Comment R E S P E C T (Score 1) 884
I do consulting and had a hole in my schedule. A local realty company called and said a machine was being attacked with pop ups after the girl tried to install a free screen saver program. I've been to this site only twice before in the last 3 years and I remember them rushing me out after 1 hr. They wanted the minimum and wanted me out. I see it right away, this machine is infested so bad with spyware that it really needs to be formatted and reinstalled.
I know they won't want to pay for the time to back it up, setup the os, programs, etc, and restore the data and get everything working the way the user was familiar with. So I ran all the latest tools and after a reboot, it was done. It would lock up prior to the login screen but after the gui had been initialized.
It was 5pm and the end of the day, so I took it back to my shop with already an 1hr and half in just from running Adaware, spybot, and the MS Antispyware. Regardless of what I do from here, they are still expected to pay me by the hour.
I tell them about reinstalling and it's definetaly out of the picture. So I run a repair and get it back up. I run all the tools again, throwing in a couple more for safe measure. After the repair, a lot of programs are missing from the registry and need to be reinstalled. They have most of the cd's back at their office.
So I deliver it. No user, no manager, just an owner who has no idea what's going on. I get it up and running and go to him to collect a check.
His first comment was, "So you charge $75 an hour?"
I didn't like his tone, so I corrected him, "No, it's $79 an hour."
He then says, "Isn't PC Tech work like $10 to $20 an hour?" And he says it like a complete a$$h0le. I mean, I wanted to hit him.
So I replied, "No, I make more than that an hour" with an attitude.
He replys with "If I'd have known it would cost this much to repair a computer, I'd just call Dell and get another one for a nickel."
I just shrugged at him and asked him for a check again.
I could care less if this prick ever calls my work to schedule another appointment. His total bill came out to around $200. Here's a guy that's selling million dollar homes and walking off with a commission and gives me crap about a $200 computer repair bill.
I've got other customers that are more than willing to pay me upwards of $99 an hour without any crap. I told my scheduler not to bother sending me out there again.
On Tuesday/Wednesday I retired a NT4 Server and installed a handfull of new workstations. Total bill with parts and labor was like $15,000 and they were offering to buy me lunch etc. I don't demand respect, but I do expect to be treated like a human being.
I know they won't want to pay for the time to back it up, setup the os, programs, etc, and restore the data and get everything working the way the user was familiar with. So I ran all the latest tools and after a reboot, it was done. It would lock up prior to the login screen but after the gui had been initialized.
It was 5pm and the end of the day, so I took it back to my shop with already an 1hr and half in just from running Adaware, spybot, and the MS Antispyware. Regardless of what I do from here, they are still expected to pay me by the hour.
I tell them about reinstalling and it's definetaly out of the picture. So I run a repair and get it back up. I run all the tools again, throwing in a couple more for safe measure. After the repair, a lot of programs are missing from the registry and need to be reinstalled. They have most of the cd's back at their office.
So I deliver it. No user, no manager, just an owner who has no idea what's going on. I get it up and running and go to him to collect a check.
His first comment was, "So you charge $75 an hour?"
I didn't like his tone, so I corrected him, "No, it's $79 an hour."
He then says, "Isn't PC Tech work like $10 to $20 an hour?" And he says it like a complete a$$h0le. I mean, I wanted to hit him.
So I replied, "No, I make more than that an hour" with an attitude.
He replys with "If I'd have known it would cost this much to repair a computer, I'd just call Dell and get another one for a nickel."
I just shrugged at him and asked him for a check again.
I could care less if this prick ever calls my work to schedule another appointment. His total bill came out to around $200. Here's a guy that's selling million dollar homes and walking off with a commission and gives me crap about a $200 computer repair bill.
I've got other customers that are more than willing to pay me upwards of $99 an hour without any crap. I told my scheduler not to bother sending me out there again.
On Tuesday/Wednesday I retired a NT4 Server and installed a handfull of new workstations. Total bill with parts and labor was like $15,000 and they were offering to buy me lunch etc. I don't demand respect, but I do expect to be treated like a human being.
