Comments on: Dont Be Afraid To Turn Down Certain Computer Technician Work

By: Jay

Jay — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:10:15 +0000

Bryce, it may not have been a ’sting’ as Julian feared, but an opportunity for the company to bring in someone else as a trial, based upon low confidence in their current tech. They may have been concerned that their servers weren’t being properly maintained, and wanted either an opinion, or to see what new blood could/would do. Obviously somebody knew their servers were not being maintained properly. It doesn’t make sense to call in somebody 1.5 hours away for such a pedestrian task. Maybe they heard of your reputation and wanted to give you a shot? You never did say what the response from the customer was.

By: Larry Sabo

Larry Sabo — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 21:30:27 +0000

Good advice, Bryce. It’s why I stick to residential repairs, mostly. I know my limitations and don’t hesitate to tell my clients that they really need someone more qualified to address their problem, when that is the case.

Even with residential customers, I will sometimes decline a job if it gives off bad vibes. Still need to learn how to make some customers understand that payment for previous assignments was for services fully rendered, not a retainer for unlimited future telephone support.

By: PcTek

PcTek — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:25:50 +0000

i need you to ‘dust’ my servers, b/c my ‘regular’ pc tech is away in cambodia…
“no?” … “well could you just ‘touch’ them while your here? so we can at least get fingerprints for court evidence…?”
LOL.
It does sound like a set up…

By: Computer Repair Royal Oak MI - C! Tech Solutions

Computer Repair Royal Oak MI - C! Tech Solutions — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:59:15 +0000

Smart move, and a great lesson.

By: Modern Technology

Modern Technology — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 23:40:50 +0000

Honestly, you did a good thing turning down the offer. Most of us would have done the same. But there are people out there who would probably said yes in a blink, most of the times money beeing the primary issue.
Regards.

By: Yeahright

Yeahright — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:09:15 +0000

Surprisingly I know a few on-site Technicians who don’t have their client sign a service agreement. Sued to oblivion indeed.

Sadly, it’s not winning the suit that’s the problem: it’s the cost of a lawsuit period.

If you feel you can’t end up with a win-win service situation just don’t do it.

By: Julian

Julian — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:45:23 +0000

Very good call, sounds to me like it was a sting.

I’ve seen it before when I worked in the stores department of a computer manufacturer. The managers knew there was major problem luming with system and called in a independant company for maintenance. The system failed to reboot and then argued that they had caused the problem.

If you have any doubts about a job, don’t take it!

By: ACG

ACG — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 15:46:57 +0000

Good call on this one. I rarely ever turn anything down, but this one I would have for sure.

By: sys-eng

sys-eng — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 15:09:09 +0000

The story sounds a bit fishy. I wonder if they expected a problem so they called someone else in. It just seems strange that they would not wiat for their guy to get back from vacation to clean them. After all, waiting even a month for cleaning would not endanger the systems. I would not have touched them either. You had no good idea what their configuration was so you did not even know if they must be booted in sequence, etc..

By: Mathieu Gagnon

Mathieu Gagnon — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 13:42:28 +0000

Dedust while it works, if it’s a case of over heating that could have caused a reboot anyway.

I heard a story about a guy that was dusting ATM , and had to chosse the right compressed air bottle due to conductivity and safety.

Do someone has any info on that ?