Griffin
I was born Ben Patrick Hunton on March 10, 1968 at Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, GA. I grew up in Warm Springs, GA in my early years.
Daddy worked for the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad in Manchester. Mama worked as a housewife and loving mother to me and my brother.
We lived only a few blocks from our church and I remember us walking to church on Sunday. I learned to love God at an early age and was
baptized at age seven. When I was 14, we moved to Orchard Hill. This is when I met my "wife to be" Dorothea Lynn Smith. She was active in the
church next door. She lived across the street from us, so we spent a lot of time together. Lynn welcomed me to the neighborhood and introduced me to the youth group at the Orchard Hill Baptist Church. We became very active with the youth group and attended church, bible study, and otheractivities every time the church doors opened. We were married in 1985 and had our son, Justin in 1988. After trying for years to have another
child, we experienced a tragic miscarriage in 1996. We were blessed the following year with our daughter, Savannah. We have taught our childrento be good to others and to pray to and believe in God. My children are a real blessing to me.
The bible teaches that sometimes we must go through some difficult times to become stronger and have stronger faith in God. One should not always believe everything they hear or read. Most people know that all things are not always what they seem and it is easy to get caught up in an unfortunate situation. Regardless, we are determined to hold our heads high, and to doing what’s right, and continuously bend over backwards to help others, and satisfy our customers.
I remember back in 2001, a lady came into the shop who was noticeably upset. She explained that she needed to sell her computer. We already
had a table full of computers and were not really in need of the older system she had. She said she was going to call us to see if we would buy it, but just decided to go ahead and bring it to the shop. We plugged it up and I explained that it was an outdated system, but it would make a good
starter system. I recommended for her to place an ad in the paper. She explained that her husband had left her and she had three small children. She said she needed to sell it quickly. Her dilemma and financial situation troubled me and I believed her story to be genuine. I gave her $300 for
the system and she was so grateful. When she left, I put a $99 price tag on the old system. I remember my former employee, Tommy, laughing at me and telling me that I couldn’t stay in business like that. I just laughed back and told him that helping others is why we stay in business and why we have been so blessed through the years. He seemed puzzled at first, but he finally understood my point.
(That next week was one of our busiest weeks on record at the shop. As for the old computer, it never sold so we donated it to the Christian
Women’s Center).
As you read through my thoughts and get to know us better, we want to stress how important it is for you to do business with a reputable
computer shop. We have heard one nightmare story after another about other shops and we have all seen these guys come and go over the
years. Some stories include parts being removed from the computers, parts being exchanged with substandard parts, and fees being charged without explanation, etc. One story was about a gentleman who took his computer to a repair shop in Thomaston. He needed an estimate for repair because the unit had been surged by lightening. After keeping the system two weeks, the PC shop owner finally called the man to learn there was a $45/per hour charge times 5 hours for "testing" the system. The shop owner explained that the system had been hit by lightening. The customer
was furious and told him he already knew that. The shop owner would not let the man pick his system up until the $225 was paid, without any
actual repair being done. So in this case, like many others I'm certain, the damaged system was left with the shop owner, who I'm sure used any
usable parts for his own gain and profit.
Whether you choose us or another repair shop, find one who guarantees your satisfaction in writing, and also one who provides a free assessment with no strings attached. We never charge a fee to examine your system. We’ll never surprise our customers with charges or an outrageous bill or any fee that was not discussed beforehand. We’re fair, honest, and reputable. We have no desire to become millionaires, and we never try
to make our week’s pay from a single customer, like some customers have suggested about other computer shops they have dealt with in the past. (Some of which are still in business in surrounding counties; Be careful folks).
Rather than trying to make a fortune, our hope is to be successful enough to give our employees regular hours, pay our bills, and make an
occasional donation of a computer system to an individual or organization in need, and maybe take a vacation every now and then to reward our
efforts in making others' lives happier.
Our caring, giving, nature has even rubbed off on our employees. One time we did an upgrade for an elderly couple. Their upgrade did not includea CD-Rom drive. When we upgraded the system, we did not know they needed a CD Rom drive for a program they needed to run.
They had already spent as much as their budget would allow to have the system upgraded. Former employee, Jonathan, said he would drive to
the customers’ home after work and help them with their program, but they still needed the drive. I told him I would give them the drive if he would go install it and help them with their program. He said, "Well, if you’re going to give them the drive, then I’ll just go do this for them off the clock."
