Have I completely lost my mind?

[Mike McCall]

I'm small enough that every penny counts. So, even a residential client at $9.95mo. matters. But today I fired my next-door-neighbor. Not because of non-payment, but because they haven't turned on their machine for 103-days and I feel like I'm stealing from them. I've had several conversations with them over the entire time (about 8-months) about this and they say they want to continue every time. I gotta tell ya it makes me feel dishonest to charge for a service that's not being used at all. That's why I fired them, I guess, because I feel guilty about taking money for nothing. Yeah, I know I'm weird.

 

[nlinecomputers]

but because they haven't turned on their machine for 103-days and I feel like I'm stealing from them.

So what? You are providing peace of mind, just like a fire insurance policy. What if I own a cabin in the woods that I only use a few times a year. Should State Farm cancel on me because I don't file a claim?

They were happy paying you. Now you just set yourself up as the crazy person next door. That will do more harm than any hard feelings that might have come from wasting money.

 

[myleso]

We have an insurance company with 12 managed computers. One of the computers has not been turned on in over a year and I asked if he wanted to remove it from the bill to save a few bucks and he looked at me like I was out of my mind and said absolutely not lol

 

[Mike McCall]

So, I lost a client because of a false sense of guilt? Perfect. What a dork!

 

[glennd]

So, I lost a client because of a false sense of guilt? Perfect. What a dork!

Maybe offer to give the machine a free health check and updates etc so you both feel like there's some value in the arrangement.

 

[cypress]

Maybe offer to give the machine a free health check and updates etc so you both feel like there's some value in the arrangement.

I would have offered that as an option but not gotten rid of the plan.

 

[Mike McCall]

No, you bought yourself some peace of mind. Very cheaply.

Unlike most clients you don't get to fire your neighbours and it's worth going to a bit of extra trouble to keep them sweet.

Just make sure that your neighbour knows that you're still happy to look at the machine if and when it's needed and you're off the hook. When he takes you up on this it's up to you whether you charge standard rates or limit the bill to what he would have paid on a managed services contract.

The relationship with my neighbor is fine. I just found myself feeling like I was taking money unjustly, and I'm not comfortable with that. However, it seems that I'm the only one who saw it that way and I am having to rethink that position. I don't enjoy making mistakes, well intentioned or not, and it's clear I've made one here. Apparently I didn't see this the way the rest of the planet does, and let my own insecurities drive my decision making. I seem to be tripping over that a lot lately.

 

[nlinecomputers]

If a customer doesn't like paying you they will tell you or flat not pay you. Think of this way because they so rarely turn on the PC, when they do they are likely to have more issues. Time that you would be giving away but now is paid for in advance.

 

[Mike McCall]

So, I had a chance to speak with the client last night. I explained my concerns (again) telling them why I was uncomfortable taking their money. Yet again they insisted on continuing with the service. So, I will continue to provide those services as I'm able.

Clearly I missed this one completely. Even my wife gave me that "Why did I marry you?" look when I told her about it. I know everyone occasionally finds themselves a couple of sandwiches short of a picknick, but this time it seems like even if I had a full basket I would still have been out to lunch. Ouch!

 

[omnichad]

Here's an example you might relate to a little better. I still have Netflix DVD service. And I never watch DVDs. I literally pay $10+/mo. just to let a couple of Blu-Rays sit in envelopes by my TV. Sometimes it takes up to 3-5 months to watch one of them. But if I cancel the disc service, I may lose my queue and I have to send both discs back.

I haven't cancelled the DVD portion of my Netflix subscription yet. And their catalog shrinks every day.

 

[nlinecomputers]

So, I had a chance to speak with the client last night. I explained my concerns (again) telling them why I was uncomfortable taking their money. Yet again they insisted on continuing with the service. So, I will continue to provide those services as I'm able.

Clearly I missed this one completely. Even my wife gave me that "Why did I marry you?" look when I told her about it. I know everyone occasionally finds themselves a couple of sandwiches short of a picknick, but this time it seems like even if I had a full basket I would still have been out to lunch. Ouch!

You should ask him to boot his system up once a month. That way updates don't get behind. Explain to him that they will backlog, slow down hs PC and annoy the frak out of him. But honestly stuff like this is why I don't do residential anymore. People are not using PCs anymore. Not for home use.

 

[Mike McCall]

You should ask him to boot his system up once a month. That way updates don't get behind. Explain to him that they will backlog, slow down hs PC and annoy the frak out of him. But honestly stuff like this is why I don't do residential anymore. People are not using PCs anymore. Not for home use.

