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Any IT guys do house calls for people at their work

I

Insomniator

Diamond Member
I just graduated and started working for a state college full of people that don't know crap about computers of course.

I get asked about once a month if I do house calls as they can't get online or need something set up etc...

I've always said no because I don't have the time (work 8:30-4:30 with an hour commute each way) but I dunno, I'm sure I could fit a few jobs in here and there for some extra cash.

My dad who now has a regular 9-5 still runs a little side computer support business and has a few clients each week that he takes care of on Thursdays (off from the 9-5 every thurs) and weekends. He said he'd take the jobs but now I'm thinkin maybe I want to do em.

He charges 65 an hour, I was thinking the same. That's cheaper than geek squad (which they all say they will call up instead) right?
 
hell no, you have to be a masochist or just fucking retarded to do that.

also I work with highly technical people so it would never come up
 
no

no

tell them you charge double what your dad charges, so $130 per hour and you have a two hour minimum that has to be paid up front, so they must give you $260 before you'll take the appointment, that should get them to leave you alone
 
haha... alright then. Why exactly is everyone against it? What is the difference between doing jobs for these people vs my dad doing jobs for his clients?

He sends them a bill... they send back a check. I'm already supporting these people for their stupid issues at work, I'm sure its all the same at home.
 
Originally posted by: Insomniator
haha... alright then. Why exactly is everyone against it? What is the difference between doing jobs for these people vs my dad doing jobs for his clients?

He sends them a bill... they send back a check. I'm already supporting these people for their stupid issues at work, I'm sure its all the same at home.
Click to expand...

You work for them and see them all the time. Once you charge them even once then they will expect anything aftre that to be covered.
 
It's very true that once you touch it you own it. They might be fine giving you $65 or whatever to set up their printer once, but that's with the expectation of lifetime, unlimited free support at the drop of a hat. Maybe out of kindness tell them verbally how to solve their problem (if you can) or send them some web pages that'll help them (in my experience they never read them), but don't do any more.

<-- Still on said "lifetime support" contract with a guy I worked with 2 years ago.
 
you basically need to be like a used car salesman to do this job (not dissing your dad, maybe he has the personality to handle these type of (l)users )

if you help (l)users with their PC, even if you make them pay , they'll blame you for every problem that ever occurs on the PC after you touched it and they'll want you to fix the new problem for no charge since they feel you should have figured it out the first time you touched their PC , they think since Dell/Apple have good warranties, that you as a tech should do all subsequent work under an assumed 'warranty' for them for free
 
If you do do it ... ensure that they know that each time they call, they'll be paying a minimum of $65 ... otherwise as someone else said, you'll 'own' their systems, and be responsible for everything that really isn't your issue.
 
Fixing Co-Workers computers is like stabbing yourself in the eye. IF you enjoy that sort of thing .... well go for it. I am sure we all know how easy it is to get burned with those types of "relationships".
 
Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Originally posted by: Insomniator
haha... alright then. Why exactly is everyone against it? What is the difference between doing jobs for these people vs my dad doing jobs for his clients?

He sends them a bill... they send back a check. I'm already supporting these people for their stupid issues at work, I'm sure its all the same at home.
Click to expand...

You work for them and see them all the time. Once you charge them even once then they will expect anything aftre that to be covered.
Click to expand...

thats why i dont charge for it. if its friends at work ill respond with "sure, whats for dinner?". usually its something tasty, we will hang out and eat while fixing stuff, drink a few and chat. sometimes they try to force money on me, sometimes not. but i always make sure they realize it is a favor, not a job.
 
Stare blankly at them, with a look that appears to be just thinly masking sheer horror. That usually gets the point across.
 
Originally posted by: hanoverphist
Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Originally posted by: Insomniator
haha... alright then. Why exactly is everyone against it? What is the difference between doing jobs for these people vs my dad doing jobs for his clients?

He sends them a bill... they send back a check. I'm already supporting these people for their stupid issues at work, I'm sure its all the same at home.
Click to expand...

You work for them and see them all the time. Once you charge them even once then they will expect anything aftre that to be covered.
Click to expand...

thats why i dont charge for it. if its friends at work ill respond with "sure, whats for dinner?". usually its something tasty, we will hang out and eat while fixing stuff, drink a few and chat. sometimes they try to force money on me, sometimes not. but i always make sure they realize it is a favor, not a job.
Click to expand...

I would really do that if they were friends but I'm 23 and the average age here has got to be.... 50.

I don't know, Im still at the stage where i actually like helping people. That won't last long so maybe I should get the money while i can.
 
This topic comes up like once a week.

The problem isn't that you spend time helping them and get some money out of it. If that was the case it'd be cool and many more of us would do it. The problem is you basically own that computer after you touch it. You're "an expert" and they will expect that you back up your work 100,000% percent.

You helped them move their pictures from one folder to another? Well what'd you do to break the internet. You better come by and fix it.
Hey after you installed that antivirus program I can't chat with my grand kids? You better come over and fix it.
Hey, thanks for helping me install [stupid program here]. My computer doesn't turn on now what'd you do?

