I dunno, I really can't think of anything drastically much more complicated than changing a HDD to be honest. You have the wiring to connect, which can be a pain with a lot of motherboards, plus the file backup and management, along with new OS installation and possible troubleshooting.
Receiving calls from customers.
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I dunno, I really can't think of anything drastically much more complicated than changing a HDD to be honest. You have the wiring to connect, which can be a pain with a lot of motherboards, plus the file backup and management, along with new OS installation and possible troubleshooting.
I dunno, I really can't think of anything much more complicated than changing a HDD to be honest. You have the wiring to connect, which can be a pain with a lot of motherboards, plus the file backup and management, along with new OS installation and possible troubleshooting.
Even so, most guys can do this. I'd wager the vast majority of forum users can do this.
That's the whole point, one is a skilled job which requires training, the other job could be done by blindfolded monkeys.
a re wire can be done by idiots too. just because it takes longer doesnt mean its harder
anyone can do pretty much anything if they spend time learning it like you speant time learning to build your pc
the people ringing huddy obviously dont have the time and patience to learn
I would given a quick chkdsk /r on the new drive, yes.
Complicated stuff.
Having said that £35 sounds reasonable to me, in this area. You certainly wouldnt get a plumber, electrician or a gas fitter for that.
So you agree with Jez that it's unskilled labour then and should be charged accordingly depending on the area?
Soldato
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Another vote being shocked at 35 PPH, I'd charge about 20 for the first hour and 12 for any more hours. How the hell you think £35 is a decent price I have no idea
Fox's example of replacing a hard drive - tell that to the average person and you're likely to get a blank stare back. Its easy to forget just how little most people know about PC's. Therefore, in my eyes its still classed as relatively specialist knowledge and worth a decent hourly rate.
It depends on what something is worth to someone. People are happy to pay £70-£90 an hour for a basic service on their car, which is a simple enough job that most people could do if they were inclined to read a manual.
In my experience the worst thing you can do is lower your prices though. You'll just end up working harder for less money. Instead concentrate on marketing to the people who will pay the rate you want. You will always get people willing to undercut you - we typically charge £5k to £25k for a website, yet the number of people that ring us up expecting us to produce something for them for a few hundred quid and then seem shocked that we aren't desperate for their business is almost funny! At the same time we know we're competitive because the sort of clients we actually want find our rates cheap.
I'd love to know where you're all getting these cheap plumbers and electricians though - its a lot more expensive here!
It depends on what something is worth to someone. People are happy to pay £70-£90 an hour for a basic service on their car, which is a simple enough job that most people could do if they were inclined to read a manual.
In my experience the worst thing you can do is lower your prices though. You'll just end up working harder for less money. Instead concentrate on marketing to the people who will pay the rate you want. You will always get people willing to undercut you - we typically charge £5k to £25k for a website, yet the number of people that ring us up expecting us to produce something for them for a few hundred quid and then seem shocked that we aren't desperate for their business is almost funny! At the same time we know we're competitive because the sort of clients we actually want find our rates cheap.
I'd love to know where you're all getting these cheap plumbers and electricians though - its a lot more expensive here!
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Wow, lots of people getting emo here. Dont forget, Huddy asked 'What goes through these peoples minds?' and we are explaining what goes through their minds.
Wickstas point is perfect. On this forum, 95% of us can fix our own PC. On the BMW forum I post on, 5% of them could do their own bodywork repairs and only 20% of them service their cars themselves and I've already said the technician at your local main dealer who does oil services is not a skilled labourer either.
Most of us here were doing complete PC rebuilds at the age of 13 instead of doing our homework. How many 13 year olds are plastering their parents house before doing a bare shell respray of the family car?
Home PC repairs are simple, easy tasks which do not require any specialist training, any certification, or indeed anything beyond an interest in computers and some common sense. The same cannot be said of many other trades.
Enterprise level server stuff? Now we're talking.
Wickstas point is perfect. On this forum, 95% of us can fix our own PC. On the BMW forum I post on, 5% of them could do their own bodywork repairs and only 20% of them service their cars themselves and I've already said the technician at your local main dealer who does oil services is not a skilled labourer either.
Most of us here were doing complete PC rebuilds at the age of 13 instead of doing our homework. How many 13 year olds are plastering their parents house before doing a bare shell respray of the family car?
Home PC repairs are simple, easy tasks which do not require any specialist training, any certification, or indeed anything beyond an interest in computers and some common sense. The same cannot be said of many other trades.
Enterprise level server stuff? Now we're talking.
I charge £25 an hour, though I do reduce that if it is a short call. My competitors charge £55 an hour, one even charges a £25 call out fee too.
Considering the amount of time I usually end up spending on the phone to clients after I've done a job with their other queries it works out at about £10 - £20 an hour in most cases.
Considering the amount of time I usually end up spending on the phone to clients after I've done a job with their other queries it works out at about £10 - £20 an hour in most cases.
No it wouldn't. Besides, professional level resprays are hugely capital intensive whereas fixing PC's requires a small toolkit and a multimeter. You could even get away without the multimeter.
[TW]Fox;12979891 said:
if at 13 you read up on learning to plaster or respray then it would be a different story
sadly plastering and respraying arent really popular hobbys for a 13yr old to go into thesedays
any one of us could easily of learn to do any of those trades at 13 if we had chose too. and for those of us who didnt, we get stuck paying people to do it for us.
Which is why people are surprised when such a flooded market with a skill most people learn at 13 is so expensive.
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[TW]Fox;12979891 said:
I think that's waaayyy off the truth loads of my friends (who aren't tech savy) pop into purple shirt world and pickup an internal graphics card, hard disk, nic etc and install it themselves using just the instructions in the box! Many of them have had a successful go at building a full PC.
To be honest I think software development or engineering you can be pretty justified in charging £35 per hour (and if your good at more) because it requires indepth training and experience over years to be become a professional at it. I could teach my brother in a MONTH to repair 95% of PC problems.