Ripped off from repair shop

NathanBrown96

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UK
Hi Everyone,

For a while my laptop had been unable to turn itself on without being plugged into the mains due to a faulty battery. I took it to Currys for repair who sent it off to KnowHow and they replaced the battery for me as well as some other services.

For starters, they tried to force us to pay for the battery by telling us it was not under guarantee even though it was.
They listed my very good condition laptop as "damaged" because of a 1mmx1mm scratch on the lid. (Maybe to try and force me to pay for the battery by suggesting that I broke it?)
And finally, they wiped my hard drive of everything.

Is this the normal experience? Surely wiping an entire hard drive is not necessary to replace a battery. Note there were no problems with the software or any other part of the hardware than the battery.

I was informed that "some data may be lost" but not all of it. I'm no expert on this, but my father who has worked with computers all of his life even told me that I could have kept my data.

I didn't back my data up and that was my own fault, I accept that. The lost data is not the main issue, it's the fact that they did it unnecessarily.

Can I demand some sort of compensation here? This is utterly ridiculous.
 
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It is absolutely not necessary at all to wipe a laptops hard drive just to replace the battery. All replacing requires is for the laptop to be off and your replacement battery ready to be put in your laptop and you should be able to turn it on and away you go with it. You could put in a complaint and then go from there, They give you some sort of compensation..
 
You can use recovering software like recurva to get some of your files back. Remember to do backups from now on.

It really sounds like a bad shop. A failing battery IS a part of the warranty unless it's clear that the laptop has been physically damaged. Not just scratched. So they should replace it for free. Wiping the harddrive for no reason is also unacceptable. I know they do this without asking if there are reasons to, but for changing a battery... that's just pathetic.

You should definitely complain.
 
If you paid with plastic, file a credit/ debit card dispute with your bank on the grounds that the service provided was not as advertised. You will get your money back.
 
You can use recovering software like recurva to get some of your files back. Remember to do backups from now on.

It really sounds like a bad shop. A failing battery IS a part of the warranty unless it's clear that the laptop has been physically damaged. Not just scratched. So they should replace it for free. Wiping the harddrive for no reason is also unacceptable. I know they do this without asking if there are reasons to, but for changing a battery... that's just pathetic.

You should definitely complain.

It will also depend on the type of wiping software that was used, If they used DBAN then the OP will have no chance of recovering the data..
 
they wouldn't do that. A data shredder takes longer time to complete than a simple wipe.
They will have to be assholes if they just said... "lets completely erase all the data even though it takes more of our time"
 
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they wouldn't do that. A data shredder takes longer time to complete than a simple wipe.
They will have to be assholes if they just said... "lets completely erase all the data even though it takes more of our time"
You beat me to it LOL

@NathanBrown96: Yep, they probably just reinstalled the OS, as much of the software as they could, and all of your drivers so that they could charge you extra.
As BikerEcho said, Recuva should probably do the trick. It will take some time though, and a few of your files may have been corrupted byond repair, but it has a really good track record, at least for me. And it doesnt cost anything as long as your using it for home.
 
See, I really do not understand the point in ripping people off like that. I want to feel like I have done my best when a job is completed. That means that like many of you, a reinstall is a last resort for me.
I guess these people just want a quick buck huh?
 
For starters, they tried to force us to pay for the battery by telling us it was not under guarantee even though it was.
They listed my very good condition laptop as "damaged" because of a 1mmx1mm scratch on the lid. (Maybe to try and force me to pay for the battery by suggesting that I broke it?)
And finally, they wiped my hard drive of everything.
they should not have tried to make you pay for the battery.
they list the laptop as damaged because it IS, by your admission it's got a tiny scratch on the lid. this might seem stupid, but if they don't list all damage then when your laptop with it's tiny scratch on it comes back you could just say, -that wasn't there before.

Is this the normal experience? Surely wiping an entire hard drive is not necessary to replace a battery. Note there were no problems with the software or any other part of the hardware than the battery.
They may have, as a part of their diagnostics, run a test on the drive that suggested that it was predicted to fail, and replaced it then to save you the hassle of coming back.


I was informed that "some data may be lost" but not all of it. I'm no expert on this, but my father who has worked with computers all of his life even told me that I could have kept my data.

I didn't back my data up and that was my own fault, I accept that. The lost data is not the main issue, it's the fact that they did it unnecessarily.

Can I demand some sort of compensation here? This is utterly ridiculous.

probably not.

but to get a better idea... tell us more:

they replaced the battery for me as well as some other services.
like what? spyware removal, virus removal? changing settings?
there should be no need to wipe a hard drive to replace a battery, but what else were you asking them to do?

I was informed that "some data may be lost"
you want compensation for not making a backup after you were informed that your data may be lost?


it's unlikely that this would go anywhere...
 
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