I fried a customer's HD. What do?

[SOHOtechRob]

I was servicing a client's computer in his home. After spending an hour trying to clean off all the Optimizer Pro, Registry Pro Tools, etc and kajillions of toolbars, I offered to take the machine off site to complete the repairs. Even in Safe Mode it was taking forever to clean it from the malware this 70+ year old man had unwittingly downloaded. MBAM cleaned off several hundred objects and I didn't even let it run to completion. He agreed and I took the machine.

When I get home, I plug it into my USB-to-SATA adapter. I smell smoke and a burnt smell. I just fried his drive. I must have reversed a cable in the adapter or perhaps the adapter is just old and jacked up. Regardless, his drive is dead. Doh!

He didn't use the machine for anything besides webmail and locally installed games. He's a first time customer and I want to treat him right. I'm thinking of calling him in the morning and tell him honestly what happened, offer to replace the HD with a same model at my cost and perform a clean install of Win 7 using his product key from the OEM stick on the case.

Question: Should I charge him for the spyware/malware cleaning or just comp the entire job? How would you handle this?

EDIT: I'm new here, so if this is the wrong forum, please excuse and point me to the right one.

EDIT 2: 3/27/2014: first time in 12 years that I've ruined customer data. What's the saying about one dissatisfied customer driving away future customers? Anyway, I want to make it as right as possible with him.

EDIT 3: 3/28/2014: Thanks for all the responses. Maybe I just needed to hear from the masses to validate what I was already thinking. A hundred bucks isn't worth the potential ill will from a dissatisfied customer. I agree with LifelineIT: I performed a partial task (not to completion) and then damaged working (albeit crippled) equipment. (If it was the adapter that caused it, then if it wasn't his drive I fried, it'd be the next customer. So I'm go to replace the adapter regardless as a preventative measure.) I'm going to replace his drive, reinstall the OS with his product key, install all updates/Adobe/Java/Firefox, set his home page to his webmail page, give him a big apology and not charge him anything. If he has other applications life MS Office or whatever, I'll reinstall those from his media when I deliver back to him. Thank you to everybody who posted with suggestions. I appreciate all the feedback. For me, customer service and reputation trumps profit.

EDIT 4: 3/29/2014: I delivered the PC back to the customer today. Once I got in to his assisted living facility room, I told him I had good and bad news. He asked for the bad first. I explained what happened, apologized profusely, told him I bought a new HD at my cost, reloaded Win7, AVG, Adobe, Java, all security updates and set browser home page to his AT&T webmail page for him - and that I wasn't going to charge him for any of it. My business lives and dies on customer referrals and word of mouth and I wanted him to be satisfied that I did everything possible for him. He was very appreciative, and sympathized that in his previous work experience in dry cleaning sometimes accidents happen. Well, a few minutes later his lady friend from upstairs came down and I explained it all again to her. She was much more impressed with what I did to rectify the problem. I told her I wasn't going to charge him/her for anything. She protested and said I should charge him/her something. I told them I wasn't going to give them a dollar figure - they could pick whatever they felt comfortable. I was ready to accept $0 and would be privately grateful for anything greater to defray the cost of the HD as well as my labor. As he pulled out a fat wad of cash, they bantered a bit back and forth about what was enough and finally handed me a $100 bill. I was surprised at this large amount and I asked him AGAIN if he was sure he wanted to pay me that much. He insisted and I reluctantly but gratefully accepted. As long as he doesn't download every optimizer, registry fixer and toolbar helper again, I think everybody is a winner here.

 

['putertutor]

Just working off the premise you have here, no. Of course you shouldn't charge him for the cleaning. Unless you are planning on buying an infected replacement drive and cleaning that before you give it to him? Clearly that isn't the case so replace the drive, you eat the $ (it's not even a comp, it's a replacement because you broke his other one).

 

[AtYourService]

notify him of what happened, offer to get new hdd and reinstall..
hdd will probably cost as much as your clean job, so just get new drive, install everything and just charge the original estimate for the cleanup to recoup your loss, and be careful next time

 

[B Trevathan]

First off we all have had stuff like this happen. Maybe use some AV live CDs next time.

