Sky News in the UK have exposed several laptop repair shops including some big names like Micro Anvika and PC World.During the investigation, researchers unplugged a RAM stick from a laptop to see if the shops would simply diagnose the fault or charge extra for work and components. Only one shop was genuinely honest, Pix 4 in Shepherds Bush. The rest, including Micro Anvika and PC World, charged huge amounts for work that was not required, including replacing the laptop motherboard.
Sky News found that the most serious offender was Revival Computers in Hammersmith, West London. Revival Computers snooped around the researches documents including pictures of the researcher in a bikini. The cowboys didn't stop there though, they copied the data onto a portable USB drive and opened a text file with fake Hotmail, Facebook and NatWest banking login details. One technician at the store attempted to get access to the NatWest site but failed simply because the details were fake.
The sting was setup using surveillance software on the laptop that recorded the technicians every move and filmed them using the laptops on board camera. An investigator from Trading Standards said he was "shocked" by the findings. Richard Webb, an e-commerce investigator for Trading Standards said: "I'm really quite shocked, both in the range of potential problems this has revealed - people overcharging, mis-describing the faults - but also people attempting to steal personal details."
Revival Computers in Hammersmith refused to comment on film to Sky but later denied all knowledge of the alleged abuses. Questions will surely be asked following this report on the rights and wrongs of IT technicians checking personal data. Gary Glitter was famously jailed over child porn when he took his laptop in for repair at a PC World branch in Bristol. Morally or even legally, should the technician have been looking at his data? Thankfully he did on this occasion. What would the technician have done if he found embarrassing photos instead of disgusting child porn though? Perhaps IT technicians should be regulated in the same way that lawyers, teachers and other professionals are to avoid privacy and data protection issues.
/edit NM, tis sorted now!
Interesting story indeed, always fix my stuff myself never bother with repair shops.
One of the things I don't think many people realize is that even a moron IT guy can figure out all kinds of details about you when you hand over a computer. This doesn't surprise me the guy was snooping. He's probably a dateless virgin who still lives at home with mom. I've dealt with this in the professional realm where sneaky IT people on my team were all over information they should've never had (hiring agreements, pay scales, e-mails, etc).
I don't think regulation would help prevent the snooping or the over-charging. I mean, come on, how many honest lawyers are there out there?
If a customer become infested with spyware/viruses and takes in his/her laptop for repair, what files can the technicians open? What if a sensitive word document contains a malicious macro?
IMO there is no way to ensure data privacy on a laptop on the high street, if you want total data privacy you go to a specialist, not the high street.
Why do we expect IT staff to uphold privacy any more than the Mechanic?
In practice, the line is quite easy to draw. After working three years supporting people's computers, I never found myself in a situation where I felt the need to call over a coworker to show them revealing pictures from a user's machine, or make a copy of a person's documents for my own personal gain.
The confidentiality agreement that I had to sign in effect said to limit my access to what I needed to get the job done, and to forget about anything that I saw on a machine after I finished.
Why do we expect IT staff to uphold privacy any more than the Mechanic?
Really bad example, it'd be your own fault if you left naked pictures of your wife, or a confidential folder on the seat and complained the mechanic looked at it.
While, if your laptop stops booting and you have private files, logins etc stored on it, you can't do anything about it, so that technician fixing the problem has a responsibility.
You're comparing a square to a circle, there's nothing to compare.
If a customer become infested with spyware/viruses and takes in his/her laptop for repair, what files can the technicians open? What if a sensitive word document contains a malicious macro?
IMO there is no way to ensure data privacy on a laptop on the high street, if you want total data privacy you go to a specialist, not the high street.
Unless it's a software problem you dont really know to touch the users data to fix stuff. If a memory module is faulty you run memtest or whatever. If there's a virus you could pretty much hook up the harddrive somewhere else and run an antivirus from another computer, and tell the user: you have viruses here and there. All automatic.
They need to be regulated in some form because the final user is the one that always looses here.
Off course, but the difference between those professions and repair shops is that nowadays, they seem to only rip your money off for the most trivial "repairs"...
Most repair shops are not a professional service, so why charge like the are?
It's simple capitalism. If people are willing to pay it, then the shops will charge it. If people weren't willing to pay it, they would bother looking elsewhere and the overpriced shops would go out of business.
That's not to say I agree with it, but to suggest they should be regulated on price is silly.
