HowTo Give Computer Techs a Bad Name
This type of thing is on my top ten list of things that really tick me off. I hate it when people take advantage of others who just don’t know any better and then put their trust in them.
30 Responses to “HowTo Give Computer Techs a Bad Name”
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MALI’S BLOG Tech News, Tech Reviews, Consumer Product Reviews Says:
November 30th, 1999 at 12:00 amSo I found this on the net and figured that I should share this with all the readers of this blog especially people who love to take their computer systems to retail stores for repair. Giving Techs Bad Name
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Chad Says:
April 24th, 2007 at 1:36 pmFor $275 you could almost buy another computer!
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Sam Says:
April 24th, 2007 at 3:20 pmI firmly believe in capitalism, and I think the stores that properly diagnosed the problem and fixed it did an acceptable job charging the minimum rate. I must say I commend the shop that did it for free.
I can justify the fact that some shops charged a minimum as you are paying not just for the service, but the level of expertise that you are getting. I run my own IT Consulting and Home PC Repair business, and would say that if i went out to a client’s home and came across this problem, I’d have charged them $35 to cover my time (my usually on site min is $75).
Customer service is a lost art these days, and I strive to make my customers customers for life. I know that many of my clients have at some point been swindled, and later came to me… and I’ve made more money being honest with them than the swindlers.
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Brock Says:
April 24th, 2007 at 5:33 pm@ Sam: completely agree. A doctor charges you even if there is nothing wrong with you…
I do think that even if you diagnose a simple problem, your diagnosis is valuable, otherwise they wouldn’t be seeking your help. And I would argue that those who offer even small repairs for free undervalue their own time and lower the value of the industry as a whole. -
Andy Says:
April 24th, 2007 at 8:40 pmCongrats to the company that did it for free - they’d probably have a customer for life and some good publicity out of this report. As to the other companies, most of them do (and should) have minimum charges, but some of the companies were obviously making it up and taking advantage - This is a very similar story to car mechanics!
It obviously pays to shop around and get some quotes for minimum charges before taking the pc to the shop or alternatively find a friendly geek or teenager to help you first. -
Simon Says:
April 24th, 2007 at 9:48 pmTimes like these make me happy I know about computers. Cost is associated with anything you take an item to get fixed by a professional.
It also makes me feel I should be charging a bit for my “friendly neighbourhood services”
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CyberNet News: Keeping you plugged in! Says:
April 24th, 2007 at 10:03 pmIf you know anything about computers at least try and give people advice when they need to get something fixed, because I’m sure you would feel bad if they had to shell out that much money for something so simple! Thanks for the tip Jason! Source: Daily Cup of Tech
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TechTix Says:
April 25th, 2007 at 1:11 amlooked at you could be paying anywhere between free and $275 to fix a disconnected cable. Most companies bank on people who don’t know any better and gouge them with large prices Sometimes its just best to find a local geek who dabbles in the art. [Link]
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jeramiah Says:
April 25th, 2007 at 5:22 amthey should have plugged the cable back in and turned on the computer for that last guy that said it needed replacement parts
that was just ridiculous -
AG Says:
April 25th, 2007 at 8:01 amThey could have gone easier on the guy who said there was a jumper set wrong. Maybe he was a little clueless and switched it from CS to Master while plugging in the cable. But at least he was in the right ballpark, and he fixed it. That’s completely different than the Best Buy creep saying the power supply needed replacing, and the ridiculous last guy.
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Flatlinebb Says:
April 25th, 2007 at 6:16 pmIt is just me, or was the guy unplugging the power supply cable from the hard drive, and not the data cable, right before the explanation of what an IDE cable is? These old eyes might be failing.
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Flatlinebb Says:
April 25th, 2007 at 6:19 pmOops, later int he video they show a closeup of the afflicted area and it is the IDE cable. Sorry for the confusion.
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PC-VIP Says:
April 26th, 2007 at 6:35 amYou know, I understand the whole “undervaluing your own time” argument, and as a firm believer in caoitalism myself, I can’t and won’t argue directly.
BUT … there is a better way. It’s flat-rate pricing. And yes, that has its issues too.
Yes, I believe we’ve hit onthe way to make it work. But you already knew that.
Jeff Yablon
President & CEO
PC-VIP Inc.
