In-store base rates for general repair

[NYJimbo]

For those of you who have shops, do you have a base list of rates you charge for typical MAC repairs. Like fan cleans, OS reloads with or without new hard drives, ram replacement prices, etc ?

I don't do many MACs but I know you can charge more than you do for PC's and was hoping for some guidance.

 

[sapphirescales]

If we have to open up the iMac's for any reason, there's a $129 labor charge. Malware removal and reinstalling the OS cost about twice as much as a PC. We basically double the labor (or more) for any Mac work. If people are going to be paying out the a$$ for a glorified PC, then they can pay for it big time when the thing has problems.

 

[NYJimbo]

If we have to open up the iMac's for any reason, there's a $129 labor charge. Malware removal and reinstalling the OS cost about twice as much as a PC. We basically double the labor (or more) for any Mac work. If people are going to be paying out the a$$ for a glorified PC, then they can pay for it big time when the thing has problems.

That's my feeling as well. I just got to be able to comfortable quote prices and not scare away customers but make as much as I can.

 

[jbartlett323]

For most things, we charge the same as we do for PC's. Most internal Laptop repairs are $100+parts. In the end, a macbook is just a laptop, and an iMac is just a big laptop. We often bill AIO's the same as laptops because of repair difficulty.
OS reload is actually half price, because its really simple and you don't have to worry about those pesky things like drivers and non-functioning hardware. Malware removal, or a tune-up, standard $75 for mac or windows. Although we don't see many macs for those issues, usually the owner has already borked it completely by the time they bring it in and we just reload and hand it back to em...
That being said, I'm in a small town in Kansas. Prolly can't get away with charging as much as you can in NY. But in fairness, like I said, a laptop is a laptop, whether its an Acer or an Apple should really matter not at all...

 

[gadgetfixup]

We don't charge near enough. I think if I hear another Mac owner say, "is that all?" while paying the invoice, I'm just going to shoot myself. We've been billing the same as PCs but obviously that's way too cheap.

 

[Markverhyden]

Back when I was at CompUSA we did not differentiate between Apple and Wintel machines for. Desktop rate and laptop rate. But AIO's, which includes iMacs of course, were charged laptop rates.

 

[sapphirescales]

We don't charge near enough. I think if I hear another Mac owner say, "is that all?" while paying the invoice, I'm just going to shoot myself. We've been billing the same as PCs but obviously that's way too cheap.

I know. Apple customers EXPECT to be walking out of there paying almost as much as it would cost for a new Mac. I charge them accordingly. Just had to replace the screen on a Macbook Pro. Charged $550 - $100 less than what Apple quoted them. Customer was very happy. I replaced the SSD in a Macbook Air and charged around $500 too for the labor and the software reload. Apple people are made of money and mostly just want to get their computers working again. Cost is secondary. There are exceptions like college students of course, but even they realize that Mac's are expensive to buy and maintain.

 

[anonymous Mac Tech]

I know. Apple customers EXPECT to be walking out of there paying almost as much as it would cost for a new Mac. I charge them accordingly. Just had to replace the screen on a Macbook Pro. Charged $550 - $100 less than what Apple quoted them. Customer was very happy. I replaced the SSD in a Macbook Air and charged around $500 too for the labor and the software reload. Apple people are made of money and mostly just want to get their computers working again. Cost is secondary. There are exceptions like college students of course, but even they realize that Mac's are expensive to buy and maintain.

So, an inconvenience charge or double the price just because you seem to put them in the category of elitist pigs? Most honest business people charge more for something in particular as it is a specialty. Specialty, meaning you have the tools or are uniquely qualified for something. That is why some (but certainly not all) Apple customers pay a premium.

When I was in business, we were an Apple specialist and Apple Authorized Service Provider and reseller (Dealer). Having an Apple store a mile away, I'd become really familiar with their support structure. Any repair they performed they would sell the parts near cost (GSX cost) and if there was a labor charge it was maybe $40. Laptop depot mailins were quoted at cost as well (a depot mailin repair many times was cheaper then us obtaining the parts and doing the repair unless it was accidental damage). OSX reloads and the like were pretty much free. They wouldn't mess with data or anything considered vintage (vintage meaning over 5 years old). They would willfully turn those customers over to us. But, usually not without telling the customer "if" they did the repair they would only charge $x amount. So, essentially referred customers walked into our door with expectations something was going to be cheaper then it was. That became very frustrating as the Apple Genius' guess was wrong many times. Also. when something goes vintage the parts are not distributed through Apple anymore and we are relying on the 3rd party market for good quality pulls or reconditioned parts (which would usually cost a premium).

