Just wondering where I stand on this.
I took my desktop in to a repair shop due to a malfunctioning HDD. Not once did the shop ever phone me when they said they would, so after a week I went in to find out what was going on. They said they were waiting for a part so they could diagnose the problem and would call me. They never did.
I then go to work for 2 weeks, offshore, so cannot be contacted. During this time they've left a couple of messages on my answerphone to the effect that they couldn't fix my PC. The last of these also said that because I'd not been in to collect, they've disposed of it due to it taking up space.
I have a couple of issues with this.
1) It's a desktop. The space it [s]takes[/s] took up is negligable,
2) Not once when I left the PC there was any mention made of their policy of disposal,
3) They never once contacted me when they said they would, and when I went into the shop just said they were trying what they could with no warning of the impending doom awaiting my PC.
So, do I go and picket outside and ruin their business for a day?
Wee in their letterbox?
Bombers?
[url= http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/claims/index.htm ]This.[/url]
... and a wee in some shoes.
Seems a tad over the top to just bin it! Was it old??
Small claims, but I'd be tempted to seek further advice.
No advice to this one (although I do have a big black book so we really do need to start revenge killings soon). However, you should know to take it to Kendo - he'd sort you out as part of our monthly rate.
We have 3 bikes sitting around now for over 3 months. We are entitled to bin them but haven't. Guys won't pick them up.
However, it's a little different - this takes up much of our space.
trouble is that a non-working, unrepariable pc has very little actual value so what would you be claiming for?
without the pc to prove it was repairable by someone else it's your word against theirs.
I'd certainly go in there and kick up a fuss and write to them with an outline of what happened and why you're angry but I think any financial redress you might get is likely to be fairly small (and maybe below the small claims threshold)
What part could they be waiting for so the could diagnose the problem.?
Buy a copy of micro mart, order some bits and build your own and leave the pc repair shops alone for good.
And then wee in his letter box.
Not really after any financial redress, I'm just a bit peeved. I'm pretty sure I could have scavenged bits to make a working PC.
From speaking to them, the "part" they were waiting for was a fresh install CD for Ubuntu. Goodness knows why a PC repair shop wouldn't be able to download the .iso and burn a new one? I think I'll be giving them a wide berth in the future.
That's shocking! I'd be mighty upset if they'd done that to me. It doesn't sound as if they'd made great efforts to contact you before chucking away your property. Even if you're working abroad for a while, doesn't your phone get voicemail? did they have your home number to leave a message with family? Did they have your address to write to? I'd exhaust all those possibilities before binning anything belonging to a customer and leave it much much longer before disposing of it. A second opinion from another repair shop would have been on my list before choosing to write it off.
The Flying Ox - Member
<snip> I'm pretty sure I could have scavenged bits to make a working PC
That's probably what they've done....
flyingfox....these bikes you're about to bin, are they nice and can i have one? 
trouble is that a non-working, unrepariable pc has very little actual value so what would you be claiming for?
But if it was just a failing HDD then the OP could have picked up a new one and had a fully working PC again.
Either that or they've found your stash of unusual porn and it was all a ruse to cover up the impending police investigation.... 😀
GrahamS - but if it were just that why couldn't they fix it by replacement? It does sound a bit odd if it were just the HDD.
I'd be willing to bet it's not been binned at all. More like repaired and sold on.....
Don't you have the right to have 'broken' goods returned to you and if they can't return them you can claim against them? (This is often used in the motor trade).
What is their policy on disposing of non-collected goods?
Yeah, I'm a natural cynic too - I reckon they have "miss-filed" it. Or one of the staff sold it to his mate. Binned it, my bottom.
Shops never chuck out stuff if they can return it to customer, they get charged for rubbish collection you know.
GrahamS - but if it were just that why couldn't they fix it by replacement? It does sound a bit odd if it were just the HDD.
Yeah but even if it was more catastrophic you could still replace the motherboard, power supply or CPU as required. Modularity is pretty much the whole point of desktop PCs. Throwing the whole lot out because one bit failed is daft.
My money is also on the "they cannibalised it for parts" theory. I'd be speaking to their manager/owner and the Citizen's Advice.
Amazing.
Let's not beat about the bush. The shop has stolen your PC. I'd be demanding it back or a replacement.
If as you say it was taken in for a hard disk fault, that's hardly "beyond repair," it's not like it's an obscure part. And what "diagnostic parts" would a *computer shop* be waiting for? Unless you took it to Greggs the Bakers by accident, I'd suggest that they're a bunch of crooks.
"Financial redress" my appendages. Go get 'em.
What is their policy on disposing of non-collected goods?