The kicker? The second part will usually come after months have passed. You installed firefox, and now 8 months later the computer doesn't turn on - what'd you do? People who you'd help don't understand but they're more than happy to assign blame.

You won't be able to run from these people either. You'll see them everyday. This all seems pretty outrageous and you're thinking "my coworkers/friends/relatives are pretty rational people though, I don't think they'd do that" - when their computer breaks at any point after you touch it oh yes they will. We've all been there and are just trying to warn you.
 
if they are a good friend/coworker do it for free. that way they wont feel that you owe them anything and will probably be reluctant to fall into the lifetime support zone.
 
Originally posted by: Insomniator
haha... alright then. Why exactly is everyone against it? What is the difference between doing jobs for these people vs my dad doing jobs for his clients?

He sends them a bill... they send back a check. I'm already supporting these people for their stupid issues at work, I'm sure its all the same at home.
Click to expand...

minus the money backing of the corporate...no thanks!

I get asked this a lot, and say I cannot do it. They WILL hound you forever if you do it once. Unless you are Ok with that, I would not do it.
 
Originally posted by: Insomniator
Originally posted by: hanoverphist
Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Originally posted by: Insomniator
haha... alright then. Why exactly is everyone against it? What is the difference between doing jobs for these people vs my dad doing jobs for his clients?

He sends them a bill... they send back a check. I'm already supporting these people for their stupid issues at work, I'm sure its all the same at home.
Click to expand...

You work for them and see them all the time. Once you charge them even once then they will expect anything aftre that to be covered.
Click to expand...

thats why i dont charge for it. if its friends at work ill respond with "sure, whats for dinner?". usually its something tasty, we will hang out and eat while fixing stuff, drink a few and chat. sometimes they try to force money on me, sometimes not. but i always make sure they realize it is a favor, not a job.
Click to expand...

I would really do that if they were friends but I'm 23 and the average age here has got to be.... 50.

I don't know, Im still at the stage where i actually like helping people. That won't last long so maybe I should get the money while i can.
Click to expand...

the money is the problem. once you charge and accept the cash, it becomes a "customer-supplier" relationship. hence, they think they own you. when its just a favor, they inherently know they have no recourse if it gets fucked up again 2 months down the road. im 39, been doing this for a long time. some of my work friends are over 60, some are low 20s. we all get along fairly well, havent had much issue with the age gap when i help them out.
 
Originally posted by: Garou24
Fixing Co-Workers computers is like stabbing yourself in the eye. IF you enjoy that sort of thing .... well go for it. I am sure we all know how easy it is to get burned with those types of "relationships".
Click to expand...

HA! Sadly that's not far from the truth. I would not recommend you do it - too many things can go wrong and you will still have to work with them.

I will however help out close friends but, at most for, beer/dinner + cost of parts
 
Hmm. I've done this for years, make a pretty decent side living ($500-$2,000/mo, depending on what's needed / home vs. server/backoffice), and I don't have the problems described in this thread. Communication is the biggest key. My clients rarely encounter the same issues after I've explained things and made solid recommendations. I also offer satisfaction guarantees, and probably spend less than 30 minutes monthly on the phone with post-support.
 
If you wanna make some extra money on the side with no strings attached then mow lawns. For some reason people seem to understand that you have to cut grass every week or 2 because it naturally grows back and they are happy to pay you again the next time you come. For whatever reason, they seem to think that once you fix one problem on their computer, EVERYTHING that was wrong with their computer is now fixed and if anything EVER goes wrong again after you've touched it, then it must be because of something you did to it and is henceforth your responsibility to fix it regardless of how inept and clueless the owner of the poor computer in question is with respect to said computers proper care and maintenance.

I guess in a less cynical way I could have said this as, fixing people's computers is sort of like fixing their cars. People are always a little bit mystified and maybe a little bit wary about whether or not you're ripping them off because they don't understand the thing themselves. Anybody can understand that grass, fingernails, hair, grow back naturally. So they expect to pay each time they need their lawn mowed or their hair cut. Most people don't really know how black boxes like cars and computers work though so they don't know if you're really charging them a fair price or really fixing the thing you say you're fixing or what. So since they don't really understand these things, they are quite willing to make very hasty and large leaps to reach illogical conclusions that since you were the last person to touch it, whatever goes wrong with it next must have been something you did.
 
If you want to earn money on the side, start a llc or something, but skip on the informal work with coworkers. Unless you really like the person, and they full understand this is a one time thing, it can only get worse from there. I've dealt with shitty people at work, so I can only imagine how some of them would react to their home pc not working. Your job is to work for the company, not to do private work for their employees. It's best to keep work civil, and that starts with limiting outside communication with people from work.

If you want proof, go ask your company's accountants for tax advice. Seriously, they know a good bit about taxes and could give you answers. But you'll get some of the same responses mentioned in this thread. They don't want to be responsible if you do something wrong or you forget to mention something that would have affected their advice.

I've actually thought about doing my own llc to do computer administration for small businesses. I've done it for so long, I could easily setup a few small businesses and manage them. The tough part would be finding enough clients to make this worthwhile, which is a risk of running a business. That would be a better risk than pissing off coworkers that could your affect full-time job.
 
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