1. Our Service to You

We will provide our services with reasonable care and skill and will make reasonable efforts to investigate, diagnose and resolve the problem you have asked us to help with.

Where appropriate, we will explain:

• What we have found
• What work we recommend
• Any additional labour required
• Any replacement parts or other costs
• Any significant risks we identify before proceeding

Where additional chargeable work is required beyond what has already been agreed, we will normally obtain your approval before proceeding.

Technology problems can sometimes be complex, intermittent or caused by several different issues. An appointment, inspection or diagnostic service therefore does not guarantee that a fault can be identified or successfully repaired within the booked time.

Where no specific completion time has been agreed, work will be completed within a reasonable time.

Nothing in these Terms & Conditions affects your statutory rights as a consumer.

2. Providing Accurate Information

Please provide accurate information about your device and the problem you would like us to investigate.

You should tell us about anything that may be relevant, including:

• Previous repairs or modifications
• Physical or liquid damage
• Known hardware problems
• Important or irreplaceable data
• Unusual software configurations
• Previous attempts to repair the problem
• Any other information that may affect the work

You must own the equipment provided to us or have the owner’s authority to ask us to access and work on it.

3. Passwords, PINs and Account Access

When leaving a computer or device with us, you must provide a working login password or PIN where one is required to access and properly test the device.

Depending on the work required, we may also need access to relevant:

• Windows or macOS accounts
• Microsoft or Apple accounts
• Email accounts
• Antivirus or security accounts
• Router or Wi-Fi credentials
• Other accounts connected with the problem being investigated

Any time spent locating, resetting or recovering missing passwords or account information may be chargeable at our usual rates.

Please make sure you have access to any authentication methods that may be required, such as verification codes sent to your phone or email.

4. Backing Up Your Data

Wherever possible, you should make a current backup of important files before we work on your device.

This includes documents, photographs, videos, email data and any other information you would not want to lose.

If you are unable to make a backup because the device is not working, please tell us when the device is left with us, particularly if it contains important or irreplaceable data.

Unless a backup service has specifically been agreed, we cannot guarantee the preservation of data during diagnostic, repair, upgrade or maintenance work.

Any time or additional storage equipment required to create a backup on your behalf may be chargeable.

6. Pricing and Charges

Our charges are based on the service booked, the time required and, where applicable, any parts, materials or additional services provided.

The applicable price or hourly rate will be shown when booking or discussed with you before work begins.

Where work takes longer than originally anticipated, or we identify additional work that would result in further charges, we will explain this and normally obtain your approval before proceeding.

Any time spent carrying out agreed diagnostics, troubleshooting, configuration, data backup or recovery, or other technical work is chargeable at the applicable rate, whether or not the original problem can ultimately be resolved.

7. Additional Work and Authorisation

If we identify additional work that was not included in the original booking or agreement, we will explain what we have found, what we recommend and any additional costs involved.

We will normally obtain your approval before carrying out additional chargeable work or ordering replacement parts.

Where we are unable to contact you, we may pause the work until we have received your instructions.

8. Replacement Parts and Materials

Where replacement parts, accessories or other materials are required, we will advise you of the cost before ordering them.

Some parts may need to be specially ordered and may require payment in advance.

Where appropriate, we may offer a choice between new, refurbished or compatible parts. We will explain the available options before you decide how you would like to proceed.

9. Payment

Payment is accepted by cash, bank transfer or personal cheque.

Payment for completed work is normally required before or when equipment is collected or returned, unless another arrangement has been agreed in advance.

Any parts, materials or other costs supplied as part of the work will be included in the amount due.

If an invoice remains unpaid, we reserve the right to withhold the return of equipment until payment has been received, subject to your statutory rights.

10. Appointments

Please ensure that you are available at the agreed time and that we have access to any equipment, accounts or information needed to provide the booked service.

Appointment times are estimates and, particularly for At-Home Support, circumstances such as traffic or an earlier appointment taking longer than expected can occasionally cause delays. If we expect to be significantly delayed, we will make reasonable efforts to let you know.

11. Cancelling or Rescheduling

If you need to cancel or rearrange an appointment, please give us as much notice as reasonably possible.

The cancellation and rescheduling conditions applicable to your particular service will be shown when you make your booking.

Where insufficient notice is provided, or where we have already committed time or travel to your appointment, a cancellation charge may apply in accordance with the conditions shown when booking.

12. Missed Appointments

If you are unavailable when we attend an At-Home appointment, or you do not attend an agreed Drop-Off, Collection or other appointment, the appointment may be treated as missed.

Any time or travel already incurred may be chargeable.

If you know you are going to be late or unable to attend, please contact us as soon as possible.

