Options when client won't pick up repaired PC

[skdmaster]

Definitely check the laws for your state under Abandoned Property. My state requires one year. I have a shed full of systems from people - some are them saying they don't want to repair them and others are from no pickup people. The people that told us "not worth fixing" we still have to keep unless they come in and sign off paperwork saying they want it disposed of because they technically could come back 11 months later and say they changed their mind and want it back. If so you have to replace it with a comparable system because it is still their property. T&C paperwork terms will not hold up in court as your state law trumps it. You are within your right to charge a storage fee but again there is a maximum rate per month you can charge per your state.

 

[pctutor]

I'm surprised how many people don't charge an upfront diagnostic fee. I don't know about everyone else but our diagnostics take time and my time is worth money. We charge $50 up front and apply it towards the repair if they go through with it. Have had 1 person complain about it.

I've thought about that and may decide to implement it at some point in the future. The flip side is, if my competition charges a diagnostic fee and I don't, the customer is risking nothing by bringing it to me first. And I end up getting the job instead of the other repair place.

The only time I would lose money in this scenario is if I diagnose it and the customer decides to not have the work done. But I have gotten pretty good at judging what someone is willing to pay vs. how expensive the job might be, so if it seems likely that I won't get the job, I will decline before doing any diagnosis. It's gotten pretty rare that I will diagnose and quote a job and then not get hired for it.

And now that I have deliberately thought through all that, I'm pretty sure I will stay with free diagnosis.

 

[San Marcos Computers]

Would anyone happen to know what Texas law requires? I recently began the process of a purge and have googled till my eyes have crossed. Can't seem to find any answers.

 

[Coastalbendcomputers]

The only time I would lose money in this scenario is if I diagnose it and the customer decides to not have the work done. But I have gotten pretty good at judging what someone is willing to pay vs. how expensive the job might be, so if it seems likely that I won't get the job, I will decline before doing any diagnosis. It's gotten pretty rare that I will diagnose and quote a job and then not get hired for it.

And now that I have deliberately thought through all that, I'm pretty sure I will stay with free diagnosis.

I can't say I have had anyone tell me they came or didn't come to me because of our Diagnostic pricing structure and we have had it both ways. Normally they learn how its going to work after they are speaking with us or in our store. Either way by that point it's our job to make sure they don't take it anywhere else. Honestly if they are balking about a diag fee that will be applied towards the repair later they are to worried about the bottom dollar rather than the service and those are the folks I actively try to price myself out of. I'm looking for future clients that come if I cost a little more or take a little longer because they know our service is the best not a 1 time customer who came because I was the cheapest. But I'm sure most of us are in that boat. I haven't forgotten how hard / slow it was in the beginning but my best advice is to learn quickly you don't need or want every job.

 

[Kaizen]

Honestly if they are balking about a diag fee that will be applied towards the repair later they are to worried about the bottom dollar rather than the service and those are the folks I actively try to price myself out of. I'm looking for future clients that come if I cost a little more or take a little longer because they know our service is the best not a 1 time customer who came because I was the cheapest. But I'm sure most of us are in that boat. I haven't forgotten how hard / slow it was in the beginning but my best advice is to learn quickly you don't need or want every job.

Free estimates are designed to attract people who are averse to taking risk, not cheap people(although you do get cheap people also). It is possible to offer free estimates and give the best service at a top price. Those things are not mutually exclusive.

 

[pctutor]

Free estimates are designed to attract people who are averse to taking risk, not cheap people(although you do get cheap people also). It is possible to offer free estimates and give the best service at a top price. Those things are not mutually exclusive.

Agreed. If a prospect is looking at 2 repair shops and all other things are equal, I'm guessing he would choose the one that does the free estimate rather than the one that charges for an estimate.

I definitely know about not wanting every job. There are places in my area that are cheaper, and of course there are all the pizza techs on Craigslist, but I have a large and growing client base now and can sometimes barely keep up with it. Also, I advertise that if I can't fix it there is no charge, so I have to be careful about which jobs I take on so I don't waste a bunch of time for no money.

