Fixing PCs

Steve2000 said:
When it breaks the second time, it always comes back to me as "I was the one last inside it so I must have broke it".
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Now this really hacks me off. I've had it before; people thinking the only person with any idea how to fix it must have broken it, when it was more likely their own complete ape-like stupidity.

Yeah right, 'cos who's more likely to crash a car - someone with a license, or someone without?
 
People take the P, but I have devised a pretty good way of dealing with it, which I shall share :D

I don't like charging as such, so I say that it will cost them a bottle of brandy. You can see how much they think you are worth here, a cheap bottle is still OK but a nice bottle is a bonus.

I get asked a lot less now, and all I do is show them how to back up their stuff themselves and I reinstall windows, drivers and some apps and sometimes upgrade a few components cheap off ebay and give them the invoices. Doesn't take too long. Them doing the backup means that if they lose something, it's their fault. They get a clean windows install so again if it goes wrong, it's their fault.
 
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I look after the immediate family's PCs, but anyone else and they have to pay, though I try and avoid doing any work for mates because it's just not worth it in the end. You get dragged down by every little niggle they have, and should you make a mistake it's not just a professional issue but also, unavoidably, a personal one.
 
Steve2000 said:
Absolutely no more. Got fed up in the end of people (even my brother) taking the ****. When it breaks the second time, it always comes back to me as "I was the one last inside it so I must have broke it".
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Yeh I get this as well. My dad blames me if the computer breaks because I know about computers therefore it must be my fault when it breaks.

My brother is an idiot who knows nothing, but thinks he knows it all. His new vista laptop is really flipping slow, then he blames me because I'm playing Left 4 Dead: :confused:. :(
 
I refuse to do it any more. From my experience, building or fixing PCs tend not to be as simple as it should have been.
 
My parents kept making me fix theirs, and it kept breaking because it's a crappy dell unit with a failing hard drive, yet they didn't want to replace the drive, just get me to fix it.
So I've just let it die and bought my own laptop now, i don't mind fixing someones pc but i aint wasting hours of my life on a doomed pc.
 
This started to really agrevate me, Im o.k. fixing/upgrading family computers but got fed up with fixing friends and friends of friends for free, Why do people expect me to do it for free, If i was in most other jobs i.e Car mechanic, Plasterer, brick layer then i bet they would pay me.

Ive completely stopped doing it now, I won't even do it for money as they will always keep on at me about all small computer issues that are mostly user error.
 
tbh I've told everyone I know that if they want it fixing (apart from family, and even then I want feeding) then it's £30 an hour. cuts them right down.
 
Ued to work with somebody (in IT none the less) who used to fix peoples personal computers for paltry sums such as a bottle of wine.

They asked me sometimes and my reply was: "You cannot afford me."

I work in IT, I don't want to come home an fix PCs. Thankfully almost all of my immediate family run OS X on Macs!
 
"Thanks so much for doing that.... now while your here.... I have been having some trouble with my printer"

Sweet jesus
"you couldn't just?"
"You wouldn't mind?"

and the classic

"They are lost without their email, its the only way they can keep in touch with their kids they would really appreciate it" ah the old guilt trip.
 
monkeyspank said:
expecting you to remember their passwords for things you've set up
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Ah yes, this one's a classic.

My brother (who is 44 now and is quite computer literate to the extent of knowing how to use a PC properly) rang me at work last week and asked me what was our mam's email address and password were as he was round her house and our uncle had sent her one of those daft e-cards (with a read receipt attached so he can ring her up when she's read it and ask her what she thought) and he wanted to show her it.

I'd probably be of some help if it wasn't him that actually set up the email account and password in the first place. Jesus wept.
 
monkeyspank said:
People not knowing their own passwords :mad:
Or expecting you to remember their passwords for things you've set up = even more :mad:
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Had that before, I setup someones network, an then 6 months later "do you remember the password"

I was like ".............. I told you to choose it, and to write it down"
They reply "I forgot, can't you remember it or retrieve it?"
Me "................................................................................" *insert rage face here*
 
My dad does this all the time: 'Oh i spoke to so and so and they are having a problem with there PC, i said you would go round and take a look!' :mad:

Oh.................thanks.............
 
Family/Close friends = free
anyone else £££

I find it amazing how with PCs people think it's a free trade, like others have said I don't know anyone who would ask a builder to pop round on a saturday to sort out a wall or help build a bbq and then be shocked when payment is suggested. WEIRD!

I once had a girl who was a friend (not a good or close one) from school ring me up out of the blue, didn't even ask how I was just asked if I could go round and fix her PC as it wasn't working properly. I just gave her some advice and said if it was still playing up to bring it over to mine and I'd give her a discounted rate (sneaky way of saying, this ain't free!). Haven't heard from her since..

And yeah, I also get put up for work by my parents, not these days but a while back I'd be a bit roped in to it with someone standing there and my dad saying, "Would you mind looking at *insert person stading there* machine?" What can you say to that?? Queue 7 hours looking at a Win95 PII machine with no drivers in existance and running slower than a calculator. AAAARGGHHHH!!!!!
 
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lol just got a phonecall 2 mins ago.

him: "can you come and reinstall me that virus catcher"(:p)
me: "just google avg, its free"
him: "right ok, i also got a new printer, can you come and set it up?""
me: ":("

It's a really old Packard Bell thing too, from about 1999.
 
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