Unfair Client

[Jay85]

Recently got a Toshiba Equiim to Repair, I reli hate toshibas but i took it in anyway, it needed a new cd drive so ordered one and installed it, then installed windows xp and everything worked fine ,took it back recieved payment and all was well for a few days, then I got a threatening email saying the computer doesnt work anymore and He wants compensation, Everything was working and i dropped it off and even demonstrated everything in working order before I left, What can I do in this situation and he also threatened to spread the word of my services or lack of expertise.

The comp was fully working as u need a drive to install XP from a disk, So what can I do, Please can anyone offer any insight into this in regards to the legalities, Has anyone else had a problem like this?

Cheers for all the feedback

Jason
www.athomepcservices.co.uk

 

[iptech]

Have you offered to look at the laptop to diagnose why it's not working? You need to identify what the real issue is here before you start trying to cop out on your responsibilities.

Why did you reinstall the OS if it was the CD ROM at fault?

P.S. Please don't use text speak, this is a forum intended for educated adults, we can cope with whole monosyllabic & multisyllabic words.

 

[Jay85]

Sorry I should have been more clear, The Laptop also had a blue screen on boot tried fixing the MBR but this did not work, So I removed the drive, backed up his important docs,pics etc and then formatted and reinstalled the OS which was XP, Hard Drive reported as healthy with Diskinfo...Everything was working and fully updated with XP SP3 took it back now its not working, the laptop seemed to be not looked after very well and I can tell it was damaged in other ways but the expense in repairing it would have been to great.

 

[iptech]

had a blue screen on boot tried fixing the MBR but this did not work

Guess why it didn't work? A computer will never blue screen if the MBR is screwed, a BSOD will only appear during the boot process, if the Master Boot Record is damaged it will not start to boot the operating system. Apart from taking a random stab at a fix, did you not consider that the Blue Screen was actually trying to tell you what the problem was?

You now need to take that computer back to either repair it or conclusively ascertain that the failure occurred after you handed the computer back and was not as a result of the work you had or hadn't done.

 

[Jay85]

I googled the Error Code and it came up with a memory dump problem so I thought it could be a faulty Ram stick,,,Put them in another laptop and worked fine, then i tested the HD Drive and that reported as fine to,

So I gave the machine back as new formatted and all his docs in a file on his desktop.

The comp was fully working...agreed mayb the problem was something else not the MBR but I didnt know what else it could have been, All hardware was working, nothing faulty, Could a Bios Update maybe have been a better option?

 

[MrUnknown]

I hope you told your client all these other damages and they specifically declined those repairs and opted for just the CDRom and OS reinstall.

Otherwise, you need to tell him you will look at the machine (for free) and *if* the new problems are related to the work you did, then you will repair it, for free. If, however, you get there and some other piece of hardware is failing or it is a problem you told them about and they refused the repair, then give them an estimate.

Ask you asked about legalities, legally you are only responsible for the work you did. Also, you should have a signed work order specifying that the work was done to their satisfaction and has been returned to them in working order. If not, then you need to get on it as that is your biggest help if it comes to legal problems as it specificaly says they agree that it was working when you gave it back to them.

Either way, unless this turns out to be related to the work you did, don't try to impress them. They are already unhappy with your work and they will have a negative view on your business. If it is related to the work you done, then you might be be able to turn this into a loyal customer and great free advertising by showing how you fully stand by your work. Even then, your abilities are still going to be questioned because you gave them back a computer that stopped working not long after you gave it back. Nevermind if it was or wasn't your fault, most clients will not understand this or honestly care. If you look at it from their end, you can understand if you apply it to something you don't really get or are good at ("All I know is after I took it there to have the brakes changed, it has been eating gas like crazy ever since").

Just a note on how you can turn it into a great customer, I replaced a power supply for a client of mine and it died 3 days out of the warranty I gave her for it (30 days). When I looked at the machine I know she didn't touch it (I put a ziptie on the case so they can't open it) and the PSU was completely dead with absolutely no signs of life. I replaced it for free as I know for a fact it was unrelated to her or anything she did, got the new PSU in the next day (yay newegg and living near their distribution center) and had her computer back to her within 24 hours in working condition. She alone has referred at least 10 clients to me, not bad for "losing" $45 (technically I broke even cause the labor to install the dead PSU paid for the new one).

