Questionable competitor

[mau64]

I had a guy call me today looking for a 17" laptop and was also curious if he "needed Office 2007 or 2010." the thing that struck me odd was he said a local guy, who owns a shop, said he could get him Office for only $50. Is this actually possible? Am I missing out on some sale I should be aware of? Or does this guy own a burned copy of Office and is distributing an illegal copy?

[Appleby]

First off, who knows if this guy was telling you the truth, but if it was, then the competitor is using pirated versions of Office. This isn't uncommon among techs and repair shops. It seems every town, no matter how small has a few techs/shops who do this. We used to have a couple that were BAD about this but they seem to have either sold out or closed. I think we've got a mobile tech who does this but I don't run into near as many computers with pirated software as I used to.

[Trusted IT Solutions]

Originally Posted by mau64

I had a guy call me today looking for a 17" laptop and was also curious if he "needed Office 2007 or 2010." the thing that struck me odd was he said a local guy, who owns a shop, said he could get him Office for only $50. Is this actually possible? Am I missing out on some sale I should be aware of? Or does this guy own a burned copy of Office and is distributing an illegal copy?

It is most certainly illegal.

[AlaDes]

I had a laptop come into my shop a few weeks ago that came out with Windows Vista but had been upgraded to Windows 7. Before the customer brought it in to me I was trying to help her troubleshoot the problem on the phone. She couldn't tell me the version of the OS so I asked her roughly what she paid for it. She said $100 installed. I knew something didn't sound right so I asked her to bring it it. What I found out was that the tech had taken a Win 7 COA from another computer and placed it on hers with scotched tape and removed her Vista COA. I gave seen the same business do this allot with XP: Take the COAs off of dead units, place them on brand new custom builds and sell them with no media.

[compnet]

Originally Posted by AlaDes

I had a laptop come into my shop a few weeks ago that came out with Windows Vista but had been upgraded to Windows 7. Before the customer brought it in to me I was trying to help her troubleshoot the problem on the phone. She couldn't tell me the version of the OS so I asked her roughly what she paid for it. She said $100 installed. I knew something didn't sound right so I asked her to bring it it. What I found out was that the tech had taken a Win 7 COA from another computer and placed it on hers with scotched tape and removed her Vista COA. I gave seen the same business do this allot with XP: Take the COAs off of dead units, place them on brand new custom builds and sell them with no media.

The least they could do is take it off with a heat gun so it keeps the adhesive.... lol

[Doctor Mouse]

Illegal software my competitors here sell Office 2010 for just $2.5 and Windows 7 for $3... Its hard to compete.

[Rob_NNCC]

I have problems with my competitors, but in a different way. Two of my competitors are ISPs and one does VOIP. It is not uncommon for a customer to ask why I have not responded to his emails as the competitors block their customers from contacting me.

[ctgoshenscotchtown]

Originally Posted by mau64

I had a guy call me today looking for a 17" laptop and was also curious if he "needed Office 2007 or 2010." the thing that struck me odd was he said a local guy, who owns a shop, said he could get him Office for only $50. Is this actually possible? Am I missing out on some sale I should be aware of? Or does this guy own a burned copy of Office and is distributing an illegal copy?

illegal definitely time to make some anonymous calls to proper authorities.

[vdub12]

Originally Posted by Rob_NNCC

I have problems with my competitors, but in a different way. Two of my competitors are ISPs and one does VOIP. It is not uncommon for a customer to ask why I have not responded to his emails as the competitors block their customers from contacting me.

I highly doubt that a local ISP would use tactics like that. I think that would be very illegal. If you could prove it you could probably put them out of buisness.

Originally Posted by mau64

I had a guy call me today looking for a 17" laptop and was also curious if he "needed Office 2007 or 2010." the thing that struck me odd was he said a local guy, who owns a shop, said he could get him Office for only $50. Is this actually possible? Am I missing out on some sale I should be aware of? Or does this guy own a burned copy of Office and is distributing an illegal copy?

Without knowing the whole story its hard to tell. Customers don't always understand what they are buying. Who knows maybe the competitor is selling libreoffice installed for $50. Most customers just here "office" and assume. I install libreoffice on all my systems and office 2010 starter on systems running Vista or 7. That's another idea. Maybe they are selling office starter installed. Personally I don't see what would be wrong with installing a free product and charging for your time. I have a large number of pizza tech competitors out here and I rarely see any pirated software. I would not jump to conclusions unless you know without a doubt that they are pirating software. You don't want to make accusations that could turn out to be erroneous.

[compnet]

Originally Posted by vdub12

Without knowing the whole story its hard to tell. Customers don't always understand what they are buying. Who knows maybe the competitor is selling libreoffice installed for $50. Most customers just here "office" and assume. I install libreoffice on all my systems and office 2010 starter on systems running Vista or 7. That's another idea. Maybe they are selling office starter installed. Personally I don't see what would be wrong with installing a free product and charging for your time. I have a large number of pizza tech competitors out here and I rarely see any pirated software. I would not jump to conclusions unless you know without a doubt that they are pirating software. You don't want to make accusations that could turn out to be erroneous.

Ya... you're not allowed to put office starter on a machine unless you are the manufacturer.