A coworker's 5 minute fix made me look at old laptops different

Watched this guy at the shop last Friday take a 2012 Dell that would not boot and just bend one pin on the RAM stick with a pair of pliers. Took him less time than I spend finding my screwdriver. I used to tell people to just buy a new board whenever older RAM acted up. He said the contacts just get worn down and need a bit of pressure, not a whole replacement. Since then I've tried it on two dead machines and both fired right up. That's $80 in parts saved just for paying attention to how someone else handles a stubborn stick. Anyone else got a dumb simple trick they learned from watching a coworker or friend that makes the expensive fixes feel like a scam?