Laptop repair store dumped my laptop

Pompey Magnus

Last October I handed in a laptop for repairs to a local repair store (it had fallen on the floor and wasn't powering on). The following week they phoned back to say that a replacement part would need to be ordered and the repair would cost €120 and I agreed to this.

After about 2 weeks I went back to the store, the laptop was completely disassembled, I was told there was corrosion present and would require more work. I was in contact with the store roughly once every 2 weeks between then and Christmas (it was always me either phoning or visiting, they never contacted). About a week before Christmas I went to the store and they could not find the laptop, I asked the staff member to phone me if he found it, on the 23rd he rang back to say another staff member had taken it home to repair it and it wouldn't be available until the new year.

So I returned a couple of weeks into January, again they weren't able to find the laptop, I was told that the corrosion was very bad and they were unable to repair it. I went back about a week later to see if it had been found so I could take it home, it was then that I was told that it had been thrown out at some stage (they wouldn't tell me when). All I was given back was the hard disk.

When I asked the manager why it was thrown out without my permission I was told that they only run a small store and can't keep unclaimed items indefinitely. I told him that I was either into the store or phoned approximately once every 2 weeks and that I never received any call requesting me to collect it, all he said was "I'm sure we were in touch", I then asked him to check his phone bill and to find when they rang my number but he wasn't willing to do that. I know for a fact that between October and January I only ever received two calls from their store, one to agree the price and the second saying a staff member had taken the laptop at home.

Am I right in thinking the store has no right to discard of a customer's property without seeking permission first or at least making a reasonable effort to seek that permission? If so what kind of comeback do I have against the store?

sawdoubters

small claims court


http://www.courts.ie/Courts.ie/library3.nsf/pagecurrent/781D7D5227918A618025715C004CAEF3?opendocument&l=en&p=110

Kaizersoze81

Totally unacceptable of them to dump it:

foggy_lad

They took it apart then most likely made up some nonsense about corrosion before just dumping it in the bin, I'd be thinking they used the parts to fix other laptops and are hoping they can tell you that it was worthless and you will be happy with your hard drive back! Does the HDD even work? Did you pay them any money yet??

Legally they must replace what they took from you which was a laptop which wouldn't turn on but otherwise worked fine. Get a good working laptop off them or take a case in thesmall claims court!

Another crowd of cowboys that think they can fix laptops because they did aN ECDL course in the tech.

Pompey Magnus

foggy_lad wrote: »

Legally they must replace what they took from you which was a laptop which wouldn't turn on but otherwise worked fine. Get a good working laptop off them or take a case in thesmall claims court!

Would they be entitled to give me some other laptop they might happen to have in the back of the store which won't turn on as a replacement?

When I agreed the price it was with the understanding that our contract was for the replacement of one component, there was no mention of corrosion damage at this stage, this work was begun without informing me and I was surprised when they said they were doing it as it had been working fine before falling. At the very least am I entitled to get back a laptop of similar specs which only requires the replacement of this one component in order to work?

rovoagho

They sound like a bunch of muppets.

If it was me, I wouldn't engage with them in person or on the phone any more, I'd send a registered letter explaining that if you don't receive a /working/ equivalent within a week - one that you'd be taking to another shop for evaluation - that you'll be filing in the small claims court for compensation. I'd be specific about this, they'll probably know they'll lose in the SCC, whereas they might be sceptical about a generic "legal action" threat, as people rarely follow through on them at this scale.

You should find a way of backing up your call history too, and anything else relevant. And write down as much as you remember about it immediately.

cintec

They probably took it apart and couldn't put it back together so they made up a bunch of excuses.

€120 is expensive did they say what part was required that would cost 120, unless it was a high end laptop most people wouldn't put that into a second hand laptop as it would be better to put the money off a new laptop with a warranty.

do you know what spec your machine was because they may try to pawn you off with some cheap piece of crap as a replacement.
As mentioned you should threaten them with the Scc but follow through if they don't replace the laptop.

donegal.

if the op goes to a solicitor for help with the small claims court and wins the case, would the repair shop have to pay for the solicitor ?

