Diagnostics Charge?

[AFCSOFME]

I went free diagnostics at first but it didn't last. I am consuming my time and bench space to diagnose a potential problem based on "It just turns off" or "All I did was open my email and the screen turned all kinds of colors after"..etc
I diagnose with presentation of the problem, estimates etc. I charge $35 for diagnosing and I explain that I don't just stare at, or spin a wheel of problems. If need be the system will even be looked at internally and form there we can check the CPU, PSU, confirm you spilled soda on the system and it ruined it hence the burning smell, etc

 

[RegEdit]

Some computer problems may be quickly remedied via email, over the phone or at the time of drop off (without opening up the machine). In this case I charge nothing. For example I had a guy come in who thought that his computer might be infected. All he had was a whole bunch of tool bars that I removed in a couple of minutes. I ran Process Explorer and checked the hosts file for good measure. All checked out fine and I sent him on his way.

I charge a flat rate of $100 for repairs, however if it's one of these simple things ONLY, then I charge only $35...

Desktop PC: Replace dead CMOS battery (but no BIOS updates or changes are required)
Desktop PC: Disconnected or disengaged on / off switch, data cable, Molex or SATA II cable, 20-pin, 24-pin or 4-pin cable.
Desktop PC: Faulty data cable
Desktop PC: Incorrect jumper setting
Desktop PC: Improperly seated RAM chips (but not CPU seating)
Desktop or laptop PC: Incorrect BIOS boot order
Laptop PC: Failed or incorrect PSU or PSU plug adapter

 

[seedubya]

I do free estimates and charge $39 for a diagnostic.

The charge is waved if the work is done. I normally only charge that in cases where I have to rip a notebook apart and its not worth fixing.

Most things fall under the free estimate.

This is what I do too.

 

[sct]

I charge $25 dollar diagnostic fee, waived if work is performed. That keeps the ones wanting me to work for free away.

 

[DCGPX]

Normally I dont charge a fee, but this week I've had 5 get the diagnosis and then not go ahead.

Latest this morning where on phone they said they wanted to repair it so I go all the way across town, confirm it needed HDD. Ready to put paperwork together they decided to 'wait and think about it'.

That was final nail in free diagnosis - Now revamping paperwork and website to say a fee will be payable - discountable against final repair bill if they go ahead.

Only decision now is whether to charge £30 or my min hourly of £45.

 

[bytes]

I charge 1 hour labor just to leave my office. This way if they don't want to go ahead with the repair I still make my hour.

 

[DCGPX]

Thinking about it - I'm going to charge my hourly rate and see how it goes.

 

[nightkingdoms]

I charge $30 for a diagnosis and $50 if they don't want me to work on it. In my terms I make it say that it "will" be charged, but normally I waive the fee if they have me work on it. But I will only waive the $50 one if it's something simple and I didn't open the case. If I open the case and they don't want it worked on, they're being charged one way or another. lol

 

[Kitten Kong]

Do you guys get the diagnosis fee when the machine is booked in, or upon collection / repair?

What I mean is, say for eg, client comes in wishes a diagnosis on a laptop not starting.
do the usual, book it in, diagnose the dc as faulty, contact the client, tell them its the dc at £x to repair. Client wishes not to have it repaired, and then tells you, you can keep the laptop. The laptop could be a old paperweight, which is no use to anyone, so your stuck with it.

Or, is a case of book the job in, complete the paperwork, collect the diag fee. DC faulty, contact client, blah blah, keep it. so you have your diag fee and the laptop.

Or, collect diag fee, (ie £35), dc repair is £80, client pays the remaining £55 upon completion?.

I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the above.

At the moment, my diag fee is £20, put towards the repair if required. I do not take a initial fee off my clients. (but seriously thinking of doing this first, for the laptop reason above, whereby client says keep it).

Basically I could of stripped down the laptop complete, put it all back together again, lost out on labour for that, and have a paperweight at the end of the day. When my client collects their item, if its ber, I collect the diag fee then.

