What law exactly is being broken?

robfosters

robfosters

robfosters

Caporegime
Joined
1 Dec 2010
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Location
Welling, London
I watched a TV programme the the other day about dodgy PC repairs.

One bloke took away a PC that an engineer had setup a simple fault on. He had an expensive graphics card in there, it looked a 980 (state of the art when it was filmed).

The engineer returned the PC in a fully working state and explained that it was the graphics card that was faulty and he had replaced it. He had obviously taken out the 980 and replaced with a much poorer card.

Totally unscrupulous, but what law has he broken? Is it theft, fraud or both?

It actually scares me this, as I can imagine it being done far more often. I mean, what are the chances of say, a 60 year old woman realising that their core i5 or i7 has been swapped for an older i3 chip or something?
 
Malevolence said:
Got a link to said programme?
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Really sorry mate, but no. When I say the other day, it was actually a few weeks back. It was on BBC1. One of those daytime programmes about dodgy traders. It was a Dom Littlewood programme (the little bald fella with a face like a bulldog chewing a wasp).
 
It's almost the perfect crime. The customer is not likely to realise in the first place and even if they realise the card has been changed, how do they prove there was nothing wrong with it if the technician says it was faulty and has been disposed of?
 
Why would anyone want a broken graphics card back?

If I go get a new battery and say a some new brake disc+caliper on a car, is the garage supposed to leave the old clutch and brakes in my boot?

Surely if the part is broken then it's worth nothing.
 
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asim18 said:
Why would anyone want a broken graphics card back?

If I go get a new battery and say a some new brake disc+caliper on a car, is the garage supposed to leave the old clutch and brakes in my boot?
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Pretty much this. Other than experts being sent out to entrap these thiefs on purpose, I dont see how they can be caught.
 
asim18 said:
Surely if the part is broken then it's worth nothing.
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The point is that the card isn't broken. The guy replaces the expensive card with a cheap one (probably second hand to save money) and then sells the fully working expensive one for a profit.
 
asim18 said:
Why would anyone want a broken graphics card back?

If I go get a new battery and say a some new brake disc+caliper on a car, is the garage supposed to leave the old clutch and brakes in my boot?
Click to expand...


I wouldn’t know a graphics card if it fell through my mail box, but when my wife’s various Fiats were serviced by Gonnella Brothers, Italian car specialists, (so they should be with a name like that!), if the brake shoes/calipers/light bulbs, you name it had been replaced, the old parts were available to be seen and/or taken away.
 
Technically, even though broken, the part still is a property of the customer.

So you charge for new parts used and labour, and return old graphic card separately.
 
Hades said:
The point is that the card isn't broken. The guy replaces the expensive card with a cheap one (probably second hand to save money) and then sells the fully working expensive one for a profit.
Click to expand...

If this is the case, it's quite a straightforward s2 fraud by false representation.
 
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