14. Leaving Equipment With Us

When leaving a computer or other device with us, please provide any power supplies, chargers, cables or accessories that may be required to investigate the reported problem.

You must also provide a working login password or PIN where this is necessary to access and properly test the device.

Please tell us about any existing damage, known faults or particularly important data when the equipment is dropped off.

15. Drop-Off Inspections

Where the cause of a problem is not already known, we may recommend booking a Drop-Off Inspection.

The inspection allows us to examine and test the device and determine what work may be required. The inspection charge covers the diagnostic time included with the service and is payable regardless of whether you subsequently decide to proceed with any recommended repair or additional work.

If further investigation or repair is required beyond the included inspection time, we will discuss this with you before proceeding.

16. Drop-Off & Collection Appointments

A Drop-Off & Collection appointment is primarily a handover appointment for equipment where work has already been discussed or arranged with us, or for collecting completed equipment.

Simply booking a Drop-Off & Collection appointment does not include diagnostic or repair labour. Where the device has a new or unidentified fault, a Drop-Off Inspection will normally be the more appropriate service.

If additional work is required after we have examined the equipment, we will explain what is needed and obtain your agreement before carrying out additional chargeable work.

17. Collection of Completed Equipment

We will contact you when your equipment is ready and arrange a suitable time for collection.

Equipment should normally be collected within seven days of being notified that it is ready, unless another arrangement has been agreed.

Equipment remaining uncollected after this period may be subject to a £5 per day storage charge. If you are unable to collect within seven days, please contact us as soon as possible so that alternative arrangements can be discussed.

18. Data and Equipment

Please ensure that important data is backed up before leaving equipment with us wherever reasonably possible.

We will take reasonable care of equipment while it is in our possession. However, computers and storage devices can fail unexpectedly, particularly where an existing hardware or software fault is being investigated.

If you are unable to make a backup because the device is not working, please tell us when you leave it with us, particularly if it contains important or irreplaceable data.

19. Remote Support

Remote Support allows us to access your computer over the Internet using Jump Desktop Connect.

Jump Desktop Connect is not permanently running in the background. When Remote Support is required, you will need to start the application. Each time it is started, it provides a unique 9-digit code, which you will need to give to Richard.

When we attempt to connect, a prompt will appear in the bottom-right corner of your screen asking you to accept the connection. Remote access will only begin once you approve it.

The remote session can be paused or closed at any time from either side.

20. Remote Support Requirements

You are responsible for ensuring that the computer is switched on and has a working Internet connection at the time of your appointment.

You should remain available where reasonably necessary during the session, particularly where passwords, security prompts or authentication codes may be required.

Not all problems can be diagnosed or resolved remotely. If we determine that physical access to the computer or other equipment is required, we may recommend an At-Home appointment or Drop-Off Inspection instead.

Any additional work or appointment required will be discussed with you before proceeding.

21. At-Home Support

For At-Home Support, you are charged for the actual time involved, including travel to your property, the time spent providing support and the return journey.

Travel time is calculated from our premises at 1 Bradley Road, Warminster, Wiltshire, BA12 8BL and is charged in both directions at the applicable rate.

Where possible, please ensure that the equipment we need to work on is accessible and that you have any relevant passwords, account details or other information available before the appointment.

22. Access to Your Property

You are responsible for providing us with an accurate address and sufficient information to locate and access your property.

If your property may be difficult to find, particularly where it has a house name rather than a number, we recommend providing a what3words location or additional directions when booking.

Please also tell us about anything that could affect access, including parking restrictions, gates, entry systems or other unusual access arrangements.

Where an appointment cannot proceed because we are unable to locate or gain reasonable access to the property, time and travel already incurred may be chargeable.

23. Repairs and Replacement Parts

Where we identify a faulty component or believe that a replacement part is required, we will explain what we have found and provide details of the expected cost before ordering or fitting it.

We will normally obtain your approval before ordering chargeable replacement parts.

Some components may need to be specially ordered and we may require payment for the part in advance.

Where appropriate, we may offer new, refurbished or compatible replacement parts. We will explain the available options so that you can decide how you would like to proceed.

24. Parts Supplied by Customers

If you ask us to install a component or accessory that you have purchased yourself, we cannot guarantee its compatibility, condition or suitability.

Additional time required because a customer-supplied part is incorrect, incompatible, faulty or incomplete may be chargeable.

Our responsibility for the work we carry out does not extend to faults inherent in parts or equipment supplied by you.

25. Data and Backups

You are responsible for maintaining an appropriate backup of important data wherever reasonably possible.

Although we will take reasonable care when working on your equipment, diagnostic, repair, upgrade and maintenance work can involve a risk of data loss, particularly where a storage device or computer is already faulty.

