Going above and beyond - A bad idea?

[Stephen68]

New client drops me off a Dell Inspiron 1545 running Vista X64, boots past splash screen then hangs at black screen with pointer.
I work my magic on it and it's all good about an hour later.

I call client and tell him it's good to go, but he tells me he is out of town and can't collect it for 3-4 days, no problem I say.

Earlier today I boot it up and as he seems like a nice guy, I decide to do some extra work on it as I have some spare time.

It's very neglected and slow so I go through the Startup menu and disable a lot of unnecessary stuff.
I purge the system of junk, delete some PUPS and defrag, all goes to plan.
Then I realize that it's still running SP1, so I update to SP2.

When it finishes installing SP2 I check for updates and a couple come back.
I allow it to update and then the sh1t hits the fan!
It gets stuck on installing updates, 3 of 3 and keeps rebooting

So the question is, do you go the extra mile (time allowing) and perform updates, or just throw the machine back with the initial problem fixed?

Thinking I may have learnt a lesson here!!!

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

hmm thats a good question...I don't usually do offline computer repair but checking the status of windows updates is one of the first things I do. Black screen with pointer in my limited offline experience is usually data corruption of some kind. Vista isn't exactly known for its friendly service packs.

I guess if I was in that situation i'd call and offer to repair windows updates at an additional charge. I'd be interested in knowing what others would do in that scenario.

 

[mason]

Never go that extra mile for customers.

everytime i do it, it always bites me in the ass!

with your problem, i would system restore it, fix the problem it came in for and give it them back. tell them you think it could have problems updating windows and if they want you to look at that you can but it will cost $.....

 

[PCX]

I'm guessing with an hours worth of time that you did not run a diagnostic on the hard drive. . . . All of these issues could be caused by a failing hard drive and you could have possibly made things worse not knowing that fact. As for going above and beyond, that is fine but you should be charging for your time (with their permission) and if you had extra time to kill, then you probably should have used that time to build your business instead do doing work for free.

 

[Paul Rodgers]

What you did is not above and beyond. If a computer is not up to date it is a potential security risk. Removing PUPs, Junk, and defragging is just a good thing to do if the machine is on the bench.

Not charging for those services is above and beyond.

 

[mason]

What you did is not above and beyond. If a computer is not up to date it is a potential security risk. Removing PUPs, Junk, and defragging is just a good thing to do if the machine is on the bench.

Not charging for those services is above and beyond.

that is true, something i missed. I always make sure all our computers that leave our workshop, windows is fully updated on XP vista or 7 and 8.

Didnt think about that - also to the guy who said about the hard drive. another good point. test all hardware. The hard drive may have bad sectors and you have just written some data to them sectors. if this is the case, You have saved them alot of hassle, If they dont have a backup you can do it now while you have found the fault before its to late.

 

[dr_ram]

and if you had extra time to kill, then you probably should have used that time to build your business instead do doing work for free.

This really hit home for me. Unfortunately I've went the extra mile for residential clients and often times they don't seem to know enough about computers to appreciate it.

 

[Martyn]

I often do a bit more to give people a really good experience dealing with me. I did a screen for a friend at a discounted rate recently and after the screen repair I did a D7 scripted cleanup while we were talking about old times. A few days later I got a call from him just to thank me for the better performance of his laptop and what had I done.

I get a lot of recommendations so doing an extra bit I think will generate you extra business along the way.

 

[ohio_grad_06]

While I can see what you are saying about cleaning things up not being extra mile, I disagree. A client is paying for y our knowledge and expertise. If you give away services, you could give the impression that your time isn't very valuable. However if if you offer a discount for your cleanup while you have it, You woukd probably get some takers. But doing cleaning without permission could cause you headaches. (Thibk of people who have their password to gmail saved in the browser abd you clear the caxhe and they can't remember their password). Oops. Just my opinion.

PS sorry for grammar. typing on phone lol.

