Moral delimma about a tech job I have tomorrow

[QueBert]

I drive around fixing computers for a living, about 6 months ago a female called and said she needed viruses removed from her laptop and porn sites blocked. I didn't ask because it was none of my business, but I figured she needed it blocked from a teenage son. So I do the job and get paid. Fast forward to today, I get a call from a guy who is having problems with a laptop, he tells me he can only access some sites. I tell him I can fix it but I'll need to troubleshoot it first to give him an estimate. He says fine so I to go to his office to look it over. As soon as I sit down and look at the wallpaper I realize I've seen it somewhere, but can't for the life of me remember where. So I'm poking around to see what's wrong and it hits me this is the same laptop I blocked the porn sites from 6 months ago. I didn't say anything to him about what I've done. I just told him how much it would cost and to call me in the morning.

When I originally fixed it the female was visibly upset over the porn. Since she paid me to block it, would it be right for me to basically unblock what I fixed the first time? I can only assume this would lead to her calling me again. Maybe I shouldn't care one way or another, but I hate lying and this seems like I'd be heading down that road. I'm pretty sure if I told him I was the one who blocked the porn he wouldn't care and would still have me remove the blockers though lol.

 

[Newbian]

Pics of said chick and the urls of the good porn sites her bf is using.

 

[Cyco]

Sounds like job security to me.

 

[boomerang]

Be straight up with him and if he wants it unblocked take his money and do the work. If she calls at a later date, that's when I personally, would explain the situation and respectfully refuse to do the work. You should be able to explain it in a diplomatic, nonjudgmental manner.

For all you know they're not together anymore. Divorced, split up, whatever.

 

[Zebo]

I wouldn't say anything remove it, $75 please and hope she calls.

 

[0roo0roo]

you do the service for the money.
she has no right to lock him down, never mind you going out of your way to help her. imagine if it was a jealous and controlling husband trying to lock his wifes pc down. its unacceptable behavior.

if it were a minor it would be different.

 

[dfuze]

Tough position, as it sounds like your business may depend on word of mouth from customers. I would keep it professional and explain to him what was done to the laptop previously. Any chance it's blocking a legit site he may really need (doubt it though...)

 

[PlasmaBomb]

Tell him you can teach him how to surf for porn without getting caught for a small fee...

 

[Slapstick]

Personally I would tell the guy you're too busy right now to take on another customer and refer him to someone else. If the lady calls you back to "fix" it again tell her the same. Believe me there is nothing worse than getting caught up in someone else's domestic deputes, it's not worth the money they'd pay you!!

 

[0roo0roo]

naw you might as well milk them, its deserved.

 

[Bateluer]

I would unblock it, get paid and move on. Realistically, if its his laptop, the she has zero rights to even touch it let alone block things

 

[chin311]

tell him to install firefox & use private browsing lol

 

[NesuD]

tell him to install firefox & use private browsing lol

or use private browsing in IE 8 or install chrome and use private browsing. They all have the feature now.

If it were me i would ask him straight out who is the owner of the laptop? Him or Her. If him tell him what she had you do and then go ahead an undo it if he says her tell him what she had you do and politely refuse to touch the system.

 

[dud]

If I were you I would simply walk away. Tell the guy you cannot figure it out nor fix it. You could be involved with the breakup of a marriage.

 

[Juddog]

Personally I would tell the guy you're too busy right now to take on another customer and refer him to someone else. If the lady calls you back to "fix" it again tell her the same. Believe me there is nothing worse than getting caught up in someone else's domestic deputes, it's not worth the money they'd pay you!!

^^ This.

 

[Uhtrinity]

I had something similar happen about 5 years ago as I do the same thing, just on the side now.

One day I get a call from a lady, I have done work for their family before. She says she suspects her husband has been viewing porn and she wants me to see what I can find on the computer.

About an hour later I get a call from her husband, he suspects his wife knows what he has been doing and proceeds to apologize to me and begs me to help him. I told him she had called me and refuse to take the job. I called her back and told her the same.

They are still together and have had me do work since, so it must have worked out.

 

[chin311]

do whatever just get paiddddd

 

[SunnyD]

$ > Morality.

 

[waggy]

take the money. its not your business what is going on at home. Unless he is going to teen "modeling" sites then who cares.

though i would mention to the guy that he needs to find a way to hide it better..

 

[TwiceOver]

So is this a married couple? If not, then you need to find out who owns the laptop. That is the person you should be working for.

A Simple "I think I worked on this machine in the past, did you buy it used?" should reveal who the owner is.

If they are married then take their money, it is not your problem they can't talk to each other.

 

[CoinOperatedBoy]

Like TwiceOver said, you need to find out who owns the machine. If the guy is the owner and wants the filter removed, do the work and get paid. If the lady calls back, I would refuse to redo the work on the grounds that it's not her laptop.

 

[Kelemvor]

Be sure to enable the mic and webcam so you can access it remotely and watch the fights that ensue when they figure out they are working against each other.

 

[mugs]

I think it would be unethical for you to take money to undo work that you were previously paid to do if the person who paid you to do it is unaware that you're undoing it. I think it would be unethical to tell the guy that his wife had you block the porn, or vice versa.

Take the guy's money and show him how to find porn without the web. Problem solved.

 

[seepy83]

Tell him that the computer doesn't have a problem, and that it was manipulated by someone (you don't need to tell him it was you) to prevent access to porn. Then leave it up to him to decide if he wants it "fixed" or if he wants to confront his wife/girlfriend/aunt/cousin/mistress/neighbor/priest/buddah about it. For all you know, he could have bought the laptop second hand off of ebay or craigslist or whatever.

 

[Wheezer]

You can play this for as long as you want, until they are in the same room together and you show up at the door....then you're fucked...but hell...might as well ride it out as long as you can.