What is it about this profession?

[houseisland]

Why is it that even the most casual acquaintance has no qualms about asking a techie to work on their computer for free? What is it about this profession that causes people to assume that a techie's time has no value and that they have absolutely no need for any recreation/social/family downtime?

Do people routinely ask members of other professions for free services? Can I ask a mechanic to work on my car for free? Can I ask my pharmacy for free aspirin for my headache?

I don't mind close friends and family so much, and in these cases I am reasonably tolerant of major user error. I am also patient and resourceful when all the software and driver disks cannot be located. I am diligent in recovering address books, email folders, browser favourites, etc. I patiently track down all the files that have been saved in the most unlikely locations.

But, but, but, why why why why do people I know only to say Hello to have the audacity to ask me to drop over for "a few minutes" to look at their PC?

[poida217]

I agree with you totally on that one.

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I can't get lost, everyone tells me where to go.

[AlienDyne]

We have posted and answered to various similar topics. Almost everyone (including me) agrees on that.
Poeple get the wrong impression about our job and I don't know why!

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"Matter is passive. In spite of its power, it can't be controlled without the human mind." Sokrates

My Hardware Info, Hardware Media and Computer History page (http://www.geocities.com/alienhardware)

[Darren Wilson]

My answer to the 'Can u pop round?' question is now NO. If they want me to have a look at their system then they bring it to me at the workshop and get billed at the same price as everyone else does. No more am I going to have calls at 1-2am asking me why they can't connect to he internet when their ISP is down. They can wait until the morning and ask me at the shop.

The last time I asked a Mechanic 'friend' to pop over and have a look at the car, the bastard chrged me an extra £40 call out fee http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/frown.gif http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/frown.gif

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Visit my BRAND NEW Site from the 4th November 2000.

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The Webs Number One Resource for Today's Carp Angler.

[WickedTech]

I think Darren's mechanic has the right idea. Go ahead, head over to help them out but also charge them through the nose for it.

[Darren Wilson]

Oh I forgot to mention that the Mechanic 'friend' was one of the people whom I used to go and do work for him on his system for a packet of smokes http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/frown.gif Never charged him a penny for work only parts, yet the git charges me a call out fee!!! Now what is his e-mail address......where did I put that CIH virus???? http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/smile.gif http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/smile.gif http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/smile.gif

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Visit my BRAND NEW Site from the 4th November 2000.

The Carpers Lodge.net (http://www.carperslodge.net)
The Webs Number One Resource for Today's Carp Angler.

[oldman]

one reason is that there are too many people out there willing to do it for free or "smokes", until buyers understand they are getting what they pay for, this will not stop,
everyone used to have a "shadetree mechanic" that would fix their auto for little or nothing, since autos have become to complicated to fix with just a hammer and screwdriver, the "shadetree mechanic" has disappeared, the same thing will slowly happen with computers,

[Cable Modem Tech]

i totally agree, people are so rude everyone wants something for nothing... in the past i have tried to be a nice guy and help them out.... so you go there (for free) and fix them up and those people are the ones on the phone the next day screaming that now this dosent work or they cant get into this.... they seem to be the worst breed... the ones that you charge a firm price to seem to really appreciate the work that you have done..and seem to understand that if you have to come back there for an unrelated problem then it is going to cost them agian.... go figger

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Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him to use the net and he will not bother you for weeks.

[jimmr13]

I really have to agree with you 100%

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If all else fails read the directions !

[kennethstarrfp]

I tell people as I am only 14 that I charge MINIMUM of $5.00A per day, if they really can't afford it I will do free though I charge for software and hardware. I make no profit, though I charge anywhere from $50.00 to $150.00 for a three-day hard drive re-build, I had a F**KING C**T ask me to come over to her place, she was B***HING OFF about not having Works on it, so I told her that I will charge you $30.00 to buy works. Then the B***H says, but you said you would do it for free. I kept repeating she still didn't get it, I tried explaning still wouldn't listen, F**KED around with her computer for half an hour "Fixing" then called my mum and left, never went over there again. Or the lady next door, she had this "Special" deal through her church for a $2500 worth only $1200, all she wanted to do was play solitaire and Internet I said I will build you a 486 which can do all that for $150, SHE ****ING BITCHES, but the computer you would build me is out of date where this one isn't but it will be out of date later than the one you want to build me, so I said **** YOU, in geek terms, then I tell her do you want that $150 computer, I was going to throw in a 28K EX. modem KTX. But she said $150.00 is too expensive, I want it cheaper, So I told her to GET ****ED AGAIN! I told the bitch she won't get it ****ING cheaper anywhere. She still didn't get it so two months later she is computer-less, brain-less, and senile!

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Don't **** with me, I'm running LINUX!

[kennethstarrfp]

I have a Uncle tech who upgrades my machine, I still **** myself working on a $4000 dollar machine. I pay for software and parts, he installs them, he doesn't charge, I let him come over when he doesn't have anything else to do and I let him keep the old parts.

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Don't **** with me, I'm running LINUX!

[NPaladin]

Actually, people try and throw people at me.....even family members, who's money I don't want! It's really scary...I wish they'd throw women at me or something (sorry if that sounds sexist, but when it comes to decent women who might actually find me attractive, this place is BONE DRY!)

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Bryan Pizzuti
CompTIA A+, CNAP
bpizzuti@earthlink.net
ICQ # 8525092
Yahoo Messenger: npaladin_2000

[Jallentino]

It's turned me into the calloused soul that I am today. Nobody rides for free anymore. I am under the general understanding that people are just plain nutz.

[Revenant]

Try knowing how to work on Computers AND cars... ugh. It never ends. But sometimes the consolations are nice. http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/smile.gif I'll leave it at that. But in most cases I charge no matter who it is. I always need the money. I figure its cost me 50000+ to get where I'm at, so I'm not going to give my life lessons away for free. (Except on windrivers, heheheh) But I usually end up trading labor for labor. Perks can be good. http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin/forum/wink.gif

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Do one thing everyday that scares you.
Do two things everyday that scare the bejesus out of someone else.

[jaeger]

It's not just this profession. There are people out ther who freeload of anybody. I commonly refer to these people as the leeches or bloodsucking maggots or any number of choice explecitives. I have a couple of friends who are mechanics and home repair guys, and they complain about the exact same things.

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Life isn't one damn thing after another, it's the same damn thing over and over.

[Larommi]

Yeah, I used to be a surgeon but my buddy called me once to remove his daughters tonsils for a six-pack. Then when his wife had her baby he wanted me to be there. I can't count the number of times a cousin would invite me over to dinner and want me to remove a tumor or something. I quit that job in a hurry. I did not go to school all those years to work for free.

Then I decided to be a mechanic and my dad wanted me to rebuild the engine in his car. I can't even go to the store without someone wanting a lube job or tune up. "Hey, while your under the hood I have this pus oozing from my toe, could you look at it for me?"

Now I work on computers....WILL IT EVER END?

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You spend your whole life believing that you're on the right track,
only to discover that you're on the wrong train.