Lost All Files On My Lap Top?

I went to use my lap top one day and it would boot up, but the screen would only show white and then some times go grey, but go back to white. I hooked it up to my tv, and everything worked perfectly. I was able to see the screen and do whatever I needed to do on my computer, it just had to be through the tv. I originally bought it from best buy and it was still covered under the warranty so I took it to the geek squad and they shipped it out, fixed it and shipped it back. I was told that if for whatever reason they needed to reset my computer and my files would be lost, I would get a call and have the option to have all my files downloaded to an online data base for an extra price. I did not get a call at all during the entire process, until it was ready for me to pick it up. I get home and go to use it again and my entire computer was reset back to factory settings and I lost EVERYTHING. I am not worried about anything except the pictures of my children, including my son’s 1st birthday. I am wondering first, if to fix the screen, which they told me it was a loose connection between the base and the screen, what is the chance of all my files being lost? Im really confused because I do not understand why all my stuff would need to be erased during this process. My second question would be, what are the chances of recovering these files, and if it is possible how do I go about doing that?
I called geek squad and they told me that I should have been offered a recover disk that I would have to pay extra for, which they did not offer, they specifically said if they needed to go internal, I would get a call for permission to download the files because this would cost an extra $100. Obviously I can’t say they did something wrong, because i did sign papers for this problem, but im devastated.
I can say that I will never go to geek squad again.
My computer was fixed, sent back and then during the shipping, the cord came loose and the screen still didn’t work, so they sent it back and had it fixed and now I have it. But I did not get a call letting me know what had happened, I felt like they were trying to hide it from me.
please let me know what you think. Thank you!