Four months ago, this guy brings in an HP Beats audio laptop to get fixed. He had dropped it and one of the hinges came undone. I initially estimated the repair cost at $80.00 and he did agree to that price, and while I thought it could be done in a couple of days, it wasn't until about after a week or so I started on it due to a repair job backlog. The repair turned out to be easier than I thought and I notified him that the repair would cost $40.00 instead and waited for him to come pick it up, which took about two weeks.
When he finally arrived, I passed it to him and took he it with one hand by the back instead of with two hands by the sides. We both hear a creak, but I assured him it didn't damage anything. I put it down, flipped up the screen and hit the power button and while it lit up it didn't POST (power on self-test) on the screen.
After checking that the memory and the hard drive were properly seated and removing the battery and holding the power button to fully discharge it failed to get it to POST, and even hooking it up to an external monitor yielded nothing, I came to the conclusion that the motherboard was dead.
He got upset and demanded to know how this could happen. His wife got in on the act, too. Their hyperactive son was also in my store, fooling around by the front door and almost knocking something over. I explained the repairs which I did, which involved opening only the display casing and not the laptop casing itself. I fixed the detached hinge with super glue and closed it back up after it had hardened. I charged the battery and confirmed that the laptop was working before putting on my shelf and waiting for them to retrieve it. I also explained to them (several times due to their obstinance) how some laptop brands like HP in general and some models in particular (like his) are known to have issues with their motherboards. I added that I had seen this problem in this and similar models before and that it's fairly common. He countered by saying that a friends of his had a similar laptop for 8 years without a problem, and I responded that it's not every model that has this problem.
There was a lot of arguing back and forth while I tried telling them that I would have a repair specialist examine it, and they seemed more interested in venting than they did in coming to a resolution. When they finally left, my techie took it apart and examined the motherboard. As I thought, it was dead.
The motherboard issue is reminiscent of the Red Ring of Death issue with the XBOX360 and the Yellow Light of Death issue with the Playstation 3. All caused by a design flaw and not by abuse or negligence, and can occur at any time without warning.
I initially wanted to charge them for repairing the hinge but they flat out refused and even had the audacity to ask that I pay them for a new laptop. They could have taken the issue up with the manufacturer and maybe talked them into getting a replacement, but not with a broken hinge. It was a moot point anyways, since when my tech opened the casing, the hinge came loose from the other end and I figured: Screw it. I'll just give it back to them in the same condition I received it and call it a day.
They sent me a registered letter which I didn't even bother opening. I called them up shortly thereafter and told them my final verdict. After it sitting here more few more weeks I called them again yesterday and left them a message to come get it.
They came this evening with a third person as a material witness (who wasn't there the first time they came) and as usual started arguing with me, asking for explanations already given, cussing me out, telling me they reported my business to City Hall over (alleged) fire safety violations due to the clutter (to which I responded that that problem could be solved if they's just take their laptop and get their fat asses out of my store) and even had the gall to joke about purposely tripping over my stuff and then suing me for damages.
Still insisting on adding insult to injury, she asked for her laptop charger. I recall that I usually don't ask customers to leave them with me since I have a universal charger (a good quality one that didn't damage her laptop, accusations notwithstanding). I was willing to consider that she, in spite of her attitude, was right about leaving me the charger and went looking for it before she admitted that it was a lie. f**king b***h. If anything this proves I'm honest and acting in good faith. She's the one playing games and refusing to listen to reason.
She says that she recorded the whole conversation, which she plans to playback in small claims court. We'll see what the judge thinks.
I myself, and any techies to whom I outsource repair jobs, are competent professionals who have done their homework, have years of experience in our respective fields and have a network of colleagues whose expertise we can draw upon. Nothing was done wrong on our end. I cannot take responsibility for latent defects in their laptop. First, its model is known to have issues (which they refused to investigaste on their own). Second, they dropped it and that could cause all kinds of complications that won't necessarily appear right away. It just had the inconvenience to happen while it was in my custody. I'll be sure to add that caveat, both verbally and in writing, on any subsequent repair jobs.