 

[nightkingdoms]

Do you guys get the diagnosis fee when the machine is booked in, or upon collection / repair?

When they book in the computer, they sign a form that states that it is $30 for "diagnosis only" which will be written in the client instructions section, and $50 if they choose not to have the repair done. They also get a claim ticket that they take with them.

When I'm finished with a diagnosis, I email them or call them and let them know their diagnosis is done and tell them to come in to decide if they want it repaired or not. I will not tell them what the diagnosis is over email or the phone, they need to come in, in-person. At that point they decide if they want to do the repairs or not.

If they do, we write a new repair order to fix it (the original order said to "diagnose only") and it gets worked on. If not, I tell them it's $50 for the diagnosis and have them sign the refusal line. If they don't want the repair done and say to keep it, I tell them I'm not in the business to sell computers, they can keep it... That will be $50. *puts out hand* lol

I like having people come in-person for things like that because it's a lot easier to blow you off by email or the phone, so they don't get the diagnosis until they get there. My reason for having them physically there is because they only authorized me to diagnose it, so I tell them that I can't do any repairs or keep it longer than what it took to diagnose it.

If they make a big stink about it, I give them their computer and send them the bill by email and snail mail. After 15 days I close their account and block any further services, continuing to send them bills with late fees.

 

[callthatgirl]

If they make a big stink about it, I give them their computer and send them the bill by email and snail mail. After 15 days I close their account and block any further services, continuing to send them bills with late fees.

LOL

We charge $25 for 15 minutes or a quick diagnosis, sometimes though it's free depends on the issue.

 

[atlanticjim]

Regarding giving 'it' away - we give a quick (max 15mins) free assessment / diagnostic at the front desk but remain deliberately vague about what exactly is wrong & steadfastly refuse to give details even if pushed, stating that 'we've to run indepth or advanced diags before being absolutely certain of what's wrong & at this moment in time we simply haven't got time to talk you thro' exactly what we'll be testing for' ... instead we concentrate on telling them how we can offer a professional repair using industry standard tools. We also refuse to tell people exactly how we fixed their pc's or what software was used - usually saying that it's confidential & wouldn't help them even if we told them what we had actually done or used!
BCC

I really do agree with this approach. Although on the face of it is seems deceptive, it is actually good business sense. As soon as the conversation begins with a client, the timer starts in my brain. I will give them about two minutes before I say "It would be wrong for me to guess what the problem is, let me take a look at it and then I can give you a proper diagnosis and an estimate at the same time. My diagnostic fee is $50.00 but that is applied to any repair that I do. I can pick it up this afternoon." Yes my fee is high but in my area there are plenty of good customers who will pay it and plenty who will not. I want the former, my competitors can have the latter.

 

[RegEdit]

Also you should still charge a diagnostic fee for a motherboard diagnosis. Mobo diagnostics are largely idiopathic and require some time to eliminate all other possibilities. That's quite a bit of time wasted if you're not even getting a small diag fee.

And lastly, why wouldn't you markup the motherboard? Again, if you really don't want to do it, then you should be making money at every turn in the event that you end up doing one. As it stands now, if you end up replacing a board, you get a lousy hundred bucks when you could have made much more.

I do. $35 for any diagnostic if and when they want to opt out of a hardware repair.
I charge 5% markup on all parts.

 

[PR Tech]

$30 diagnostic fee. The diagnostics fee is waived if the client uses us to repair the system. At times, the mobo is bad and the client does not want the system fixed. They are just, "Going to go buy a new system". So, it is nice to get paid for time spent to diagnose the system.

 

[Tony_Scarpelli]

What do most of you charge for diagnostics, if anything? Just need to get some feedback on this issue.

I keep deliberating over diagnostics charges. So many who call on the phone will hear a modest diagnostics charge and will not bring their computers in, even though I clearly tell them the fee is waived when the repair is done. It's like they are turned off completely by a very minimal charge.

I feel like my time is worth something and especially after I explain what needs to be done (in detail) and they take it back and run with it to their cousin or best friend's kid to repair (with my information).

