Faulty laptop..costing me more to return hard drive?

lab-dab

I hope i've put this in the right place and i'm sorry if not but i was looking for some advice from anyone who knows a thing or two about technology and where if stand if things go wrong?

I bought a laptop in dec 06, a compaq and basically it stopped working about 4 wks ago..I went back to the store where purchased who told me to ring the telephone support and it is now in for repair.

Stupid I know but i hadnt backed up my data for a few months (and seriously regret this now) but i was told this is my fault and i admit and agree that i have to pay to get this recovered.

I paid a standard £30 instore for them to recover it and it didnt work as I was told the hard drive and motherboard have gone at it could cost me up to £700 to get recovered professionally in an anti-static room :eek: (a few companies have since told me it wont cost this much)

anyway, I'm trying to keep this short..

I was advised to send it to the repair team and ask for my hardrive back for recovery.. all done... then 2wks or so in to repair i ring for an update and am NOW told its going to cost me an extra £100+ for me to get my broken hard drive back as it is then their property if they find its broken and repair laptop/replace laptop..

I know the data recovery is my fault, i am prepared to pay for this when i can afford it as it has all my sons birth photos etc on but then to be told i have to pay again to get a broken piece of equipment back is just beyond belief.

I have been on the phone for over 2.5hrs tonight to various customer service trying to sort it and have been told someone will ring me tomorrow.

Is this right/fair? I'm not sure what my rights are other than they said if it goes beyond the 28days repair i might get a new laptop 'but cant have both!' (i.e my broken hard drive back and a fixed/new laptop)...but should i then have to pay more for something which they have sold to me and is now possibly beyond repair..

any help appreciated.

FallingDownMan

I suspect this is PC World (or one of the Dixons Group stores).

I don't understand fully how it works, but it was standard that inside 12 months the customer had to pay to get the hard disk back if it went. It is some arrangment with the manufacturer from what I understand. They don't get paid for in-warranty repairs if they don't send the drive back or something like that.

Personally, I was always totally against it and it was no fun trying to explain to customers that they had to pay.

Your main concern at the moment has to be to get them to hold the hard disk for you untiul this is sorted. I can promise you that if it isn't broken they'll use it to repair someone else's machine, and if it is they'll bin it or return it to the manufacturer and you'll lose track of it.

Trying to be a little fair to the seller - something some people on here will find hard to accept - it isn't their choice to do this from what I understand. It is broken, after all, and I don't remember them charging for broken drives which were covered by extended warranty (i.e. nothing to do with the manufacturer). They used to send them back as standard in poly bags, because some people would phone up asking what they were supposed to do with it!

Your best hope in all this is to deal directly with them, and find out who else you need to deal with to try and get the thing returned to you. The last thing you need right now is opinions about how bad the seller is.

Keep hard at it and you're likely to get some joy.

albertross_2

ask them to send you the repaired laptop with your original hard disk in it. It is your property. Even if the HD was dead, it would be cheaper to buy yourself a new one, than pay £100.

http://www.ebuyer.com/cat/Hard-Drives/subcat/2.5%22-Laptop-SATA-Drives

motherboards and hard disks don't die at the same time, unless you got hit by lightning.

lab-dab

Thanks for the info and it is indeed one of those stores and it has a bad reputation unfortunately.

I'm just shocked that at under a 12mth period my laptop is so badly broken and that i then have to pay to get a broken hard drive back (hopefully the date is recoverable) when it is the manufacturer/stores fault in the beginning..

I was told in one phone conversation that it will be discarded if dont pay the fee! so dont know why they are charging for something that will be going in a bin?? I feel like i am being held at ransom when they know i really want the photographs that are on there but i have already paid for my laptop, then may have to pay a fortune to get the info off and then another £100+

I am a bit bothered now i've thought about it incase because i've made a bit of a fuss they will either:

* 'lose my hardrive' as they couldn't guarantee it will be in the same condition until i pay the fee...even while i am going through the channels of trying to complain or find out my rights.

* or that if i pay/they say i dont have to i will then lose the right at 28 days to get a new laptop instead of a repaired one as i think they'll fix it within the 6 days left even though at this point it hasnt been touched yet.

