Files Deleted By Hp Tech

We Recently Returned A Notebook To Hp For What We Were Told Would Be Replacement Of The Sound Card. The Hp Representative Asked Us Whether They Could Delete Files On The Notebook And We Told Them "no." The Rep Then Assured Us That Nothing Would Be Deleted. Well, When The Notebook Was Returned It Was "re-imaged" And Numerous Files Were Missing. The Nasty Reps No Claim That Regardless Of What What We Were Told By The Rep, The Warranty States That All Files Should Be Backed Up And That They Are Not Responsible. Hp Refuses To Provide Any Compensation. Please Help! Thank You Very Much.

 

Sadly, I think you are sunk. If they had just deleted them, you could probably have used some kind of file recovery software to get your files back. However, if they reimaged the drive, they will have written over most of what was there before, and the file recovery stuff (like FileRestore) won't be able to find them.
Sorry this happened to you...

 

Yeah, I dont think you can do anything other than wiggling out some coupon(doubtful) or something. There is really no way to get your data back after the hard drive has been re-imaged.

 

If I can't recover the data, I believe that I am entitled to be compensated for my loss. Has anyone ever received compensation from HP?

 

I'm sorry to hear what happened, but you wouldn't be compensated for the loss of data because of their written warranty that comes with the unit. I believe it states that you're responsible to backup your data before sending it in for service and that they're not liable for any lost data. If this is the case, then you won't get any compensation.

The HP service center could have been a bit more professional and used a test drive in the unit rather than the actual customer's drive (that's what I do when servicing a unit). This way, all the testing can be done without touching the user's HDD, but I guess not every company/tech will do this.

The only alternative you may have is to take the HDD to a professional data recovery company. They might be able to restore the data that has been overwritten. These are the types of companies the police and the gov't use to recover data, but it's gonna cost a bundle. I've heard of numbers in the $10K area depending on how difficult it is to restore.

-Vb-

 

They should have been more communicative, but every time I've sent a machine in for repair I removed my HDD so things like this would not happen.

 

Im with Brian, never give out your only copies of important data. I know its to late now and its a hard lesson to learn but it cant be stressed any more if you have important information in digital form you need to keep multiple copies in different medium and in at least two different areas of the house or office.

 

Yea i think that if i ever had a problem with my notebook, i would take out the stick of ram i put in it, and take out my HD. I am sorry for your loss, i know what it is like to lose valuable files (earlier in my computer days i had to reformat 20+ times in a month because of virus' that norton couldnt find/delete), but thank you for telling us. I am sure this will help people to remove the HD when they send it in, so there is no question.

As far as compenstation goes: You would have better luck winning the lottery!
Sorry but its the truth, but feel free to prove me wrong. If you get compensation, let us know.

Once again sorry for your loss

 

yea...i'm really sorry for your loss..u should like complain and tell them that you won't ever buy from them again..or something..then they might do something about it