Pompey Magnus

cintec wrote: »

€120 is expensive did they say what part was required that would cost 120,

No they never mentioned what part they needed unfortunately.

do you know what spec your machine was because they may try to pawn you off with some cheap piece of crap as a replacement.

It was a Dell XPS M1330, I have the specs at home alright. Never had any trouble with it before it was dropped so I reckoned it was worth repairing.

L1011

donegal. wrote: »

if the op goes to a solicitor for help with the small claims court and wins the case, would the repair shop have to pay for the solicitor ?

No.

Pompey Magnus

Just out of interest, if there was such significant corrosion damage present so that all the components were deemed irreparable, how obvious would that corrosion be to a qualified repair technician when the machine was first inspected?

They had the laptop for the best part of a week before contacting me to agree a price and at that stage there was no mention of corrosion damage. Is their story plausible that this significant problem was present but not noticed until later on?

foggy_lad

The corrosion story was probably a delaying tactic when they realised they had thrown out or used your laptop for parts or maybe it was fixed and given to someone else?

cintec

Pompey Magnus wrote: »

No they never mentioned what part they needed unfortunately.

Pompey Magnus wrote: »

Just out of interest, if there was such significant corrosion damage present so that all the components were deemed irreparable, how obvious would that corrosion be to a qualified repair technician when the machine was first inspected?

They should have told you what part needed to be replaced if they had to order parts and give you a price then they would have to know what was faulty.

The laptop was dropped but up to then was working fine then I don't know how corrosion could have been a problem unless there was liquid damage I would assume this was a lie from them.

Axwell

The main thing here is they threw out your laptop without your permission. Even if it was damaged its not their property and they should have returned it and said they couldn't repair it. At least then you could get a second opinion. We are talking about a period of weeks here not months, they are a small setup. I doubt they have that many laptops waiting to be fixed that they don't have room for a few sitting around waiting to be collected. As it is you just have a hard drive that may or may not even work anymore depending on what they did and the have destroyed your property without cause.

On the corrosion damage - have you ever spilt anything on it? Its not reason to throw it out and to be honest sounds like an attempt to get even more money out of you or just a delaying tactic. Even if there was corrosion damage they should have repaired it or returned it and said they couldn't fix it. That model of laptop is a good few years old so I dont think the parts would be of much use to them to use on other machines so its more than likely a case of they fried the motherboard on it trying to fix it, if they were going to throw it out because it wasn't collected why did they even keep the hard drive?

rovoagho

donegal. wrote: »

if the op goes to a solicitor for help with the small claims court and wins the case, would the repair shop have to pay for the solicitor ?

Contrary to MYOB's answer, it's depends on how the action is brought, and the judge.

I wouldn't go near a solicitor with this though, the M1330 was deprecated years ago, and while it was quite expensive when it was being produced, it's not worth more than a few hundred quid these days. This is why I recommended Small Claims.

Pompey Magnus

Bit of an update:

When I was told the laptop was dumped I asked specifically if they still had the HDD, the manager said they would have kept it but that it was very badly corroded and I probably wouldn't be able to recover anything off it, I gave him the description anyway and he emailed back the next day to tell me they had it in the store. I came in later that day and he had it with my name clearly marked but again repeated that there wasn't much chance recovering data, showing me a few small spots on the casing that may have been due to corrosion.

Today I got around to getting a HDD enclosure, just so I could check. The good news is that it works perfectly fine, the bad news is that it isn't my HDD! They have tried to fob me off with some other guy's hard disk (I found his phone number after a quick look through his personal folder so I probably should let him know...). Bad enough that they have obviously lost all my data which I had on it, but to treat me like an idiot in the process has just put the cherry on the cake.

Time to write them a little letter I think...

TheDriver

sounds like a data protection issue also?? I wouldn't like my laptop being given to someone else, or even the hdd

Corkgirl210

Hi,

Corruption is usually on the HDD? i.e. data corruption? So why would they give you the corrupt part back and dump the good part? Sounds to me like they made matters worse and are hiding the fact and pawning you off with garbage thinking you would fall for their lies? Regardless of what spec it is, they have no right whatsever to dump anything.. you have a win/win case there. Go to small claims as suggested..