Moreover, what's the legality of it? I'm strugging to find anything concrete on Google. Is it one of these wooly English Law "reasonable amount of time" clauses?
Did you lose any data?
I'd be livid about this.
The shop has stolen your PC.
Unless their terms (that he signed when he handed it over and/or were displayed clearly in the shop) say they will bin stuff within a set timeframe if not collected.
But I would say <2 weeks is ridiculous as anyone could reasonably be expected to be away (on holiday etc) for that length of time.
And if it was me I would be kicking up a fuss now just out of pure bloody-mindedness.
Did you lose any data?
You'll be hard pressed to find any repair centre that takes responsibility for data - it's your duty to take backups. A lot of places will reload the HDD as a matter of prodedure to prevent people coming back saying it's 'not fixed' when they've got a load of software errors.
without the pc to prove it was repairable by someone else it's your word against theirs.
I'd argue that whether or not it was repairable or not is irrelevant. In the unlikely event that it wasn't actually fixable, it's still the OP's property. As others have said, PCs are modular, the unaffected components could still be used in other machines.
Incidentally,
By "malfuctioning HDD" do you mean the actual base unit (the desktop itself)?
What was actually wrong with it?
I'd have gone up the wall too. 2 weeks is not long enough to assume abandonment, and a PC is not one item it's a series of bits most of which were probably working perfectly. And if they have binned it they have also binned all your data, backed up or not.
They said they were waiting for a part so they could diagnose the problem and would call me.
This is absolute crap. You don't diagnose PC problems like that imo. They need a 'part' for your PC to tell you what's wrong? PC parts are almost all standard, they are not like cars. Classic fobbing off.
I'd take them to the cleaners. Why the f shoudl you be forced to buy a whole new PC for the sake of a HD? They are taking you for a ride and should be made to pay.
However, if I were going away for 2 weeks I'd make sure I could get my phone messages 🙂
There was no policy re: discarding old stuff in the shop. Noone mentioned it to me either.
As far as answerphone messages go, I'm stuck 80 miles offshore and there isn't any reception - ridiculous in this day and age, I know. I just have to wait until I get back home.
Internet access? Mail? Surely some kind of alternative contact you could have arranged? Any shop that wasn't a bunch of crooks would have been sympathetic I suspect.
molgrips - Member
However, if I were going away for 2 weeks I'd make sure I could get my phone messages
If I am going away (on holiday) for 2 weeks, I make damn sure I [i]can't[/i] get any messages! 😆
I think its wrong what they have doen... but if you know you are not contactable for 2 weeks, before you go away you contact the shop and ask how its going and that you will be away for 2 weeks ?
time for a name and shame i think.
unless you are going to call the polis, which is what i'd do.
I think this is essentially illegal see here the bit about keeping uncollected goods [url= http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/consumer-issues/buying-and-selling/unsolicited-items ]clicky[/url].
Sue their hides in the small claims court. - Although I would be sure to get some form of acknowledgement or proof that they had it in the first place..
If I am going away (on holiday) for 2 weeks, I make damn sure I can't get any messages!
Depends who is going to leave you messages. Tbh I don't even mind work calling me on holiday since I'm on holiday I'm generally relaxed and happy to help 🙂
The "unclaimed goods" law above refers specifically to situations where people send you stuff and then demand payment, I think. It's illegal for someone to (say) post you a new phone without you asking for it, with the proviso that "if you want to keep it, you must pay us xyz within 30 days" - in that situation you're under no obligation to pay for it or send it back to them.
cougar doh I linked the wrong link (I was posting on two threads at the same time). This is the correct link [url= http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_world/consumer_affairs/keeping_lost_found_and_uncollected_goods.htm ]clickage[/url]
it basically says they have a duty of care to keep your stuff.
Good spot.
"If you trace the original owner, you must send two written notices to the owner before you sell the goods."
They have his contact details so I'd hazard that counts as 'traced'.
"If the owner of the goods owes you money, the period between the second notice and the sale of the goods must be at least three months."
Not two weeks, then.
I strongly suspect that if you go back in threatening legal action, they might mysteriously find your PC again.
I think even given the fact that you are offshore you can rest on your laurels and sue the twunts when you get back.
Of course it may be that your hard drive is now in the possession of the police and they have been asked to fob you off while they log all your donkey porn. 🙂
donkey porn
Hey! That ain't illegal. Immoral, maybe, but not illegal.
😆
Theft. Plain and simple. Call the police. Meanwhile a variation on this might be in order:
http://www.27bslash6.com/function4sports.html
closactionchris, I am a 27bslash6 fan, very funny.