Eughh, just fixed a guys computer, AGAIN! Did I charge him too much?

[WarDemon666]

Originally posted by: MaxFusion16
how do you get into the computer repair business?
i'm proficient in computer repair, i wouldn't mind some extra money, someone hire me

hehe, I dont know, im not in the business, i just know some people that know some people, that talk about me.

Started off by fixing one persons computer (a friend) and he told some people, so i fixed another, etc etc

Supposedly im the person who knows the most in my town. lol Im only 19!

you really have to know what youre doing though so, dont get into it unless you know what youre doing. I guided him on the phone and told him exactly where to go, and i found out the problems on my own, i feel kind of special

Ive taught myself many things the last few years, ive set up multiple networks, learned about 5 languages on my own, and i keep teaching myself more, thats the way to go

 

[Staples]

It all boils down to, did you fix it or not.

These guys in this thread are ridiculous. Just because you spent 30 doesn't mean much. He isn't paying you for your experimentations because you didn't know what was wrong. I think $100 was fine. You can't charge someone $1000 for fixing a computer.

 

[Vegito]

boy these spyware are getting on everyone' nerve....

i think the past 10 pcs I fixed were spyware related... non of it had any physical problem.. ie hd or driver issues.. all spy crap... oh well..

 

[WarDemon666]

Originally posted by: forcesho
boy these spyware are getting on everyone' nerve....

i think the past 10 pcs I fixed were spyware related... non of it had any physical problem.. ie hd or driver issues.. all spy crap... oh well..

firefoxxxxx

more money for the computer tech's!

For people that know how to use computers and regularly update them, its not that big of a deal.

The only time ive ever had spyware was because of some "free" software I isntalled, didnt take very long to get rid of.

The hardest ive ever had to work for spyware was the CoolWebSearch on a clients computer. Damn! took me about 8 hours, or something like that. Did it for free though cuz i knew the guy personally

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

Originally posted by: WarDemon666

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo
Learn from your mistake

You need to better assess what needs to be done from the start

he changed his mind! what else do you want me to do?

at first it was: just fix internet explorer, and explorer (it was crashing cuz of the popups and stuff)

so i fixed it, but after he wanted it formatted... sooo

Make a flyer with pricing based on time

Explain what all you can do

Stick to pricing on that, in a case like his, stick to it with a small discount because you spent 30 hours on his system

 

[FleshLight]

It's people like you, who are willing to work for $3 CAN an hour, that steal jobs from us hardworking home grown Americans!

 

[Twista]

I fix it, comp works perfect, except for the sound. He tells me to format (waste of time to get rid of like 400 + spyware files on his computer)


LFMAO! I would of killed him!

Too little

 

[Schadenfreude]

You need to screw him up the ass and ask for an hourly rate next time. If he's going to be damn picky, well, you deserve more money!

(And you charged him waaay too little for your help, btw)

 

[Raincity]

Originally posted by: MaxFusion16
how do you get into the computer repair business?
i'm proficient in computer repair, i wouldn't mind some extra money, someone hire me

Looking for some abuse in your life.

 

[Abhi]

Way too little

 

[imported_Phil]

Originally posted by: WarDemon666

Originally posted by: forcesho
boy these spyware are getting on everyone' nerve....

i think the past 10 pcs I fixed were spyware related... non of it had any physical problem.. ie hd or driver issues.. all spy crap... oh well..

firefoxxxxx

more money for the computer tech's!

For people that know how to use computers and regularly update them, its not that big of a deal.

The only time ive ever had spyware was because of some "free" software I isntalled, didnt take very long to get rid of.

The hardest ive ever had to work for spyware was the CoolWebSearch on a clients computer. Damn! took me about 8 hours, or something like that. Did it for free though cuz i knew the guy personally

Seriously?

 

[AMCRambler]

pwned, lol. Props for being a nice guy and a friend to your father's buddy. Sounds like he's starting to take advantage of you though. Don't feel bad about asking for 100 bucks. If he doesn't like it, tell him to take it to Best Buy and let those geniuses tear into it.

 

[WarDemon666]

Originally posted by: Dopefiend

Originally posted by: WarDemon666

Originally posted by: forcesho
boy these spyware are getting on everyone' nerve....

i think the past 10 pcs I fixed were spyware related... non of it had any physical problem.. ie hd or driver issues.. all spy crap... oh well..

firefoxxxxx

more money for the computer tech's!