If you are unable to make a backup, please tell us before work begins, particularly where the device contains important or irreplaceable data.

Where requested and reasonably possible, we may be able to create a backup on your behalf. Any additional labour or storage equipment required will be chargeable and will be agreed with you.

26. Data Recovery

We may be able to investigate inaccessible, accidentally deleted or damaged data, but data recovery cannot be guaranteed.

Attempts to access a failing hard drive, SSD, memory stick or other storage device can sometimes cause it to deteriorate further.

If we believe that continuing could significantly increase the risk of permanent data loss, or that specialist equipment is required, we may recommend that the device is sent to a specialist data-recovery service.

We will not send your equipment to a third party without your agreement.

27. Access to Your Device and Information

To carry out the work you have requested, we may need to access files, settings, applications, accounts or other information stored on your device.

We will only access information where it is reasonably necessary to diagnose the problem, carry out the agreed work or properly test the device.

If we encounter information that is clearly private and unrelated to the work being carried out, we will not intentionally access or examine it.

28. Passwords and Account Details

Any passwords, PINs or account details you provide will only be used where reasonably necessary to carry out the work you have authorised.

Please do not provide passwords or account information that is not relevant to the work being carried out.

Where possible, you may wish to use a temporary password or PIN while your equipment is with us and change it again once the work has been completed.

29. Personal Information

We may need to retain basic customer information such as your name, address, telephone number, appointment details and records of work carried out for legitimate business, accounting and legal purposes.

We will take reasonable steps to keep personal information secure and will not sell your personal information to third parties.

Information will only be shared with another organisation where this is necessary to provide an agreed service, where you have authorised us to do so, or where we are legally required to provide it.

30. Security

We take reasonable precautions when handling your equipment, accounts and information. However, no computer system, Internet connection or method of electronic storage can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

You are responsible for keeping your passwords and account credentials secure after the work has been completed.

If we recommend that you change a password, enable multi-factor authentication or take another security measure following the work, we strongly recommend that you do so.

31. Our Work

We will provide our services with reasonable care and skill.

If you believe there is a problem with work we have carried out, please contact us as soon as reasonably possible and give us an opportunity to investigate.

Where a problem is caused by work we have carried out, we will take reasonable steps to put it right.

32. Faults That Reoccur

Some computer problems can be intermittent or have more than one underlying cause. A fault appearing again after work has been completed does not necessarily mean that the original work was unsuccessful.

If a problem reoccurs, we may need to carry out further investigation to determine whether it is related to the original work or is a separate fault.

Any additional charges will be discussed with you before further chargeable work is carried out.

33. Third-Party Products and Services

We are not responsible for faults, outages, changes or restrictions caused by third-party products or services that are outside our control.

This may include Internet and email providers, software developers, cloud services, hardware manufacturers and other external services.

Where appropriate, we will make reasonable efforts to help identify the problem or assist you in dealing with the relevant provider.

34. Limitations

We cannot guarantee that every computer or technology problem can be diagnosed, repaired or resolved.

We are not responsible for losses caused by circumstances outside our reasonable control or by pre-existing faults, failing hardware, malware, third-party services or inaccurate information provided to us.

Nothing in these Terms & Conditions excludes or limits any liability that cannot legally be excluded or limited, and nothing affects your statutory rights as a consumer.

35. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms & Conditions from time to time to reflect changes to our services, pricing, working practices or legal requirements.

The version that applies to your booking will normally be the version published at the time the service is booked or agreed.

36. Changes to Our Services

We may change, suspend or discontinue a service where reasonably necessary.

Where a change affects an appointment or service you have already booked, we will make reasonable efforts to contact you and discuss the available options.

37. Events Outside Our Control

We will not be responsible for delays or failure to provide a service where this is caused by circumstances outside our reasonable control.

This may include severe weather, transport disruption, power or Internet outages, illness, failure of third-party services or other unforeseen circumstances.

Where this happens, we will make reasonable efforts to keep you informed and rearrange the affected work where appropriate.

38. Complaints and Problems

If you are unhappy with any aspect of our service, please contact us as soon as possible so that we have an opportunity to investigate and resolve the matter.

We will make reasonable efforts to deal with concerns fairly and promptly.

39. Governing Law

These Terms & Conditions are governed by the laws of England and Wales.

Nothing in these Terms & Conditions affects any rights you have under applicable consumer law.

40. Contacting Us

If you have any questions about these Terms & Conditions, a booking or work we have carried out, please contact:

Simple PC Help
1 Bradley Road
Warminster
Wiltshire
BA12 8BL

Telephone: 01985 330073
Mobile: 07979 252573