In so-called "crisis times" maybe we can re-start accepting other payments , it depends on WHO and WHAT

It would be unfair to pass judgment without knowing the full circumstances. However, I suspect that the quote was a blind one, and that it allowed for the cost of parts. In the days of CRT TVs you would have paid for diagnostic time. However, for flat panel TVs, or TVs with complicated digital logic (PIP, teletext, etc), the cost is in the parts, if you can find them. Parts for HDDs, OTOH, are cheap.

That said, if your problem were a power supply or inverter issue, then this is often due to capacitors that have gone high ESR. A blind quote, however, would have to allow for a power supply, or maybe a lamp in the case of RPTVs.

As for schematics, I still have a few from the good old days. As you say, some companies would supply them. In fact Seagate gave me several paper manuals, gratis. I also have three CDC manuals, all for the one drive. They are as thick as phone books. I also have a huge library of paper databooks that cost me a lot to buy, and just about as much to ship. In the latter case I usually prefer CD ROMs, or downloadable PDFs.

In any case, I'm not suggesting that the OP engage a TV/AV guru to repair a hard drive. We just need the soldering expertise of one of his junior techs. Such a job requires neither diagnostic time nor spare parts. How much would *you* charge for such a service? ;-)

I charge zero EUR for the service, it's my time that cost a lot per second...