 

[ohio_grad_06]

You approach different than myself. I charge diagnostics myself, if they aren't willing to pay it, they can walk. I talk about quality vs price. In other words I've even told people that I don't know what other shops are doing for what they charge but I know how much time is involved and that is why I charge what I charge and that I feel that is a fair rate.

 

[Krynn72]

We have a $30 diag fee... but its not charged until pick-up. This results in A LOT of no-pickups, because by doing so they get a free diag and a way to trash their computer. I think my boss does it this way so he has a large stock of parts computers. It annoys us techs though, since we don't get credit for a potentially large amount of our time.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Would anyone happen to know what Texas law requires? I recently began the process of a purge and have googled till my eyes have crossed. Can't seem to find any answers.

From what I have seen the ONLY legal option you have is a Mechanic's lien. That at least lets you sell it but the costs involved in getting the lien is rarely recoverable. Liens are expensive to file. And if they just walk away from a free diagnostic then it is considered abandoned property and under Texas law you CANNOT EVER claim it as yours. You have to report it to the State Comptroller's office and you may be required to maintain it for up to 3 years then turn it over to the State to house and eventually auction off.

I don't know how any T&C clause would change that. Likely not.

Texas is cracking down on some of this. They've been aggressively auditing some businesses that deal mostly in money. Things like abandoned utility deposits, or hotel prepayments that go unused. Nice thing about our industry is that we are dealing with low value items in non working condition. It's not something that the State can seize easily and liquidate. So if you end up tossing some old PC in the trash the state isn't likely to come after you. Maybe...

 

[pctutor]

.... You have to report it to the State Comptroller's office and you may be required to maintain it for up to 3 years then turn it over to the State to house and eventually auction off. ...

Another good reason to do as much as possible remotely. Whether or not you get a diagnostic fee up front, at least you never get stuck with physical possession of the machine.

 

[mraikes]

TL : DR
Don't allow an item to be considered abandoned to begin with.


Here in NM there are long term requirements for a "holder" to keep property categorized as "abandoned" and a numerous notifications. After which the property is turned over to the state where the owner gains more time to reclaim their property. The holder (you and me) never gets to sell the item to recoup costs.

The NM rules are poorly written and clearly apply to monetary or other significantly valued items with no mention of plain old "stuff" that someone has left behind somewhere. But they don't explicitly exclude such stuff. Except where it seems to exclude property worth less than $50. But even that wasn't very clear - typical for NM.

IMO an appropriate agreement prevents an item from being considered "abandoned". Instead, ownership is transferred in accordance with the will of the previous owner. That is, if the owner agrees on two possible dispositions of an item (either reclaimed by the original owner or ownership transferred to me) then the item is never abandoned. Instead it is handled in accordance with the agreement between the two parties.

If a written agreement between two parties cannot establish the ownership and disposition of a piece of property, then no one should buy, sell, trade or donate anything.

Goodwill would be in big trouble. Was an item left there donated? Or abandoned?

Pawn shops could never sell items to recoup loans (which by the way they do at a profit - not just recovering loan amounts and sending the difference to the previous owner).

So why can I not return to Goodwill or a pawn shop and sue for return of an item long after I left it? Obviously a property owner's intent, agreement and understanding at the time they deliver an item over to the recipient means something.

Therefore my work orders clearly state it is the owner's intention that any item unclaimed after X days become my property and that I am free to use or dispose of the item as I see fit without further notice nor recompense to the previous owner. No room for vagueness nor question.

IMO, that removes the property from the realm of mysterious "abandonment" where the state may have a responsibility to protect a citizen's assets when the owner's intent is unclear (and perhaps the very ownership of an item is uncertain) and moves it firmly into the area of contract law and simple compliance with the previous owner's intent and explicitly agreed to result.

 

[carrcomp]

Yeah, the problem really is that we run into issues that are dependent on the area in which you live.

Since each state is different, I would highly recommend speaking to a lawyer before making any decision, or at least have your lawyer review your agreement to ensure it's legality.

