Lost all of customer's contacts...what to do?

[JKSteger]

I was working on a customers computer the other week and I believe that I lost all of his contacts!!
He is using Outlook 98 & Exchange Server. I backed up his *.pst and *.pab files and set them back up but it seems that he was using WordPerfect Office and there is a "Outlook" plugin or something. This is where he kept his contacts and I KNOW that I did NOT back that up...heck, didn't even know it was there! Now he is all upset and I'm not sure what to do next.
He is the "owner" of the business and not the one you want to piss off. I was just wandering what I should do. I'm not going to lie to him but I don't want to be so upfront and tell him...yea there gone and there is nothing that you can do to get 'em back... or anything like that. I'm sure that he will not use us (my company) for any future IT needs because of this. BTW, this is at an attorney's office with about 15 workstations and a source of good income for now...

So what would any of you do? <IMG SRC="smilies/eek.gif" border="0">

[Ya_know]

I have never used a setup like that. I know that allot of attorneys use WP, but that is all the experience I have. Are you pretty sure this is a plug-in, and you know how it works now? If so, and you know you wiped out the data...you will have to face him and tell him exactly what happened. If you are worried about business, offer some compensation effort, free subwoofer speakers, memory upgrade, something PR. But don’t grovel. Better yet, explain to him that although this accident did occur, it provides insight to the protection against future problems..Maybe devise a redundancy solution with the briefcase and a network drive that is backed up, and offer it to all 15 users free. Make sure they know how to sync with a handy printout of instructions. It sounds like alot, but He will respect your concern, as you respect his.

This is food for thought. Or it would be, if I knew how the plug-in works. Please fill us in, so we’ll be better prepared in the future.

Keep hope alive, if there is a way to get this working again, someone here will have an answer, or you may solve it yourself soon. I wish you the best of fortune…

[sdrawkcab]

I wish I could give you better news, but it sounds like you have to face the music on this one. Luckily, I have far more business here than I can handle, so I have a standard disclaimer that all my onsite customers sign BEFORE I ever touch their machines the first time. It states clearly that all backups and data are NOT my responsibility, and in legalese says that they can never sue me for anything I do.

Now that's a little harsh for most markets, but like I said I have more business than I can handle, more than I can even outsource. So if someone is worried about their data, I just tell them they should make and test a full backup before I ever touch their systems. I have about 1 in 200 potential customer scoff at that, and for those 0.5% I won't miss the headache they would provide me.

[3fingersalute]

Although it is your fault, I would not beg him. After all, suppose his HD had died yesterday?.....He would have lossed all them then......it is the customer's job to maintain a backup, and if they don't, that is just plain foolishness. Try calmly explaining to him what happened, and then offer some sort of compensation, (maybe offer to help him start setting them back up for free, and then get him some sort of backup system installed!).

Also, on a side note, anytime I format a customer's pc (I assume this is what you were doing), I back there ENTIRE drive up to our server before backing it up. I have 2 30GB HD's in our server for just this purpose.....after the customer picks it up, it stays on our server for 30 days, just as a safe measure.....I have had too many customers tell me that they don't need anything saved, only to call when they get home freaking out because they can't find something they forgot they needed.
(I don't usually tell the customer that I am backing there drive up to our server, it causes privacy concerns for some of them, although I have no real time or need to be snooping through there data, I just do it to cover my own *ss!!!!!)

[Daemon]

BACKUP!

[Shard92]

I agree with the above. WE have a policy if we are told of something to back up we do it but we also have them sign a form that we are not responsible for lost data. Like was said if the data is important it should have been backed up. You may want to offer some compensation like was said above if you need want their business. Look at it this way, if it was a laptop and it had to be sent in for servicing almost any company you deal with formats the hd FIRST and then goes back and tries to fix anything. And they do not back up or save data. We also charge a lot more if data needs to be backed up, it kind of encourages people to back up their own stuff.

