Computer Medics

Continued from Above
After more than a month, my computer was finally returned by you on
Friday, 03/29/2013.  I asked you for the backup of my hard drives and
you appeared caught off guard, hesitated, then stated nothing was found and it was most likely wiped clean by a virus. 
The issues with this is your website advertisement statements, "if it
holds data, we can retrieve it" and "the ability to detect viruses." 
You state "it was most likely," which is not
definitive and your usage of the word "it" indicates a singular
application thus, you are referencing one hard drive.  Prior to you
picking up my computer, I told you my Dell computer had two hard drives
however, you declined to inform me of any status regarding
my second hard drive.  After checking other sources regarding
computer repair procedures, it is apparent that checking
for viruses is a primary first step.  If a virus is detected by a
computer repair facility, the customer is notified,  it is removed and
the computer is made safe for backups to be performed.  Unfortunately,
you accomplished neither of these as you advertise. 
It is highly unlikely that I had a virus while actively running Windows
Essentials, Defender, and Firewall along with my network and modem
firewalls.  The other two computers on my network have not been infected
or affected by any type of unwanted
intrusion. While you were completing the final bill, nothing was said. 
Upon you completing the bill, I asked about starting procedures for the
computer.  The procedure you described is in the first e-mail I sent,
which is shown below.  You then had me electronically
sign my bill, handed me a copy, thanked me for my business, and
immediately departed.  You appeared to be hurried but I attributed it to
having a busy day. At that time, I was under the belief that my
computer problem had been corrected and repaired to it's
original Dell working order aside from the hard drives original data
missing.
 
Your choice of not responding to my two previous requests, along with many
computer problems having since arisen, has sent up red flags. 
Therefore, I contacted Dell, with whom my computer is registered with, and asked
them about the issues I was experiencing with my computer after you had
repaired it.  I told them the motherboard,  power supply, and Windows 7
Ultimate were the installations
I was charged for.  The first issue was the indicator lights that I told
you about in my first e-mail.  They said the indicator lights are for
troubleshooting and have different sequences of lighting to indicate
certain problems.  My indicator lights are indicating
the system has numerous incompatibility issues concerning features
within the system.  Second was why the computer shows a Hewlett Packard
(HP) logo instead of Dell?  Per Dell tech, it is caused by either a HP
motherboard being installed or the bios chip was
changed to accommodate certain operating software thus, making the
computer think it's a HP.  At this point, there is probable suspect that
the indicator lights being lit is caused by either one of these
non-Dell components being installed.
 
The side cover was removed at that time for internal inspecting and visual
identification.  Before checking the motherboard that Dell asked for, my
first visible sighting was that my two hard drives were missing.  I was never
informed by you at anytime that my hard drives had been removed.  In
place of my two hard drives is a Western Digital 233Gb hard drive.  This
item has the date, 21/AUG/2005 on it and it's
model number, WD2500 is no longer a valid number with Western Digital
(WD) due to the age.  Dell verified my Dell XPS 710 came with two
separate hard drives. Each one was a 250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive
(7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache, item # 341-3666, part # F6405;
& item # 341-3670, part # F6403.  The only mention you made
regarding my hard drives is referenced above.  When you did comment, you
referred to my hard drives as "it" and not "they" whereas, you knew my
computer had the two above mentioned hard drives.  You
did not say one word about the removal of my two hard drives and
replacing them with this cheap inferior WD hard drive.  There is nothing
about my hard drives on your receipt regarding replacement or cost. 
You should have returned any old parts to me or presented
them for my inspection as any respectable repair facility would have
done.  You not only thieved my two hard drives along with 267Gb of
storage, you have created an extremely serious breach of my security.  I
am highly concerned about my personal information
being gleaned from my hard drives, where ever they may be, and then used
for illegal purposes by other parties.
 
Moving forward with the motherboard, more discrepancies arose.  I identified
the motherboard as a Dell by the factory embossed Dell logo on it.  The
Dell tech can't verify without seeing it but, he stated if indeed this was a
Dell motherboard, then the bios chip was changed in an attempt at making
the computer work under different operating software, i.e. HP.  This is
not compatible however, with certain features
on my Dell, i.e. the Dual TV tuner amongst other features.  The original
motherboard installed was a Dell Motherboard 7-slot BTX, item #
465-3641, part # GT661.  The Dell XPS 710 series uses one standard
motherboard with the capability of handling all of the
available options that a customer may choose for this series.  It is not
a special motherboard and it's not a special order per Dell.  Upon
scrutinizing the factory identification markings, I am fully convinced
that the motherboard in my computer is the original. 
It is obvious that you have changed the bios chip to accommodate a
substandard repair by mixing HP products into my Dell XPS 710.  If a new
motherboard had been "special" ordered, it would have come with the
correct bios chip so my computer would operate as
a Dell and not a HP.  Furthermore, you never notified me that you were
converting my operating system to a HP, did not seek my authorization
for such conversion, nor did you say anything about seeing a HP logo
when you explained the start up procedure.  There
is nothing on the invoice depicting any part numbers or itemized part
prices for these special ordered parts.  Again, there were no parts
returned or presented for my inspection.
 
The power supply is an item that either works or it doesn't work per
computer repair sources.  The fact that my computer would start
momentarily indicates
my power supply was working.  Again, this part, item #465-3642, part
#MG309, is not a special power supply and it's not a special order per
Dell.  My computer currently has this same type of power supply listed
above.  It has one identifier visible that makes
originality very probable but, it would have to be removed for a
positive identification.  Whereas, with the above discovery of
discrepancies documented, I, at this time, feel it is most probable tha

It went very well. I called him on a Thursday, and he came over the next day. I was very impressed by his calm demeanor in spite of the fact that I was quite distraught. He wasn't intimidating so I wasn't afraid to ask questions, even though they might have seemed dumb. I liked the fact that there isn't a trip charge. Also, the service call is free if they can't fix the problem. If I would have chosen to buy and install the necessary parts myself, I would have only been charged the diagnostic fee of $45.00.