They would have done a scandisk or chkdsk or whatever initially and found bad sectors showing corruption and should have advised you there and then.. not keep the thing for months?? The fact that you have someone elses HDD, you have a bigger issue that shows complete unprofessionalism...

zarquon

It really sounds like they botched up the repair job and are making excuses. Small claims is the way to go. Make sure you have everything in writing from them as these cowboys sound like they will change their story once it gets to court. At least you have someone else's hard drive and they cannot argue against that.

Nino Brown

I had a similar experience with a laptop repair shop in Maynooth before, they wouldn't return the laptop, kept saying they were waiting for a part to arrive, I went in one day and demanded they return it, they said they didn't have all the parts together, but they would get it together and drop it to my house that night. Of course they didn't, so I went in the next day and to my surprise they had the laptop there assembled and all. A few weeks later the keyboard fell off, they'd stuck it on with silicon sealant!
What can you do with a place like that, if you complain, they'll offer to fix it, which means handing the laptop back to them which isn't going to happen.
I think a lot of these places are just chancers, ordering the parts from ebay and fixing it following videos on youtube. I can do that myself, last time I bring my laptop anywhere to have it fixed.

Pompey Magnus

I have written up a letter to send on to them, outlining each step of the process. My closing paragraph is:

"I am writing to you to request a replacement laptop with equivalent specifications as that which I handed in to your store which I will be having independently checked for evaluation. As it was not just the laptop itself you have failed to return to me but also the data stored on it I feel it reasonable to expect that the replacement should fully work in order to compensate for this added loss. If you do not agree to meet this expectation by the 11/02/14 then I will proceed to file a claim in the Small Claims Court in order to resolve the dispute."


Does that sound reasonable?

dilallio

Make sure you register the letter.

foggy_lad

You should also inform the data protection crowd about being given someone else's hard drive and there is every chance that someone else has yours.

coillcam

Pompey Magnus wrote: »

Last October I handed in a laptop for repairs to a local repair store (it had fallen on the floor and wasn't powering on). The following week they phoned back to say that a replacement part would need to be ordered and the repair would cost €120 and I agreed to this.

After about 2 weeks I went back to the store, the laptop was completely disassembled, I was told there was corrosion present and would require more work. I was in contact with the store roughly once every 2 weeks between then and Christmas (it was always me either phoning or visiting, they never contacted). About a week before Christmas I went to the store and they could not find the laptop, I asked the staff member to phone me if he found it, on the 23rd he rang back to say another staff member had taken it home to repair it and it wouldn't be available until the new year.

So I returned a couple of weeks into January, again they weren't able to find the laptop, I was told that the corrosion was very bad and they were unable to repair it. I went back about a week later to see if it had been found so I could take it home, it was then that I was told that it had been thrown out at some stage (they wouldn't tell me when). All I was given back was the hard disk.

When I asked the manager why it was thrown out without my permission I was told that they only run a small store and can't keep unclaimed items indefinitely. I told him that I was either into the store or phoned approximately once every 2 weeks and that I never received any call requesting me to collect it, all he said was "I'm sure we were in touch", I then asked him to check his phone bill and to find when they rang my number but he wasn't willing to do that. I know for a fact that between October and January I only ever received two calls from their store, one to agree the price and the second saying a staff member had taken the laptop at home.

Am I right in thinking the store has no right to discard of a customer's property without seeking permission first or at least making a reasonable effort to seek that permission? If so what kind of comeback do I have against the store?

Firstly what was the part that was required to fix your laptop from the initial assessment?

Secondly if they had assessed the laptop properly, it would have to be completely disassembled. There is no way possible that "significant" corrosion would have been missed unless Stevie Wonder has picked up an A+ cert and given them a digout.

Furthermore your laptop should never have been brought off site without your permission unless you had agreed in principle initially by signing a waiver for example. There are possible insurance implications here for the shop by letting your laptop out of the shop.

