Left Behind equipment,How to legally get rid of it

[MnAllstarsTech]

Hi Guys and Gals,

Its been about 2 Years now that i have taken over as the main Tech / Shop manager at my current job here in south Florida.I have a bunch of computers that have been in the shop from customers that never got picked up.The previous manager or the owner never got to setup any rules / policy as what to do with this equipment. I wanted to know legally how can i get rid of these computers that are taking so much space in my shop some for over 2 yrs now.

Previous manager didn't collect customers address or emails (which i am now implementing we at least try to get their emails) so we cant send a certified letter saying they need to pick up the equipment.There has been a few times that people come in looking for their computers that been sitting here for more than a year,Some understand that its been too long and that the previous shop manager/tech is no longer with the company and i have no clue as of what could have happen to their equipment , others still expect to get their stuff back but never call again or come back to follow up on it.

Is there any way i can cover myself and the shop from any customer coming in looking for their equipment if we decide to get rid of it.

Is it enough to just put in a disclaimer in our shop policy that is printed in the back of every drop off form saying we can sell or dispose of their equipment after x amount of days if its not picked up.

 

[Kitten Kong]

The best thing to do in this scenario, is to have a word with a local attorney in your area. Or you may have some form of business advisory service. Even your accountant may know the answer.

I know what we can do and are allowed to do in the UK, but that would be totally different to your state.

Also what may be legal in one state, may not be in another.

 

[Markverhyden]

The best thing to do in this scenario, is to have a word with a local attorney in your area. Or you may have some form of business advisory service. Even your accountant may know the answer.

I know what we can do and are allowed to do in the UK, but that would be totally different to your state.

Also what may be legal in one state, may not be in another.

^^^ What Nige said. These types of things can have some very local quirks. Also check with your underwriter as they may be able to provide some guidance.

 

[drpcfix]

Just keep in mind, anything you ask a lawyer - they'll give you a very lawyer answer.

A lot of times just because a lawyer says "you need to do this" - there are still many options with little to no risk. Your job is to figure that stuff out..

In MY shop, which I'm not advising anyone to do necessarily, we would leave monthly emails/voicemails - and after some ridiculous amount of time - like a year - we would send a few more "last chance" emails or voicemails - depending on which contact method we had.

If another few weeks went by, we'd save the hard drive in a filing cabinet with their ticket # and name on it, and scrap the machine/recycle it.

In our later years all our disclaimers said we would do this, but even in the early years that we didn't say it - people understand. They might be upset, maybe a couple were, but when you say we have your hard drive that will cheer them up.

Some gray areas here for sure. I like to go by - the "reasonable law" - what is reasonable, should be law.

 

[CTL]

Our waiver says after 30 days its ours. However we would keep for well over a year. Once the economy tanked, the amount of computers not picked up increased greatly. Also lots of disconnected numbers and returned mail when we tried to call or send letter. The funny thing is that customers would come in a year later and say "I dropped of a computer here a few weeks ago".

Note: Charging a diagnostic fee virtually eliminated this issue for us. Who cares if your getting 50 drop offs a month by offering free diagnostic, if they aren't being picked up your not getting paid.

 

[wickedmojoit]

It varies state to state as to how long you are responsible to hold. Another resource in finding out what best practices are in your state, would be to call your states small business association, your states attorney generals office or if you have a score counselor, they might have/be able to get the info for you.

@drpcfix, I love the idea of pulling the drive and saving them. Never thought of that to be honest, but I will defiantly start doing this.

I think that leave behinds and free diagnosis depends on the areas you serve. I do free diagnosis and still only have 1 or 2 a year that are not picked up.

 

[Alan Apperson]

I have a lot of drop offs that are never picked up, never really thought about it but offering free diagnostics is probably adding to this. We usually keep them about a year before we recycle. Usually pull the drive and save it but an image is a much better idea.

 

[glennd]

Usually pull the drive and save it but an image is a much better idea.

I would have thought that would be an added expense.

 

[SeanA]

I have clearly posted in my shop and on my website TOS that anything over left over 30 days accrues a $25 storage fee and anything over 90 days gets recycled. Even then we remove the drive and store it in a box of unclaimed drives.

I had an issue where someone left a laptop for 14 months and showed up asking for it. Luckily I had stashed it away and was able to find it. I learned that in my state and county the laws are undefined about how long we must keep it. So I figure worst case scenario I give them an old worthless laptop and still have their data if the HD is functional.

 

[Cobol]

I have left a computer for over 30 days in Tampa once. The shop took 3 weeks to fix it (a bad motherboard I bought from them) and by then I was on a job out of town. I called and was told it would be fine. Got back in on day 40 and had a bill but no pc. Last time I ever let someone else touch my computer.

 

[fencepost]

I have left a computer for over 30 days in Tampa once. The shop took 3 weeks to fix it (a bad motherboard I bought from them) and by then I was on a job out of town. I called and was told it would be fine. Got back in on day 40 and had a bill but no pc. Last time I ever let someone else touch my computer.

Day 40 after they finished actually doing the repair or day 40 after you dropped it off (day 20 after the repair)? If it was day 20 after the repair I'd be raising holy hell with them - heck, if they'd just spent a week longer they could have repaired it, billed you, then turned around and "disposed" of it and its brand new motherboard. Getting in front of a judge (if things went that far) and noting that their stated policies would allow repair, billing, and recycling/parting-out within a 3 day period might go a long way towards a victory.

 

[Cobol]

It was day 40 from drop off. First 3 weeks was waiting for them to get a new motherboard in. From what they told the police, the computer was gone on day 31 from drop off. Yes it said in their paperwork 30 day max for them to hold. But I called to make sure, plus they counted time it was waiting on parts!
What I signed in writing trumped what they said over the phone.

Day 40 after they finished actually doing the repair or day 40 after you dropped it off (day 20 after the repair)? If it was day 20 after the repair I'd be raising holy hell with them - heck, if they'd just spent a week longer they could have repaired it, billed you, then turned around and "disposed" of it and its brand new motherboard. Getting in front of a judge (if things went that far) and noting that their stated policies would allow repair, billing, and recycling/parting-out within a 3 day period might go a long way towards a victory.

 

[fencepost]

Guess the only thing to do at that point is make sure their online reviews make their policies clear.

 

[MobileTechie]

30 days doesn't seem all that long when you consider people can go on holiday for more than a couple of weeks at a time.

 

[drpcfix]

Usually pull the drive and save it but an image is a much better idea.

Yeah.. sounds nice, but you are spending money on the image storage space. (NAS running?) And if they are irate, it would be tougher for you to get their data back to them. (Not immediate) And.. If the drive needed recovery, you wouldn't want to spend that - but we had one that did after a couple years get sent off to 300ddr..

I couldn't figure out how to make images make sense.

We did have a filing cabinet for ram/drives, and a section of 1 drawer is all we used on this.

 

[Cobol]

I would look up the proper way your state says to do. Florida is this.http://www.bizfilings.com/toolkit/s...roperty/florida-unclaimed-property-rules.aspx