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Four months ago, this guy brings in an HP Beats audio laptop to get fixed. He had dropped it and one of the hinges came undone. I initially estimated the repair cost at $80.00 and he did agree to that price, and while I thought it could be done in a couple of days, it wasn't until about after a week or so I started on it due to a repair job backlog. The repair turned out to be easier than I thought and I notified him that the repair would cost $40.00 instead and waited for him to come pick it up, which took about two weeks.
When he finally arrived, I passed it to him and took he it with one hand by the back instead of with two hands by the sides. We both hear a creak, but I assured him it didn't damage anything. I put it down, flipped up the screen and hit the power button and while it lit up it didn't POST (power on self-test) on the screen.
After checking that the memory and the hard drive were properly seated and removing the battery and holding the power button to fully discharge it failed to get it to POST, and even hooking it up to an external monitor yielded nothing, I came to the conclusion that the motherboard was dead.
He got upset and demanded to know how this could happen. His wife got in on the act, too. Their hyperactive son was also in my store, fooling around by the front door and almost knocking something over. I explained the repairs which I did, which involved opening only the display casing and not the laptop casing itself. I fixed the detached hinge with super glue and closed it back up after it had hardened. I charged the battery and confirmed that the laptop was working before putting on my shelf and waiting for them to retrieve it. I also explained to them (several times due to their obstinance) how some laptop brands like HP in general and some models in particular (like his) are known to have issues with their motherboards. I added that I had seen this problem in this and similar models before and that it's fairly common. He countered by saying that a friends of his had a similar laptop for 8 years without a problem, and I responded that it's not every model that has this problem.
There was a lot of arguing back and forth while I tried telling them that I would have a repair specialist examine it, and they seemed more interested in venting than they did in coming to a resolution. When they finally left, my techie took it apart and examined the motherboard. As I thought, it was dead.
The motherboard issue is reminiscent of the Red Ring of Death issue with the XBOX360 and the Yellow Light of Death issue with the Playstation 3. All caused by a design flaw and not by abuse or negligence, and can occur at any time without warning.
I initially wanted to charge them for repairing the hinge but they flat out refused and even had the audacity to ask that I pay them for a new laptop. They could have taken the issue up with the manufacturer and maybe talked them into getting a replacement, but not with a broken hinge. It was a moot point anyways, since when my tech opened the casing, the hinge came loose from the other end and I figured: Screw it. I'll just give it back to them in the same condition I received it and call it a day.
They sent me a registered letter which I didn't even bother opening. I called them up shortly thereafter and told them my final verdict. After it sitting here more few more weeks I called them again yesterday and left them a message to come get it.
They came this evening with a third person as a material witness (who wasn't there the first time they came) and as usual started arguing with me, asking for explanations already given, cussing me out, telling me they reported my business to City Hall over (alleged) fire safety violations due to the clutter (to which I responded that that problem could be solved if they's just take their laptop and get their fat asses out of my store) and even had the gall to joke about purposely tripping over my stuff and then suing me for damages.
Still insisting on adding insult to injury, she asked for her laptop charger. I recall that I usually don't ask customers to leave them with me since I have a universal charger (a good quality one that didn't damage her laptop, accusations notwithstanding). I was willing to consider that she, in spite of her attitude, was right about leaving me the charger and went looking for it before she admitted that it was a lie. f**king b***h. If anything this proves I'm honest and acting in good faith. She's the one playing games and refusing to listen to reason.
She says that she recorded the whole conversation, which she plans to playback in small claims court. We'll see what the judge thinks.
I myself, and any techies to whom I outsource repair jobs, are competent professionals who have done their homework, have years of experience in our respective fields and have a network of colleagues whose expertise we can draw upon. Nothing was done wrong on our end. I cannot take responsibility for latent defects in their laptop. First, its model is known to have issues (which they refused to investigaste on their own). Second, they dropped it and that could cause all kinds of complications that won't necessarily appear right away. It just had the inconvenience to happen while it was in my custody. I'll be sure to add that caveat, both verbally and in writing, on any subsequent repair jobs.