Computer Repairs = Money

WarmAndSCSI

Banned
Jun 4, 2001
1,683
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Man, I never realized the market around here. I'm making $150 doing simple repairs because people here have nowhere to take their computers because the local repair shops are run by morons. I'm just replacing one vid card and one motherboard....
 

rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
47,351
14
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the problem with that is follow up. You are now the person that those people are going to call at 11pm when they cant check their aol email...I stay away from fixing things for anyone that isnt really close to me
 

WarmAndSCSI

Banned
Jun 4, 2001
1,683
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Actually, they are all friends/relatives of a friend of mine who couldn't do the repairs but helps them with most computer stuff anyways, so they'll still turn to him for the easy stuff ;) hopefully
 

Oakenfold

Diamond Member
Feb 8, 2001
5,740
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Originally posted by: RichieZ
you are now tech support 4LIFE

Yup, I do it for my family and it's PITA.

It doesn't matter if something is actually wrong or they are just calling you to get assistance with how to access a floppy disk. ;)
 

Wallydraigle

Banned
Nov 27, 2000
10,754
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Originally posted by: TheUnhappyCamper
Actually, they are all friends/relatives of a friend of mine who couldn't do the repairs but helps them with most computer stuff anyways, so they'll still turn to him for the easy stuff ;) hopefully


Yeah, if I didn't want to deal with annoying relatives I'd probably get a friend to do it too. It doesn't matter, they're coming to you from now on.

 

rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
47,351
14
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Originally posted by: TheUnhappyCamper
Actually, they are all friends/relatives of a friend of mine who couldn't do the repairs but helps them with most computer stuff anyways, so they'll still turn to him for the easy stuff ;) hopefully

see above:

You are now tech support 4LIFE!!!!
 

Spac3d

Banned
Jul 3, 2001
6,651
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I'm glad you aren't my "friend." $150 to replace a motherboard and video card is hardly a deal, you took their money.
 

Looney

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
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Originally posted by: TheUnhappyCamper
Actually, they are all friends/relatives of a friend of mine who couldn't do the repairs but helps them with most computer stuff anyways, so they'll still turn to him for the easy stuff ;) hopefully

You charge your family and friends to do such simple stuff?
 

WarmAndSCSI

Banned
Jun 4, 2001
1,683
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Originally posted by: Spac3d
I'm glad you aren't my "friend." $150 to replace a motherboard and video card is hardly a deal, you took their money.

Actually it's two separate jobs. And they OFFERED me the money. I didn't even ASK. The computer shops in town would charge 2x more and want to replace 3x as many parts.
 

WarmAndSCSI

Banned
Jun 4, 2001
1,683
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Originally posted by: Moralpanic
Originally posted by: TheUnhappyCamper
Actually, they are all friends/relatives of a friend of mine who couldn't do the repairs but helps them with most computer stuff anyways, so they'll still turn to him for the easy stuff ;) hopefully

You charge your family and friends to do such simple stuff?

^ See post above ^

They aren't my family/friends.... they are my friend's family and their landlord.
 

Looney

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
21,938
5
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Originally posted by: TheUnhappyCamper
Originally posted by: Spac3d
I'm glad you aren't my "friend." $150 to replace a motherboard and video card is hardly a deal, you took their money.

Actually it's two separate jobs. And they OFFERED me the money. I didn't even ASK. The computer shops in town would charge 2x more and want to replace 3x as many parts.

Where do you live that they would charge $300 to replace a motherboard and videocard?!
 

Looney

Lifer
Jun 13, 2000
21,938
5
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Originally posted by: TheUnhappyCamper
Originally posted by: Moralpanic
Originally posted by: TheUnhappyCamper
Actually, they are all friends/relatives of a friend of mine who couldn't do the repairs but helps them with most computer stuff anyways, so they'll still turn to him for the easy stuff ;) hopefully

You charge your family and friends to do such simple stuff?

^ See post above ^

My hair stylist is a family friend, and i fixed her computer... she wanted to pay me, but i turned her down. All it took was a reinstall of the OS, took all of 20 mins. And got a free haircut.
 

WarmAndSCSI

Banned
Jun 4, 2001
1,683
0
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Originally posted by: Moralpanic
Originally posted by: TheUnhappyCamper
Originally posted by: Spac3d
I'm glad you aren't my "friend." $150 to replace a motherboard and video card is hardly a deal, you took their money.

Actually it's two separate jobs. And they OFFERED me the money. I didn't even ASK. The computer shops in town would charge 2x more and want to replace 3x as many parts.

Where do you live that they would charge $300 to replace a motherboard and videocard?!

The computer repair shop in our town... then they'd just replace it with a PoS.... and they'd be replacing even MORE parts, so even more money wasted. Trust me, I'm doing them a favor.

edit: whoops, misread! We live in a small place called Yellville, AR... here's a link to the computer repair place's "site" The Computer ZONE
 

aircooled

Lifer
Oct 10, 2000
15,965
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I have stopped doing repairs on peoples home machine for that exact reason.
I have no desire to fix computer problems for dumb people at midnight for free.
 

LeStEr

Diamond Member
Dec 28, 1999
3,412
0
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Originally posted by: rudeguy
Originally posted by: TheUnhappyCamper
Actually, they are all friends/relatives of a friend of mine who couldn't do the repairs but helps them with most computer stuff anyways, so they'll still turn to him for the easy stuff ;) hopefully

see above:

You are now tech support 4LIFE!!!!

 

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
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optimally you should only help when a friend asks you to help build/pick parts. that way you can put together something that won't likely fail. if your just fixing a pos, the pos is probably going to die in some other way soon after and you'll be stuck with some responsibility ... sucky sucky sucky.