Sonoma Computer Store

I can’t give a better or worse rating. I have called and spoke to Chris. He said he’d call back. No call in 12 hours. I called again and left a message. No call back in 24 hours. Left another and final message. No call back. I’d say too busy or too incompetent. Hence the one star rating. I regret giving a negative review but they earned it.

My family sent a computer there and only wanted an update and after 10 days didn’t even get someone to answer the phone or give them a call back with a simple update. Terrible customer service, very ridiculous. We have been in Sonoma for decades and want to support local business, but this business sucks. They even have you give them your computer at the fruit stand and then take it down the road, don’t give you an address. It’s shady.

I decided to go ahead and review this company since I have lived in Sonoma for 18 years and I have a strong computer background (previously Software Developer, Network Administrator and I.T. Director).
From the other reviews, it seems you will either luck out and have a positive experience and give them 5 stars or more likely have a horrible experience, give them one star and never come back.
I used to use them for my network support at my office and I purchased one of their own branded PCs. It was pricey, but I thought I’d get good service when I needed it. I am qualified to do all of my own technical support, but am too busy and wanted their help. Since I didn’t want to drive to Santa Rosa or Marin, I went in a couple of times and was generally happy. Since I have worked in the Silicon Valley in the past, I thought that the owner, Chris, was just a quirky techy guy.
Once, I needed to connect to one of my PCs remotely, and had no time to research how, so I paid them to handle it. After they charged me hundreds of dollars to come out on-​site and install some third-​party software that never worked, I found out that Remote Access was a free, built-​in feature of the Windows operating system, so I stripped off their product and set it up myself.
My «final straw» happened when their PC started making a very loud whining noise. I wanted to have them look at it, but couldn’t afford to be without my workstation for days. I called and explained the situation to one of the technicians. I asked how busy they were and was told that they were days out in getting to repair PCs. I asked if I could «get in line» before actually bringing the PC in. Since it still functioned, I didn’t see the point in my having to do without my PC while it sat on their shelf for days until they could get to it. As a repeat customer, this did not seem like an unreasonable request. He said to stop by in a couple of days and he would take a look at it. I went in two days later. Unfortunately, Chris was the one at the counter and I couldn’t talk to the technician I had spoken to on the phone.
When I explained my situation, Chris flew off the handle, shouted at his employee and then berated him in front of me, demanding to know if he had promised to allow me to «cut in line» in front of the other customers that were waiting for their PCs so that he could look at mine. I felt really sorry for the employee. After I had had enough of listening to his tantrum, I said that I would just take care of it myself. «Good luck with THAT» he shouted at me as I walked out of the door for the final time.
I had to work on a Sunday, but I went to Fry’s Electronics and got the replacement cooling fan that was causing the problem with no downtime of my PC.
I like to shop at local Sonoma stores. I don’t expect the best prices, but I expect good, personalized service. If you decide to go ahead and risk a very unpleasant and unprofessional experience, be sure to rent the old Seinfeld «Soup Nazi» episode so you’ll know how to behave as a customer of this place.

We had our computer built by Sonoma Computer and was happy to keep it local until we had our first issue with it. The owner took it personally when we said maybe it was a faulty part and swore at my husband and hung up on him! We paid over $ 1,500.00 for our computer and expected good service from a local company only to be treated poorly by the person who built it and sold it to us! Any time we had an issue with it, they would fix most of it but we would still have problems and we had to pay for each time we brought it in even though they were the ones who didn’t finish the job. We stopped bringing it to them after the second time this happened and we haven’t been back. I am sorry to say that we will never buy anything from Sonoma Computer again and will be buying an HP when we need a new computer. I said I would never be a Staples customer here in town but they drove me to it, I bring my computer there now and I am very happy with Staples service. Too bad but I will never spend another dime there.

Hey,
I don’t know what’s going on with these negative reviews but I had an awesome experience working with Chris. I have an Alienware that suddenly wouldn’t connect with the monitor. He not only fixed that, he refreshed my windows and fixed a persistent hardware/​windows ethernet clash that had been going on for ages. It was dirt cheap and he fixed it within hours. I was pressed for time as well, getting ready for a convention.
I definitely would use Sonoma Computers in the future. Especially if I had something weird go wrong with my hardware and needed someone to double check it.
Sean Montgomery

Very crabby staff and work was not done when promised. Why pay to be abused when there are alternatives in town? I’ll never go back.

I have been taking my computers to Sonoma Computer store for 13 years, Chris the Owner, couldn’t be more helpful! I make the drive and trust him with all our computers! I can’t tell you how many times I have taken in a computer that wouldn’t even turn on and Chris and his guys brought it back to life!
Thank you Chris and Sonoma Computers!

My husband worked for this guy for 4 years, if you think he treats customers bad, he treats his staff even worse. I really hope he goes out of business. He is crazy and I am afraid one day something really bad may happen… seriously. He needs to be shut down.

This is the rudest customer service I have ever had!!!

The owner of this business is a mental case.
On 3÷7÷11, I delivered a new computer and an old one to have the data transferred. Chris, the owner said it would take 2 or 3 days, and he would call me when ready. On 03÷10÷11, I called to check the status. He said it would be another day. On 3÷11÷11, I went to the store at 4:30 PM, and was told it would be ANOTHER day. I then asked for the computers to be returned to me. He then brought both computers to the front desk. I asked him, «Aren’t you embarrassed the way you have treated me,» and he stated «get the F— out of here. He then placed one of my computers out to the sidewalk in front of the store., stating, «get this piece of Sh– out of here».
Those are the facts of what occurred.
The Better Business Bureau ranks this store the worst grade, «F».

I could say many things but I’m just going to say that they overpromise and don’t communicate with their clients about the status of their computer.