Comments on: Should I Repair a Clients Computer In-House or Onsite?

By: Hannagan's Computers

Hannagan's Computers — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:59:09 +0000

I would have to say that the one thing you have to keep in mind before going to a customers house is first find out what kina equiptment your dealing with. Is it an old pc with pc100 ram or are you dealing with a pc with ddr3. With that being said you must know what kinda computer they have not just what the symptoms are as what one pc can do in minutes one may take an hour or more. I aslo ask if they have high speed internet as dial up can take forever just a few other things to thing about before makin the journey to someones house.

By: The Desolate One

The Desolate One — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 15:09:28 +0000

I NEVER fix a customer’s computer at their home. Never have, never will. There are simply too many of them that want to teach YOU about computers. They lean over your shoulder and try to explain things to you, as if they’re the techs, and they’re teaching you how to fix it. To say that’s annoying is an understatement. Also, there are usually other things screwed up about the computer, which someone else in this forum mentioned. Tons of updates needed, needs serious defragging, etc. There MUST be a certain level of trust between myself and the client, and I make it completely clear that if they want ME to work on it, then they’re going to have to let me remove it from their pad. If not, then feel free to find someone else. I get 100% of my business through word of mouth. I don’t advertise at all, other than to give my customers a few of my business cards. They in turn tell their friends about me. Even though I only accept jobs where I bring the computer back with me, it doesn’t slow down business at all. As with some of you, fixing computers is NOT my first job. It’s a 2nd job / hobby. Even so, I pull in a nice amount of change. Not enough to pay the rent, but enough to pay my side bills. So I’m cool with it. I choose when or IF I want to take on a customer at ALL. I can turn away customers and not feel like I’m not going to be able to pay my rent.

the.desolate_one@yahoo.com

By: PCLAPTECH

PCLAPTECH — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:21:16 +0000

If problem is simple I fix at client place. Otehrwise I prefer to work at my home and sametime I can see and play with my 3 wonderful kids.

By: TheProfessional

TheProfessional — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 19:10:21 +0000

I offer the same rate onsite or offsite but for jobs that will take an estimated hour or more I tell them I must take it back to my shop for lengthy scans/repairs/tests etc. My work is preferred to be done at home because I can multitask and quite frankly I don’t enjoy people over my shoulder the whole time, it’s irritating sometimes. But some work is easy and takes less than an hour. Those are my favorite jobs.

By: Modern Technology

Modern Technology — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 23:46:07 +0000

This type of situations realy depends on how you managed things in the past. If all your past customers spread the word that you do make house visits, then you can’t get out of the loop.
Myself, I enjoy asking them to pay me a visit if its such an emergency. The interest is in both sides, but more on the clien’s side.

By: Protection

Protection — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:56:42 +0000

Thanks for share this nice info related a good way that is how Repair a Clients Computer In-House or Onsite?

By: Tampa Computer Services

Tampa Computer Services — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:05:26 +0000

Agreed with about everyone here. We offer an on-site service at a rate that’s inline with the averages in our market and a pickup/drop-off service with a flat rate.

By using economies of scale and creating efficiencies like what Bryce mentioned and some other neat tricks like several kvm switches on the bench… we can have up to 15 computers per bench running at a time and while one is processing the data that we fired at it… we’re firing more at another machine.

Now if we were charging an hourly rate for our dropped off computers… that’s another story. Then I can see the ethical dilemma in charging multiple people for the time they’ve paid for.

In our situation… not so much as we bill a flat rate, so who cares how long it takes us (besides us) so long as we do quality work and provide better service than the majority of our local competition.

By: Internet Age

Internet Age — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:01:52 +0000

It all depends on the situation, I suppose. Some customers are extremely reticent to let their PC’s out of their sight, but some things just can not be done there and then.

By: Paul Soares

Paul Soares — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:23:48 +0000

I started out doing about 90% onsite but now, with an office, I do maybe 30-40% (residential) onsite for the very reasons cited by Bryce. I have many more people drop PCs off now too so I save plenty of travel time as well. It’s made my business more efficient, more profitable, and a lot less stressful.

@William, IMHO, charging based on what your service is worth is not unethical–it’s just good business. If you think it’s too high to charge a fair market value, then add some additional value to the service. Use the extra time to do some special tweaks that you know the competition is not doing.

By: William

William — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 21:01:51 +0000

I think it is ethically grey to work on multiple computers simultaneously and charge full billing for all. I take computers back to my shop so as not to have to charge for the hours when I am just watching it spin. In this way, I am able to give good service to those less able to pay for an otherwise expensive procedure.