649 W. Washington St., Ste. 6
360-797-1960 ext. 1
If you have noticed that Quality Assured Computer Services has disappeared from the east end of the Safeway plaza, rest assured it hasn’t vaporized into the ether.
About three months ago owners Jim Manderscheid and Steve Saiz moved the full-service computer repair business to the southeast corner of Seventh Avenue and Washington Street with greater visibility and a smaller, cozier showroom.
Between them, Manderscheid and Saiz have 60 years of computer technology experience.
“I spent 40 years in Silicon Valley and the experience level I bring is very useful,” said Manderscheid, who spent the bulk of his career as an integrative circuit (chip) designer in San Jose, Calif. He and Saiz started the company in 2013 and opened in 2014. Jamie Woodward will be joining the pair soon since the business has grown.
“We see about 300 computers a month, typically for virus and malware removal, operating system corruption and hardware failure,” Manderscheid said. “We do a lot of setups and configurations for computers and printers. We don’t do (repair) mobile devices but if it’s a software issue, we can.”
Manderscheid said he believes the company is the only one on the peninsula to refurbish PCs, Macs and computers with a Linux operating system. The store has a wall full of affordable refurbished computers, including laptops.
In a tech lab away from the public’s view, the partners can work on 16-21 computers at any one time, Mander-scheid said. He invites owners to come in for a free 15-minute consultation to determine what needs to be done to get their computers operating at maximum efficiency.
Professional services include basic and secured computer setup, three levels of data recovery, password resetting, computer tuneup, remote assistance via the Internet, device evaluation, hardware diagnostics, component replacement, virus removal and data backup. The company also will design and build PCs to customers’ specifications. The service area is from just west of Discovery Bay to the junction of US Highway 101 and State Route 112 and Manderscheid or Saiz will fix customers’ computers at work, at home or in the store.
While discussing the business, a customer came in to pick up his laptop and Manderscheid broke away to explain in detail all of the procedures done to repair his computer in layman’s terms. He also answered questions the customer had about recommended security programs — American companies, like Norton or McAfee, Manderscheid said — and browsers.
Although it doesn’t pay them personally, Manderscheid and Saiz are committed to keeping the public informed about scams on their blog. According to the current blog, “Microsoft, Apple and the IRS will not call or email you. They will send you a U.S. postal letter to contact you. If you did not initiate a tech support call, do not allow a third party on your computer via the Internet. Good rule of thumb for tech support: If you can’t look them in the eye, you may not want to do business with them. Trusting some one from another country to go into your computer is asking for trouble. Protect yourself and just hang up.”
To access the company’s blog posting, go to www.qacomputerservices.com which will bring up the home page. Scroll down and find the link to its Facebook page on the right, then click on “Posts.”
“We need to let the public be aware of cyber threats — because Sequim is known as a retirement community, it’s a big target for hacking,” Manderscheid said. “We’ve gotten five calls in two days about the Microsoft tech support scam and two calls people got from the ‘IRS’ that were fake. We were the first in the country to find a Skype scam that stole personal information. A lot of people fall for those and that’s why we educate the public. We’re just here to help.”