 

[Boston Pro Comp Serv LLC]

Yea every state is different so you really have to ask a lawyer or maybe the attorney generals office. At least they will point you the right way. As a side note I try to grasp the best of both when it comes to paid diag. If you don't want me to fix it and you wanna walk with it, 50$ diag. If you want to fix it with us then no diag fee. I think most of us know 90% of what comes through the door can be diagnosed in ten fifteen minutes. You can't run a memtest or hdd test, I just mean known goods, boot into linux whatever narrowing it down so we know it's one of two things. That takes short time mostly, I agree It adds up, and I don't want people using me for free so they can swap their PSU themselves, that's why I do my diag fees like that. Keeps the tire kickers away still grabs the customers that really don't want an extra 50$ on the bill ( I mean who would, as far as end users go ), and they usually fix it seeing as the repair is say 85$ or even 120$, they look at it as they get it fixed and save 50$ rather than they are out 50$. [emoji12]

 

[16k_zx81]

Never had this happen before - repaired a laptop 2 months ago and the client still has not come to pick it up and pay for it. She is in the middle of moving into a newly built house and they have had all kinds of problems. That part I can sort of understand, but she has promised on a few different occasions to come and get it and just doesn't show up.

Her voice mail is full, and she only occasionally responds to text messages. She has always come to me, so I don't even know her actual address.

I'm considering telling her "I will be selling the laptop to cover the repair bill" but I don't really want to do that, and I don't know what the legal ramifications are for that.

Have you had this problem before? How did you resolve it?

Our T&C states "... not paid for within 30 days... debt collection... customer's expense... hardware deleted of data and sold...etc etc"

So...

Every client signs this before service commences.

If the account is not paid within 30 days they get a Final Notice in writing (letter, email, sms) allowing them 7 days.

At 7 days I make a phone call, and if not, its passed to our debt collection firm if the value of the item is exceeded by the cost of the repair. If I can recoup the loss by selling the hardware, then I do that (I have a buyer who is always happy to pay me for whatever I have to hand).

We are too small scale busineness to afford lots of unrecouped debts, so I dont mess about with late payers. AFAIC they cease to be customers once I have to remind them more than once to pay a bill. Businesses are an exception, and we will 'float' accounts for good customers. End-users though, I dont waste any time telling them to pay or deal with our collection agency.

 

[Ken's PC Repair]

In Nebraska we can't dispose of the unpaid equipment until 90 days has passed provided (a) notice is provided by certified mail no sooner than 60 days, and no later than 120 days. (B) the client is provided 30 days to reclaim their equipment from the postmark date on the letter.

This seems to happen a couple times a year. On day 61 we send the letter, and sell at day 90. The law seems to read that any extra proceeds are payable to the client. Since they never reply to communication, and the letter always gets returned undeliverable, we sell it for what we are owed and keep the returned letter sealed should they try to take it to court.

Very similar to a mechanics lien.

 

[pceinc]

I don't recall seeing this thread originally so I skimmed through some of the followups. Depending on what the repair was, I may have not even bothered. Time is money, but sometimes you have to evaluate if the additional time and resources to collect is worth the original invoice and aggravation. If it was just labor invested, I would have let it go until 6 months then sold the machine. If there were parts installed as part of the repair, they would have been pulled at the first indication the customer was a slacker and had no intentions of picking up the machine. I would only hound the customer if we had to special order a part that was specific to their machine. This is even less likely a scenario for us since all special order parts are prepaid.

Looking at the OP's replies, my guess is she replaced the computer early on and thought she could let it go. What family lives that long without a computer? Especially those who have kids.

This exact type of situation is why we started charging diag fee up front. If they have something invested, they're more likely to claim it. Even if it's not worth fixing or can't be fixed.

Everyone should know their state laws on abandoned equipment. In MD, we follow the laws in place for dry cleaning. Items left cannot be disposed of before 90 days has passed, regardless of letters sent prior to the 90 day mark. At 60 days we send a letter if not already done so. It does not have to be certified either. 90 days we can dispose of at our discretion. After 6 months, we can dispose of at our discretion regardless of any letters being sent. So bottom line, we can call customer initially informing them the equipment is ready to be picked up, set it on the shelf and wait 6 months. If it has not been picked up, we can do whatever we want with it.

The above came from my attorney. Not all states are the same. Find out what your laws are and follow them. We have only had a few customers want their equipment after we disposed of it. Not a pretty confrontation but they all realized it was their fault, not ours, and moved on.