If you purchased the laptop from Dell, look for the receipt(s). Hopefully you can find the original spec or the service tag. With the tag you can find the make, model and size of your hdd. It might help the shop locate your drive at least. Also the shop should have recorded the tag when you dropped it in. Every store should do this. The serial or service tag must recorded. Failing to do so is a display of incompetence.

Finally my advice is to go to small claims court. Yes your laptop can be replaced just like any other device, however your data cannot, also they have wasted enough of your time. They have dicked you around long enough at this stage. Even just having the letter from SCC arrive should be a rocket up the arse and they will cop on.

What do I think happened? I feel it could be a couple of possibilities.: An employee dropped or accidentally damaged the laptop further. Another idea would be that it was mistakenly dumped/scrapped with obsolete or non-repairable items. Either way they have had ample chances to fix the problem. If this had happened in my store, a member of staff would be receiving disciplinary action pending investigation of the circumstances. Compensation would have been offered, most likely a laptop of similar quality/value along with a free repair in future or voucher as a gesture of good will.

No Pants

Pompey Magnus wrote: »

it isn't my HDD! They have tried to fob me off with some other guy's hard disk (I found his phone number after a quick look through his personal folder so I probably should let him know...).

Call the disk owner and let him know how you got it. Do not give it back to him. Better to have two pissed off customers bothering the store than just one.

TerrorFirmer

You definitely should go back to the store once more and state that not only will you go to the small claims court, but you will also be going to the data commissioner as you were given another individuals hard drive.

Pompey Magnus

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

You definitely should go back to the store once more and state that not only will you go to the small claims court, but you will also be going to the data commissioner as you were given another individuals hard drive.

I sent off a registered letter today demanding a fully working replacement laptop with equivalent specs as the one they lost. I also told them that I expect them to purchase the hard drive enclosure off me as it was only bought due to their untrue claim that the disk I was getting was my own, as I now have no further use for the enclosure and I can't return it I don't want to be out of pocket. I have told them they have 5 working days to reply before I lodge a claim in the small claims court.

I haven't looked into the data commissioner yet, would it be my place to make the complaint or the original owner of the hard drive as it was his personal data that was given to a third party? Or can I make a complaint just on the fact that they have lost my data?

foggy_lad

Pompey Magnus wrote: »

I haven't looked into the data commissioner yet, would it be my place to make the complaint or the original owner of the hard drive as it was his personal data that was given to a third party? Or can I make a complaint just on the fact that they have lost my data?

Both, You don't know that they have not given your drive to someone else and they have an obligation to look after the data of all their customers.

dirtyden

Pompey Magnus wrote: »

I sent off a registered letter today demanding a fully working replacement laptop with equivalent specs as the one they lost. I also told them that I expect them to purchase the hard drive enclosure off me as it was only bought due to their untrue claim that the disk I was getting was my own, as I now have no further use for the enclosure and I can't return it I don't want to be out of pocket. I have told them they have 5 working days to reply before I lodge a claim in the small claims court.

I haven't looked into the data commissioner yet, would it be my place to make the complaint or the original owner of the hard drive as it was his personal data that was given to a third party? Or can I make a complaint just on the fact that they have lost my data?

Hopefully they sort it out. Even the original corrosion excuse sounds like BS, it is unlikely your laptop will suffer from corrosion unless for some reason it got sopping wet. Sounds like chancers who took it part hoping it was something simple but could not resolve the issue. Id get on to the data commissioner yourself as well, they have lost your data and have been lax in the control of someone else's. That other person appears to have got lucky that you have got his drive rather than someone less honest.

Best of luck and keep us updated.

Similar happened me with a tv years ago, but to be fair they replaced after a few weeks of fobbing me off with excuses, they finally admitted they dropped it on the workshop floor.

Pompey Magnus

I received a long text reply to my letter tonight, the highlights include:

"we don't and never do crap jobs"

"You know was your fault as well!"

"that laptop was a write off. same as the hdd you have...i am sure our electronics engineer can testify about the state"

"you know you've been contacted or messages left.phone records will tell if the case may be."

and

"Best we can do is give you a same spec or better laptop for same price you've been quoted for the repair".


So basically their best offer is for me to pay them €120 for one of their laptops. Looks like there isn't much point negotiating further so small claims court it will have to be...

