Frequently Asked Questions
You Have Questions, we have Answers
General Questions
Yes, all our technicians are in the USA and speak English as their first language. Many larger online technical support companies need to cut costs where possible to improve profits which means farming out their helpdesk to countries that will work for cheaper rates. Since we are 100% focused on remote computer repair and are a private company we will never send our calls overseas to reduce costs.
Our average hold time to connect to a technician is less than 60 seconds. If a technician is unavailable we will not leave you on hold. Instead we will grab your call back number and call you back so you don’t have to sit on hold wasting your time.
This answer varies depending on your problem. Typical PC Tune Up and improving performance is anywhere from 45 minutes to 80 minutes depending on your connection speed. Repairing a virus online can be more time consuming and takes anywhere from 60 minutes to 2 hours on average. In comparison to taking your PC to local repair shop which can take over 10 days to get your computer back, online PC repair is significantly faster.
No, we only need you to get us started by initiating our remote control software. This usually takes five minutes. Once we start the process you can walk away or watch us work on your computer as if we were in front of it. We do not “black” out your screen so you can see everything we are doing at all times. In addition, our software has a log of our technician’s actions so you can review what was done if you do step away for a few minutes.
If you check the Internet for online computer help you will surely see countless websites trying to sell you software that will “speed up your PC” or “clean your registry“. Well we have no software to sell you. Many of those software companies are selling poor quality software and are looking to make money from uneducated users. We do use software to sometimes fix your computer but its all free and we have no intention of charging you for it. If you need virus scanning software we will also install a free version without the need of selling you anything else. Be very wary of online tech support companies that are throwing in free software that promises to “optimize” and “protect” your computer. Many times they are making a profit on that software or will eventually try to sell it to you when the trial period expires. Our philosophy at BoxAid is LESS software that slows down your PC not adding MORE software.
We are glad you asked. Check out the review of Boxaid done by the Wall Street Journal for some ideas.
Want to see how we provide online PC support? Watch our video! At BoxAid we use cutting edge technology that connects us to your PC with your permission. We then can see your computer desktop as if we were sitting with you at your home. We then troubleshoot whatever PC problem you may be having and let you know if we have a solution or not. Most importantly, you can see everything we are doing to your PC as if we were in front of you. Packing up your computer and taking it to a PC repair store is no longer needed with today’s technology. After our online PC repair session is complete we disconnect from your PC with nothing left behind so we can not get back into your computer at a later time.
We do offer online chat but sometimes if all our technicians are busy on the phone with customers we will not respond. While chatting can be informative, we may miss your chat during busy call times of the day. Please feel free to give us a call on our toll free number 800-999-6872 if your question is urgent.
For all the super technical people out there they refer to a computer as a PC, machine, and sometimes a “box”. This can be obvious to people who are technical but no so obvious for many of our technically challenged customers. We figured Boxaid was a good name when we started in 2007 and plus all the other cool names like “GeekSquad” were already taken.
Our technicians are now available 9am to midnight, 7 days a week. We are closed on major U.S. holidays. Occasionally, when you call our toll free number you may reach our voicemail. This happens during busy times when we get a rush of calls. We don’t want to leave you on hold so instead we send you to voicemail and we will call you ASAP if you leave a message.
Absolutely, Boxaid is a great alternative to larger brand names such as Geeksquad or the Staples PC repair center. The only difference as that Boxaid does not have a traditional store. We only fix computers online which saves our customers the hassle of dropping off their computer to get repaired at a store like Best Buy’s Geeksquad.
Billing Questions
If you use our shopping cart to pay for your service then you can enter your credit card information yourself just like other Internet transactions. We use SSL encryption for security which you can confirm in your browser address bar with a green padlock. We also use Square and Paypal for payment processing. This means they process the transaction for us and we never have a copy of your credit card on hand. We always respect your security and make sure we adhere to proper transaction processing which means no monthly fees and just a one time charge on your credit card.
No, not at this time. All our technical services are one time fees which means if you call us back with another technical problem that we fix then there will be another charge. Many of our competitors offer yearly subscriptions but many times you will find once they received your yearly payment and you call back a second or third time they are quickly trying to get you off the phone because they have already collected your yearly fee. You can read this blog post to learn more about why we don’t offer yearly plans.
No, our toll free number is completely free to call from the United States. We collect your credit card information over the phone and will only charge your credit card when you are satisfied that we have fixed your computer problem. In addition you can chat with us and we can connect to your PC and fix it without you ever calling our toll free number at all.
We collect your credit card information only upon completion of fixing your computer. We do not collect your credit card information until you are satisfied the work is done properly. We do not store your information on any of our systems so there there is no data loss or the possibility of identity theft to consider. We use Paypal and Square to process our credit card payments which offer full merchant services and are well-known in the industry for their exceptional security standards.
We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. Your credit card is processed like any other transaction and your statement will show the Boxaid name next to your transaction.
Then you have nothing to lose. Our expert technicians are some of the best in the industry. Our success rate is exceptional at 96% but of course there are some PC problems that just can’t be fixed via remote computer repair. In rare cases, we have worked on a problem for hours with no resolution, and in this case we simply admit that we will not be able to help you and recommend some alternatives. No credit card is collected in this case and you are not charged anything for the call.
If we have already charged your credit card and you decide that your computer is still having problems you can give us a call and we can take a second look at it. If you choose that you do not want to have a technician look at it again simply ask for a refund and you will give you one with no questions asked. You will never have to call your credit card company to dispute a charge. Simply let us know via email or phone call and we will refund you immediately.
Our online technical support experts always offer exemplary service and make sure you always know what is going on during the remote control session. Sometimes they go above and beyond their normal job to make sure our customers are satisfied. Because of this we often have customers that insist on tipping their technician. While this is not necessary, it is at your discretion if you choose to tip your technician any additional amount above the normal service cost.
Technical Questions
If you are getting a black screen when you turn on your PC then we probably can’t help you. If you are able to get to the Internet we can almost always help you. If you can’t get to the Internet we will walk you through getting into safe mode with networking which will hopefully get us on the Internet then we can connect to your PC.
We pride ourselves on being reputable and making sure our customers are always satisfied. Yes there have been a few stories circulating on the Internet about some actions of our competitors. But we take security at BoxAid very seriously and will walk you through our security procedure of how we remove our software from your machine automatically. In addition, since we never come to your house you will never have to worry about the security of your home being violated.
We specialize in Microsoft Windows, but we also do Macintosh and Linux as well depending on what your problem is. We obviously get the most questions on Windows but depending on the problem we may be able to help you if you are not running Windows.
This is a very valid question and the reality is 98% of customers that call in with a virus have a good anti-virus program running and the infection simply disabled the anti-virus program and began launching popups and blocking your Internet browsing. Anti-virus vendors including the big names like Symantec and McAfee are having difficulty keeping up with all the new malware that comes out on a daily basis. The anti-virus vendors are about 97% effective at stopping the 3000 new pieces of malware that come out per day but typically 3% of malware will completely bypass your anti-virus software.
Unfortunately there are countless programs that promise to “fix” your problems such as viruses, trojans or malware. There are also many programs that promise to speed up your computer by fixing the registry. The Internet offers thousands of programs that claim to fix your problems but most of these programs are written by malware writers who are simply looking to make a few dollars from unsuspecting consumers. Many times these programs make your problems worse or install additional malware on your computer. There is no such thing as “fixing” your registry. Any registry problems should be addressed manually by a technician who understands your computer. Be very careful when trying to find a quick fix for your problems. Would you rather download some software from a website that masquerades as a real company or would you rather talk to a live person who can answer all your questions and truly address your problems.