PC-VIP.COM -
iladelf Says:
April 26th, 2007 at 11:40 amI recently switched to flat rate pricing instead of an hourly rate, and tell folks that, should the repair be a quick one, I will do general maintenance on the machine like an AV & spyware check, Windows Updates if needed, etc. Therefore, they don’t feel like they’re getting “ripped off”, and I’ve made a customer for life, hopefully.
Just had a customer yesterday that was a referral; she had a nearby lightning strike, and several of her electronic items in the house no longer worked. Her internet provider had already swapped out a cable modem; his laptop worked on the internet, but the customer’s two PCs did not. I warned her first that any time you’re talking lightning strikes, chances are the PCs will be toast over time (a slow failure resulting in ultimate failure in six months or less), but she elected to have me look at them. Both would boot into Windows, but both showed the network cable was unplugged, and wasn’t. Tried swapping routers, NIC cards and cables; nothing worked. She finally stopped me, felt I had done everything I could possibly do, and said she was going to contact her insurance agent for possible PC replacement.
So, what did I charge her? Not the flat fee, but reverted to my old hourly scale, which cost her half of what the flat fee would have. Now no, I didn’t fix anything, but I couldn’t, likely because the PCs were indeed “fried” by the lightning. Both were on at the time of the strike.
I believe I was fair. Had I come across something like the one mentioned in the story, I would have fixed it, charged the minimum, but did the value-added work as a courtesy as well.
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DeWey Says:
April 26th, 2007 at 5:56 pmOkay,
Puter Maytag guys we all agree, that simple problems to fix “is what they is”. And that you have to earn a living.
But, whenever you’re feeling some self-guilt over fixing something simply (and honestly), remember all the folks that call up and want you to diagnose their PC problems over the phone for free! “We can schedule a service appointment, if you’d like?” -
Dwarden Says:
April 26th, 2007 at 7:19 pmi wish that guy said what jumpers he changed …
some drivers got specific jumper settings to power management, spread sprectrum clocking etc.tho it’s not related to fail problem his opinion about “right” use of these could count against the pricing …
otherwise i agree that minimal cost (usually technician auto fixes the cable problem and then runs the full system diagnose so some work time was wasted) is max + fair explain of problem to customer …
zero price mean that firm policy is either fantastic or whoever was in charge of repair got good mood
respect to that firm and employeeanyway great test
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Chad Says:
April 27th, 2007 at 7:12 ambeing that I’m still young in the IT field, I find its easier for me (at this stage anyway) to freelance while working my regular 8-5. Freelancing gives me the option to charge either a flat fee or a hourly charge. Sometimes, depending on the situation, i might not charge anything at all, just to get some word-of-mouth advertising about my “business.” If i do ever open a little shop then I’ll figure out which pricing scheme I’ll go with.
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Dave Says:
April 27th, 2007 at 9:24 amI empathise with this story, as my parent’s have gotten ripped off by the local computer stores near them (Eastern Shore of VA….technology nomad land). My brother and I generally do “family tech support” and regularly provide upgrades to my father on holiday visits.
This kind of thing is not relegated to the IT industry either, my neighbor also was getting the shaft. Any local contractor wanted to charger her $200 minimum to come and remove a set of blinds so she could paint them. I grabbed my ladder and had them down in 10 minutes. (And will likely get some cookies in payment)
It might be a bit of my hippy side showing, but helping out in your community is always appreciated. And who knows, it might be your neighbor helping you fix your car next.
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The Consumerist: Shoppers Bite Back Says:
May 7th, 2007 at 9:08 pmrepairmen are the new shady mechanics, the creative can find plenty of profit in unexpected places. If your computer starts smoking, you might be better off getting a referral from friends for a local tech known for honest dealings. — BEN POPKEN HowTo Give Computer Techs a Bad Name [Daily Cup of Tech] [IMG]
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Eras End Says:
May 8th, 2007 at 12:21 amDaily Cup of Tech
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Onideus Mad Hatter Says:
May 8th, 2007 at 1:28 amI think the guys trying to argue that they need to charge for their time are completely full of it. I mean unless you simply don’t know what the hell you’re doing it wouldn’t take more than 3 minutes and 22 seconds worth of effort to identify and fix the problem. Even that guy who said he would have “only” charged $35…well that’s basically making the claim that your time is worth around FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS PER HOUR…that’s just plainly outrageous and anyone who would even think to charge more than FIVE dollars at MAX is simply trying to take advantage of people.