No Pants

Pompey Magnus wrote: »

"You know was your fault as well!"

Did they elaborate on this any further?

Pompey Magnus wrote: »

"that laptop was a write off. same as the hdd you have...i am sure our electronics engineer can testify about the state"

Great. He can submit a report to the SCC. You keep that HDD you have.

Pompey Magnus wrote: »

"you know you've been contacted or messages left.phone records will tell if the case may be."

Great. They can bring those along to the SCC.

Pompey Magnus wrote: »

"Best we can do is give you a same spec or better laptop for same price you've been quoted for the repair".

SCC all the way. Don't hand that disk back and don't delete any emails, texts or phone calls.

Pompey Magnus

No Pants wrote: »

Did they elaborate on this any further?

No more elaboration, I take it he is suggesting that they contacted me and I refused to collect, not sure though.

Great. They can bring those along to the SCC.

My only concern is that there was one call from their store to me on the 23rd of December, I had been in a few days earlier and they couldn't find the laptop, I requested they look further and phone me back, the staff member phoned on the 23rd to tell me that another employee had taken it home with him and it wouldn't be available until some time in January.

Could they show the record of that call and claim that this was when I was contacted?

No Pants

Pompey Magnus wrote: »

Could they show the record of that call and claim that this was when I was contacted?

Sure, but I doubt that one call would justify them dumping it, especially if there had been communication before and since.

angeldelight

Pompey Magnus wrote: »

No more elaboration, I take it he is suggesting that they contacted me and I refused to collect, not sure though.



My only concern is that there was one call from their store to me on the 23rd of December, I had been in a few days earlier and they couldn't find the laptop, I requested they look further and phone me back, the staff member phoned on the 23rd to tell me that another employee had taken it home with him and it wouldn't be available until some time in January.

Could they show the record of that call and claim that this was when I was contacted?

Yes they can claim that but one phone call would not be sufficient for them to have dumped your property and the judge will see straight through that

hearny

If there was corrosion as stated something would have had to have spilled on it, It was clearly a stalling tactic as I've never seen a laptop with corrosion damage without a spillage.

They would need evidence to back up their claim of the corrosion etc.

The one phone call would not be enough to justify throwing the machine out and if you have been phoning them since your records will highlight this.

See if you can find an ebay shop for them, some repair places sell parts online from dead systems, see if any parts from your model number laptop show up in their items / feedback. Not going to prove anything but may cast some doubt.

zenno

What I would do normally is open up the laptop and inspect it for such things as corrosion/spillage of such things as coffee/tea or wine and beer stickiness within the keyboard and mobo. Then I would contact the owner and tell them the case so they understand the procedure that needs to be done.

I find it completely unprofessional that any small or large business would do what was mentioned in the OP's original post. They also dumped the customers laptop only giving back the hard-drive ? that's just astounding. All I can tell you is... tell your friends and the people you know to steer clear of that business, it should not be allowed function, as it is mickey-mouse workmanship.

Unfortunately there are a few of these dodgy repair shops all over the Island. Just make other folk aware of this.

Bloody amateurs.

zenno

Pompey Magnus wrote: »

I received a long text reply to my letter tonight, the highlights include:

"we don't and never do crap jobs"

"You know was your fault as well!"

"that laptop was a write off. same as the hdd you have...i am sure our electronics engineer can testify about the state"

"you know you've been contacted or messages left.phone records will tell if the case may be."

and

"Best we can do is give you a same spec or better laptop for same price you've been quoted for the repair".


So basically their best offer is for me to pay them €120 for one of their laptops. Looks like there isn't much point negotiating further so small claims court it will have to be...

To the small claims court immediately. What drivel. I have never heard of such incompetence as to this before. Even the reply they sent you is below approach.

Don't let this one slide, deal with them in the small claims court. Once they receive the summons they will be quick to offer you a replacement system, but do refuse this under the grounds that they are either 'with-holding' your private Data on hard-disk or have given it to a different person. As you know, everything of your personal information is on that disk, serious stuff. This could turn out very bad indeed for that business, that's a data breach of a customers private information.

there was one call from their store to me on the 23rd to tell me that another employee had taken it home with him

Who's to say this person didn't copy all of the data on your HDD when he brought it home with him, or even looked through it. The job has to be done in-shop, computers should never leave the shop to be given to any employee to take home, that's just crazy.

