Ugh! Cheap Clients...

[vickie thivierge]

Yeah know that's funny.....

When I first opened my business I got a ton of calls like that.....I don't seem to get as many now.

I charge a diagnostic fee just to take a look at it. If it's something I can fix, then it's based on the time to fix it and the cost of the parts.....so in order for me to tell you how much its going to cost, you need to bring it in and pay the diagnostic fee.

Its short and sweet....

People who ask too many questions about the cost usually don't come in.....which is a good thing because those are the ones who agree to the repair and then we repair it..... they don't come in and pick up their old computers. Then I'm stuck with an old computer and I'm out the cost of the repair.

 

[vickie thivierge]

Some of the oldest professions insist on payment at the start of the work not at the end, because once the job's done the client loses all sense of urgency.

What we do isn't so very different.

LOL, I agree to a point.....the difference is "no happy ending!"

 

[tucsonpc]

Happy Ending costs extra

 

[MDD1963]

Last month I had a guy bring in a Gateway Solo 2550 laptop with Windows 98. He wanted it upgraded to XP. Spent $350 with a new hard drive, 256MB of RAM (the max for that model) and a new adapter and upgrading to XP.
.

it is sometimes difficult to protect folks from ....themselves....

There are some pretty decent 17.3" laptops out there for sub-$400.....

256 MB of RAM? I've seen old laptops with 256 mb of RAM and WinXP refuse to even run chrome, complaining about low memory, etc...

 

[sapphirescales]

256 MB of RAM? I've seen old laptops with 256 mb of RAM and WinXP refuse to even run chrome, complaining about low memory, etc...

Chrome worked fine. It was a 500Mhz Pentium 3 with 256MB of RAM and a 6GB hard drive. With a fresh install of Windows XP Professional SP3 it was actually pretty fast and smooth. I was surprised. For web browsing, the speed was fine. YouTube was stuttering and loading large images would sometimes give you the "Aww Snap!" error in Chrome, but it was faster than most cheap tablets.

 

[vickie thivierge]

Chrome?

XP?

WOW.....did I miss something here...?

If an XP computer comes into my shop I just tell the customer it's in Paper Weight mode and it's time to purchase a new computer with 7.

I know..., they whine and cry like little girls about there precious XP's computers....but we just hold there hands and tell them it time to let them go and then turn them off and pull the hard drives. It's hard to look into their sad little faces after that but Its the most merciful thing you can do for them.

Sapphires, you must be one of those "old timer" IT guys who keeps those damn XP computers running....it's like your resurrection the Dead.....Stop it, your only prolong your customers suffering to avoid the inevitable. Oh don't get me wrong, I loved the XP's OS but It's time to let it go. You're really not helping anyone by keeping those machines running....your only enabling people from the Joys of window's10.

That was sarcasm by the way....

So.....just drink the coolaid like the rest of us and get with the program.

 

[cypress]

He's profiting big on the clients that want to stick with their machines due to emotional attachment. Hey, as long as they know it doesn't bring support with it and their willing to pay the price, I'd work on it too.

 

[vickie thivierge]

Good point.....BUT.....if they are out there telling all there buddies about how often you've worked on his computer....wouldn't they take that as a reflection of your work. ? i.e... he must not know what he is doing as he, the friend, keeps having to take it back to this guy to work on it.... kind of thing?

Like I should have said, it's only prolong the customers grief....for your profit. ( I was trying not to sound so rude)

It's better having that heart to heart talk with the customer and move them on to their next computer..... which....after they make the move they love and develop that same emotional attachment when they see that all there photos, documents and music are still there, they have simply transformed to a newer faster computer.

As far as your profit.....all you have given up are a few smaller jobs for that one big more profitable job where you have sold and set-up a new computer for them. You're basically making the about same money, maybe more, for less time spent earning it.

......and that's called...... ( drum roll PLEASE!)

working smarter....not harder!

 

[sapphirescales]

Good point.....BUT.....if they are out there telling all there buddies about how often you've worked on his computer....wouldn't they take that as a reflection of your work. ? i.e... he must not know what he is doing as he, the friend, keeps having to take it back to this guy to work on it.... kind of thing?

Like I should have said, it's only prolong the customers grief....for your profit. ( I was trying not to sound so rude)

It's better having that heart to heart talk with the customer and move them on to their next computer..... which....after they make the move they love and develop that same emotional attachment when they see that all there photos, documents and music are still there, they have simply transformed to a newer faster computer.

As far as your profit.....all you have given up are a few smaller jobs for that one big more profitable job where you have sold and set-up a new computer for them. You're basically making the about same money, maybe more, for less time spent earning it.

......and that's called...... ( drum roll PLEASE!)

working smarter....not harder!

Who are you or I to say that they can't use something anymore? It belongs to them, and as long as they want to pay to fix it, they can keep using it. It's not for you or I to force them onto something else. I recommended going to something else, but if they adamantly refuse and are willing to pay what it takes to keep the old one running then that's their CHOICE. They have the freedom to do whatever they want.

And your assumptions about me are all wrong. I'm not some old timer. I try not to give out personal details online, but I'm younger than 30. I would personally never use XP nowadays. I don't have some love affair with old technology. I'm always going for the latest and greatest. But there are many, many, many, many people that want to stay with what they have because it works for them. There's nothing wrong with that. So long as they understand the risks of using an outdated OS and outdated software, then my hands are clean. Same if they refuse to buy an antivirus program.

It's arrogant to assume that you know what's best for everyone. For the vast majority of people, it makes sense to go on to the latest and greatest. But for some people the cost of having to relearn everything is too high and the risk of running a compromised system is acceptable to them. They don't bank online. It's not like it's the end of the world if their system gets all screwed up.

I have several clients that still use DOS based software because they're comfortable with it and it works for them. I recommended a modern alternative, but they want to run the old DOS based software because they know it inside and out and don't want to have to relearn everything. That is their CHOICE. One of my clients still uses a DOS based word processor. While Microsoft Office would be a much better alternative for 99% of people out there, he likes his DOS based word processor. Who am I to tell him what's best for him? He know's what's best for him and can make an informed decision based on the information I give him.

 

[JoeTech]

For business you have to be harder on them because of rules and regulations and to be sure they meet certain perfomance requirements. When it comes to residential, The main thing is just to make the customer happy even if it means occasionally working on an older pc. You could make them happy by showing them how much better they would be on a new pc, but most of my customers are older and come from the time when you fix things and just don't care about getting a new one unlike the current generation which is more used to disposing of things and just buying new instead.

 

[vickie thivierge]

Just what I was afraid of.....I've stepped into this conversation with both feet!

So Sapphire....younger that 30......(Lucky you).....but I do have a few more years over you....and I've been doing this a whole lot long, and YES sometimes I do know what is best for my customers. The reason for this is simply because I already know how this is going to turn out.....because I've seen it time and time again. I also thinks it's crazy to put hard earned dollars into something that isn't going to keep running. It's like tossing money out the front door. Once you get a few more years under your belt, you'll understand what I'm saying. ....so let's just agree to disagree....OK?

Joe, as for the elderly....I just try to get them into something that they can work with before the kids go out and buy Dad or Gram-pa that new Apple Computer to replace that old clunker they keep fixing. I can also vitalized a computer to look and act almost like XP....which takes care of trying to teach old dogs new tricks. My hard core reasoning to up-grade people is about getting them into a piece of equipment that won't get them into trouble with someone hacking into there computer later on....I hate telling elderly people they can never get their precious games and photos back. As far as Dos programs goes.....I can get most Dos programs to run on 7....not so sure about 10.....but I'm working on it.