As far as charging double for malware, that is just laughable .Any malware out in the wild for OSX can pretty much be removed manually within 5 minutes. And that will pretty much become even more scarce with the introduction of SIP (system integrity protection) with the current version of OSX El Capitan.

So essentially you are not competing with an Apple store close to you. Or you are providing a jacked up rate for Apple users with equipment over 5 years old? Also, doing a favor for Apple of possibly driving these people towards a new machine. The Apple corporate store would surely thank you.

 

[sapphirescales]

^Hey, anyone that pays for a premium overpriced computer can afford to pay more for repair. I beat Apple's prices most of the time and that's all people ask for. The turnaround is faster too. Besides, Mac's are a huge pain in the butt to repair. We charge everything flat rate and don't have an hourly rate. But it usually evens out to be around $200/hour (this includes both PC and Macs). Anyone that owns a Mac has money to burn and they're willing to part with it for good, fast service. I get work referred to my shop by a few of the employees at the local Apple store. Not wanting to work on something that's 5 years old is ridiculous. Most PC's and Mac's have a good 8+ years in them - and that's if you don't upgrade them along the way. Of course that's out the window with Mac's now that they're all just glorified iPads with no way to upgrade or repair them (unless you count the screen, and even that's just ridiculously expensive to repair). I have the feeling I won't be working with Mac's in the near future because of this.

 

[anonymous Mac Tech]

^Hey, anyone that pays for a premium overpriced computer can afford to pay more for repair. I beat Apple's prices most of the time and that's all people ask for. The turnaround is faster too. Besides, Mac's are a huge pain in the butt to repair. We charge everything flat rate and don't have an hourly rate. But it usually evens out to be around $200/hour (this includes both PC and Macs). Anyone that owns a Mac has money to burn and they're willing to part with it for good, fast service. I get work referred to my shop by a few of the employees at the local Apple store. Not wanting to work on something that's 5 years old is ridiculous. Most PC's and Mac's have a good 8+ years in them - and that's if you don't upgrade them along the way. Of course that's out the window with Mac's now that they're all just glorified iPads with no way to upgrade or repair them (unless you count the screen, and even that's just ridiculously expensive to repair). I have the feeling I won't be working with Mac's in the near future because of this.

People who own Macs don't necessarily have money to burn. Now someone who owns any type of electronic device and doesn't take care of it must have money to burn in my opinion. Apple quantifies machine as vintage after 5 years to make it more inconvenient to get service on a 5 year old machine. If Apple just flat out made the lifecycle 5 years, then why have the last 3 versions of OSX support machines produced in mid 2007 and up? As a matter of fact, the newest release of OSX is promising essentially all performance improvements. So, in theory it should run well with older hardware. So, all in all, If after 5 years your Mac is running fine? By all means Apple doesn't care. If after 5 years it's on it's last leg? Why make it easy to keep for another year or two when Apple would rather see you invest in new equipment?

If Macs are such a pain to repair, you don't really qualify to repair them and are more than likely doing a disservice to your customers? You should have tried a few repairs on the early PPC (non-Intel) iMacs and laptops if you wanted to see what challenging was like. Todays Mac hardware is a breeze to repair in comparison. It is just made to be more inconvenient to repair with all the special accessories needed today. Actually, with the right accessories, Mac laptops are essentially meant to be churned out as fast as possible for the mail-in repair depot parts changers to not be too challenged and pump these things out as fast as they arrive. Like I said, keeping it inconvenient just frustrates users from doing their own repairs.

As far the the units becoming more modular, you can blame modern technology and Apple I suppose. PCIe flash storage is naturally going to be more expensive as it is newer cutting edge technology. Prices come down as the technology becomes more common. As far as soldered in RAM...Well that is just wrong. But in Apple's opinion, why should they care about the bottom feeders and leave money on the table. That is just business.

 

[altrenda]

This is a very odd discussion.
Personally, I would like to charge more for people who buy HP or any of the other cheap plastic laptops. They deserve to pay more for buying cheap pieces of junk.

oh, and red ones. I hate red ones. And people pay more for red ones. Definitely charge more for red ones.

