Neighborhood Tech Support

I brought Rob Mathews my dead laptop with a bad motherboard (and a new laptop I had just purchased). After a long consultation about my needs, In two days he had recovered all the files from the laptop and had installed several of my programs and new ones, so that I was back up and running with a working system and much useful advice on new software and hardware to consider using. I was very pleased, needless to say. And the cost was reasonable at 2 hours of his time ($ 160). He is a friendly and knowledgeable fellow and I will continue to use his services.

Couldn’t repair my hard drive even though the files were on the drive and recognizable:(
Seems like there are different people running the shop on different days and they are not on the same page. I was here 3 different days and a different employee in the shop every day. They had to call each other on the phone to figure out what the other guy had done the day before and if I had paid or not. The last day involved 3 separate calls for the latest guy to figure things out about what he needed to do. Then he had me call Rob directly when I found they hadn’t shipped the backup drive to disk savers. Lucky for me I called him because I really needed to have them send the disk to disk savers (which contradicted the advice given to me by the guy at the desk). Really seems like actions here are ad hoc and not thought out and no one is on the same page.
the lady customer at the counter having her parallels vm issue being worked on had similar issues with the guy in office not knowing what the other guy had done on her issue yesterday.

Neighborhood support is z best. Rob Mathews never met a computer he could not repair. These guys love what they do and will not give up until it is A-​1 ready to go. Very reasonable prices. And house calls. I wlil never go elsewhere.

If you have a basic out of box computer or laptop with basic service needs this may be the place to go. If you have an advanced machine look elsewhere.
I brought in an alienware that was purchased from best buy. At first he thought it was a server. Then he couldn’t help with the heating issue because he knew less about liquid cooled systems then I did. He looked at it for a while to see if it was a software issue until the owner came and tried to scold him for trying to see what was wrong with my rig. The way he talked about me in front of me I took my rig elsewhere. Knowledge does not seem to par, customer service deffinately is not. This place seems less of a computer repair shop and more of a data transfer center. The only good part of the experience was he took my 70 pound rig up and down the stairs for me. I would hate to be mobility challenged and wish to do business here.

William, is the best, at Neighborhood Tech Support! I came in off of Unilocal and my computer would not power on. As a in home sales rep I need this tool to be effective. William showed me a great trick to reset the Lap Top, he very easily could have taken advantage of my situation. I’m thankful to have met an honest buissness that cares about the customer!!!
Thanks Neighborhood Tech Support…
Evan @ SGK Home Solutions

During construction at my house, my hard drive got fried. I found NTS through Unilocal and they did not disappoint. I called in the morning and had Julien out here in the afternoon. Jutlien went through a few different protocols, explaining as he went. It was decided that it would be more cost efficient and effective to take it back to the shop.
Sad news! Despite their best efforts, the drive could not be saved. I had NTS put in a new HD and also upgrade my OS. Julien came by the next day to deliver and get my computer back up and running.
I was extremely pleased with the service; I was treated with respect and all my questions answered. Plus I was given the name of a company that provides a very specialized service, taking the HD into a clean room. I am mulling that over.
I like supporting a local business, loved not having to waste gas and my time driving back and forth to some big box store.
Thanks Neighborhood Tech Support and Julien.

Rob was recommended by a friend. I was impressed by the (mostly) positive reviews on this site. Called and left a message. Call not returned by the middle of the next day. Called again and talked with Rob, who said, «Sorry, I’ve been busy.» And, «Sure, bring your computer in to the shop. I’m leaving at 4 pm today.» Cut short an appointment and drove from San Carlos to Palo Alto, arriving at 3:45. No one there. A neighbor said, «He left early today.» Informed my friend, who deleted this company from her reference base. So he lost and old customer and a new one today. If you call, maybe he’ll have time to attend to your business. I’ve taken my computer business elsewhere. Good luck to everyone!

My laptop all of a sudden would not boot up the usual way. I would hit power, the fan would start screaming and then the screen would remain blank.
Used my phone to write a quick email to NTS about my issue. A guy named Rob actually called me within minutes BEFORE they were even open. (pretty awesome)
Rob quickly diagnosed the issue and asked me to try a few things and then let me know if they worked. They did and my laptop is now running the way it was before.
This is why they rock. because they serve everyone like a valued customer regardless of whether the customer is a moron and thinks his laptop died when in fact he just had to remove the battery, wait a few seconds, put it back in and turn the laptop back on or if the customer has a real problem and needs a huge overhaul.

I run my own IT business on the side and from time-​to-​time I send folks to Neighborhood Tech when I either can’t or don’t want to take their business.
Everyone I have followed up with has been happy with the work Rob and his folks there have done. I feel very comfortable sending my own clients to him if/​when I can’t do a particular job.

These guys are amazing.
First off… Polite. The first requirement for anyone in possession of my precious laptop.
Secondly, they are knowledgable and not pushy.
Really, that is all I can say. What more needs to be said?
Oh, actually… One more thing. They are right next to Fry’s so it’s a one stop shopping-​slash-​repair run.
BTW, If you need a repair, tell Steve I sent you.

Neighborhood Tech Support did an awesome job fixing my laptop. My hard drive had crashed and I was afraid I had lost all my data. Rob and his team worked their magic and were able to retrieve all my pictures, videos, and files. They picked the laptop up from my work on Monday morning and returned it to me before end of day Tuesday. They were very responsive to my phone calls and the service was exceptional. I would recommend Neighborhood Tech Support for anyone looking for laptop or other tech support.

