Used and Abused...

A friend of mine, for whom I've offered my services in the past (at discount rates, mind you), decided to upgrade his home PC a few months ago.

Not being technically inclined, he invites a mutual friend to help him out. I'm not aware of this at the time and would think nothing of it as this 2nd person has some knowledge of PCs and their workings. It's not as if he's stealing a client away from me.

This mutual friend then proceeds to call me up during the evening. The questions are getting stranger and stranger as the calls come in, as they are very specific and technical. As I said, I think nothing of it at the time, as we have had many similar discussions in the past.

So I find out some time later what exactly went down and I can't help but feel... used, if you will. The mutual friend was calling me up for assistance, for which my services had not been contracted, to help out the first fellow, who still benefited from my skills and experience. Without charge.

It's too late now to bill anyone, but I have learned from my mistake. I give out very little info to friends over the phone now. If any given question sounds like it will take up more than 15 minutes of my time, I kindly decline to participate, propose URLs or local shops.

Just another example of how us techs can get screwed :eek: :mad: :eek:

Yea, I know how you feel here. I give free support to some of my very close friends. I was very good friends with a girl that I used to work with and didn't mind helping her with her computer problems... then, it turned into giving support to her boyfriend... then her boyfriend's brother... then her boyfriend's best friend... and then her best friend. Don't get me wrong. I started learning about computers for my personal benefit of knowledge. So I don't care about making money on every service call. It's really not a big deal to me because I truly enjoy helping people and I'm living pretty good right now. /me starts looking for wood. :D Anyhow, it just turned into this big cluster f*ck of their friends being helped by me and I got sick of it and just started blowing them all off. Not really friends with any of them now but it makes no nevermind to me. People have a huge tendancy to take advantage if you give 'em an inch

So true, Aplustech, so true...

Word-of-mouth does open up some consulting opportunities, but it's mostly a pain in the a$$ as prospective clients expect to pay (or not pay) the same rates the referral person did (or did not)...

That's why I warn my "discount clients" that if I ever hear that they told another person what "special" I was offering them, I'd have to stop doing so with them. :D

This is every day with me bud. One day I went on a rant in front of almost everyone who bugs me about how a friend had his mother call my cell phone so I could talk to her for over an hour and a half to get her to copy and paste freakin' files! So that's 90 of my minutes on my phone gne with no reimbursement and nobody has a clue as to how much I don't want to talk about computers to novices after leaving the helpdesk at night. They have no damn idea.

The most interesting thing is that after my rant this one guy comes out of our house and says "Oh there you are - hey my gigahertz modem is slow and they said that you..." Everyone just kind look at me blank eyed lie "Damn - sucks to be you." and then proceeded to keep going with the questions the next day.

Now, other techs I love to shoot the poop with but the users on your day off...

I know the feeling all too well , I only here from people if their computer breaks down, I don't mind helping folks out, but to only here from them when they want my service, whatever happened to true friendship
Its too bad I guess , I have started charging for my services and I am cheap compared to a "real" tech :)

I don't give phone support to friends/acquaintances any more. They want me to help them out, they either bring the machine to me or I go to them. If it is the latter, then they better have plenty of Coffee, Cigarettes, and a nice bundle of cash sitting on the table when I get there or I am back home before they know it. You find out exactly who your friends are when you ask them to pay for your services. The ones who moan about paying a measly fee for me to go out of my way to help them, aer not classed as friends and get given a 'wrong' telephone number if they ask for one. I feel sorry for the person who's number is one digit different to mine :D :D :D

I know this problem very well.
The dumber the user, the more it pi$$es me off.

I'm very VERY tempted to buy the <a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/apparel/388b.shtml" target="_blank">"No I Will Not Fix Your Computer" t-shirt from thinkgeek.com</a>.

:mad:

[quote]Originally posted by senectus:
<strong>I know this problem very well.
The dumber the user, the more it pi$$es me off.

I'm very VERY tempted to buy the <a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/apparel/388b.shtml" target="_blank">"No I Will Not Fix Your Computer" t-shirt from thinkgeek.com</a>.

:mad: </strong><hr></blockquote>

Im tempted to have that tattoo'd on my forehead.. Im not sure how it will turn out in my wedding photos though..

the only time I do free support is to a mate who fixes my car. Firstly because he fixes my car, and secondly because his sister is an absoloute angel...

[quote]Originally posted by EvilCabbage:
<strong>

Im tempted to have that tattoo'd on my forehead.. Im not sure how it will turn out in my wedding photos though..</strong><hr></blockquote>

Well if your avatar is a self photo then I think it would be an improvement. ;) ;) ;)

There is one girl that I work with that always bugs me. She seems to know a little about computers but attempts to build them, f***s them up and the comes to me looking for answers. One of those people that won't say hi to you walking down the hall but will hunt you down when they have a question.

So the last time she comes up to me, she says

Her: "Um... do you know anyone that could get me Windows 2000?"
Me: "Sure, I know exactly who."
Her: "Great! I'll be willing to pay for the CD and all or just bring you one if you want."
Me: "Yea, paying for a cd might be required. Microsoft sells them for about $300."
Her: "Come on you know what I mean... Do you know anyone that can help me out?"
Me: "Sure, I'll be right back."

Fifteen minutes later I show back up with our head of security (Who I am good friends with)

Me: "Hey Mike, (pointing to her) She wants a pirated version of Windows 2000 Pro. Think you can help her out?"

She hasn't asked another question since :D

yep, me knows this all to well, and unfortunatly i've delt with it quiet badly latley...

Litterly picking them up by the back of their shirt and pants and throwing them through my door (open of course) thus why i havent had much business latley :( :mad:

[quote]Originally posted by senectus:
<strong>I know this problem very well.
The dumber the user, the more it pi$$es me off.

I'm very VERY tempted to buy the <a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/apparel/388b.shtml" target="_blank">"No I Will Not Fix Your Computer" t-shirt from thinkgeek.com</a>.

:mad: </strong><hr></blockquote>

Good one! :D

I like <a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/apparel/3239.shtml" target="_blank">this one</a> :p