Client questioning my intent

[minc3d]

1) I never offer a warranty on virus removal beyond my 5 day service guarantee. The kind of things that can be done on the internet today are too dangerous too quickly to be held accountable as a technician for actions taken by your client. We aren't insurance companies - we are problem solvers. We aren't here to manage risk by our clients. If we were, we could charge much higher premiums for the work we do.

2) I would offer this gentleman the option to write down the exact time he notices that he has an infection next, and that in order to get this in-warranty repair from you, he must agree to go through the internet history so you can see if the browsing activity was considered dangerous. If so, why should you be held liable? You aren't an unlimited fountain of free labor - you cannot let clients take you for a ride like that.

It's like an insurance company saying "you have 30 days to get in an accident. If you do we will repair it for free again." Doesn't make sense.

Every virus infection is circumstantially different than the last one. Don't let yourself fall in a trap like that.

 

[Xander]

We aren't insurance companies - we are problem solvers. We aren't here to manage risk by our clients. If we were, we could charge much higher premiums for the work we do.

I like that. I'll have to remember that one.

 

[tankman1989]

The moment you install stuff they don't fully understand, they will be calling you non-stop with "conflicts" or how do I do this?, or ever since you installed this stuff, I am having a problem with this.. With these type clients, there is no real winning solution.

Don't you just love these customers? They will call you with a problem with a program/app they are using, let's say IE or LiveMail. Maybe they are getting viruses because the security on the browser is set very low. By changing the security settings to Aggressive they now get a message telling them that the website they are trying to connect to is... (fill in here). Now you are getting a call every time this pop-up shows on the screen, which explains what to do very simply. The client is determined to get free work for you to fix this problem and nothing you do will make them happy. If yo have these customers, send them on their way and let them be someone else's problem!

 

[GoHighVoltage]

I like that. I'll have to remember that one.

+1 - Well said my friend. I agree and love the logic.

 

[GoHighVoltage]

Don't you just love these customers? They will call you with a problem with a program/app they are using, let's say IE or LiveMail. Maybe they are getting viruses because the security on the browser is set very low. By changing the security settings to Aggressive they now get a message telling them that the website they are trying to connect to is... (fill in here). Now you are getting a call every time this pop-up shows on the screen, which explains what to do very simply. The client is determined to get free work for you to fix this problem and nothing you do will make them happy. If yo have these customers, send them on their way and let them be someone else's problem!

Hey Tankman, Well said. This is why I was saying, when you have a customer, that is not computer savvy, and they consistently keep getting viruses from high Risk websites, you will never win. If you offer a solution they don't or can't understand, then you will live with them bothering you, and if your solution does help, but they have any other problem, it will be your fault anyway.

Unless someone is very good with computers, and fully understand what is being offered, I keep things simple.

In reality, my own computer, I only have Microsoft security essentials. Nothing else. I am on the internet all the time, and I get ZERO viruses. This is because I am educated enough to know what is high risk, and what to click on or not click on.

You can give someone the best software available, but if you don't educate them on what causes the problem, they will never resolve anything.

 

[Fubs]

As others have said, I would simply explain to him how his computer is getting infected. In our shop, I generally spend a few minutes explaining the typical way computers become infected. I even spent the time on a test machine to take screen shots of how a system typically gets infected and show them to customers. A lot of the time, a customer will swear to god that they never installed anything. But once I show them some examples and how a lot of this fake antispyware will come on asking you to install this or that, then they begin to understand when they see the screen shots. Also ask if the computer gets used by other members of the family. I find that kids tend to not care about the consequences and will install whatever pops up--thinking they know what they are doing. At the very least, it can give an embarrassed customer a way out by blaming it on the kids. Also to add to the list of other sites that tend to infect your machine, I find that a lot of foreign websites (Indian, Chinese, etc) will have a ton of pop up ads and some of those ads will try to install fake antispyware.

 

[PCmechanic]

I offer no warranty when it comes to removing malware because the only 100% way to be sure it's all gone (and won't reinstall itself) is to reinstall Windows

When explaining the cause of the infection, it's always good to use terms such as "this most likely happens when PEOPLE do ______" In my experience, they immediately get when PEOPLE applies to THEM lol

My motto has always been "Hey it's your computer and you don't have to listen to me...but it'll cost you"

 

[ComputerRepublic]

Have you discussed using imaging products to back up and restore?
Have you discussed a dedicated machine for web surfing?
Have you discussed a VM running Linux?
Have you discussed VM's at all?
Have you discussed various incremental restore options like Returnil and Commodo?
Have you set up sandboxing on his machine?

If not, why not?

If its been going on for some time and is still going on, it seems to me that the customer's criticism of you for not providing a lasting repair is not entirely invalid.

Yes we all know that if people really want to get infected on a standard windows machine then our options are limited.

Thats not the same as having no options, and I dont see anywhere in your post that you have explored the possibility of these with the customer.

Excuse my criticism if you have, but you dont mention anything about it, and it is in all respects a service failure having someone come back repeatedly with the same problem without having had an adequate appraisal of his options, and the chance to explore solutions, which, if you dont mind me saying so, are abundantly available.

This is exactly what I was thinking when I read the original post. If the customer keeps coming back to you with the same problem then you're doing something wrong. You either need to educate your customer on why this is happening time and again, or explore other options of which there are many!