You should be open and honest with your customer, tell him you might have connected it wrong and it did damage the drive, I wouldn't talk very technical to him about it because hes probably not going to understand.

I think you should replace the hard drive and install the OS at no cost to him. Also I would not charge him for the malware cleaning, put yourself in his shoes how would you feel what would you think and want done.

 

[nlinecomputers]

If I was in the owner's shoes I wouldn't pay you anything. I had a virus and you melted my hard drive.

You must of had a bad USB connector because unless you are an idiot and forced the plugs in place you couldn't have plugged it up wrong. All the sata plugs are keyed to prevent that.

 

[SOHOtechRob]

Didn't force anything. Only the two power and data cables to connect. I'm replacing my adapter immediately!

 

[ohio_grad_06]

I think it'd be fair if you simply explain to him what happened. Tell him you've got a brand new drive coming in for the machine, and you are only charging the price you initially quoted, the drive is no cost to him, you will install Windows and set things back up and things should run better than they have for a while.

 

[drjones]

Sounds like he/you didn't really lose any data, right? If all he was doing was webmail & games?

First, I'd offer to replace the drive, reinstall Windows & as many programs he had as possible, and only charge the initial cleaning / virus removal fee. Kiss his rear, apologize profusely and explain the machine will run better now, than it did before, anyway, with the fresh windows install.

Also; how positive are you it was your equipment that did the damage? Don't hard drive controllers ever go bad?

And next time definitely be more careful though!

 

[Mercenary Roadie]

Replace the drive with a new one of the same size and type or better at no cost.

Do not charge him anything as you didn't complete the task you were hired for and you fried his hard drive too boot.

As too the hard drive contents, lets hope he only did online stuff otherwise you would be responsible for restoring all of the programs lost on the old hard drive again at no cost to him

This is part of running a business and would be covered under your General Liability insurance (I'm assuming your in the States and have GL).

 

[Krynn72]

This kind of stuff happens, be honest about and don't charge him anything. As far as unavoidable mishaps go, this is a pretty easy and cheap one to eat, don't push your luck

 

[B Trevathan]

Didn't force anything. Only the two power and data cables to connect. I'm replacing my adapter immediately!

Yeah just Google: usb to sata smoke

I think I would hold on to the old drive and not throw it away because if the customer or his kids gets real mad and wants to sue you for loss of data or whatever, you can then try replacing the drives PCB maybe the motor and heads and everything else is still good, you never know.

There is lots of AV live CD you can use to remove malware without removing the hard drive.

 

[Romaniac]

I think it's refreshing to hear techs on here suggesting you don't charge anything at all and replace the HDD at your cost.
I say this because I see a lot of hard core 'business'/bottom line type attitudes and fairly high prices (though markets vary).

Did you actually DO/connect something wrong or was it equipment failure? If it was something you could not have predicted, and everything was hooked up right, then it's not particularly anyone's fault. However, I can see some clients having issues with being understanding.

I think you can still charge the original estimate; or maybe a bit lower. He didn't lose any data. His OS sounds like it was pretty wrecked - not beyond repair - but he's getting a shiny new HDD and a shiny new install.

In the way that you got unlucky, he sort of got lucky. Just another way of looking at it.

PS: Welcome to the forums!

PSS:

Yeah just Google: usb to sata smoke.

What the...?! You weren't kidding...

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Was it one of those Thermaltake ones? We have had a few drives get smoked by that thing, we don't use it anymore.

 

[codegreen]

Question: Should I charge him for the spyware/malware cleaning or just comp the entire job? How would you handle this?

Option 2. Stuff like this can happen to the best of us. When disaster strikes strikes your shop, you should be honest with the customer, make things right, and not charge them a dime.

Was it one of those Thermaltake ones? We have had a few drives get smoked by that thing, we don't use it anymore.

Seriously? I have a Thermaltake BlacX dock sitting on my bench. It hasn't caused me any problems, but I'm looking at it suspiciously right now...

 

[LifelineIT]

I am distressed by the fact that now twice in a week we've had techs make somewhat disastrous mistakes and participants in the forum (and the other tech) actually still recommend charging the customer anything. (The other one was the iphone thread.)

