Ethics dilema

[Niclo Iste]

I currently have a dilema and I am trying to get advice from as many directions as possible. To give you insite on my point of view before we progress I will tell you my perspective on working with people.
I have always had the personal goal of make a person feel as welcome and not a burden to me in any way when I make a visit. I try to convey that it's not their fault things go bad and that it happens to everyone. I also make an effort to teach them tricks and techniques that can help prevent issues from happening again. On top of that I have a PDF guide I give them to avoid spam/spyware/virii from being put on the computer. My ultimate goal is to get the job done as efficiently as possible and at the lowest cost option available unless the client specifically tells me to do otherwise. In the end I want to leave even if the end result is not exactly what they expected and have them happy. Now on to my ethical dilema.
My boss deals in fast turn around as far as I can observe. He makes promises of anything can be done just to get the job from the client. His biggest issue is selling new computers and doing what he calls "reinstalls" which is taking the computer from the location back to the shop doing a loose backup of data and reinstalling windows. New units $750, a reinstall is $70 for the pickup/visit + $150 for the reinstall + $70 for delivery with an optional + $140 for absolute data recovery attempts if the data was lost by client. This is the routine for the following examples. BSOD, Smitfraud, Vundo, or any other spyware or virus that hinders a PC (NOT CRIPPLES IT) this is further compounded by the internal proceedure to give up after 15 minutes if it's not able to be fixed in that time frame. Mind you even his most "experienced" technicians of over 10 years follow this policy. After all is said and done if the client isn't happy with the end result in having to reinstall windows and start over with a folder on the desktop that says "old stuff" they follow up with some speech about "well when a *insert reason* happens it's very hard to get everything back and programs are lost". They add to this that it's a good time to offer the sale of a back up external drive, a copy of norton that we sell, and upgrades to the pc. Now mind you if I was in the land of gold and platinum where people wipe their butts with 100 dollar bills I might not have an issue with this. But I'm told on a daily basis to increase my sales and push rebuilds left and right with every client I can do this to. I won't do it. I can't justify selling fear to my clients, I also can't/won't sell anything to someone unless they ask for it on their own decision. I may suggest but I never insist they have to have it or bad things might happen to the pc soon and all is lost. My sales rely on my clients to trust and not resent me. I always believed a happy customer will call me later on to buy the suggested item or at least pay me to install said item even if it was bought elsewhere. I never fear that they might find someone with a better deal as I'd rather them trust me rely on me because of what I've shown in character. Another issue I have with this "reinstall" is I waste an hour to go there, I waste another 15-60 minutes to diagnose, and I waste another 1 leaving. I then waste another 1 hour to return the item, 1 more hour to deploy/setup, and another hour leaving not to mention the 2-5 hours workin on the damned thing at my shop. I get roughly 60% of the total cost back to me as payment and the numbers just seem to not be worth it anyway. Technically speaking I can fix a smitfraud/viral infection usually in 1.5-2.5 hours at 70 an hour which yes is cheaper but the turn around in volume over time is more a profit to me at least with how I calculate the numbers. So now that I bored all of you to death with my dilema what should I do? Should I keep working for him under my own ethos regardless? Look for another job? Give in to his demands? I just really don't know what would be best. This is one of the reasons why I want to work from home doing remote connections for him. That way I'm out of the loop of the practices I don't want to be associated with.

[CeeBee]

Looks like he has a fairly good sense of business. People tend to avoid spending whenever possible, if you don't push a thing a bit they won't buy it and when [s]they break the PC[/s] the PC breaks again they blame the tech (hey it was just fixed...), forgetting it's not a dishwasher.
It really depends on how the job market is in your area, do some research and then you'll know what the best step is.
Also don't forget that:

a reinstall is $70 for the pickup/visit + $150 for the reinstall + $70 for delivery

That adds to $300, you can almost buy a new PC for that money, some people have already figured that out, many others will follow. Labor rates are going up, PC prices are going down.

[Niclo Iste]

Agreed, I have already had 3 declined reinstalls due to the "I can buy one for 50 dollars more" card. Not that I complain at all seeing i'd rather not waste the time and money throwing away 9 of my hours on their system. I see your point of them blaming it on the guy who fixed it but I've seen people complain after a complete reinstall that once they got the virus back in that it was the techs fault because "reinstalling windows didn't get rid of the virus". That's why I teach them how to avoid virii and give them the PDF. It's my insurance to prove I did my part now they need to do theirs. I try to keep the scope of repair and teacher in the same light when dealing with computer issues. It doesn't get rid of the bad assumptions but it does reduce them for me. I always am prepared to have negative feedback because even today the computer is still considered by many the "magical box that can do anything" due to little understanding on the users part.

[slgrieb]

Guys like your boss are one of the main reasons I got into computer service. At first, it was self-defense. Later, when I needed a job change, I realized I could make a living fixing this stuff.

