[Must Read!!!] I am leaving my story here because I hope no one else will ever go through what I experienced. Any advice will be appreciated.
First of all, I am a student at the University of Maryland (UMD). Last fall, my laptop LCD screen was broken. I chose to repair my laptop at this one store, just because it was cheaper out of two stores that were recommended by the Terrapin Tech. The name of the chosen computer repair shop is "Friendly" name.
When I visited the shop, the technician confidently told me that my LCD screen could be repaired. At the time I submitted my laptop for repair, the laptop would power on and display a visibly cracked image on the screen. The technician took my laptop to bring the specification of LCD panel installed in my laptop to order the LCD replacement.
When I got the laptop back, however, the situation had become worse. Instead of displaying the cracked image as before, the screen was now completely black. I asked why the screen was black.
They assured me that once the ordered LCD was installed, everything would function normally again. The technician told me to use an external monitor using HDMI cable. Since I don't have any external monitor, my laptop left untouched.
When the ordered LCD arrived, the technician replaced my broken LCD with the new one, but the screen was still completely black. I asked what was happening, and he told me that the LCD they had ordered was not compatible with my laptop and that they would order another one.
This process repeated several times.
Despite multiple attempts, my LCD was never repaired. The screen remained black throughout. At that point, I had a strong feeling that something was seriously wrong. I visited another repair shop for my inspection.
The inspection revealed that the mainboard fuse had failed and needed to be replaced with a new one.
I asked the original shop to provide at least partial compensation for this expense. Instead of investigating the problem, they refused to reimburse me for any portion of the repair cost, claiming that the mainboard fuse failure was simply the result of my bad luck and my improper use of the laptop.
The original shop reinstalled my original broken LCD and refunded the only LCD ordering costs. They never accepted any responsibility for the mainboard fuse failure.
My original problem had only been a broken LCD. By that point, I was now dealing with a failed mainboard fuse as well.
I later had the mainboard fuse replaced at another repair shop, which cost me approximately $400.
What I still do not understand is why the original shop insisted that this was entirely my fault and that I should bear 100% of the cost. I never received a technical explanation, objective evidence, or supporting data.
Their response was always the same: they did nothing wrong, and I was responsible for everything.
I decided to pursue legal action(lawsuit).
The hearing took place in February. The owner of the shop didn't appear. Ultimately, after reviewing my evidence, the judgment was entered in my favor, and I was awarded compensation from the shop for the cost of repairing the mainboard fuse.
I then attempted to collect the judgment using the bank information for the shop that I had been able to obtain. However, I was informed that the bank account information I had was insufficient and that the funds could not be recovered. I spent considerable time researching collection options and even consulted attorneys. In the end, I learned that I could not collect the judgment using the bank information available to me, and any other banking information was not publicly accessible.
I filed a second lawsuit against the owner. That hearing took place in July.
This time, the owner appeared in court.
The judge dismissed the second lawsuit because the first case remained open. I understood and accepted the court’s explanation.
Afterward, I tried once again to resolve the matter related to the first case. I contacted the owner, and countless text messages were exchanged. They continued to insist that they had done absolutely nothing wrong and that I alone was responsible for the entire cost of repairing the mainboard fuse.
At the same time, he sent me numerous insulting and degrading messages. They even brought religion, God, sexual harassment, and racism into the conversation.
I have decided to end further communication with him and focus on exploring other legal options.
If anyone has any similar experiences or if you need more information about the shop, please dm me.
