Running / Starting a PC repair business,

edscdk

edscdk

edscdk

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17 Jul 2008
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not seen any threads on this recently,

are many people doing this full time / on the side?

how's business going?

Personally I have been doing this on the side, I have wound down a bit - turning away jobs I know will be a PITA or that are a bit too far away.. Probably resulting in a 40% drop in work and maybe 25% drop in income,

Its been very easy money over the past few years (especially now I know what to turn away)
 
Glanza said:
Are you trading as a company whilst doing this or cash in hand repairs for people?
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ltd company all legit and above board with an accountant and invoice and no counterfeit software.. full time employer aware of this side work as well, taxes paid up... not registered as an MP (so im not claiming for moats and switching main property's / claiming for rent boys on expences etc etc etc)
 
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I think this issue with this is aftercare, for 6 months you're they guy "who touched it last so it must be something you've done".

Also for some reason people trust the 'Know-How' guys far too much and will pay the extortionate prices for simple tasks which you'll never be able to get them away from.
 
Did it full time for 4 years

Now doing it part time for 1.5 years, like you I turn away PITA just
do the easy to do stuff now and some sales
 
I found that iPhone repairs were more lucrative.
But you get the customers who are a real pain in the back side.

Had one this year that i repaired, they came back 3 months later (outside my 3 month warranty period) and accused me of water damaging their phone as apple refused to repair it due to water damage.. (they dropped it again after my repair).

Many Many customers like this.
 
Diagro said:
I found that iPhone repairs were more lucrative.
But you get the customers who are a real pain in the back side.

Had one this year that i repaired, they came back 3 months later (outside my 3 month warranty period) and accused me of water damaging their phone as apple refused to repair it due to water damage.. (they dropped it again after my repair).

Many Many customers like this.
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Surely photos/videos stored for up to 12 months, saved by job number with a report would solve this kind of thing?
 
It's something I've often thought about. Used to do similar with a mate, we had a van and a frame in the back for firing up servers, connecting computers everywhere. We went around to local companies mainly who couldn't afford the salary etc of a dedicated support guy.

What sort of hourly rate can you charge?
 
AHarvey said:
Surely photos/videos stored for up to 12 months, saved by job number with a report would solve this kind of thing?
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Why would that help?

After all the customer is "always right".

No matter what proof you can supply that their devices were in actual face fine when they left, they still accuse and demand refunds blah blah.
Weather they get a refund is a different matter, Once my 3 months has passed they pretty much get ignored unless they want me to repair again.
 
Because good customer service doesn't involve ignoring people.

If you can remain calm and show proof that when the item left you it was in good working order then you stand a chance to calm them down and deal with the situation.

The last thing you'd want is some loud mouth putting you down on social media and telling everyone you broke their phone and that you are now ignoring them. If they know you have proof the item left you in working order then they will be much less inclined to do so.
 
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Diagro said:
Why would that help?

After all the customer is "always right".

No matter what proof you can supply that their devices were in actual face fine when they left, they still accuse and demand refunds blah blah.
Weather they get a refund is a different matter, Once my 3 months has passed they pretty much get ignored unless they want me to repair again.
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that scenario pretty much never happens, I've had a few secondary issues crop up that I have fixed for nothing, but when you have spare hard drives, ram, mobos and the know how its not a big issue..

I have probably avoided multiple "lost data" instances but strictly never formatting a customers drive without creating an image.

I rate customer service over all else, any problem they get a refund / or the problem rectified I have given maybe 5 / 10 refunds out of several 1000 jobs..
 
D3K said:
How much money does this draw in for you guys? On an hourly basis?
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I'm too cheap I charge £45 for a fix (as long as its under 2 hours), £70 for a reinstall

I have done this for so long I know the fix for almost everything and most visits are under 45 mins @£45

bearing in mind I was working full time as well I think my company return was something like 15k last year

regular customers get charged less for quickies!
 
£70 for a reinstall? How does that work with licences?

E.g. Mr X brings laptop in with Windows 7. Do you use the same key and a new image?
 
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