. I will not hesitate to call them again or to recommend the service without reservation.

unknown

Their service was fantastic.  They did a great job.

They were okay. They were very polite.  I liked their customer service aspect, but technically I bought a Macintosh computer and their service tech was not that familiar with Macintosh.  I was surprised for that.  I could have figured it out if I fiddled around for it.  I was a little disappointed because I wanted to hire someone who was a professional.  He did call when he was running late.

Stan came to our house on time (same day as we called).  He diagnosed our computer and gave us our options, including for approxiate costs for each option.  He was polite, professional, and charged us a fair price.

He was great.  He showed up on time.  He did what he said.  He went out of his way a little bit to hook up Netflix on my home wireless net work.  I will use him again.

This all happened on a Friday afternoon.  The gentleman arrived on time and for the 1st 30 minutes took all the files of the computer and saved them to an external hard drive.  After this was complete is when the service declined.  He explained that he would attempt to clean up the computer to get it performing better.  While he worked for the next 2.5 hours he took many (more than 5) personal phone calls making plans for the weekend.  On many of those calls he actually got up from the desk and went outside to continue the call, all while the computer sat idle.  He finished cleaning up the computer than started a defragmentation and said that in a couple hours we should restart the computer and it would be working like new and then he left.  We were charged for 3 hours of work.  He was actually only there for just over 2 1/2 hours and actually did about an 1 1/2 hours worth of work.

On Monday morning we could not use the computer at all.  It continued to lock up just as it did before.  We called Fastek on numerous occasions over the next couple days.  Every time someone would tell us they would look into it and get right back to us.  On each occasion we never received a return call and would have to call them again and explain what was going on.  They finally agreed to come pick up the laptop and take it with them for the repair.  They picked it up and had to clear and reset the hard drive.  This seemed to work as the computer is now working.

The problem was the amount of hours we were charged while the tech planned out his weekend and all the hassle we were put through trying to get the computer repaired correctly.  They are a national company that pays independent contract technicians in the local area.  They do not actually have a physical office in Austin.
 
Lastly, we told them we had a $25 off coupon from Angie's list which they did not take off our bill.  We were charged in full for the repair.

January 19, 2011 Update:

The response by Fast-teks Inc. on Nov 13, 2011 is completely untrue.  One of my employees paid for the service with their credit card.  I assume this is why they are stating they did not perform the service for ME.  I have the receipt to prove the service was completed and even personally signed the contractors paperwork myself when he finished. 

To make this even more untrue.  About the fact Fast-teks does not service our area, when the technician picked up our laptop to take it in and fix it, he was on his way to San Marcos (which is 25 minutes south of us) to do a job.   

Angies List Tech is there a way to upload this receipt as proof of service?

The problem was explained, the service technician concluded in a few minutes the source of the problem, and appropriate action was taken to correct the problem.   The longest part of the process was to communicate with an A T & T Internet specialist who appeared to have trouble understanding English.  At the end of the conversation with A T & T, a long-winded sales pitch was made to try to sell me services I did not need nor want!

Had a computer malfunction. Technician was in my house within about an hour. Problem fixed quickly. Follow up call the same day from the office to be sure problem was fixed.

WONDERFUL...VERY WELL PLEASED AND WILL REQUEST JEFFREY AGAIN (IF I SHOULD HAVE A PROBLEM...)

They are reliable, efficient, diligent and pleasant to work with.  We have asked them to come back to help with other complex IT projects/issues.

Overall, very well.

I found them on Angie’s List. I had a coupon. I don’t remember the price. Nick was the guy that came out. He went forward and explained what he was doing that no other tech had ever done before which I really liked. He helped me understand what was going on and about a week after that I had a repeated problem with something. He came out and did it for nothing. He told me how simple it was which I hadn’t understood. He was very kind. He went over and above and I thought that was very nice of him. I would use him again.

Went smoothly and quickly.  Tech was on time and performed the service within the hour time frame allotted.. Will definitely have them back to move my router and modem for my wireless system to a more convenient location. .