Fantastic experience. These guys are highly competent and extremely customer friendly.
I went into the store thinking that I needed a new motherboard (a $ 400 expense), but they correctly pointed out that I probably only needed a new keyboard (which would cost $ 40). Instead of gouging me, they fixed my computer in 5 minutes, and I was out the door.
Definitely take your computer to these guys — they know what they are doing!

Trustworthy. Great service. Don’t go anywhere else!

On Saturday, I went to the Neighborhood Techsupport in person only to find out that they don’t work on Saturday. I called the number listed on their website: 650.233.9667 and left a voice mail. The answer machine does not mention anything about the working hours. There is not info about their working hours/​days on the website either. The website says:
«Neighborhood Tech’s 911 service will provide priority assistance. This means: A call back within 5 minutes.» I left a voicemail at 2:30 pm on Saturday and what it meant: NO ONE CALLED ME BACK! I had to call back again and this time the owner, Rob Mathews picked up the phone. I asked him about the hours of operation as they were not listed on the website. They are only operating in Palo Alto, even though the website says that they serve in many cities including Redwood City. This is where I work. Rob said that one of his employees lives in Redwood City and he can gladly send him over to pick up my laptop. He did not tell me anything about extra charges for it.
On Monday, his employee Julian was going to stop by my office at 9:15 am. He did not show up until 10:30 am. Julian looked my computer and it turned out that it was not broken at all. He installed CCleaner and restarted my computer. Then he said that there is charge for that. That is when I found out that they charge $ 25 just for picking up the laptop not to mention the cost of labor. I told him that Rob did not mention anything about the extra charges. He called his boss, Rob Mathews to see how much he should charge me. Then I hear Rob laying on the phone saying that he told me there would be $ 25 charge for picking up the laptop and $ 125/​hour. I was totally SHOCKED! He just lied front of me, the customer! I heard the whole conversation! When I asked to speak to Rob, he told that my charge is $ 125 plus $ 25 picking up fee! He was going to charge me for the full hour of labor plus the extra fee! $ 145 total.
First of all, the technician spent only 10 min on my laptop and that included the estimate and «fixing.» However, on their website says, they offer free estimate. Secondly, on their website says: «No Travel Charges (up to 20 miles round trip)» From my office out of Jefferson Ave in Redwood City to their Palo Alto office, round trip is only 14.60 miles!!! Finally, Rob quated me for $ 40 and then he called me crazy and said that he was in a business of making money. I could not believe that he talked to me in this manner!
He only cared about money. If he charges customers for the laptop pick up and for the estimate, so why to lie on the website that is free? It is not free!
Even if I was charged the labor of $ 125/​h, it should be only 10min*$ 2.83, which is $ 20.83 and not $ 40. Plus out of the 10 min, the technician spent half the time on estimate which was free. So my charges should had been only $ 10.42. I was way over charged for the service!
Over promised website, in reality under delivered service! The employees are nice and knowledgeable but the owner, Rob is dishonest and overcharges customers! He only cared about money!

Rob is very good initial contact. Brad came over later than scheduled, said modem was broken, he could buy one at Fry’s and return for instllation next day. The next day he arrived 3 HOURS late. Installed. Worked with a minor error I did not call about since I found a work-​around. Following week AT&T (my ISP) sent email announcing shift to IPv6 and providing an online test for my equipment. The brand new modem FAILED the test. I called and gave them a week to call back, they didn’t. I called again, Brad says he will bring a new IPv6 modem and install it at no extra cost. If that actually happens I will upgrade this review.
But for now, I see a company advertising themselves as experts and then buying and installing old soon-​to-​be-​replaced technology.
11÷8÷12 Problem solved. Replaced modem with one that can support evolving IP standards. Brad called to see if he could come earlier. He did, and once again worked smartly and quickly.
He even checked the receipt for the original modem, discovered it was still within the return date and only charged me for the difference in cost of modems.
I give them extra credit for handling a difficult customer such as myself. I would use them again and recommend them to my local friends.

No need to look elsewhere for computer help. These guys do it all.
2 thumbs up.

The folks here were very responsive and helpful when my laptop crashed.
My laptop crashed twice and my Outlook .pst file got corrupted. It wasn’t possible to fully recover the Outlook file, but Brad got everything else up and running. He was super helpful and patient with all my questions… and he made an extra effort to make sure everything possible was tried to get the pst file back. Thank you, Brad!

I love these guys. They went out of their way to get my computer fixed on site just a few hours after I called. Chris did an amazing job repairing my computer and even remembered that I had caused the same problem two years before which he fixed at that time, too.
A very tech savvy friend told me that I might have a problem that couldn’t be fixed but Rob was confident that they could. And he was right.
I trust these guys. I have found them to be very knowledgeable. I have found their customer service to be outstanding. I would give them six starts if I could.

Helpful and reasonably priced. Good location: right next to Fry’s of course.

I wrote my review on January 9 (you can see it below this post). On March 8 (2 months later), I received an email from the business owner. He apologized for his behavior, and said «Please let me know what we can do to make things right. I would be more than happy to give you or your father any kind of support that will change your opinion of us.» I do appreciate this gesture, although am not interested in receiving any service from him at this point.
He suggested I look at the many positive comments on their website, which I did. You can read them at
– and what this tells me is that his technical team is quite good, which I am very glad to hear.
However, it doesn’t change the two concerns noted in my review:
1. I (and my father) had a bad experience with the business owner.
2. They did not have records of what they installed on my father’s computer.