We've had that conversation several times already. Had it again last night. The client did turn it on as requested and I remoted in and saw that Windows, AV, etc., was trying to update itself so I backed out to get out of the way. After about 20-minutes it went off again and hasn't been seen online since. The client has a room mate who (I think) thinks they're somehow hurting me by turning it off. He blames me for the porn filter, but she's my client and not him. I think she prefers not to argue with him and just uses her iPad instead. Whatever the case actually is, I have no part in such matters.

Unfortunately, residential is all I have right now. My one SOHO client I may lose to his new wife's Apple enthusiasm. I've already met with them regarding renewal and made my presentation. My suspicion is that she's arguing that if he bought a Mac he wouldn't have the need for support he has with his PC. I've made my best offer and it's now between them.

 

[fencepost]

I was contemplating a bit of mobile app development but shelved it given the general "90% fail" aspect of the app ecosystem these days. I may someday go forward with it anyway, and if I do there's a good chance that it'll have an optional cheap annual subscription component that will give it significantly more features (including some that would require creating and maintaining a server, hence subscription). I was figuring that just for my own peace of mind I'd probably try to set up something so that if someone simply hasn't used the app or any of the subscription-specific features in the last couple of months I'd either not renew their subscription or would have a reminder prompt of "Your subscription is due to renew in 2 weeks, but you don't appear to be using the app or its subscription features. Do you wish to renew anyway? [YES] [No]"

 

[nlinecomputers]

He blames me for the porn filter, but she's my client and not him

And NOW you know why they, or at least she, wants your service. You stop supporting them, the porn filter goes away. Obviously, the computer is only used for porn and she wants it stopped. Just take the money and stay out of it.

 

[PCBMerchy]

You've been very honest and upfront with them about feeling bad about charging them a service they don't seem to use. However, they listened to your argument and told you they wanted to continue. The customer is always right.

You should feel guilty if you conned them into this, promised more than you could deliver, are charging them and not providing the service or any other shady dealings. You aren't. You are simply providing a service that the client wants. It isn't your business to worry about how often they use it. They want it, period.

Stop overthinking the issue and put that time and effort into getting more customers, preferably SOHO or SMB and not residential...

 

[PCBMerchy]

I think you are reading way too much into this. He explained the service to the customer. The customer agreed to it. He explained it again later on saying he felt bad that they weren't utilizing it. The customer again said they understood and wanted to keep paying for the service.

So in this situation you would tell the client they didn't need the service after all and would refuse them? Call me crazy but as long as the client knows what they are paying for and has said multiple times they want it, who are you to tell them no? Do you not want to make money? Do you normally tell your clients they can't have what they want?

While I appreciate your snarky reply and attempted lesson on knowing more than your clients, I listen to my customers. We talk, they tell me what they want and we come up with a plan. It's really not rocket science. If they feel better having a plan in place they they may not use as much as the next guy, that's fine with me. Everyone knows what's going on and everyone's happy.

 

[Geoffsplace]

I'm small enough that every penny counts. So, even a residential client at $9.95mo. matters. But today I fired my next-door-neighbor. Not because of non-payment, but because they haven't turned on their machine for 103-days and I feel like I'm stealing from them. I've had several conversations with them over the entire time (about 8-months) about this and they say they want to continue every time. I gotta tell ya it makes me feel dishonest to charge for a service that's not being used at all. That's why I fired them, I guess, because I feel guilty about taking money for nothing. Yeah, I know I'm weird.

I think the client is happy to pay because it gives her peace of mind, also did you ever consider that she may have things going on in her life that take a far greater priority and need her on going attention at the moment. Clients of mine like her get priority when they do have a problem and I make sure I look after them extra well. My clients tell me its one less thing they have to worry about and that it is a very small price to pay to for that peace of mind when all hell is going on around them.

So don't let her down, provide the service she is happy with,

rgds
Syb

 

[alluseridsrejected]

I did a quick glance at this thread and one thing I did not see mentioned is power settings and BIOS settings. What kind of computer is it? When I have this issue, the first thing I do is see if the BIOS is capable of powering on the computer on a regular schedule. I then schedule all maint. at that time and if the customer wants computer turned off afterwards, schedule a script to shutdown the computer. Also make sure the computer does not automatically go into sleep mode in power settings.

Just explain to customer what you plan to do. I have only had a couple of customers (who's computer was capable) that was not willing to work it out, but I always explain this stuff before signing them up so we never even got our service started with them.

BIOS power on settings generally have the most flexibility in business grade desktops, but most consumer desktops have some capabilities, although it seems older systems might be better than some of the new cheap crap coming out now days.

I generally plan at least 3 nights a week to make sure every thing gets done including tune ups, updates, deep virus scans but it could probably be done ok in less.

 

[fencepost]

For businesses, also check into whether your RMM software is able to do Wake-On-LAN from a server or separate workstation in the same office.

 

[Computer Bloke]

Did I slip into the Twilight Zone or are the previous two posts on the wrong thread?