For people that know how to use computers and regularly update them, its not that big of a deal.

The only time ive ever had spyware was because of some "free" software I isntalled, didnt take very long to get rid of.

The hardest ive ever had to work for spyware was the CoolWebSearch on a clients computer. Damn! took me about 8 hours, or something like that. Did it for free though cuz i knew the guy personally

Seriously?

Yeah it was a mix of a few variants, there was about 400 files in the windows directory (those dat files) and nothign detected it

 

[Kelemvor]

Just set a flat rate of $35 - $50/hr and go from there. 30 hours, damn I'd love a side job for that that was just fixing some jackass's copmuter.

 

[lobadobadingdong]

Originally posted by: GagHalfrunt
Way too little, is your time worth $3 an hour?

I charge $40US/hr, and I'm the cheapest person I know of. (although I'd never charge for the download times of dial up{unless I was on-site}, since you can kick the downloads off and leave em for a few hours)

 

[Tiamat]

You didnt charge enough ~ 6$ per hour minimum. If there is so much work that repairs would cost the price of a computer, recommend them buy a new computer...

 

[gigapet]

Originally posted by: Scouzer
too little.

 

[Gibson486]

All that work for $100? geesh...if i did that work i would have charged around $250-$300.

 

[dquan97]

How would you account for the 30hrs?

 

[Confused]

Probably too little.

However, was it 30hrs of actual work (ie sitting at the computer solidly) or did it take 30 hours to do?

There is a difference. Most of the stuff I do takes a couple of hours, and I charge £50 (call out + 2hrs work). Anything after that, I make up a rough value based on the number of hours. I can generally tell within that first couple of hours whether it will require a full re-install or not. If it does, then I take the computer away (windows updates are so much better to do at home on a 1mb DSL line). It generally gets done over a couple of evenings while I'm doing other stuff.


Confused

 

[Turkey22]

I would have charged him separately, charged him whatever rate you charge per hour for cleaning it up first, then charged him for the reformat and reinstall. I have the same problem where I hate to charge too much for something. But for me if I can't fix it within a couple hours (I guess you cant help the 56k thing...) then there is something I have missed. I charge a standard $50 (U.S.) for a total reinstall and $15/hour for diagnostic work. Fortunately if you have the right tools it should never take 30 hours. If it did it was partly your fault, for example the sound card if it didnt work probably should have checked to make sure it was the right card, especially if the person you are working on it for has no clue about computers.

 

[WarDemon666]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
You didnt charge enough ~ 6$ per hour minimum. If there is so much work that repairs would cost the price of a computer, recommend them buy a new computer...

he just bought it a month ago, couldnt really tell him to buy another. heheh

 

[WarDemon666]

Originally posted by: Confused
Probably too little.

However, was it 30hrs of actual work (ie sitting at the computer solidly) or did it take 30 hours to do?

There is a difference. Most of the stuff I do takes a couple of hours, and I charge £50 (call out + 2hrs work). Anything after that, I make up a rough value based on the number of hours. I can generally tell within that first couple of hours whether it will require a full re-install or not. If it does, then I take the computer away (windows updates are so much better to do at home on a 1mb DSL line). It generally gets done over a couple of evenings while I'm doing other stuff.


Confused

I worked for about a week on and off, cause I had homework to do etc. But all together I calculated about 30 hours, including download times etc.

The long part was finding all his software, I didnt want to put any of my copies beacuse that would be illegal, so I had to find his original win98 cd key, and reinstalled using my copy and his cd key, and all his other software had to be free stuff, like kerio etc, soo,, thats what took some more time.

Anyways, whats done is done, next time ill charge more AND ill make sure what im doing isnt a waste of time from the start!

 

[spacelord]

oh man.. I remember the days of trying to fix and upgrade old POS computers. I wish people would just spend $400 and get a new Dell that is 4x better than what they have. We used to charge $80 / hour.. although, many systems took me 2 hours or more but we billed them for 1. I felt bad trying to charge people $240 to fix their POS when they could get a brand new one for twice that. People try and be cheap, but in the long run it sucks for everyone.

 

[WarDemon666]

Originally posted by: Turkey22
for example the sound card if it didnt work probably should have checked to make sure it was the right card, especially if the person you are working on it for has no clue about computers.

Well, i looked up the model number of the computer, found out the hardware specs, and installed all of that, it just didnt have the same audio as what it was supposed to have