Any suggestions on how to avoid this problem...and earn a decent living???

Thanks all !!!

First, you are assuming they are not coming in because of the diag fee. Perhaps it is how you are talking on the phone or some other mannerism?

Do you speak confidently? Do you sound like you know what you are talking about? Do you speak with a funny accent? Do you ramble or repeat yourself? Do you speak over the other person because you know what they are going to ask or say?

I have had the same Diag fee for 17 years and never felt that people do not come in because of it.

Tape your conversations with a cassette player from radio shack and then listen to yourself to see how you are coming across.

Do you have a store? IS it clean? Is it clearly signed? Is it in a bad neighborhood? Is there parking? ARe you expecting them to drop it off to your home?

When I worked from home about half my drop offs never showed up. So I got a store.

However if you live in an area where everyone is saying "free diag" then you have to play that game.

Quote Free diag with repair. That sounds better. You can still have a minimum charge of $59 or 1 hr service. If they don't fix it, they pay the 1 hr of service regardless.

 

[layoric]

Free before, but not now!

I had free diagnostics before. Had that also for my data recovery service. One guy brought in several hard drives at once. THAT was the END of THAT.

Now I state it like this: One hour minimum charge, if I can fix it in that time, that's it. If it is determined that it'll take a while to repair (OS Reinstall for example), and you decide not to go ahead with the repair, it's just the one hour charge.

The new policy is great, NO problems with it since implemented.

 

[NeutronTech]

The more I think about it, the more I feel this: if a customer is expecting free work from the beginning and is turned off by my diag fee, then they probably aren't going to like my prices in the end anyways and will likely not be worth the hassle.

Primarily my prices weed out the majority of headache customers. The diag fee is an extension of that too and weeds out the tire kickers, and gives you a chance to get the feel of a customer before you performing more expensive work. The clients my company attracts are the type that expect to pay for a diagnoses without me even saying so. They just believe time is money, and any time spent on their PC, answering questions, etc is all time they expect to pay for.

I have attempted to waive the diag fee for some of my repeat customers, and they just won't hear of it. They absolutely insist upon paying it, then proceed to lecture me on how I can't stay in business if I do work for free. I've worked fairly hard to attract and keep these types of customers, and there isn't a single customer in my database that I feel would ever try to get something for nothing out of me.

When I started this business I promised myself that I wouldn't put up with any @$$ hole customers, and would not play games with people trying to get free work from me. I am somewhat picky about whom I accept as clients. The guy working in his mom's basement charging $20 can have the rest.

Am I missing out on a large market? Probably, but having a smaller customer base means I can provide better service at higher prices, which in turn allows me to make more money for much less work and headaches. I have a friend who does work on the side, and I regularly send people to him who don't fit my client profile.

Sorry for running off topic! It's just vitally important that you don't screw yourself or allow yourself to be screwed. Charge for what you do. Just because you weren't able to fix something, or a customer opted out of a repair, doesn't mean you shouldn't get paid for the time you put into it. If the customer knew how to diagnose it properly, they wouldn't have brought it to you. So charge for that just as you would any other service.

Good luck!

 

[Toxicmonkeylove]

I have a small shop 400Sq ft. It is located in a small town of 30,000 people there are 2 other shops beside mine.

I do not charge any diagnostic fee, because it get them in the door, and after quoting them a price, only about 5% do not have them repaired. And if they were not referred, I will charge them less, in hopes that when they take it home and they find out how great a job we did, then they will tell their friends.

 

[BDPCR]

I charge $55.00 for a diagnostic fee and it is waived if work is performed. Sometimes a proper diagnosis can take time and my time is valuable.

 

[draelee]

i gotta admit this is very helpful for me. I have struggled with the whole "free diagnostics" and then once get down to the nitty gritty they dont want to pay to get it fixed. I'm trying to build a client base and I guess I have been going about it wrong, because like someone said before if you dont establish yourself professionally people will try and take advantage of you. This right here has happened often. I appreciate all the knowledge being dropped in this thread.