Next Step?

[ostell]

Local PC repairer was asked to replace a HDD with a new one as the original ( < 2years old) had died. The "New" replacement failed within a few days and after taking out the "new" disk found it had a manufacturing date of 2007 on it. Refund of money now received.

This shop has a habit of doing things like this. Also installs pirate versions of Windows and other software.

I had a business until 5 years ago maintaining PC's but retired and still take on the occasional job on recommendations. This particular shop is well known for scamming customers, I've been involved several times picking up the pieces after he has been involved.

Any one got any suggestions about who to report him to so that I can get him put out of business?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Next Step?

Local PC repairer was asked to replace a HDD with a new one as the original ( < 2years old) had died. The "New" replacement failed within a few days and after taking out the "new" disk found it had a manufacturing date of 2007 on it. Refund of money now received.

This shop has a habit of doing things like this. Also installs pirate versions of Windows and other software.

I had a business until 5 years ago maintaining PC's but retired and still take on the occasional job on recommendations. This particular shop is well known for scamming customers, I've been involved several times picking up the pieces after he has been involved.

Any one got any suggestions about who to report him to so that I can get him put out of business?

Trading Standards comes to mind, although I'm not sure they'd go as far as closing him down. See this for reporting process: http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/..._standards.htm

[vanman]

Re: Next Step?

sorry but there is Two things I need to ask.

:ranger:


1. I had a business until 5 years ago maintaining PC's

It only takes 10mins to change an HD so why did you take it to that shop.

2. This particular shop is well known for scamming customers, I've been involved several times picking up the pieces after he has been involved.

So why did you take it to the that shop.

[des8]

Re: Next Step?

sorry but there is Two things I need to ask.

:ranger:


1. I had a business until 5 years ago maintaining PC's

It only takes 10mins to change an HD so why did you take it to that shop.

2. This particular shop is well known for scamming customers, I've been involved several times picking up the pieces after he has been involved.

So why did you take it to the that shop.

I suspect the answer will be a third party was the innocent and this is one of Ostell's "occasional jobs" :doggieyes:

[ostell]

Re: Next Step?

You're correct Des8. One incident a few years ago was that he had supplied a second hand PC to replace one that had died. He also said that he would copy data from the dead machine onto the replacement. It turned out that the data was not copied and a lot of the components of the replacement did not work. There was also the matter of someone else's personal data left on the PC. The computer supplied was about 6 years old. Got my customer's money back AND a brand new Dell computer for her that was considerably less expensive than what she had paid this scammer

[vanman]

Re: Next Step?

I suspect the answer will be a third party was the innocent and this is one of Ostell's "occasional jobs" :doggieyes:

:marchmellow:
Ah, thanks for the clarification

[ComputerGuru]

Re: Next Step?

If you have proof of your statement regarding pirated software then report it to MS or FAST and they will do the deed!

You could scour the internet for websites commenting about their service and add appropriate comments. Yell.com reviews etc. This is very effective at preventing others falling victim...

Oh and your original HD may still be under warranty. Check with the manufacturer and they will swap it out without cost or shipping a dodgy one!

Good Luck.

[Crazy council]

Re: Next Step?

Use linux....... and report them to MS for the pirated software.... they are fast usually... they did a shop near me a few years ago... Seriously though, a large amount of perceived computer problems are down to MS software or viruses.. i had a 14 year old pc running our cctv, its on 24/7 for the over 7 years. Also, your hd should not be dead within 2 years. HDDs sound like pinball machines inside when they are gone properly

There was also the matter of someone else's personal data left on the PC. The computer supplied was about 6 years old

Only way to avoid this is to destroy the HD.. tes*&%sk and pho&*%$ec, if tuned properly, can recover personal data from any hdd, sdd or usb, even after its been properly formatted... tested 2 weeks ago with a hdd and phone purchased from CES.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Next Step?

Use linux....... and report them to MS for the pirated software.... they are fast usually... they did a shop near me a few years ago... Seriously though, a large amount of perceived computer problems are down to MS software or viruses.. i had a 14 year old pc running our cctv, its on 24/7 for the over 7 years. Also, your hd should not be dead within 2 years. HDDs sound like pinball machines inside when they are gone properly

I agree, they shouldn't, and I've got some 7 year old externals still alive and kicking. However, my previous laptop's HD died after just a year and 10 months or so, it didn't even reach its second birthday.

Sadly, it came with only a year's warranty.

Bought a new one earlier this year from John Lewis because they offer a two year warranty and the old(er) one would still have been under warranty if it had been two years.

In case anyone's wondering, it was a SAMSUNG.

[ComputerGuru]

Re: Next Step?

To expand on the what I mentioned in passing earlier in the thread, you probably realise but others might not that the HD has a separate manufacturers warranty which can be claimed on as well as your claim under normal sale of goods against the shop or computer manufacturer. To find out you need the details on the label of the HD itself. The serial number and model details can be checked on a lot of manufacturers web sites and you then get the benefit of the warranty given to the original PC manufacturer. For example, we had a CCTV drive fail recently and the manufacturers of that insisted on shipping the whole system back for repair with 7 day turn around. Instead we swapped the failed drive and sent it back to WD which cost us post one way but kept the whole CCTV system working! Worth knowing!