It went great. Phil called promptly after I purchased a deal from Angies List. Their call center scheduled the appointment promptly and advised me to give technician one hour flex time for his arrival. Nick, technician called prior to appointment and actually arrived a few minutes early. He knew systems and hard drives proficiently, checked everything out and even checked a couple of extra items. This is a well run business with "hands on" owners that truly understand client relations.

Scheduler was friendly and service date was at a time I could easily schedule, Nick called to confirm the appointment and showed up on time, knew what he was doing, explained what he was doing, answered questions, was extremely efficient. When I if he could provide and install backup memory, he was careful to provide what I needed and not to overcharge.

i have a new laptop, printer and secondary hard drive and was having trouble getting the printer to work wireless and couldn't set up the fax and scan functions. and the secondary hard drive wouldn't work. also, i have an old pc that was slow and needed a tune up. i had used Fas-teks before with great success so i called them again. I explained the problem to Phil and he scheduled Nick to come by very promptly. Nick called in advance to say he was coming and arrived on time. he was very knowledgeable and professional and fixed my problems. He set up shortcuts for me and gave me lots of tips, as well as trained me on how to use my new equipment. and my old pc is now fast and good as new. i'm very pleased and will definitely call Fas - tek again when needed. i feel as if they are my own "in-house" IT guys.

I found Fast teks on Angie's List. Sent and email last Friday and received a follow up call very shortly afterwards. Offered to send a technician on Saturday afternoon but I scheduled service for Monday morning. The technician came and worked for several hours but decided that he would need to take the computer to backup the data and reload the operating system. This was done and the Internet is now working properly. Phil,owner/area manager called and followed up by email to make sure everything is working properly. He is very responsive and his help was greatly appreciated.

We have used Fast Teks twice before, and the prior experiences were good. Not so much this time. The tech was able to re-establish a connection between our computers and our router, but not our wireless printer. The tech spent an additional hour trying to fix the printer, and finally gave up, indicating our printer was not functional, and should be replaced. When I got home, I was able to connect the printer in just 3 minutes. It is very frustrating to be charged 2 hours time, when the router was fixed in 30 minutes, because the tech did not know how to enter a WEP key into our printer so it re-connected to the router. However, I understand these things can occur, it is just frustrating to be expected to pay for this. Phil did ultimately agree to refund the second hour of time, which is all I ever wanted, but not until after he made it clear that it is common for IT solutions to not be found, AND that they had a no-refund policy. I expected to receive an apology for an honest mistake, but instead, I was told that it was our mistake for agreeing to make the payment at the time of the repairs. We would never have paid the 2 hours if we knew the tech was mistaken about the printer being broken. All and all, a very short-sided attitude. Although we've used Fast-Teks before, we will not use them again.

I do a lot of on line work and some how a virus or two or three finally caught up with me. I could not open and close certain icons and I knew there was more to come if I opened a "knock-off" from Microsoft. It just looked kind of funny and so did the credit card icons. When Steve arrived, he called right before he arrived, he went immediately to work and cleaned up the bogus messages I was receiving. He also shared computer knowledge with me and did not act like a N***. Phil, the owner called later, and thanked me for my business. I am very pleased.

I didn't have the opportunity to work with Fast teks directly but my husband did. He gave nothing but positive feedback on the technician(Wade) they sent out. He said Wade was very helpful and he kept my husband up to date every step of the way. I think communication between the business and the consumer is very important, according to my husband, Fast teks have met this standard. Keep up the good work and thank you for your service!

I found FAST TEKS on Angies List and called the company. They sent a technician out as soon as possible. Someone from the company called me and told me the tech was caught in traffic and may be a little later than scheduled. I really appreciated that. The amount spent included a lifetime discount (20%) on any visits made. That was $99.00 and the discount was given to me on this first visit. They charge $89 per hour for the first hour and any over is pro-rated per 15 minutes. I was very impressed with the technician and the service provided by FAST TEKS. Thank you. RD

They were fabulous. Attentive, professional and friendly. I would use them again without a doubt.