How am I meant to do that if it is broken? :/
I guess you're stuck if it's broken beyond booting and you can't switch the HDD for another one.
Easy, yank the hard drive. BAMM! No more data.
Never leave your PC or laptop for engineer to have fun with it, better also to go with a friend who have some "basic" understanding at least if you don't.
The payment of £229.99 is made up front, and this is to cover all costs including labour, shipping and parts (of value up to £500 retail). If many parts are needing replaced (motherboard, HDD, screen for example), it can work out to be very cost effective. However, for smaller repairs, there just isn't much flexibility. We would always attempt to fix such problems (such as RAM, HDD etc) on site, without sending them away. Therefore we could price it ourselves, with simple fixes costing no more than £15.
That place in Hammersmith is shocking :o
Revival Computers in Hammersmith is...disturbing. I've seen people look at people's pictures before in shops, but never copied them and saved bank details. That's shocking.
Revival Computers in Hammersmith is...disturbing. I've seen people look at people's pictures before in shops, but never copied them and saved bank details. That's shocking.
Having worked in pcworld in the past, I know for a fact that there is also a repair option sitting at £79.99 plus parts...which itself is over the top. For the job at hand we would not of charged customers...much to the dismay of management who constantly want you to charge for every single piece of work done, regardless of how trivial the job at hand is...dirrteh basta**s!!! glad that was only a uni job and i am now freeeeeee
There is a real lack of care when it comes to computer support from all angles. Take your laptop in for repair, even to a big company such as PC World and you still get ripped off, all the way to phoning your ISP because of a fault. When phoning my old ISP who always had issues, i would be repeatedly told that its my fault and i have a virus, even after a complete re-format of the machine. The only way i could apprently be virus free, was to purchase my ISP's OWN antivirus.
Apparently, all other antivirus products dont pick up the viruses that theirs did and theirs is special as its built to work specifically with their internet connections... *cough* bull **** *cough*.
This is why, if i ever decided to open my own PC repair shop, i would never be able to expand. I know i can be trusted, but i wouldnt trust anyone else to carry out the standard of work and customer service that i would give, because a lot of people today are not trustworthy as proven in the article.
The same is true about many things, not just PC and laptop repairs. If my boiler broke down, I'd not be sure how to fix it and I'd call someone out. However if my laptop failed, I'd know exactly where to start.
I believe that the majority of truly techy people have good standards of practise, but that the ever expanding need for repairs is allowing these non-techy cowboys to make a killing.
I believe that the majority of truly techy people have good standards of practise, but that the ever expanding need for repairs is allowing these non-techy cowboys to make a killing.
I have caught many "home repair" people trying to change something that its fine.
Or even "taken by mistake" (stealing) my own tools...
+1
Yeah, that is hilarious, Vista, agreed by everybody to be the worse OS ever in existence, to replace one of the most stable, easy to use, and powerful OS ever. Nice one, MS fanboys.
cakesy, since when did you do a poll including everybody in the world? I'm surprised I haven't heard of it. I mean, you said "everybody", but you must have forgotten me and many other people I know.
I had a much better experience on "average" hardware with Windows Vista than I did on "average" hardware with Windows XP. Windows XP is an awful operating system. I find it annoying to use now it doesn't have a search bar in the start menu and Windows Explorer. It also looks like a kid's Fischer Price toy or something.
So, no, me and many other people who I know (there must be others out there in the world as well) do not think Windows Vista is the worst operating system ever in existence.
I think we all count in the "everybody" term.
Also, does using the word "fanboy" really ever contribute to a meaningful discussion or give a person credibility with their statements? I don't think so.
Vista hasn't been agreed by everybody to be the worst OS ever, in fact most people who use Windows 7 forget the simple fact that about 90% of its code still has Vista DNA in it. I am not going to bother responding to your claims about OSX, because they are subjective opinions, not facts.
It's sad that companies do this. Too bad someone doesn't do this to Best Buy.
Been working on friends & families home computers now for the last 10-15 years and it never fails to amaze me the comparative costs that places like PC World would charge for simple jobs.
Been working on friends & families home computers now for the last 10-15 years and it never fails to amaze me the comparative costs that places like PC World would charge for simple jobs.
