*rant* This is why I hate people. (What do you think I should do about this?)

[sixone]

Originally posted by: Nik

Originally posted by: sixone

Originally posted by: Nik
I'm going to get them up and running again, regardless. However, would it be wrong of me to tell them that from now on they'll need to find someone else to work on their technology solutions? Or should I just put up with it and stick with them for future issues? I really don't want to put up with this kind of bullsh|t.

What else do you need to know?

What do you mean?

IIRC, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly, while expecting a different outcome. This kind of situation will crop up from time to time, with these people and with other cleints. You have to decide whether you can deal with the downs as well as the ups, or dump them as clients. ATOT can't make up your mind.

 

[Nikamichi]

Originally posted by: digitalsnare

Originally posted by: Nikamichi

Originally posted by: Nik

Seriously, I want your opinions on how I should handle this.

It's simple, if you feel the money is worth it, continue to do your job. If not, then ditch them and have some 's.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm s..........

 

[Descartes]

You'll need to get used to it if you wish to succeed in any service-based business.

Fix the technical problem first, and then fix the relationship with your customer. You can't just drop customers when they complain.

 

[Kelemvor]

How much do you charge them? Hourly fee or just a flat rate until you find the issue?

Just wondering...

I'm about to launch my home networking computer issue business but don't plan on giving out my phone number at all. Not setting up a business phone or anything. Going to be strictly email. Now obviously this won't help people if they can't get online, but we'll worry about that later. heh heh. Or if anything I'll give them my cell phone number and just never answer the phone and let it go to voice mail so I don't have to use any minutes talking to them...

 

[Juice Box]

Originally posted by: Nikamichi

Originally posted by: digitalsnare

Originally posted by: Nikamichi

Originally posted by: Nik

Seriously, I want your opinions on how I should handle this.

It's simple, if you feel the money is worth it, continue to do your job. If not, then ditch them and have some 's.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm s..........

I think im gonna throw up from all these s... Nik, care to help?

 

[RossMAN]

Is the $ worth the hassle to you?

If it is, charge them more, even an "on call" or "you annoyed the living sh!t out of me" fee.

 

[Nikamichi]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
Is the $ worth the hassle to you?

If it is, charge them more, even an "on call" or "you annoyed the living sh!t out of me" fee.

:thumbsup:

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: notfred
I suspected the router as soon as you said:

Well, their computers stopped passing traffic between computers directly

If I had been there, I would have been done 3.5 hours sooner.

I haven't the capacity to be as blunt as you, but I was thinking the same thing

 

[Juice Box]

Originally posted by: Nikamichi

Originally posted by: RossMAN
Is the $ worth the hassle to you?

If it is, charge them more, even an "on call" or "you annoyed the living sh!t out of me" fee.

:thumbsup:

:thumbsup:x100

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: meltdown75
Wow, what a pile of sh!t that is. You have every right to be pissed... I think if you do withdraw your services in the near future, perhaps they will bump their heads together and figure out why. I'd be willing to bet they haven't had much experience with techs... otherwise they would recognize that you're bending over backwards to provide them with good service. Personally I'd cut my losses after this job and move on to clients that appreciate you. Life's too short for BS like that and once you're gone, they'll get a dose of some loser tech guy that doesn't give a crap either way, and they will realize what they lost.

They USED to have this guy that's a complete fop. Years ago when my mom mensioned something about the IT guy at her work doing something stupid, I told her that he needed to be fired because he doesn't know enough to be doing what they're paying him to do --and they were paying him way more than they should, too. I ended up cleaning up that company technology-wise after this douche completely foobar'd them over and left -after getting one last huge paycheck, that is. From there, it's been word-of-mouth for me to come do work for the next company that my mom worked for (that one closed because the owner didn't want to do it anymore and couldn't find anyone to buy the company). The only thing is that this guy seems to be one step ahead of me. I get a call from so-and-so from such-and-such a company who is friends with someone at the previous company who told them that I know how to clean up after this guy Chris and how they made the mistake of hiring him too. I've been hopping company-to-company after this guy, cleaning up his mess, and doing it for pennies. I enjoy doing the work and I believe that people who pay that kind of money don't deserve to be shafted. These companies are two of those companies, and I have another one calling recently saying that this guy's working for them now and they want him out because of what they've heard from other companies.

It's like I'm following this guy around picking up his messes. I don't mind doing it because I know that these companies are getting taken care of and I know I'm charging WAY less than what he was charging, which is about right for the industry.

 

[Red Dawn]

Hell NIK I think everybody that has done tech work has experienced the BS you did with these folks. I know I have. I got so tired of it that I gave it up!

 

[Babbles]

Hell even on my little home network with a few computers if I ever have problems, the first thing I do is check the router. Should have probably figured out the problem in 10 minutes, not 3.5 hours.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: Descartes

Originally posted by: notfred
I suspected the router as soon as you said:

Well, their computers stopped passing traffic between computers directly

If I had been there, I would have been done 3.5 hours sooner.