OP, you need to get your hands on that HDD either way, go into them and demand it be returned immediately, and then have a summons sent to them from the small claims court. You will win hands down, and it will be a kick in the cpu to them to get their business act together, or be shut down.

Small Claims Court: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/courts_system/small_claims_court.html

metroburgers

Can I come to court? :pac:

Cabaal

I got to say I'd be very deeply concerned about where my data is at this stage, also I'd be contacting the owner of the data on the harddrive and advising him of whats happened and explain he should be going to the data protection commissioner also.

Serious lack of looking after customer's data by this company,

RangeR

Just to add to a few comments. You cannot bring a solicitor into the SCC. Neither can the company. Both of you can, of course, approach a solicitor for legal advice but only you and the company will be attending the SCC. That's if the Company fights the SCC Clerks correspondence first.

Pompey Magnus

RangeR wrote: »

Just to add to a few comments. You cannot bring a solicitor into the SCC. Neither can the company. Both of you can, of course, approach a solicitor for legal advice but only you and the company will be attending the SCC. That's if the Company fights the SCC Clerks correspondence first.

According to the citizensinformation website:

"Under Irish Law should there be court proceedings a business has to be legally represented."

www.citizensinformation.ie/en/justice/courts_system/small_claims_court.html

Roughly how long does the process take between filing the complaint and a Court appearance?

Pompey Magnus

I'm making out my claim now for the small claims court, seems that it has to be a monetary claim, I can't simply request a replacement laptop of similar specs, is that right? How would be the best way of valuing the laptop? A quick look on ebay has the same model going for €250 - €350, would that be a legitimate method of putting a value on the claim?

rovoagho

Yes, just make sure you bring screenshots to support your claim. And make sure you add any costs you incurred. I'm not sure if the SCC allows the cost of your time, but if it does I'd certainly be adding that to the claim. The guy's trying to screw you, screw him right back.

Well done for persisting by the way. Most people in Ireland are happy to bitch about things in the pub, but not to actually follow through and take people to task. If more people did what you're doing, we'd be a lot better off. Herd immunity to incompetents abd scam artists.

Best of luck with it.

Jaggy

Just to answer a few questions about the SCC. I had a case with Meteor from the end of 2012 to the start of 2013. It took four months to the day from the day I lodged the claim to the day I received a cheque in the post.

I was advised by the SCC that I couldn't add any fees for personal expense. I tried to add the €25 small claims fee to the overall cost but was told that this can't be done any more. They used to advise people to do it but that it was being clamped down on now.

The process may have taken longer for me as Meteor never actually replied or responded to any of my claims so I got a ruling by default. There is an amount of days to wait for a ruling by default so like I said, this may have drawn out the process.

If this crowd reply and challenge the claim it may speed up the process but then it comes down to when you can actually set a date in court. Another thing I was told is that it's not actually in a court room, it's a fairly low key affair with you, the company and a judge in one room.

I didn't actually have to go to a court sitting as Meteor didn't respond but after lodging my claim I did have to go to the district court, place my hand on a bible and swear that all the info i'd given was to the best of my knowledge true. This was also very informal and done in some guys office by his desk. (Cork)

As someone else pointed out, there's no need for solicitors, that's the whole idea of the small claims court, to circumvent the need for one. Of course you can go for legal advise but this will incur further cost.

Best of luck!

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Just for clarity, and this was discussed here recently, you may end up in court if it is disputed. There is an initial informal meeting with both parties and the Court Clerk who acts as registrar - he is not a judge. If agreement is not reached then it goes to the judge and is in a public court.

Allyall

My sisters neighbour has just finished going through a similar issue.

After it had gone on for three weeks and the Shop owner became very rude and a small bit aggressive, He proceeded to take further action.

It was on it's way to the small claims court, and they offered him a refurbished laptop of 'similar specs' and he declined.