Just another case of making money off people's ignorance, its been happening for centuries, computers are just the latest tool to exploit said ignorance
Regulation won't help. It'll only push up prices and reduce the amount of people/companies that can offer such a service (and that itself will harm competition and push prices up further). Even regulated companies could still do stuff like this; it wouldn't make any difference. In fact, it would just give people a false sense of security. It would also cost a lot of taxpayers' money to implement such a regulation system.
The problem here is people getting ripped off; people being charged too much money. Regulating this would cause people to be charged even more.
I dont know why, but i always feel incredibly uncomfortable reinstalling windows for other people. It takes a long time to backup files since they have to do it themselves, and if they forget a vital one, it would make me feel very guilty.
Whether or not it's done maliciously is another question, but if you've got your computer in the shop, and you don't trust the shop, or it seems flaky, then hang around and watch what they do - chances are if they're good and confident, they'll explain what they're doing through the process. Ours is fully accessible to customers, and we've never had an issue.
I wouldnt do that much. When I came back from my exchange year abroad half of my friends and relatives had a pc to fix!
That way you get to copy their bikini photos and try logging into their bank account?
:p
At least my red packet will be heavier! ^_^
What i can't figure out, is what's this big black "dongle" in front of the laptop?
Thats how some people got caught out. Paul Gadd a.k.a. Gary Glitter got caught that way.
That should be as far as it goes, you diagnose and do a repair and charge a fair whack, no ripping off.
It's good for business and your name gets passed on as trusted.
I do all my own PC repairs as I don't wish to get ripped off.
I always tell family and friends to ask me (or someone else) if they need computer service, so I can give them two or three directions of shops that work honestly as far as I know.
For home or car repairs, which I don't know much, I always call my dad for advice. This way I can have an arguement with the repair people if they are telling me something outrageous or expensive, or someting that has nothing to do with the failure/broken stuff.
Reality... using the car mechanic story if the delivered quality is not very good, very few clients arrive which translates into too much free time combined with human curiosity .
As a professional IT tech for 16 years one realises that if your product is good and you are prepared to eat quite a few work hours yourself, the public comes calling in droves and return.
Liked the story of the street repair man though who jumps and and in 10mins is finished .
But I do agree, some kind of standards should be set somewhere, cowboys, even hiding under a shiny street sign, have never been good for any business. As in car mechanics, it takes time to find a good one.
Oh, and they could barely speak English...
These mofo scoundrels should be shut down immediately and face criminal charges.
"Motherboard needs replacing", I've been doing PC repairs, pro bono, for years and finding out that vvankers like this exist really makes my blood boil.
Last edited by Shiranui on 23 Jul 2009 - 03:19
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DsAwt8vf6Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOrHS50Xkqs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npqm2VeYQ3o
and
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru7YASyMKwE
Last edited by kInG aLeXo on 23 Jul 2009 - 09:26
As far as the problems related to hardware goes, as it is in extended warranty the authorized repair people can lie all they want as the replacement comes free. But if I have to leave the computer with them, I take back my hard-drive.
I wonder why new channels in India cover such stories, when such things are very common here. Just like the bad guy, there are good repair people too.
Last edited by AnandVVN on 23 Jul 2009 - 12:26
A hacker maybe ?
I maintain and repair all my machines, I have done for the last 10 years, and would never trust anybody to repair or even look at my computers. Thankfully I know how to lock files and folders and use software which I have tested from back to front to make sure they cannot be accessed at all.
A very shocking review and quite an astonishing investigation, especially were they tried to access bank accounts which unbeknown to him were fake. a fantastic review and article which will probably put the frighteners up some people but people like myself, whom have a advantage as I repair all my computers including laptops. upgrades and everything.
This was a great story by the way. I love the camera action. That was classic.
Gameboy
Task Manager ?
One if the easiest things to do is to hide a process from Microsoft's Task Manager, they used something based on service or root kit level of course so is invisible, there are many of those programs such as Spector Pro.
Also, I believe that the "engineer" wasn't suspicious of anything.
What I will do if I want to check files on a PC which is not mine is simply boot from Live Windows, so I can bypass any Windows login passwords and be sure also that my flash drive and anything else will not be infected by any virus present on the PC, and that there will be no chance that anyone know what I did if they have any sort of software such that.
Commenting has either been disabled on this article or you are not logged in. Click here to login or register, its free!
Note: Anonymous commenting is disabled in order to keep the quality of responses to a high standard.