Those adapters killing drives isn't unheard of, and I don't especially blame you as I don't think you really made a mistake. That said, you did *not* complete the job you were hired to do, and thus the customer owes you nothing. You *did* damage *working* equipment, and now you are obliged to replace it. 70 year old client probably doesn't even need a 500Gb drive, overnight it, install it, return with a big apology, and you'll keep the client and he'll tell his friends. It'll cost ya $70 and some time. Maybe even give him a few coupons to give his friends.

Charge him ANYTHING, and you will be damaging the image of your business, especially to a population who already feels EXTREMELY vulnerable in this arena.

Flogging a dead horse here, but ya'll advocating for charging clients in these situations...you need both a business ethics class and a crash course in customer service, and you make me sad because you give all of us a bad name in just the same way that scheister mechanics make all mechanics look bad.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

What I would do is still charge for the virus cleanup...that work was done.
I would not charge for a replacement HDD if it were my actions that caused it to fail. But I still did the cleanup of the system. Client gets back a clean system (what he paid for)...and he gets back a computer that runs faster (since it has a new HDD)...and likely has a new lease on life (meaning it will last longer) (assuming you installed an equal or better HDD than the original).
Explain to the customer that his HDD broke as you worked on it..and that you replaced it free of charge. Client will appreciate your honesty, and your biz values...and I guarantee would still feel good paying you for the work that you did (the cleanup).

 

[lcoughey]

Personally, I think you are very fortunate that the client is crying bloody murder for the loss of his data. If you charge for your clean up, you open the window for him to come back and say that his files were worth a lot more than that.

The costs of data recovery that you aren't having to pay should outweigh your clean up costs. Also, think about any reference you might get from him.

1. This guy accidentally killed my hard drive and still charged me for his work
2. This guy accidentally killed my hard drive and did everything he could to make it right and didn't charge me a penny

It is a small price to pay to learn from the experience.

Edit: You would be wise to hold onto the original drive for at least 6 months, just in case the guy comes back and say, "I just realized that all my photos were on there." Or something like that. It may not hurt to get him to sign off on a document outlining what happened, what you did to make it right and that he doesn't have any data of any value worth paying for professional data recovery services.

 

[LifelineIT]

I hear what you're saying Stonecat, and this is nitpicky, but no---the cleanup was NOT done. That's why he took it home, where he broke it.

The ends don't justify the means with other people's property. It sucks that you lose some time and a little cash out of your pocket, but c'est la vie, and is part of the cost of doing business.

Had the drive been grinding, throwing errors, anything---had there been any indication of drive failure at any point and had it been mentioned to the client, that would change my viewpoint.


Ninja Edit: I just had my first failed virus repair the other day. System came in buggered up, minecraft wouldn't run, lots of broken services. I spent about an hour and a half on it, installed a new keyboard, tested that it worked and sent it home with the client. Immediately she calls me, popup on the screen (Speed Cleaner, btw, this thing is a PAIN and is NOT recognized by ANY cleaning tools and MUST be manually removed and MAY be part of a rootkit although it's very, very weird). I remote in and it's super buggered. Sure, she could have done it that fast, but I doubt it. I spend like 3 hours on a remote trying to sort it out...no joy. I tell her to disregard the invoice minus the keyboard replacement, to bring it back to me and I'll make it right, which I will, and I won't charge her for any of it. Theoretically she gets back a clean system---but not in the promised time frame and not correctly. She sends me dozens of referrals, so this lost money is absolutely worth it to me.

 

['putertutor]

I completely agree with lifelineit. The clean up was not completed, how could you possibly charge for that. At this point it is the op's responsibility to get the customer's equipment back to where it was when he took it. The cost of the drive and time installing is the op's to pay given the fault was either his or his equipment's. Replace the drive, install os and all known software possible, don't charge the customer.

 

[3ft]

I'd have to concur - cost of doing business. Hard drive fried through no fault of the customer's, and the clean-up was not completed. I'd charge zero and the customer would walk away with a clean system and happy thoughts.