Are PC/Laptop repair guys allowed to do this?

[nightwalkerxD]

Around 10-14 days ago I sent my laptop off for repair due to the charger and battery not working ('plugged in, not charging'). They said it's probably just a battery issue so I thought okay fine, that won't take long. They estimated it at 10 days at first which is what they always say so I let them take it and started tracking it from home. 5-6 days into the repair it was updated to 14 days with no information on why they'd done it.

Cutting to the chase, I got my laptop back today with everything completely wiped and reset. I've lost so much time, money, and effort because they decided to wipe my laptop without actually asking me or backing up any of my data. For a start, I've lost 3-4 years of graphic design portfolio work which is a huge pushback to me, right back to square one. On top of that, I've lost hundreds of hours worth of programming and testing which I'll probably never get back to how it was due to how much effort it took. Right now I just can't be person even connecting it to our internet due to how much is lost.


My question is, can they simply wipe everything without your permission or without letting you know?

 

[Shikikan]

They cannot and you can sue them.
If it was in my country we would have commited an act of violence on spot because of that.

 

[dakar111]

I also sent my laptop to get it fixed a month ago; it had a small issue with the screen hinges. They returned it back to me 3 weeks later and when I tried powering on, It wasn't turning on.
So I had to return it back to them again .

But I guess what happened with you is still more annoying. I believe that you should request for them to make it up to you in some way.

 

[nightwalkerxD]

They cannot and you can sue them.
If it was in my country we would have commited an act of violence on spot because of that.

The thing I don't understand is, they started it up in the store and it was fine apart from the battery issue. They said it was a battery issue and that they'd need to replace it BUT they need to send it off in case it's the connecters inside the laptop. Now they're saying that when the laptop got to the repair place, it had issues starting up? so they just wiped it clean. If they had said "it's a battery issue BUT there's a start-up problem and it may need to be wiped" I'd have backed everything up.

 

[Shikikan]

The thing I don't understand is, they started it up in the store and it was fine apart from the battery issue. They said it was a battery issue and that they'd need to replace it BUT they need to send it off in case it's the connecters inside the laptop. Now they're saying that when the laptop got to the repair place, it had issues starting up? so they just wiped it clean. If they had said "it's a battery issue BUT there's a start-up problem and it may need to be wiped" I'd have backed everything up.

They messed up you computer by simple mistake. The year is 2021 and there a lot of people who still don't know how to format a computer, they probably mistaken you hardware as one of these and wiped it clean.
You see, if that wasn't the case, they would use another HDD to turn up you computer and make the test, preserving you data, because the year is 2021 and everyone know how valuable data is.
Just sue them. Idk if it is worth on your country, tho.

 

[LeviAK]

Of course they can't! Sue them imo

 

[kratos404]

base on my experience they cant they need to ask for your permission before doing that because theres a lot of troubleshooting you can do before you got the point where the only option is to reset or wipe everything

 

[Hoangdinh111]

I think they cannot. They need to your permission. In my country we have legal to protect customer secret.

 

[umjunsik]

You should definitely sue that guy

 

[nightwalkerxD]

They messed up you computer by simple mistake. The year is 2021 and there a lot of people who still don't know how to format a computer, they probably mistaken you hardware as one of these and wiped it clean.
You see, if that wasn't the case, they would use another HDD to turn up you computer and make the test, preserving you data, because the year is 2021 and everyone know how valuable data is.
Just sue them. Idk if it is worth on your country, tho.

I cant sue them for this even do

 

[Shikikan]

I cant sue them for this even do

Yes, you can.
The thing is, in your country is worth going trought all the process? Anyhow, what is lost is lost, if you can, you can try to recover it with specialized assistence, a good one this time, but I debout you could recover much without spend some $.

 

[Opiumheimer]

No, they need to inform their customers if they'll wipe it or not. Since thats important data we are talking about.
They can't just simply wipe it if they wan't to without your permission.

 

[agust0k]

Before you send your laptop to repair you should have a backup first

 

[FADHII KHAN]

You should definitely sue that guy i request you thats in now a days donts trust anyone

 

[omaomao]

If you are sure that the other party is not getting your permission, then format your computer. Thus caused your loss, this kind of behavior is obviously illegal! You can negotiate compensation with the other party first. Or directly take the legal way to sue the other party.

 

[domino1439]

They have to ask for your consent and then they can do it.

 

[CalinGamer154]

They should have asked you first.

 

[axp96]

need your consent prior wiping HDD

 

[xtragyne1st]

They certainly can't do anything without you being informed

 

[VerexRazor]

If they wiped my data for no reason at all, I would have complained about them and basically had their shop done for.