 

[iptech]

I googled the Error Code and it came up with a memory dump problem so I thought it could be a faulty Ram stick

You don't understand what a 'memory dump' is. A memory dump, or more correctly a 'core dump' is a recorded log of the register status and memory buffers at the point of the crash, it is not an error message in itself although it will usually record a more specific error code & message, it is there to assist with diagnosis or bug tracking, it is rarely conclusive in itself.

I seriously think you should pass that system on to a suitably qualified and experienced technician, else you'll end up getting badly burnt by this one. You're way off the mark with you diagnostic skills and you really need a lot more experience and training before you try and operate yourself as a business.

 

[Jay85]

I have repaired hundreds of laptops in the past and on this particular one i couldnt pin point the exact cause of the PC not booting into its OS so I decided to reinstall XP fresh with SP3, it was working perfectly in my workshop and I did all relevant updates aswell as driver installing and antivirus etc... I think a Bios update would have been the best course of action as every component was reported as working, The laptop is like a 2006 model so a few years old...The Hd Drive had alot of bad sectors and errors so i did a Drive check with another comp and it seemed to be better than it was afterwards.

 

[Jay85]

But this is all besides the point, I gave the computer back in full working order with a new OS install so was basically clean. How does it stop working a few days later?

The XP Disk was the Clients and it was original?

I will definitley be asking clients to sign a work form from now on and there satisfaction of work done and I suggest everyone else do the same.

 

[iptech]

had a blue screen on boot tried fixing the MBR but this did not work

installed windows xp

I googled the Error Code and it came up with a memory dump problem so I thought it could be a faulty Ram stick

I think a Bios update would have been the best course of action

None of these make any sense in the context of the problems you reported this computer had (still has).

As I say, you need to work alongside an experienced technician so you can learn to correctly identify the problem rather than taking random stabs at fixes. I do not think you would not have had problems diagnosing this if you really had "repaired hundreds of laptops".

 

[iptech]

How does it stop working a few days later?

Probably because you haven't diagnosed the fault in the first instance, you just tried to work around the symptoms with a nuke'n'pave.

 

[Jay85]

The Comp Booted up, Went thru Bios Checks, Windows XP splash Screen Came up, then Blue Screen, (I cannot recall the error code exactly)
then looped and restarted over and over again.

I realise there are more experienced techs here and I respect that so may I ask what you would have diagnosed the problem as or the probable cause.

 

[iptech]

I googled the Error Code

The Comp Booted up, Went thru Bios Checks, Windows XP splash Screen Came up, then Blue Screen, (I cannot recall the error code exactly)
then looped and restarted over and over again.

I realise there are more experienced techs here and I respect that so may I ask what you would have diagnosed the problem as or the probable cause.

As I said earlier the Blue Screen (and consequent Memory Dump) would have given you a clue. Since you've chosen to nuke the whole system it is now impossible to diagnose if the original problem was software or hardware related as you've removed all the possible diagnostic traces. Most BSOD's are software - albeit malfunctioning legitimate software or viruses.

The problem you now have is that your customer has a non-working laptop for whatever reason, but he perceives it to be that you failed to repair it correctly in the first place. Because you do not know or understand what you did to fix it (I use the term 'fix' in context) you're not in a very good position to ascertain if this problem happened after you returned it to the customer or if it's the original problem re-manifested. Have you offered to take the laptop back to properly diagnose and repair it? If it's damage that the customer has caused then you are legally in the right to charge for a secondary repair, although it may make more sense on a commercial basis to forgo any further charges on this one.

I can understand where the customer is on this, but I cannot understand where you are, you're just randomly throwing things into the mix.

 

[Hercomputers]

Jay, no disrespect to you by any means but you really should offer to look at that customer's laptop free of charge. I say this because:

1. Right off the bat of your thread, you weren't specific on what was done, you talked about the CD-Rom, then after being asked, you then mentioned blue screen.

2. While I understand that you've worked on many laptops before, in your first post you said that you didn't like this particular laptop, I'm just wondering if your lack of familiarity with it besides some troubleshooting steps could have been the issue?

