Irepair Shops, England?

[MattA777]

Not sure if these stores are Scotland only?
Anyway, I took my ailing 2017 iMac to a branch of these stores and asked for a repair which was software only and I enquired about a hardware upgrade.
A day or so later, I was given a quote for a new Solid Stae Drive (SSD) £250 which I thought was slightly excessive as it was a small 250GB drive. I rejected that and asked for a RAM upgrade- Day later I was told that couldn’t be done as the RAM is integrated- (Iwas given a quote of £120) which thought was ok)
I was and I’m still unconvinced that the RAM ‘cannot be upgraded’....I think they just couldn’t be bothered. Any thoughts?

[Buenchico]

If your 2017 iMac is the 21.5" model, rather than the 27" one, the store appears to be correct. Apple's website states that the RAM is not removable by users and can only be upgraded by an Apple store or authorised service provider:
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201191

[MattA777]

Thank you Buenchico- I did enquire beforehand if they are an ‘authorised’ dealer- they stated “not” but I went ahead anyway- AND was quoted £120 for a ram upgrade after having left the iMac with them. So how can they have a figure for a job they can’t do?
Anyway, hoping to collect it next week when the snow has cleared a bit. I will probably sell it now as I don’t have the patience for it anymore. Had we not been in lockdown, I would have used the Apple Store which would cost an arm & a leg...

[Buenchico]

Even £120 sounds pricey to me. I upgraded the RAM on my netbook for sixteen quid.

[Sunk]

Just watched how to change change the memory in your iMac, and it is not easy. I would take it to a Apple store rather than an unauthorised repair shop. Apple are still doing repairs.

What exactly is the software repair? Is it not doable yourself. How much RAM is currently installed?

[MattA777]

Only got 8gb ram. Mac OS “Big Sur” was the last system until it crashed. - I tried 3 or 4 restore from Time Machine- all failed and I lost my network connection also, which necessitated a shop repair.
Hoping to collect my iMac tomorrow....Feel like switching to Windows as opposed to the pricey M1 chip models...