GLSmith

[DataCrypt]

I agree run backups every so often. If you have a tape backup drive then try and setup a time when the office is closed down for the backup to run and backup all important files.

[Web Master]

The easiest way to get off, is to say that the data was corrupt and the only way to recover it is thru a data recovery company and that can cost $1,000's of dollars. Just say that the hard drive must have had a problem where that data was stored. I would rather lie than lose a customer or get sued. I would even make a backup of a fake contact list then go in and manually corrupt it with a hex editor. hehe

[JKSteger]

You guys are right! I'm going to just tell him that I did all that I could do under the circumstances (He did just tell me to make sure we kept his "Outlook"). I will try to offer some labor at no-cost or something (don't know how my boss will take it). If I'm in the shop I will ghost the old drive to our "backup server" but I was on-site and there was not enough storage on there server to keep it there for a while. (he was using about 6GB of his HDD)

BTW. I found out from the account manager for the customer they did sign a SLA agreement that stated that the customer was responable for all backup of data and that I (me, IT company) is not responable for ANY data loss due to accident, neglect, failure, or otherwise...blaa, blaa, blaa,..(insert legal terms here) and that we could not be sued.

Thanks guys,
JKS

[blue_screen]

Does anyone by chance have a copy of the letter stating not responsible for data loss or know where I could get one.
I have been pushing my luck for far too long.

Thanks

[kiwinsn]

I would also appreciate a copy of the form. I'm going into business for myself and want to cover my rear as well.
Cheers from New Zealand

[Stalemate]

Originally posted by TechStar:
<STRONG>The easiest way to get off, is to say that the data was corrupt and the only way to recover it is thru a data recovery company and that can cost $1,000's of dollars. Just say that the hard drive must have had a problem where that data was stored. I would rather lie than lose a customer or get sued. I would even make a backup of a fake contact list then go in and manually corrupt it with a hex editor. hehe</STRONG>

JKSteger is dealing with *lawyers* here, TechStar. How much of a chance does he have in getting away with this? Is it worth his reputation? Any future contracts?

These guys deal with lying every single day. Can he be straight-faced enough?

I think he's better off in facing the music and explaining the situation and propose a possible resourse to avoid anything like that from happening again, as Ya_Know suggested.

Then his reputation will precede him for honesty and he will still be able to face this particular client with a clear conscience.

Just my opinion.

[ShadowKing]

Originally posted by Ad3pT:
<STRONG>Then his reputation will precede him for honesty and he will still be able to face this particular client with a clear conscience.

Just my opinion.</STRONG>

Seconded.

[Ya_know]

When I take my car in to get work done, it is not before extensive efforts on my part to determine what went wrong, and a conclusion that I can’t continue without a specialist. What it boils down to is I will not be ripped off if I can help it!

Part of why I started in Computers and Software was for the same reason; I now do this for a living.

People don't know half the time what the hell I am talking about when I try to explain the things that went wrong, and how I or my department fixed it. However they can all rest assured that nothing was ever a fabrication, or a cover-up. I will identify human error, even on my own part. The people I work with respect that honesty. I once lost a job because my ethics didn't make the store "money". In truth, I refused to rip people off and the owner got tired of that. If that makes me a poor excuse for an employee, so be it; I sleep easy at nights.

TechStar, I know you meant well, but what you are suggesting only proves that shady activity goes on despite all ethical efforts of others. The computer business will still make fruitful returns with honest business practice. If you use that practice every day at work, I wish you the best of luck, but know this...If you were in my town I would turn all business away from you, because I heard all that I need to hear.

As to the data loss contracts, perfectly legal, binding contracts. However an effort should be made to assist with these backups. The customer will be better off paying more money to have you secure his data!

[Mayhem]

I may be wrong in this situation, but Microsoft Mail and Exchange server use post offices on the server and in most cases store contacts on the server itself. have you checked the server for backups???