[ostell]

Re: Next Step?

Thanks for the responses guys. I was originally contacted after the hard drive had been changed. The PC was over the one year warranty by weeks. If I had known about it at that time I would been to PC World shouting sales of goods etc. I've got the original drive at the moment to try and recover data off it (it's not fully defective) when I find time.

Yet again another rip off. A friend of one of my regular customer thought she would do her a favour and took her old laptop to this shop to do a part exchange for a better one. My customer didn't want to bother me as she knows I've retired (or trying to!) and is currently suffering the effects of chemotherapy. Cost was £160 for a laptop that was 6 years old, had a defective battery and the case held together with Duck tape at the hinge.

Another trip in to the shop to get money back and retrieve original. Strange that the original laptop no longer worked, defective hard drive, despite him being able to extract the data. Couldn't prove anything so didn't take it further.

However, the end result is this lady now has a brand new Dell laptop that suits her requirements for an additional £30.

How I hate Windows 8 !!!

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Next Step?

Thanks for the responses guys. I was originally contacted after the hard drive had been changed. The PC was over the one year warranty by weeks. If I had known about it at that time I would been to PC World shouting sales of goods etc. I've got the original drive at the moment to try and recover data off it (it's not fully defective) when I find time.

My previous laptop, also from PC World, lived just under two years. The battery just a year and a half, I could only use the machine as a desktop, as soon as it wasn't plugged in it would turn off like a PC. Was quoted £90 for a new battery so just as well I didn't bother replacing it. :ohwell:

My new(ish) laptop I bought from John Lewis because they come with two years as standard and my previous one would still have been under warranty when it died.

Yet again another rip off. A friend of one of my regular customer thought she would do her a favour and took her old laptop to this shop to do a part exchange for a better one. My customer didn't want to bother me as she knows I've retired (or trying to!) and is currently suffering the effects of chemotherapy. Cost was £160 for a laptop that was 6 years old, had a defective battery and the case held together with Duck tape at the hinge.

:scared: :scared: :scared:

This reminds me of a young guy I used to work with at the time of the dot.con bubble. He bought some cheap PCs at an auction, they were in working order but had no CD drives and by then everyone expected a machine with an optical drive, so he bought some cheap ones and stuck them with Cellotape to hold them in place. :scared: He then re-sold them for a fat profit. :wof: I did some web work for clients of his who went bust or didn't pay him, but technically HE should have paid me as I did the deal with HIM. He had no money and lots of debt so no point suing his company which he'd just liquidate (he did in the end).

I had a PC I was going to replace with a new one. He offered to buy it from me for £300 (it was just 2 years old and this happened in 2001). When I got my new one, it was sitting right next to the old one in my office room, just waiting for me to get around to transplanting the HD with all the data to the new one. I was in the living room watching TV when there was a loud bang and it all went dark. I went to the computer room and it was full of smoke and bits floating around. The old PC blew up and tripped the switch! I was told I could just replace the power supply so I bought on for £13 but I couldn't pull out the power connection off the motherboard without doing some serious damage to the MB because the plastic appeared to have kind of melted and it was almost welded. I was told to buy some connectors from an electrical shop and cut through the cables, replace the PSU and then use the electrical connectors to link the new PSU cables to the cables left over from the old one, still attached to the MB. It was a real spaghetti junction inside and I never thought it would work, I put it all back together, pressed the ON switch, voila! Windows started! :grin: :grin: :grin:

The guy who had sold the PCs with optical drives held by bits of tape inside got a PC full of connectors inside and I got £300 from him.

Another trip in to the shop to get money back and retrieve original. Strange that the original laptop no longer worked, defective hard drive, despite him being able to extract the data. Couldn't prove anything so didn't take it further.

However, the end result is this lady now has a brand new Dell laptop that suits her requirements for an additional £30.

How I hate Windows 8 !!!

I takes some getting used to but you can just use it much the same as the previous versions by using the desktop and programs in the conventional way. I tend not to use the 'apps' that much, all those online services are available via a conventional web browser where you can check the weather, watch YT videos, sell on eBay, shop on Amazon, etc. you don't need an app to do that! :nerd: :nerd: :nerd:

[ComputerGuru]

Re: Next Step?

How I hate Windows 8 !!!

To be fair the newer version 8.1 is streets ahead of 8.0. I guess they will get it right eventually!

[ostell]

Re: Next Step?

To be fair the newer version 8.1 is streets ahead of 8.0. I guess they will get it right eventually!

I think that's called Windows 10, but I still wouldn't bet on it being correct.

[ComputerGuru]

Re: Next Step?

I think that's called Windows 10, but I still wouldn't bet on it being correct.

I think functionality is considered an optional extra by MS.