 

[Stephen68]

Thanks for the replies folks, much appreciated.
Just to set the record straight though, I did test the HD after I got the OS booting.

The reason I did not do the updates initially, was because the client is on welfare as he lost his job last year and asked me to just get his PC back up and running as cheaply as possible.
He's a friend of a friend and I know things are tight for him at the moment.

Regarding the updates and reboots, after a quick google it seems that it is a V common problem, has been around for years and MS have still not fixed the bug!

 

[cyde_ePhex]

I try to be very careful about doing things on a client's system that they didn't ask for, just for that reason. Sometimes I'll make a few performance tweaks but not much more than that.

 

[Stephen68]

I try to be very careful about doing things on a client's system that they didn't ask for, just for that reason. Sometimes I'll make a few performance tweaks but not much more than that.

Yeah, lesson learned now I think.

Thanks.

 

[brandonkick]

The problem is that "going above and beyond" and what most people consider to be doing so really, IMO, is not.

I am of the mindset that I will perform the work that the customer asks me to perform. In a perfect world, I'd have one or two concise pages to hand to every customer (or potential customer) explaining a few things like some good safe usages tips, security tips, and maintenance tips and try to give them somewhat of an understanding of the things they need to be doing (or paying me to do) to keep their machine in good health. In reality, many customers are just going to view this as an attempt of getting more money out of them.

So when I tell them that they really need to keep all web players up to date, all browsers up to date, have all Microsoft updates done and the hand full of other things that need to be done most of them will just think "yeah, and I bet he expects me to pay for all of this".

IMO, if you wanted to do your good deed then sure. A lot of the stuff you did didn't require a lot of "hands on" time and if your wanting to help the guy out when he is on tough times then I applaud you for that. However I'd always at the very least set a restore point at the time when you've finished the work he has paid you for. Because your responsible for anything you do after..

 

[cypress]

I've been nipped in the butt with "going above and beyond" I just chalked it up as a lesson well learned. I advise the customer on things that need to be done if they approve then I move forward.

 

[Stephen68]

Yeah, thankfully I had created my "All Good" restore point beforehand, as I always do.

Thanks.

 

[NYJimbo]

I got no problem doing the "above and beyond" stuff, but NEVER tell them the machine is done and THEN do the extra stuff.

If a machine comes in "dead" and I fix it and then I want to do a few more things that might be risky I am in the clear because it was "dead" when it came in and the customer still thinks it is.

 

[SilverLeaf]

I got no problem doing the "above and beyond" stuff, but NEVER tell them the machine is done and THEN do the extra stuff.

If a machine comes in "dead" and I fix it and then I want to do a few more things that might be risky I am in the clear because it was "dead" when it came in and the customer still thinks it is.

Sage advice indeed.

In most cases this is also an issue of managing your customer's expectations. I always try to deliver more than they expect....its the whole "under-promise and over-deliver" (UPOD) philosophy.

 

[angry_geek]

It seems you have been introduced to Loki. Yes, he is an interesting guy. My advice to you is just this: Next time you think of doing something like this, I urge you to consult Murphy's law. It will tell you EXACTLY what to expect. What you're seeing now is what the army refers to as SNAFU.

Once the machine is fixed, stop, at least til you consult your customer. Now, what you need to do is tell the customer exactly what happened. Don't try to cover it up.

 

[NYJimbo]

Yeah, thankfully I had created my "All Good" restore point beforehand, as I always do.

Thanks.

So is this issue resolved or is it still stuck in an update loop ?

 

[Stephen68]

So is this issue resolved or is it still stuck in an update loop ?

It is currently fixed (system restore) but will most likely loop again when the offending update is done.
I have informed the guy about this rouge update and am waiting for him to make a decision as to where to proceed from here.

There is a reg fix for the update (pending.xml deletion), but I feel I have done all that he asked me and then some, so I'll see what he says.

Thanks all.