We both agreed that the upgrade we did definitely made their system run faster, but was not what the couple needed to run their program. We
didn’t want them to have this unexpected extra expense and just felt it would be the right thing to do, to go ahead and give them the CD Rom drivefor free, considering they were on a fixed income, and the upgrade they paid for didn’t include a CD-Rom purchase. There is no doubt in my mind that God sent this elderly couple to Ben's, where He protected their limited income and He knew beforehand that we would be honest and helpful to them.
Once a week, we get together and discuss the business. We strive to satisfy our customers and our main topic in our meetings is CUSTOMER SERVICE. We listen to our employees and customers and appreciate your suggestions as well. We have grown accustomed over the years to
serving the public and listen to advice that anyone wants to give. Please make suggestions either in person, by phone, or by writing me, at my
email address, fastercomputers@aol.com. You can help us improve customer relations and help us to serve you better for years to come, with all your computer needs. Lynn and I believe everything happens for a reason. From jealous competitors and a couple of disgruntled former employees attacking me personally about things they know nothing about, to the "trials" and tribulations of life in general, we firmly believe everything
happens for a reason. We, like most reasonable people, also believe there are two sides to every story, and one should probably believe about
half what they read and even less of what they hear as hear say. The bottom line is we have enjoyed continued support and repeat business from our customers, and complete over 3500 invoices each year. That many customers can't be wrong. We encourage you to do business with us as
well and see for yourself that we will be your friends in the business, and WE WILL SAVE YOU MONEY! Mama reminded me once that the terriblethings we go through that don’t kill us, only makes us stronger and better people. Also, God knows our hearts and allows us to stay blessed with
business year after year. I pray that God will richly bless you and yours for blessing us with your continued business.
Ben's Hobby Computers
Zebulon
Since 1996, we have donated our time and a portion of our monthly income to the Feed The Children organization. Did you know that for as little as $8.00 per month, you can provide transportation of enough food to provide for one child for one
month? It’s true. Major food manufacturers and farmers across the country have already donated the food. Your $8.00
donation will pay to transport that food across the U.S. Please consider being a member of the Feed A Child Program for
only $8.00 per month. Since 1996, we have received appreciation certificates yearly from Feed the Children for providing a
total now of more than 52,000 meals for hungry children across the U.S. For more information how you can help, talk with
Ben or log on to this website: WWW.FEEDTHECHILDREN.ORG
Thank you and God bless you all.
Your friends in the Business Since 1996
This photo shows a few certificates we received in our first 2 years in business. We now have too many to display and appreciate over 300 recognitions for donating computers and helping those less fortunate in surrounding communities.
Lynn and I are always happy to make contributions to the community or to donate computers for area organizations. We have a
strong faith in God, and believe that helping others is our main purpose in life. We have personally been blessed over and over
again for helping others and try to make a major donation or giveaway every month or two. One donation in particular that we did was a complete computer system valued at a few hundred dollars. A group of concerned citizens raffled the system off and raised
thousands of dollars for a sick little boy and his family. This was a real blessing and we were all so amazed at the outcome! We
believe we have been placed into our own business to meet with and help people on an everyday basis. It looks like computers arehere to stay and there will be a need for the computers to be serviced and upgraded for years to come. Also, we feel there will
always be those out there who need some tutoring and training, and we want to be there to answer your call should the need arise.We have been blessed over the years and really appreciate our customers for their business and repeat business. If you are
satisfied with our services, please refer us to friends and family. There’s a lot of folks out there today in the computer business, andof course there is stiff competition with the big guys ads on TV and your local "Super" store, that continues to run the little guys out of business all across the country. In some ways, we can’t compete with them, But, in other ways, we are very competitive,
including customer service and "one-on-one" LOCAL, customer support. Plus, we know you by name and treat you like family. I think if you take a close look at us from all angles, ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, you will agree that we will, out of necessity and choice, make every effort to SAVE YOU
MONEY and satisfy you with our services and products, thus encouraging you to refer your friends and family to do business with us as well. We seek in you a repeat customer and friend, not a one time sale where you're forgotten the second you walk out the
door with no guarantees. Additionally, let me say this, we won't preach to you about the bible and our beliefs. However, if you need to hear some encouraging testimonies and examples of my faith and how I KNOW God is real, I would be happy to talk with you
for hours.
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED: