Not all Miami computer repair shops are created equal.

This may sound obvious, but the importance of doing your homework when deciding where to turn for computer repair and network support cannot be understated.

Consider the following consumer horror story stemming from one local Miami computer repair institution: in order to investigate which shops offered the best service, she pulled the plug from the hard drive to make sure it would not boot up, then took the computer to repair shops throughout South Florida.

The first few Miami and Fort Lauderdale computer repair organizations passed the test, with flying colors - fixing it within minutes and at no charge.

Alas, it was downhill from there.

When it came to a Best Buy Geek Squad encounter, a technician initially said he was unable to figure out what was wrong, and a $70 diagnosis was needed.

Days later, an employee said the hard drive was broken - and a hefty $580 was needed for computer repair. The tech also said the machine had a virus and suggested purchasing a new computer altogether. Convenient that they also sell them there.

This puzzling, and costly computer support diagnosis came as a bit of a shock to the companies who said she did not have a broken hard drive and that there were no virus notifications.

Other computer repair technicians said they hope South Florida computer repair shops that make similar mistakes going forward will go out of their way to fix them so that customers feeling confident in computer cures.

From a consumer's standpoint, however, all you can do is take no chances with your valuable money and time, and find a place that you are confident in.

Most of the time, the personal attention given to you by a small and independent Fort Lauderdale computer repair shop cannot be rivaled.