Then he requested the photographic evidence of the damage to the components that they had claimed to be damaged.
They took 3 days to give him them, which was too long, given that they should have had them ready and itemised.
They had no pictures of the outside of his laptop, only close up oh a mainboard. So he took numbers from the board and cables he could see, and they matched a different laptop/they didn't match his.
He told them the pictures were from a different laptop. That he still had his receipt from Harvey Norman and serial number could be traced (Not sure if that is true).
Without Pictures they would have had to pay up, and a little extra.

In the end they offered him a brand new, lower end laptop, which cost them probably a maximum of €250.

He took that.

I wouldn't have.

Make sure they have pictures both close up, and from a distance, itemised, with the problems highlighted.

Without them, they have nothing (Obviously, along with the hard drive, they're fecked anyway).

Pompey Magnus

Another update:

They texted today to say "We'll have the laptop ready for you on Wednesday morning".

What a complete mess this is becoming. Is there any way for me to confirm that what they give me actually is the laptop I handed in instead of just a load of bits and pieces they have had lying around or do I just have to take their word for it?

Jaggy

Pompey Magnus wrote: »

Another update:

They texted today to say "We'll have the laptop ready for you on Wednesday morning".

What a complete mess this is becoming. Is there any way for me to confirm that what they give me actually is the laptop I handed in instead of just a load of bits and pieces they have had lying around or do I just have to take their word for it?

Bollocks to that, if they admitted to getting rid of it, how are they going to magic all the components back together?

Unless you have serial numbers for everything there probably isn't a way to verify it.

RangeR

Pompey Magnus wrote: »

Another update:

They texted today to say "We'll have the laptop ready for you on Wednesday morning".

What a complete mess this is becoming. Is there any way for me to confirm that what they give me actually is the laptop I handed in instead of just a load of bits and pieces they have had lying around or do I just have to take their word for it?

Regardless, I'd want to boot it up then and there, in front of them and make sure all is ok.

Boot up -> Wait 60 seconds after hitting desktop -> ANY messages or errors pop up?
Control Panel -> System -> Devices -> There should be no errors or warnings.
Windows Explorer -> My Documents -> Are they yours? Although they will probably have re-installed Windows.
Attempt a Windows Update -> Does Windows complain that your copy of Windows is not Genuine?
Did you have Office or other expensive software installed? Is it still there?


Be under no illusions, these guys are cowboys and just want to get rid of you in the quickest, cheapest amount of time. The minute you leave the shop with "your laptop", they will not deal with you anymore. Be 1000% sure.

Pompey Magnus

RangeR wrote: »

Regardless, I'd want to boot it up then and there, in front of them and make sure all is ok.

Boot up -> Wait 60 seconds after hitting desktop -> ANY messages or errors pop up?
Control Panel -> System -> Devices -> There should be no errors or warnings.
Windows Explorer -> My Documents -> Are they yours? Although they will probably have re-installed Windows.
Attempt a Windows Update -> Does Windows complain that your copy of Windows is not Genuine?
Did you have Office or other expensive software installed? Is it still there?


Be under no illusions, these guys are cowboys and just want to get rid of you in the quickest, cheapest amount of time. The minute you leave the shop with "your laptop", they will not deal with you anymore. Be 1000% sure.

They didn't say in the text but I'm pretty sure given their form in this that they will say the corrosion was too bad and it was an obvious write off (despite apparently missing this little problem in the first inspection). So I should only accept it if it works?

RangeR

Pompey Magnus wrote: »

They didn't say in the text but I'm pretty sure given their form in this that they will say the corrosion was too bad and it was an obvious write off (despite apparently missing this little problem in the first inspection). So I should only accept it if it works?

Not going to advise you, either way. Go with your gut. If it was me and there was the slightest bit of doubt... I dunno. They are offering a replacement [or the original]. How will the SCC look on you refusing that if it gets that far? It's a hard one to call.

And how is it your laptop if they claimed that they dumped it?

You've had your laptop a good while. You get to know little visual blemishes. Check to see if this has any? Maybe they aren't giving you back your old unit. Maybe they are giving you a "similar" unit.