Client's laptop died on me - am I liable?!

[Gavrd1]

I had a client bring a laptop (Dell Precision M6600) in recently saying it was getting hot and therefore needed a clean. I got him to briefly power it on as I normally do before they leave it although it switched straight off because his battery had died and I had other customers queuing so left it at that.

I cleaned the internals as needed, repasted the CPU and GPU and there was build up of muck between the fans and the vents which I cleaned and then put it all back together.

I powered on to which it would not detect the main ssd on the primary drive slot but would the second hard drive (a non-bootable one in the secondary slot as it is a laptop with 2 hard drive slots). After testing several drives it appeared that nothing in the primary sata slot would be recognised but things in the secondary slot would and it would boot ok if a bootable hard drive were placed in that. I thought issue with the sata port (which is built in to the board that the hard drive plugs directly into).

I also found out that the two usbs on the left hand side of the machine were able to be booted from, but the ones on the right couldnt. However if an OS was loaded the ones in the right could detect usb devices.

A little bit later, it would then boot ok but wireless and bluetooth and the top panel LEDs were not working.

Then a little bit after that, it would'nt boot at all. The battery LEDs would blink a couple of times and that was it no life from anything else.

Now there is no life from the LEDS or the board when trying to power on, however there is a current going to the battery voltage terminals.

My first thoughts being had I done something when cleaning such as damaged anything or a wire, but a visual inspection shows the board in pretty good condition as before. I only cleaned the fans and repasted the CPU anyway so he risks of me damaging anything by that are pretty low.

Only slight issue that has been noticed is that a capacitor is missing off the board which has certainly not been done by myself. So I wonder if that has been an underlying cause and I have just been unlucky in that the board has decided to give up the ghost whilst in my care.

Bottom line is, should I replace the board at my own cost (quite an expensive board) or should I debate the fact with the customer of a possible underlying problem could've caused it and not me? Either way, they'll probably still see it as a working machine when it left them and now as non-working so think I'm responsible?

Thoughts please?

 

[cam w]

Sorry you're in that situation. I learned years ago that honesty is the best policy
with a customer! It's one of those things that rarely happen, when you cannot
figure out what the hell went wrong, lol. Just tell him like it is and work something
out.
Is it a laptop you had to completely take apart (remove the mainboard) to get to
the heatsink/fan? It is possible the capacitor is there somewhere and that could be
the problem?
Good luck, I hope you can work it out!

 

[Gavrd1]

Sorry you're in that situation. I learned years ago that honesty is the best policy
with a customer! It's one of those things that rarely happen, when you cannot
figure out what the hell went wrong, lol. Just tell him like it is and work something
out.
Is it a laptop you had to completely take apart (remove the mainboard) to get to
the heatsink/fan? It is possible the capacitor is there somewhere and that could be
the problem?
Good luck, I hope you can work it out!

Hi cam,

It was a trickyish one to take apart but nothing out of the ordinary. It had a fan for the CPU which was really easy to access and then the you had a fan too which required taking the palmrest off and the GPU heatsink to get to. Other than that, I never had to remove the board at all and the only other real components were just things like the keyboard and hard drives.
First thoughts are naturally damaging a wire or connection when disconnecting but they're all visibly good and all connections on the board look visibly ok too. That's why I'm fairly sure it's not something I've caused!

 

[kwest]

The patient died on the table. Say it like it is.

Then wait for a response. Depending on the clients response you can help accordingly.

I always say I want you to be happy. This is rare but can happen. What would you like done? Give them some options. The worst I would do is have them buy a new computer and don’t charge them to transfer all their data and setup the new computer. Let them know normally that would cost x but you won’t be charging this time.

 

[16bwhitt]

The patient died on the table. Say it like it is.

Then wait for a response. Depending on the clients response you can help accordingly.

I always say I want you to be happy. This is rare but can happen. What would you like done? Give them some options. The worst I would do is have them buy a new computer and don’t charge them to transfer all their data and setup the new computer. Let them know normally that would cost x but you won’t be charging this time.

