Re:getting gouged by whom? (Score 1)

I have always trolled slashdot for news, but I signed up for an account to respond to this item. Non-techies ARE idiots. OF COURSE you're going to get banged out if you call a tech to your home, tell him you have a dead computer and a deadline, and you have to get the computer fixed NOW. We are not supernatural. We do not possess a sixth sense for troubleshooting PC problems. We rely on YOUR assessment initially, then we have to either: 1. (80%) Repair viruses, spyware due to sh*tty shareware or illegal filesharing programs, or your kids' crappy flash games 2. (10%) Uninstall the pirated software you have (including the operating sytem) which cannot be updated, patched or reinstalled, then install a legal copy so we don't join you in DMCA charges --3. (10%) Troubleshoot a major manufacturer's crappy drivers, "helper programs" or compatibility issues because you are running Windows 98 on a computer your brother-in-law built on the cheap at a computer show last month I've driven 1 1/2 hours to accounts 50 miles away to troubleshoot "server problems". An XP workstation could not log in to the 2000 server, no business data could be accessed, the backups weren't running, and I had to spend the entire morning commuting to the Hamptons. In June. This was NOT fun. What was the problem? The server wasn't powered on. Not running. I sh*t you not, I drove 60 miles through summer Hamptons traffic because on Monday, nobody turned on the freaking server in this small office. We HAD TO bang this customer out for commute time(2 hours) AND an hour of service because she WOULD NOT troubleshoot over the phone, she just yelled at us at the TOP OF HER LUNGS that the computer WE built was F***ed - and that she was going to sue us for lost business income if we cost her a single client that day. Most of these people deserve to be ripped off. Raumkraut, you hit the nail on the head. These "investigators" should be investigated.