Have you tried to save the HPT files as another file format? Alternatively, if you're not able to open open up the HPT extensions then you should be able to download some free file converter software so you can convert the files into another format.
As far as the tuner goes, I would stay on him until you get an answer if they are going to pay for any of the repairs and go from there. Unless you signed something that says they are not responsible for any damages then I don't see how they could get away with this.
EDIT: Here's a site that might help
http://www.pdftoexcelonline.com/
