Master Customer Terms of Service & Disclaimers

1. Master Service Agreement & Authorization of Work

By submitting a device for diagnostic evaluation, physical intake, or mobile on-site service with Pie Bytes ("Company"), you ("Customer") authorize our technicians to perform diagnostic disassembly, component testing, hardware repairs, and software maintenance on the submitted equipment. Customer represents and warrants that they are the legal owner of the equipment or possess documented authority from the legal owner to contract for services.

2. Data Loss & Storage Media Degradation Waiver

CUSTOMER IS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR SAFEGUARDING AND BACKING UP ALL DATA, SOFTWARE, AND PERSONAL FILES PRIOR TO SERVICE.

Flash memory (NAND NVMe SSDs), magnetic storage media, and solid-state storage devices are volatile and prone to unrecoverable failure during stress testing, operating system recovery, or firmware updates. Pie Bytes, its technicians, and contractors shall not be liable under any circumstances for the loss, alteration, corruption, or recovery of personal data, operating system configurations, software licenses, or digital media, whether arising from ordinary negligence, pre-existing drive degradation, or unforeseen component failure.

3. 90-Day Labor Workmanship Warranty & Exclusions

Pie Bytes warrants all labor performed on hardware repairs for a period of ninety (90) calendar days starting from the recorded completion date (`completed_at`). If an installed component fails due to workmanship defects within this 90-day window, Pie Bytes will re-inspect and replace or re-service the item at zero additional labor cost.

Specific Warranty Exclusions: This warranty strictly excludes:

• Subsequent physical impacts, drops, chassis bending, or crushed digitizers/LCDs.
• Liquid exposure, moisture infiltration, or ionic corrosion occurring post-repair.
• Unauthorized third-party disassembly, tampering, or component swapping.
• Software corruption, user-downloaded malware/ransomware, or failed Windows/macOS updates.
• Cosmetic wear, plastic casing clips, or normal lithium battery degradation over time.

4. Pre-Existing Cosmetic & Latent Board Damage Disclaimer

Devices presented for repair frequently exhibit pre-existing stress fractures, brittle aged plastic clips, micro-soldering thermal fatigue, or internal corrosion. Pie Bytes takes systematic intake photographs prior to disassembly. Pie Bytes shall not be held liable for the separation of brittle chassis tabs, stripped third-party screws, or the failure of already degraded secondary components (e.g., soldered audio codecs or baseband chips) that fail as a natural consequence of opening fatigued or dropped consumer electronics.

5. 30-Day Abandoned Property & Statutory Mechanics Liens (NC Gen. Stat. Chapter 44A)

Pursuant to North Carolina General Statutes Chapter 44A (Statutory Liens on Personal Property):

Upon notification that equipment is repaired, diagnosed, or ready for custody return, Customer agrees to remit outstanding balances and retrieve equipment within thirty (30) days. Equipment remaining in Company possession beyond thirty (30) calendar days following repeated written notice (SMS or email) shall be deemed legally abandoned. Pie Bytes reserves the statutory right to enforce a mechanics possessory lien, assess reasonable storage fees ($5.00/day after Day 30), or sell/recycle the equipment to satisfy unpaid diagnostic and parts expenses.

6. Limited Scope of Software & Data Recovery

Data recovery procedures provided by Pie Bytes are software-level and basic controller-level triage services. For severely degraded or mechanically clicking platters requiring cleanroom platter extraction, Customer will be referred to specialized forensics cleanrooms (e.g., DriveSavers). Pie Bytes makes no guarantee that degraded, read-only, or encrypted BitLocker volumes can be recovered without Customer-supplied recovery keys.

7. Dispatch Cancellation & Assessment Fee

For mobile doorstep house calls, dispatch windows require reserving dedicated field travel time. Cancellations made with less than two (2) hours notice prior to the arrival window, or appointments where the customer is not present at the agreed premises, may incur a $45.00 Base Diagnostic & Travel Assessment Fee.

8. Designated Proxy Custody Pickup & ID Requirements

To ensure strict Digital Chain of Custody security, equipment will only be released to the primary customer named on the intake work order, or to an authorized proxy explicitly designated in writing. The recipient must present valid government-issued photographic identification upon device release.

9. Privacy Policy & Digital Confidentiality

Pie Bytes strictly adheres to a Zero-Retention Customer Data Protocol. We never copy, inspect, monetize, or retain personal photos, documents, or browser histories. Temporary administrative passwords collected for diagnostic verification are purged immediately upon customer collection or remote sign-out. Customer contact information is solely utilized for work order notifications, warranty status reminders, and service billing.

10. Limitation of Liability & Severability

In no event shall the total aggregate liability of Pie Bytes for any claim arising out of or related to services rendered exceed the total fees paid by Customer for the specific service work order at issue. If any provision of these Terms is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction (including Henderson County Small Claims Court) to be invalid or unenforceable, such determination shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions, which shall remain in full force and effect.