Misty, they do it on purpose: i got one for a Sunfire and I don't drive either. They just harvest names and addresses from phone databases and add any car they want. Then you get a recording claiming "overwhelming responses" when they only want to have you call asking where did they get your name and that car info, when in reality your call is to confirm a real person and address. Then they can either use you to spam with other gimicks, or to call and see how gullible you are to falling for this fake insurance scheme. They will try to trick you into giving out personal info on the pretext of "verifying" if you are possibly victim of identity theft. DON'T call them back, keep letter in case the gov't winds up having to go after them for any sort of fraud or identity theft from getting your info.
What idiot pays in advance? You get what you deserve. You get a WRITTEN ESTIMATE of what it will cost, and you sign saying the max you will pay, and you want proof that whatever they did to the computer was necessary and actually done. If they refuse, don't use them, period. You can ask them to call you and explain what they found is wrong with it, and THEN let you decide if it is worth fixing AND what you will pay for it. It's often better to just get another computer, if simply installing the software again doesn't fix a problem. Just don't get it at Besy Buy. You can also take computer to another place first to verify what was said was wrong is indeed true, then pay to get it fixed by the Geeks or someone else. Do you drop off your car, hand over money, then walk away? No! You get things in writing, and agree to terms, before any money passes hands. AND don't pay unless FIRST you can check to see if computer is working now.Duh.
One more thing. My laptop suddenly wouldn't take the password to start up, and I didn't have the Toshiba master password that will open Toshibas - which repair places use to get in to repair locked computers. Hubby took it to Best Buy, and they sent it back opened and ready to use again, removed my password so I could add a new one if I wanted, and didn't charge a thing. It isn't easy to remove battery and CMOS battery to unlock everything like it is on a desk machine, or I would have done this. So I really appreciated their help. Sometimes you get taken advantage of because you LET yourself be taken advantage of. For one thing, clean your machine of viruses by getting a good anti virus program. If you don't have one, you shouldn't have a computer. Reinstall your opersting system, even if a neighbor can do it for you. If you can read, you can do it, because directions are on the disks. You can call the computer maker help line and they can actually take control of your computer and fix things - all you need to do is sit back and watch them move the mouse. This way you also see what is being done. I keep copies of everything on both computers so any time I find one hinky I not only can use the other one until I fix it, I don't worry about lost photos, programs I bought, etc.
YOU decided not to backup, a no brainer any time you even THINK something is going wrong. YOU signed the contract, and shouldn't need to be verbally told anything you signed as agreeing to. Your signature says you understand every word written there. You could have written an addendum to it, saying YES you see they can destroy the hard drive, but YOU WANT TO BE ASKED FIRST in case you 1- want to retrieve info first, and 2- you may want to keep the computer and have someone else fix it, voiding the warranty but keeping the computer and your info. Hard drives are destroyed to protect you from having sensitive info retrieved from it. I always make it known in writing that NOTHING is to be done without a call first to let me know what my options are. That computer is your property and remains so even in their hands, and shouldn't have been destroyed UNTIL YOU HAD A NEW ONE IN YOUR POSESSION, but you let it happen by agreeing to the contract terms without questions. There is no reason you should be angry they didn't call you because they probably assumed you were smart enough to backup, and also to not sign anything you really didn't understand.
Also, you can easily make it part of the deal that IF your computer can't be fixed, you want your info transferred to the new laptop before giving it to you. For a reasonable fee for the time, they will do this, it's a common service. Often people badmouth a company or group because THEY didn't understand what was going to happen. They did no wrong by following the letter of the contract. Heck, even when the salesman told me all the "great" things I'd be protected from if I bought the insurance for my laptop, I insisted on noting every claim and verifying each was really in the contract before I got it. And I refused a 3 yr contract because by then the computer isn't worth much, so the extra money for the coverage would be paid to cover something not worth fixing.
Truly a complaint, Expensive and Dumb! Did you ask for proof of "policy" stating to install Vista? I'd file a small claims lawsuit for this one. If your opersting system was not Vista and you signed no authorization asking to have it installed, you DON'T have to pay for it, and damages from losing the warranty and other things should be compensated. I would not have gone back there for hard drive failure if they botched up the OS earlier. Also, a graphics card is easy to install yourself and does not void any warranty. I'm wondering who told you the factory warranty was voided? If it says YOU can't do certain things or it will be voided, that doesn't mean if you in good faith asked a professional place to do some work on it that anything THEY chose to do will void it. They should pay you the cost of the current value of the computer at the time they messed up.
Come on, people, if you didn't play a lottery, do ya really THINK it's true you suddenly WON something in one? No wonder there are scammers, their are so many people anxious to fall for any claim made in an anonymous letter, phone call, notice or e-mail.
First don't ever use a debit card, use a CREDIT card for purchases like this. You can call the card company and file a complaint so the charges will be corrected or removed. In your case keeping the receipt would prove you didn't purchase that amount. Show the store a photostat of the original - don't let them get hands on the original - and file claim in small claims court if they don't correct it.
Since online games are PROGRAMS, every hand at a table can be seen by the programmers running the sites. Of course you get great hands to lure you in. They don't make money losing to you. So once you start really playing they know you will hang in thru a string of losses thinking you'll come out ahead sometime soon. You WON'T. They can see all the cards you are dealt and can send any better hand to one of the other players - who can not only not be a real player, it can be a computer one set up in the game and controlled by the site owners, so THEY win the money, not you. There is nothing showing you how many of the players in a game are real players or just shills for the company. Programs are not random and fair, like real card or other gambling games at casinos. Best thing is to stay away, play for free for boredom help, or play briefly, take any winnings and run. Greed ALWAYS sucks you in. Professional players claiming to make money online are paid to say that, and of course the programs can allow them to win more simply so you would think you could win, too. No one can think playing online would hone their "real" poker playing, because it's not random, every hand is predetermined, so you are just being a wallet for the site owners.
Someone should help you. Don't call NAMI, notify Walmart and the others who donated, and send a copy of your letter here. Publish this letter in your newspaper.Send it to your local newspeople to do a story on. Ask an advocate or family member to help make this organization fess up. Find out what donations were given, and where they ultimately wound up. If the jerk kid and her family took them, again notify Walmart, etc., and the IRS because these were not meant to be redirected to the family and now are a valueable they did not pay taxes for. It's also theft, since it was to be door prizes, not gifts to the organization operators. DON'T let it be swept under the rug, and next time someone gets in your face and threatens you, CALL THE POLICE. Good luck.
