PORTLAND, Ore. -- A test of computer repair shops in the Portland area this month revealed a local store that required $580 to fix a problem other shops fixed for free.

FOX 12 pulled the plug on a computer's hard drive to make sure it would not boot up and then took the computer to repair shops throughout the Portland metro area.

At PC Paramedix in northeast Portland, engineer Tony Gambino tracked down the problem in minutes at no charge.

"I thought it was a lot of fun, actually," Gambino said. "The best tests are the ones you don't know you're taking."

The owner of OK PC in Beaverton was also able to quickly pass the test.

At the Geek Squad at Best Buy on Cedar Hills Boulevard in Beaverton, technicians again found the problem immediately and fixed it at no charge.

But not every Geek Squad store excelled on the test. At the Geek Squad across from the Washington Square Mall, a technician initially said he was unable to figure out what was wrong. He said a $70 diagnosis was needed.

Two days later, a Geek Squad employee said the hard drive was broken and $580 was needed for repair. When FOX 12 picked up the computer, the Geek Squad technician also said the computer had a virus and suggested purchasing a new computer, an area in which it would be glad to help.

The diagnosis came as a surprise to employees at PC Paramedix. Gambino said it was not a broken hard drive and he did not receive any virus notifications.

"It should be something they would figure out in the first several minutes they had the machine," he said.

After learning that the Geek Squad location failed the computer repair test, the Geek Squad corporate office sent a written statement from Steve Carter, the district manager.

"We take any misdiagnosis very seriously, and I personally feel horrible that we missed this opportunity to be consistently accurate. I'm working closely with my Geek Squad agents going forward to ensure that the highest level of service is maintained consistently for our customers in Portland."

Other computer repair technicians said they hope shops that get it wrong will fix their mistakes to keep customers feeling confident in computer cures.

"Certainly, if we did miss the mark, we would want to look at what options we did have available to us and what we could do to improve," said Charles McLeod, of PC Paramedix.

Several Geek Squad locations in Oregon were receiving Fs with the Better Business Bureau; however, BBB representatives said Geek Squad headquarters in Minnesota asked for all of its Oregon reports to be consolidated. As a result, Geek Squad received an A- in its overall rating.

FOX 12 also attempted to take its computer to other stores in the area. There was a seven-day wait time at Geekoids, which has drop-off spots in Portland, Tigard and Scappoose. Half-Price Geeks In-Home Repair also had trouble setting up an appointment. A man who answered the phone at Geeks on Time said it would be too expensive to come out for repairs and suggested not to pay for the repair.

Computer Repair Shops Put To Test