"My computer won`t turn on"

[Radical Dreamer]

That hurts...a little...

Imagine their *** after you were done!!!

[3fingersalute]

Imagine their *** after you were done!!!

ROFLMFAO !!!!

[+Daemon+]

You charged for that!?!?!?!? I would be ashamed of myself had I done that.

its busniess, people need to figure that out, I wish a contractor would build me a free house or charge me half or less for the house, doesnt work that way, why should it be less for a pc?

[freddy]

I was working in a computer repair shop about a year ago, when this guy walks in stating his computer won’t start. I filled out the ticket and told him we would call when it’s ready. Anyway I went to plug it in when I notice the power supply wasn’t even turned on. Easiest $80 I ever made.

and you expect repeat buissness?

i would have removed the cover , given it a good blow-out ,,,inc all the fans inc the PSU ,,,and charged an hours labour ,,

plus i would have explained to the customer ,,,and even put a sticky label on the switch..

i am glad that no friends of mine have been to your shop ,,


you are a con artist , and so are the people you work with/for,

the next time you need help ,,,i just hope you are settup for "pay pal" ,


signed

disgruntaled

[arch0nmyc0n]

and you expect repeat buissness?

i would have removed the cover , given it a good blow-out ,,,inc all the fans inc the PSU ,,,and charged an hours labour ,,

plus i would have explained to the customer ,,,and even put a sticky label on the switch..

i am glad that no friends of mine have been to your shop ,,


you are a con artist , and so are the people you work with/for,

the next time you need help ,,,i just hope you are settup for "pay pal" ,


signed

disgruntaled

that's a little harsh

[El_Squid]

Hey guys, plumbers have a minimum house call fee, mechanics have a fixed minimum hourly rate for every job, regardless of how long it took. What's so wrong with IS folks having a minimum fee? None of us appear to be independently wealthy, so I assume we do this for a living. We are professionals and our expertise is what the users are buying. Charge them the $80 bucks, but tell them about the switch. Hopefully the expensive lesson will stick!

[paraflyer]

Hey guys, plumbers have a minimum house call fee, mechanics have a fixed minimum hourly rate for every job, regardless of how long it took. What's so wrong with IS folks having a minimum fee? None of us appear to be independently wealthy, so I assume we do this for a living. We are professionals and our expertise is what the users are buying. Charge them the $80 bucks, but tell them about the switch. Hopefully the expensive lesson will stick!

Bingo.

I don't do too much side work; but when I'm asked I immediately respond with "$45 per hour, one hour minimum".

Either they walk off, or they're willing to pay for the service.

[Chosen One]

Bingo.

I don't do too much side work; but when I'm asked I immediately respond with "$45 per hour, one hour minimum".

Either they walk off, or they're willing to pay for the service.

Wow, you're cheap! I get $75/hr for home users and $100/hr for businesses. That's the general going rate. I always look at it this way, I should get what I'm worth. Maybe it's different depending on where you're located. I'm in a larger metropolitan area.

[arch0nmyc0n]

The price goes up in larger cities I've noticed. Last time I counted, for my town of 75 thousand, we had at least 25 shops or related place that fixes computers in some fashion. Plus multitudes of local geniuses that think they know what they're doing with computers. The average hourly rate around here is about $55 an hour (CAD) the shop I'm at is $45 an hour. And people think that's too much.

[Outcoded]

If it were a carry in, and that simple, I'd have been inclined just to say £5, no way would I have billed an hour.

On site would be a different matter....

[gjohnson]

I have had that before. I only charge 50$ an hour with a minimum of 30mins for a house call and round to the nearest quarter hour. But since my technical know-how is a bit beyond just computers I also have worked on one guy's sterio system. As I tell my clients, if they want to pay me 50$ an hour to cook them dinner, I have no problem with that as long as they cover the cost of the supplies.

I remember one time this extended knowledge came in handy. This was when I was working for a company as the WebMaster and I walked into the office of one of the temp techs working on setting up a new computer for one of the big bosses. It of course came with a nice big, expensive, sound system and the tech was having a problem with it. The head of the MIS dept and the Network Administrator were in the office too trying to figure out what was wrong with the sound system.

Apparently they had been working with it for almost an hour and had tried different software configurations, reinstalling drivers, and even calling Dell Tech Support and still had the problem. What the problem was that when they played music it kept cutting out when it got to loud parts. I asked what was going on as it's not usually a good sign to see those people all together working on something, and they told me.

I looked at the setup they had with a glance and started laughing. Well the MIS head got ticked at me for laughing and asked why I was doing so. I told him because I knew what was wrong. So he told me to stop laughing and tell them cause this was taking up time and they were about to just send the computer back to Dell as "defective".

So I had to compose myself real quick and told the temp tech to uncoil the speaker cords. He did, and it worked without any problem. I asked if they wanted me to explain why the coiled speaker cord caused the problem, but being meat heads they said no and just left it at that.

In`duct´or
Noun 1. inductor - an electrical device that introduces inductance into a circuit

Description: An inductor is usually constructed as a coil of conducting material, typically copper wire, coiled around a non-conductive core such as air or a ferrous material.

Because of their ability to alter AC signals, inductors are used extensively in analog electronics and signal processing, including radio reception and broadcasting. As the inductive reactance XL changes with frequency, an electronic filter can use inductors in conjunction with capacitors and other components to filter out specific parts of the frequency spectrum.

Speakers use AC, analog, signals.

But alas, they chose to remain ignorant.

[Cleetus]

Bingo.

I don't do too much side work; but when I'm asked I immediately respond with "$45 per hour, one hour minimum".

Either they walk off, or they're willing to pay for the service.

Yep, for me it is $50 an hour, and I always over estimate how much time it will take. Scares off most people, and those that are really serious are usually happier when they get the bill as I overestimate. But then again, I will only take 2 or 3 extra jobs a year.