3. Again, please don't take this as a flame or disrespect but if I were you, I'd try and gain that customer's respect and confidence again and see what's going on with that particular laptop. Get another tech to help you if you need to.

Just my two cents-

 

[Jay85]

I mean no disrespect either, I realise Iptech has way more experience in this filed so humbly ask his oppinion, Maybe my handling of this problem was not great.


1. CD Drive needed to be replaced as the thing was hanging out and the inner tray was stripped right off.

2. Bios Reports Conflict Error Between CD Rom and PATA 1
Which I assume in a normal PC would be jumper problem or misconfiguration
of the IDE cables.

3. Win XP Splash Screen comes on for a few moments.

4. Blue Screen System Error ( Cannot recall code )

5. Also after installing the new drive in the side, the CD Rom Automatically popped out (ejected) every time the PC was restarted
Continuous Loop after 15 seconds

 

[Onouris]

The Hd Drive had alot of bad sectors and errors so i did a Drive check with another comp and it seemed to be better than it was afterwards.

Are you saying the hard drive passed hardware diagnostic, failed with bad sectors that you tried to repair, or failed altogether... because this may be your point of failure if I'm reading it right...

 

[TLE]

As I said in your introduction..

The more information you can provide the more accurate the responses will be.

By stating that the original problem was in fact a BSOD you have thrown a whole new twist on the problem.

The Comp Booted up, Went thru Bios Checks, Windows XP splash Screen Came up, then Blue Screen, (I cannot recall the error code exactly)
then looped and restarted over and over again.

You need to start documenting your findings as they occur, so that you can return to your notes later. Everything I find goes on worksheet, this includes error codes, and any work done to resolve the issues. Your statement above also suggests that you didn't stop the PC from rebooting when a BSOD occurs. This would make it near impossible to correctly get the full error code.

If you don't mind me asking Jay, how old are you? You don't have to answer if you don't want too.

As the others have stated, you either need to fix this for free, or offer to take it to another technician and pay for the repair and chalk this one up to experience.

On another note, there is no shame in saying to a customer "I don't know how to fix this as it's beyond my capabilities". They will respect you far more for being honest. Bryce wrote an article on this and I think you should certainly read it. http://www.technibble.com/dont-be-afraid-to-turn-down-computer-technician-work/

 

[Jay85]

Im 25 , I have never come accross such a stubborn system, everything I tried it just would not co operate, So as a final resort I decided to back up everything and Format the drive, I really am leaning towards the bios and perhaps that needed to be updated, why was it reporting an error between the CD and HD Drive? there are no jumper settings on a laptop and the drive was securely socketed in. and it was an identical part so no chance of incompatibility.

Yes I put the drive in another comp as a slave and did some disk checks and reported as fixed, this took around an hour.

 

[Bryce W]

The problem you now have is that your customer has a non-working laptop for whatever reason, but he perceives it to be that you failed to repair it correctly in the first place. Because you do not know or understand what you did to fix it (I use the term 'fix' in context) you're not in a very good position to ascertain if this problem happened after you returned it to the customer or if it's the original problem re-manifested. Have you offered to take the laptop back to properly diagnose and repair it? If it's damage that the customer has caused then you are legally in the right to charge for a secondary repair, although it may make more sense on a commercial basis to forgo any further charges on this one.

I can understand where the customer is on this, but I cannot understand where you are, you're just randomly throwing things into the mix.

I second this. I have had issues appear after a repair a few times.

I typically say something like:
"Oh really? Its doing that? Thats no good. Bring it back and I will take a look at it. If it was related to the work I did then I'll fix it again for free as I stand by my work. If its a completely new and separate problem, it will be treated as such"

If it was an incorrect diagnosis on my part, I wont charge for the time. If a part is needed then I charge for that since it would have needed replacing anyway if I correctly diagnosed it the first time.

 

[Jay85]

I guess honesty is the best policy and maybe I should tell this client I will have a second look at no charge,,,it was working otherwise i wouldnt have delivered it back of course...You also will always find clients trying to get something for free which is the other danger of this buisness so you never know wheter its really your work at fault or not, Another reccomendation I have is put a small sticker on all parts you replace...If it comes back and you see the parts you put in are removed and not yours you know its been tampered with. You really need to cover your ass in this buisness dont you.