/s

 

[Markverhyden]

Yep. And you forgot the big kahuna - Windows Phone. I charge 10 times the replacement price because they are too stupid to know. LOL!!!

But seriously, having a contemptible attitude towards a customer just because of a decision they made is a very poor business practice. Granted, we run into plenty in which it's hard to keep from bursting out laughing. Had one the other day who loved ME and Vista. Was charged the same as everyone else.

In the past I've seen plenty of situations where businesses engage in what I call punitive pricing. Basically "I think your an idiot and I'm going to charge $$$$ to make sure you know". Charging the customer high prices, much higher than others just because they can. Either because the customer did not no better or had them between a rock and a hard sport. People do remember these things. An unhappy customer will tell a hundred people and you will never know.

 

[Mike McCall]

It's also one of the reasons we often aren't well thought of in some circles (the general public). The only people corporate IT seems to think less of is the end user. I heard one guy in corporate IT say that when an EU asks for help, he tells them he charges $185 per hour with a 2-hour minimum. Now, what was your question? As techs, we also tend to be hard on each other. How often to you see one tech stomp on another tech on a tech board because they make a mistake or don't understand something? TN is pretty good that way, but it happens everywhere. When I see it, I find myself thinking how glad I am that I'm neither a customer of theirs, or worse, an employee.

 

[sapphirescales]

I don't have contempt for my customers that have Apple computers. I just charge them more because they're willing to pay it. And taking these machines apart really sucks. Apple computers have always been a real pain in the butt to fix. It has gotten easier in recent years. But now that they're soldering everything in permanently, I don't see anyone really being willing to have their computers fixed. Add to that those horribly fused Retina displays and you've basically got a $2,500 brick if even one minor thing goes wrong. Apple wants it that way so they can make crappy quality computers, charge 3x what they're actually worth, and make it so you can't repair them. You'll just have to buy a new one every year! So far their computers are okay in quality, but that's the next thing that will get cut. Then we'll see the average lifespan of an Apple computer cut down to like 1,000 hours or so. Mark my words, it will happen. Maybe not this year or next year, but as soon as they can get away with it, they'll do it. Just look at what they've gotten away with so far making their laptops virtually non-repairable. They're the most expensive laptops on the market, and it's not worth it to fix them when even something minor goes wrong. It's just ridiculous.

 

[anonymous Mac Tech]

I don't have contempt for my customers that have Apple computers. I just charge them more because they're willing to pay it. And taking these machines apart really sucks. Apple computers have always been a real pain in the butt to fix. It has gotten easier in recent years. But now that they're soldering everything in permanently, I don't see anyone really being willing to have their computers fixed. Add to that those horribly fused Retina displays and you've basically got a $2,500 brick if even one minor thing goes wrong. Apple wants it that way so they can make crappy quality computers, charge 3x what they're actually worth, and make it so you can't repair them. You'll just have to buy a new one every year! So far their computers are okay in quality, but that's the next thing that will get cut. Then we'll see the average lifespan of an Apple computer cut down to like 1,000 hours or so. Mark my words, it will happen. Maybe not this year or next year, but as soon as they can get away with it, they'll do it. Just look at what they've gotten away with so far making their laptops virtually non-repairable. They're the most expensive laptops on the market, and it's not worth it to fix them when even something minor goes wrong. It's just ridiculous.

They don't make them unrepairable. They just want to control the repairs as well. You complain about the fused screens and charging customers $500-$600 for a screen replacement. I guarantee the only people paying your prices (for non vintage equipment) are people that have been turned away by Apple due to accidental damage on their equipment. Essentially, a screen or logic board replacement (or even replacing both at once) should never cost more than $309.95 (of course, some places mark that price up except Apple corporate stores typically stay at that range). That can be done as a flat rate depot mail in repair where you will not only receive a new LCD panel. But, the entire clamshell (or even multiple parts for the same flat rate price). The whole key to this pricing structure is that there is NO ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE. Simple as that. If the damage is due to a drop or liquid contact, Apple bumps the price significantly. Of course, even if your machine is damaged due to an accident that is no fault of yours, take precautions and make sure your home owners insurance, auto insurance, etc has a rider to cover your computer. Apple simply promotes not abusing the equipment they produce. If you abuse it, they don't have much mercy in their pricing (and why should they?).