However, still charge on the agreed upon repair price for the cleaning.

 

[glennd]

My take on this is the thing was overheating and probably very close to total failure by the time you got it. It just happened to fail while you were trying to save it. The fact that half the motherboard was already dead is evidence of this. Who knows how long the customer had been running it like this. Pity you didn't get any temperature readings. Still, I believe it had minutes to live when it came through the door.

And secondly, don't be put off by other people in the shop, you need to take the time and follow procedure for repair check-ins so that you can agree on the condition of the device. The current situation is the result of failing to follow procedure.

 

[GTP]

No, you didn't break it why should you be liable?
It was probably the reason for his problems anyway.
Be honest and upfront, explain that this may have been his issue anyway.
Put on your best "concerned look" face and be diplomatic.
Explain that it may have been in a fragile state and pulling it apart to clean it has put it over the edge.

My .02

 

[Diggs]

At this point I offer to move all his stuff onto a decent used machine I have on the shelf that hopefully I can offer at about the same price a repair would have cost. The few times I've had one die on the table this has been very well received.

 

[Mick]

However, still charge on the agreed upon repair price for the cleaning.

In my view, that is going the right way to earn yourself a bad reputation. People bring their stuff to you because they want it repaired, not because they want it back in the same or worse state, only with a bill attached. OP might have to bite the bullet on this one, but that is much better than having his customer spending the whole Christmas holidays telling everyone else in the pub/all his visiting relatives what a rip-off merchant there is just down the road. Picture if you took your car to the garage and told them it was over-heating. Two days later, you get a call saying 'we tried to repair it and now it won't even start. Btw - that'll be three hundred pounds. When can you arrange to get it towed away?' As I said - just my view.

 

[Diggs]

No, you didn't break it why should you be liable?

Actually, in the customers eyes he did break it. Regardless of right or wrong, yes or no, etc. the OP has to work on the customer's perception. It was running when he brought it in. What else is he to think?

 

[16bwhitt]

In my view, that is going the right way to earn yourself a bad reputation. People bring their stuff to you because they want it repaired, not because they want it back in the same or worse state, only with a bill attached. OP might have to bite the bullet on this one, but that is much better than having his customer spending the whole Christmas holidays telling everyone else in the pub/all his visiting relatives what a rip-off merchant there is just down the road. Picture if you took your car to the garage and told them it was over-heating. Two days later, you get a call saying 'we tried to repair it and now it won't even start. Btw - that'll be three hundred pounds. When can you arrange to get it towed away?' As I said - just my view.

Sorry if I wasn’t clear, OP should charge the price for the original agreed upon price after OP replaces the mobo/computer and transfers the stuff. The client shouldn’t get the entire thing for free.

 

[Mick]

Sorry if I wasn’t clear, OP should charge the price for the original agreed upon price after OP replaces the mobo/computer and transfers the stuff. The client shouldn’t get the entire thing for free.

I see what you mean - apologies for mis-reading your first post.

 

[Sky-Knight]

I wouldn't charge the customer, explain to them that thermal damage is cumulative and can destroy a machine at any time. The unit failed after the thermal issue was resolved, there is nothing that can be done. Heat and electronics do not mix. I realize you put time into it, but this is step one to defuse.

I would have, and do have this conversation however BEFORE I accept a unit. If I forget and this happens the conversation is less comfortable, but I've not had anyone get overly upset when being upfront about it.

Key thing to note however, the unit's hard disks are intact and working! Letting the customer know the data is in one piece is probably your best weapon to help them calm down.

 

[SimonR]

To answer your question, legally you may not be, but morally you are.
You touched it last, unless you can find some good evidence that it arrived broken.

There is one for sale on ebay UK for £200.
Maybe you could get the customer up and running.
Then with a bit more time, get the other working fully?

 

[nlinecomputers]

It died on your bench, right or wrong you will be blamed. Eat it or take the public lashing. That is the world we live in now.

 

[Gavrd1]

Thanks for all the comments, spoken to the client and explained the situation and they're all good by it, even told me to make sure I'm not out of pocket from it!