Seems to me you've largely answered your own questions, since you clearly aren't comfortable with the company. Still, the best time to find a new job is while you have one. As long as you work for this guy, you're obligated to play by his rules, like 'em or not. And that includes not poaching customers for work "on the side". Nothing wrong with keeping a contact file for future use though.

[dr format]

I'm gonna sound a bit off the wall, maybe, but I've been doing this for a long time, and my understanding of serving the customer has changed a bit. I've done LOTS of "hero" work, included free 90 day versions of NAV, installed spybot and ad-aware for free on a whole bunch of computers. I even included a handout sheet that explained spyware/adware/malware. Out of the hundreds or so PC's I did this to, probably 1% of these people actually appreciated it to the point of even giving me a chance to repair their computer or sell them a new one. This is because wiht a few exceptions, nobody appreciates something that they do not pay for. We have a saying. Milk the goats, feed the sheep. This is not to say that we are untruthful, or take shortcuts. It is only by charging a fair price, dictated by market forces, geographinc location, etc that you can stay in business. We have a best buy 10 minutes from us. We are a small business that has stayed in business for over 12 years. Being a 'good guy' is not the same as being good to our customers. If I ever felt that my boss was being unscrupulous with our customers, I would run like hell. If I find over 30 items, depending on the type of items, with ad-aware and spybot, I recommend a wipe and reload of windows. If I don't, a lot of times the computer comes back 3 days to 3 weeks with the same issues. Nobody will pay you $60 and hour, or whatever the going rate is to waltz through their registry and look for every problem. Don't mis-undrstand me. I LIKE most of the people I deal with, but by doing the job in the most efficient way we keep most of our customers. I know that new PC prices come awfully close in price to extended repairs, but the customer neds to understand that if they do the same things with their new computer that they did with their old computer, then they will have the SAME PROBLEMS. I offer our spyware removal suite, installed with printed help for $30. If they don't want that, it's OK with me. I also tell them that their ISP probably has anti virus, etc software they can download and install. I can be specific on what they need to do to protect themselves, but I refuse to tell people what I have had to learn over a long, long time for free so that they can go someplace else and save a litle money. I realize that my situation is different from some of the other members, because I work for a small business as a bench tech. I am salaried, but my productivity is much more than sufficient for what I'm paid. Maybe the best thing to do is have a long talk with yourself as to whether you feel you are at the right place. My boss always asks me stuff like "are you looking for the opportunity to sell more RAM while their PC is here?" and stuff like that. I don't think there is anything wrong with that. Will it help their computer run better? Yes. Will it increse our profit? Absolutely. Capitalism is not a bad word

DR Format

[Niclo Iste]

Don't get me wrong I offer things when things are needed but I don't like driving a sale through guilt or fear to them. Truth be told I find giving up after 15 minutes and formating a hard drive a waste of time, energy, and a sign of not knowing how to fix a problem. This amounts to me like taking the car in to the garage and the mechanic saying oh well we couldn't figure out why the left turn signal wasn't working so we replaced all the electrical wiring, and components in the car followed up by them telling me I better buy more spare tires pay extra insurance coverage just in case this happens again. Just because the bulb was burned out. I bill for my time and don't give things away free. I do give the best options available and explanations for each choice. I already learned a long time ago charity doesn't put food on my plate. Customers who feel they were cheated and are resentful don't give much money to me again either though. WinXP with 128 megs RAM gets a suggestive sale and an example of what improvements there are with more memory. I do that kind of stuff often. It's not that I don't like to sell. I just don't like to sell things that aren't needed under the premise it's needed. Maybe I am at fault. Maybe my beliefs aren't what they should be. But I'll tell you this. My reputation has skyrocketed with how I handle things, I get client call backs more than I can handle at times, I get referrals left and right, plus aparantly there is some site around here where people review businesses and I have from what clients tell me the best reviews. So if I'm in error I'd hate to be right. I'm resigned to think that maybe I should just tough it out and when the opportunity arises start a company on my own or with a partner.

[geeksRus]

my biggest complaint with all this is the total lack of paragraphs.

myself i offer a total imaging of a system for $35. and the customer can have the dvd or cd set. if things go bad then its simple to apply the image (another $35 for sitting and watching it run).

if they lose it then too bad...its gonna cost em when things go south. done once a month...or whenever they want...they are good for a recovery and lose only whatever was saved between backups.

i also will set up an auto backup to cd or another drive if they want . its up to them to make sure it runs.

[Guts3d]

I think that Slgrieb hit the nail on the head, but everyone else without exception has made good points. I offer things to the clients, like ram or a better motherboard / CPU combo, but then I also tell them my opinion of what I would do if I were them.

I first ask the customer what they typically do with the unit first, so I know where they are coming from. If they surf the web and play cards, then 512 megs of ram with XP or 2000 is typically enough for most.

And I didn't forget the paragraphs!