Business flourishes as crashed computers are saved

April 7, 2009

By Farah Damani
Reporter

It's the night before a project you've been working on for a month is due, and all of a sudden, your computer crashes. You're panicking because you're afraid all of your work is gone. What do you do now?

Waco PC Repair is a local, privately owned company that is owned and operated by Queens, N.Y., junior Joey Rodriguez and Tyler senior Cody Carpenter.

The two Baylor undergraduates say they receive calls with similar stories all the time, and know how to handle such situations.

"We are on-call maintenance; we get calls as late as 11 p.m. asking us to help them fix their frozen computer," said Rodriguez, an electrical and computer engineering major.

Rodriguez came up with the idea to open up his own computer repair shop while he worked at the Baylor Information Technology Services department in the spring of 2007. That's where he met his friend and business partner, Carpenter, a management information services major.

"We thought we could do a better job and get it done faster than everywhere else," Carpenter said. "That was the main goal."

Through their company, Rodriguez and Carpenter said they have become closer friends.

"We actually run together and talk about business. It's kind of like an informal meeting," Rodriguez said. "Having someone there to support you is good when you're afraid to grab onto a new idea."

Waco PC Repair offers services such as backing up data, reinstalling Windows, replacing keyboards, handling hardware problems and performing other services that are fully listed on the company's Web site, www.WacoPCRepair.com.

"We guarantee the number of days it will take to fix your computer, and you're saving money," Rodriguez said.

Computer repair services cost $50 an hour and usually don't take more than 2 hours to fix, but Carpenter says that it varies from case to case.

"I saved a lot of money by getting my computer fixed with these guys," Houston sophomore Emily Baird said.

Baird has gotten her computer fixed at other locations, but said Waco PC Repair has done the most thorough job so far.

"Their customer service was better," Baird said. "They fixed my computer within 24 hours, and it was cheap. Geek Squad doesn't have anything less than $100."

Baylor students are not their only clients. Rodriguez said they get phone calls from as far as 50 miles outside of Waco.

"About 60 percent of our customers are outside of Baylor," Rodriguez said.

Since the name of their company can be a bit misleading, Rodriguez and Carpenter like to clarify that they also work on Macbooks and not just PC's.

As of now, Waco PC Repair runs from the men's apartment at University Parks Apartments.

Rodriguez and Carpenter said they are both hopeful about their business, and that they have role models to look up to. "Michael Dell started the same way we did, out of his apartment in Austin," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez said they want to continue the business they started and let it stay in the Baylor family.

"Eventually we would like to hire more Baylor students to work and I'd like to appoint a manager after I leave," Rodriguez said.

As for advice on keeping computers away from viruses, Rodriguez and Carpenter said to be sure to backup data in case the computer ever crashes.

"Be wary of what you click on. Limewire has a lot of viruses and if it sounds too good to be true, then stay away," Rodriguez said.

One thing that Rodriguez said he has learned through this experience is to not be fearful. "Don't be afraid to follow your dreams and start a business as a college student."

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