I haven't the capacity to be as blunt as you, but I was thinking the same thing

I didn't even consider the router until later. It was a long day. I'm usually not that bad, but there's always something simple that I miss. I call someone and they bash me over the head with the simple solution. Most of the time it's not a problem though. Sometimes I can be a serious dumbass.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: Nik

Originally posted by: meltdown75
Wow, what a pile of sh!t that is. You have every right to be pissed... I think if you do withdraw your services in the near future, perhaps they will bump their heads together and figure out why. I'd be willing to bet they haven't had much experience with techs... otherwise they would recognize that you're bending over backwards to provide them with good service. Personally I'd cut my losses after this job and move on to clients that appreciate you. Life's too short for BS like that and once you're gone, they'll get a dose of some loser tech guy that doesn't give a crap either way, and they will realize what they lost.

They USED to have this guy that's a complete fop. Years ago when my mom mensioned something about the IT guy at her work doing something stupid, I told her that he needed to be fired because he doesn't know enough to be doing what they're paying him to do --and they were paying him way more than they should, too. I ended up cleaning up that company technology-wise after this douche completely foobar'd them over and left -after getting one last huge paycheck, that is. From there, it's been word-of-mouth for me to come do work for the next company that my mom worked for (that one closed because the owner didn't want to do it anymore and couldn't find anyone to buy the company). The only thing is that this guy seems to be one step ahead of me. I get a call from so-and-so from such-and-such a company who is friends with someone at the previous company who told them that I know how to clean up after this guy Chris and how they made the mistake of hiring him too. I've been hopping company-to-company after this guy, cleaning up his mess, and doing it for pennies. I enjoy doing the work and I believe that people who pay that kind of money don't deserve to be shafted. These companies are two of those companies, and I have another one calling recently saying that this guy's working for them now and they want him out because of what they've heard from other companies.

It's like I'm following this guy around picking up his messes. I don't mind doing it because I know that these companies are getting taken care of and I know I'm charging WAY less than what he was charging, which is about right for the industry.

So, you clean up his technical mess, and now you're entertaining the idea of besmirching your character by firing a customer?

I'm all for firing a customer when necessary, but what you described is normal. Service-based business is probably 80% social and 20% technical; you have to learn to placate people.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: Babbles
Hell even on my little home network with a few computers if I ever have problems, the first thing I do is check the router. Should have probably figured out the problem in 10 minutes, not 3.5 hours.

I failed to mension that two of the three PCs that were my main focus were recently purchased, so I assumed that the reason they couldn't "share files" was because of system settings. They didn't tell me that NONE of the computers could see each other and I didn't bother checking any of the other computers that were there until later in the evening.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

There's a reason why I'm resistant to do any PC support for anyone.

 

[Descartes]

Originally posted by: Nik

Originally posted by: Babbles
Hell even on my little home network with a few computers if I ever have problems, the first thing I do is check the router. Should have probably figured out the problem in 10 minutes, not 3.5 hours.

I failed to mension that two of the three PCs that were my main focus were recently purchased, so I assumed that the reason they couldn't "share files" was because of system settings. They didn't tell me that NONE of the computers could see each other and I didn't bother checking any of the other computers that were there until later in the evening.

Again, something else you'll learn with time: Never trust a customer's assessment of a problem! If they knew what they were talking about they wouldn't call you, would they? Part of your job is to break past their anger, their insistence of what the problem is, etc. You can't put the blame on the customer.

 

[Stark]

you're 1/2 right.

if you left with their network still broken and they didn't understand that it would not be working the next day, then they may have a legitimate beef.

them knowing you have another job and calling you multiple times, however, is not cool.

Fix it tonight and you should be good. You're saving them money by being a tech for hire. If they want 100% uptime they should hire a net admin.

 

[rh71]

There's a reason I stopped doing fix/troubleshooting work for other people... especially for money cause you're entirely obligated to answer their questions whenever they feel like asking them. What's worse is, you're apparently their only hope.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: Stark
you're 1/2 right.

if you left with their network still broken and they didn't understand that it would not be working the next day, then they may have a legitimate beef.

them knowing you have another job and calling you multiple times, however, is not cool.

Fix it tonight and you should be good. You're saving them money by being a tech for hire. If they want 100% uptime they should hire a net admin.

I made it a point to call the owner when I was "finished" like I said I would and tell her what's going on. I also wrote it out for her and left a letter on her desk describing exactly what we talked about on the phone. While on the phone, she agreed with me and was like "oh yeah, sure. mhmm. Right. Understandable. How much for a new one?" blah blah blah. I just don't understand why all of last night's conversation seems to have gone right out the window.

 

[PatboyX]

i go through the same sh1t. some people are so panic stricken with their machines.
oy.

 

[moshquerade]

don't hate people, just those people

*bats eyelashes*

 

[mcveigh]

drop them, this is the reason I'm looking at getting out of the business.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: moshquerade
don't hate people, just those people

*bats eyelashes*

hey baby... how YOU doin?

 

[eakers]

I'm going to get them up and running again, regardless. However, would it be wrong of me to tell them that from now on they'll need to find someone else to work on their technology solutions? Or should I just put up with it and stick with them for future issues? I really don't want to put up with this kind of bullsh|t.

absolutely nothing wrong with it. why should you have to put up with it?