They told me if they give me new hardrive/motherboard they are only under guarantee for 90days or remaining warranty period whichever is longer.

p.s, i know the hardrive and board is broken as the diagnostic instore said this when they tried to do basic recovery.

thanks for you help will keep on at it tomorrow.

albertross_2

I wouldn't rely on a PC World technicians diagnosis.

What were the symptoms?

The laptop manufacturer will probably send the drive back to the manufacturer, and get a small refund or replacement, but much less than £100.

lab-dab

albertross wrote: »

motherboards and hard disks don't die at the same time, unless you got hit by lightning.

No lightning it was the person at the shop who tried to recover data who has wrote on the diagnostic sheet that both the hard drive wouldnt boot and the moetherboard may have gone because it wouldnt stay powered on...but this is stuff that goes over my head ( i get a bit of it ) ... so not sure myself.

It was working then just switching off, then coming on then it went to the main boot screen and was basically doing a loop when offering me to open in safe mode.. then it just stopped coming on.

albertross_2

If it was offering you the option of safe mode, then the hard disk was definitely not dead, and the data probably recoverable, probably easily without spending 100's, or anything like it. PC World should have stuck it in a usb disk caddy (costing a few quid), and got your data off.

http://pctradeshop.com/code/ui/main/product.aspx?catid=8&subcatid=0

Ask here first next time.

The manufacturer should be able to fix the laptop, and return the original hard disk.

lab-dab

ts_aly2000 wrote: »

DO NOT TRUST PC WORLD or any of their associated henchmen to recover data from a failed HDD. It is a very specialist task.

£200 is a safe figure to throw about for such a service. You could to some extent do this yourself by buying an identical model from eBay, although this may not even work due to different firmware revisions.

Just put it down to experience. Go out and buy a £50 2.5" HDD from a local computer shop tomorrow and swap them over. You'll need to go into the BIOS to update it with the drive, and then redeploy your O/S from your disks.

Thank you for the info but it is totally over my head :rotfl: but i will ask about that at a local computer shop who have offered to look at HDD when it comes back..if it does I was told from PC world that i'd need someone in an anti static room and it would cost up to £700 which is mad!

albertross - it was doing this loop then just never turned on but they did diagnostics after this and put it on the instore computer/machine and quoted to me that both these had gone.

It would be great if they hadnt and they tell me i can have it back repaired or whatever is wrong with it but i have no outcome yet as they havent started it, with 6 days to go till the end of the 28 day period..

If they get to the end of this period where do i stand if the HDD hasnt gone but they offer me a new one?

lab-dab

Sorry didnt see some of your post until i typed my last one.

When you say they should fix the laptop what else could it be that is wrong with it? If they replace HD and return original they have said they wont do it unless i pay over £100.. if HD hasnt gone then the data should still be there - is that possible?

I wish i did ask here first now and I'll speak to them tomorrow now and hope they can get it sorted asap.

thanks for your help and link

albertross_2

They can give you a new one, with the old hard disk in, or they can just fix the motherboard/cpu fault that was causing the original problem.

You need to tell them that you want the hard disk back as it is, without being formatted or reinstalled, whatever happens. It may be too late, but you need to stress this, and if possible speak to the engineer doing the job asap.

Motherboards and disks just don't fail at the same time, unless the system has a had a major power surge somehow.

But at the point you entered the shop, the motherboard wasn't dead, and the disk was offering safe mode, which means the disk is spinning and readable. If after that it wouldn't switch on at all, then that would mean that both the motherboard and disk spontaneously died together, which is highly unlikely.

lab-dab

albertross wrote: »

They can give you a new one, with the old hard disk in.

You need to tell them that you want the hard disk back as it is, without being formatted or reinstalled, whatever happens. It may be too late, but you need to stress this, and if possible speak to the engineer doing the job asap.

Motherboards and disks just don't fail at the same time, unless the system has a had a major power surge somehow.

But at the point you entered the shop, it was offering safe mode, which means the disk is spinning and readable. If after that it wouldn't switch on at all, then that would mean that both the motherboard and disk spontaneously died together, which is highly unlikely.

That makes me feel loads better, thank you hopefully the person in the shop had given me the wrong info in the beginning and anything now is a bonus i guess.

Thanks to everyone for responding.

I'll go and sleep better tonight now