You wannabe computer repair guys really ought to think about your own lives and ought to treat your customers the way YOU would want to be treated. Imagine if you took your car to a fix it shop and they charged you $35 for taking three minutes of effort to plug a wire back in…would you think that was very fair? Probably not.
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Sam Says:
May 8th, 2007 at 7:36 amActually Onideus, I would say that it would be fair to pay the $35 to fix it. After all, he was able to figure out what I couldn’t. Had it not been for his level of knowledge, my car wouldn’t be running. Now would I feel taken if he had charged me $100 for the repair and I found out later how easy it was… yeah. Could he charge me $0 and make me happy? Sure. Honestly, I’d be almost just as happy being charged $35 as I would paying nothing. Why? because my car is running, and they were honest about the problem, and charged me very little.
As a residential PC repair tech, and IT Consultant, if I didn’t charge a minimum, I wouldn’t be profitable. Given the number of people who call, and cannot accurately describe the problem, requiring me to to fix their computer in person… I’d be out a lot of money from higher paying clients with bigger problems as my schedule would fill up with freebies. Sure it might only take a few minutes to fix, but between drive time to get to their location, and the time to fix it and go to the next freebie… I’d never make any money. For those with retail locations that people drop off their product…. you only have so many techs and so many people to work your counters…. do you want them tied up with freebies all day long? No. That’s not profitable. I’ve never had a customer complain because I charged them a minimum. In fact, I’ve had many customers who switched to me because I am honest, and my rates are consummate to my service and knowledge. (their words not mine)
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Quick Says:
May 8th, 2007 at 8:06 amSorry Onideus, but I can tell you have no experience in the field.
When I see machines with unplugged cables, the first thing I assume is that the end user has opened his or her machine and tried to fix it themselves. In other words, when I see an unplugged IDE cable, I assume that its probably been unplugged by the customer in an effort to fix the problem and the IDE cable is NOT the root problem. And the customer will never tell you he had his hands in the machine because they are trying to save themselves the embarrassment. Any tech worth a grain of salt should plug the IDE cable back in and then spend an ample amount of bench time with the machine to make sure the problem is truly fixed.
There is nothing more frustrating and therefore damaging to business than a customer lugging their machine back home, plugging all the wires back in (a real task for alot of users) and finding out that the problem is still there…all because the tech found a cable loose and the machine booted once so he buttoned it back up and pronounced it fixed.
Its about being thorough because you have no idea of the history of the machine before it hit the bench. In the video, it was easy to see the IDE cable being unplugged so the person viewing the video should just assume the tech opening up the machine for the first time should see the cable unplugged and call it a 5 second job. But as a tech, you dont have the luxury of knowing that someone just unplugged a cable.
To the few techs/stores that were making fraudulent claims (bad mobos, bad HDDs, etc) tho, I hope they get hammered.
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Onideus Mad Hatter Says:
May 8th, 2007 at 1:37 pm>As a residential PC repair tech, and IT Consultant, if I didn’t charge
>a minimum, I wouldn’t be profitable.Well you must not be very good at it then. I charge people FOR MY TIME, on average $15 to $25 an hour depending on the complexity of the work (repair is easy breezy so it’s always just $15). Now if something only takes me 4 minutes to fix, yeah, I do the gawd damn math and I only charge them about 2 bucks for it. I’m sure if you’re not very good at repair, and gosh knows there’s a LOT of you out there (like some of the doorknobs in that report), then yeah, you pretty much HAVE to overcharge in order to make any money because in most cases problems that would only take someone of my level an hour or so to figure out would probably take someone on your level twice as long or even longer to fix. If you TRULY know what you’re doing as far as computer repair…you DON’T have to screw people over for your benefit.
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Onideus Mad Hatter Says:
May 8th, 2007 at 1:38 pm> Sorry Onideus, but I can tell you have no experience in the field.
Son, I have more experience in my left pinky finger than you will ever even hope to DREAM of having in this, or any other field for that matter related to computer tech. Let me put it this way…for the short six month stint I worked as a phone repair technician…I worked TWELVE HOUR SHIFTS, SIX DAYS A WEEK, working on FIVE DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS SIMULTANEOUSLY, including e-machines, star office, third party hardware, third party software and CDW…see kid, I’m so good at what I do I can actually talk a complete n00b, over the phone, how to troubleshoot, install and setup any component or piece of software there is.
>When I see machines with unplugged cables, the first thing I assume
Free cl00, that’s where you made your FIRST mistake. NEVER make ASSumptions.
>is that the end user has opened his or her machine and tried to fix it
>themselves.And ten to one says you didn’t even bother to check to see if the “warranty void” stickers were still intact BEFORE you made that ASSumption. Fact is the MAJORITY of people WILL NOT open up their case. I mean maybe if the customer is some tweenage muppet stuffer or the computer belongs to the son/daughter of the adult bringing it in you could SUSPECT, but DO NOT ASSume that the case has already been opened.
>In other words, when I see an unplugged IDE cable, I assume
Mistake number two, making a SECOND ASSumption. Free cl00, the more of those you make…the more likely you are to be completely wrong.
>that its probably been unplugged by the customer in an effort to fix
>the problem and the IDE cable is NOT the root problem. And the
>customer will never tell you he had his hands in the machine because
>they are trying to save themselves the embarrassment. Any tech worth a
>grain of salt should plug the IDE cable back in and then spend an
>ample amount of bench time with the machine to make sure the problem
>is truly fixed.Maybe some bumbling fool like you, but a REAL tech wouldn’t need to do any more than to make sure it boots up into Windows. At THAT POINT you should CALL THE CUSTOMER, tell them that you got it working and that it boots up into Windows. Now, AT THAT POINT, you can THEN ask them if there’s anything else they want done and USUALLY, again, AT THAT POINT they will tell you about any other little quirks or problems with the OS they want fixed. So while your amateur self is bumbling through their PERSONAL setup and making ASSumptions about how they want it to run, the REAL TECH, me, is CALLING THEM ON THE PHONE TO MAKE DAMN SURE.
>Its about being thorough because you have no idea of the history of
>the machine before it hit the bench. In the video, it was easy to see
>the IDE cable being unplugged so the person viewing the video should
>just assume the tech opening up the machine for the first time should
>see the cable unplugged and call it a 5 second job. But as a tech, you
>dont have the luxury of knowing that someone just unplugged a cable.Well actually, YES, YOU DO. It’s called COMMUNICATION…now maybe YOU are LACKING in that area and you simply don’t know how to talk with your customers or you try and make them feel embarrassed and stupid about doing things like opening up their machine, but that’s YOUR DEFICIENCY, not your customers and you shouldn’t make THEM pay for it and all YOUR ASSUMPTIONS. YOU should be the on the one paying for YOUR MISTAKES, you doorknob.
>To the few techs/stores that were making fraudulent claims (bad mobos,
>bad HDDs, etc) tho, I hope they get hammered.And yet AGAIN you make ASSumptions. How do you KNOW that they were ACTUALLY making fraudulent claims and aren’t simply idiot techs? I mean if you work long enough in this field you find out pretty quick just how many posers there are out there, a lot of whom have LITTLE TO NO EXPERIENCE in fixing computers, often times they’re about as knowledgeable as the customer whose bringing in the machine to get it fixed. From a tech like that…oh yeah, I would fully expect them to botch it all up, miss the cable completely and to ASSume (like you) that it’s a bad mother board based solely on the startup error message. 10 to 1 says that last guy claiming it was the motherboard didn’t even bother to open the machine up. And why not, he’s like you, he can just ASSume what the problems are. *nods*
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Tim Fehlman Says:
May 8th, 2007 at 2:11 pmOK, everyone. I’m letting these through but the thread is starting to get a bit heated. Do not make personal attacks or assumptions about the other writers in the thread. Any comments that show up that do not follow this will be simply deleted.
Everyone take a deep breath and play nice.
Tim
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Omniboy Says:
May 9th, 2007 at 2:45 pmHow can anyone make a living as an independant contractor on $25/hour?
I can’t even do that as an employee.
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Onideus Mad Hatter Says:
May 9th, 2007 at 3:42 pmWell it depends largely on where you live. I mean in say Seattle or San Fran, yeah, $25 an hour wouldn’t cover much more than a dumpy apartment, but in Walla Walla, where I’m at, things are a LOT cheaper economic wise. Although the new wine industry is starting to hike the housing market up significantly, so it might not be too long before it winds up like Seattle and San Fran, housing wise.
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BroomeMan.com - a weblog by Donny Broome (rambling since 2001) Says:
May 10th, 2007 at 2:23 pmComputer Tech Fraud YouTube: Computer Tech Fraud. Enough to make you mad.
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Drucheap car insurance Says:
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