What Computer Repairs / IT Requests Do You Dislike Most?

[lmm37]

Since answers are subjective and I can't think of enough possible responses to cover the vast number of repairs / request, I'll just leave open.

As for me, I dislike troubleshooting complex server issues and tedious email backup / restores for ungodly large mailboxes.

 

[sapphirescales]

1. Virus / Malware removal
2. iMac & AIO PC repair
3. Anything that requires soldering

But to be honest, if the client is bad then it doesn't matter what the job is. I had a guy that came in and bought a computer and wanted to return it and trade it in FIVE times for a different model. After the 1st exchange I started charging a 20% restocking fee and he didn't like that. Ended up doing a chargeback. I ended up getting almost $400 in restocking fees though, and he paid for those in cash. You can just tell sometimes that a client is going to be a pain in the a$$. I start demanding cash from clients like that so they can't screw you in the end.

 

[JoeTech]

Anything to do with Printers

 

[GTP]

Customers who want the job done for free!

 

[Mainstay]

what should I buy? (argh! - we both know you are just going to ignore everything I am about to say and just pick up the cheapest pos from Best Buy anyways).

 

[allstarit]

There isnt too many things i dislike doing but i will agree with above if you dislike the end user any job they ask you to do is annoying. I guess no one likes dealing with difficult customers. Lucky for me i have great clients..i actually fired one who was appeared to be a good client at first but soon after first or second visit to them i discovered why his last IT guy ran for the hills. He wouldnt install AV, wouldnt pay to upgrade hardware that was clearly outdated, complained about prices once installed. I simply said to him sorry im not able to offer services anymore and that was that.

I also hate the people you give advice too and you dont hear from them so you follow up and they purchase something completely different against your advice and then expect you to magically make it better

 

[Moltuae]

Love: Any remote/unattended work ... especially on complex server systems. The more difficult, the better.

Hate: Having to go to site or doing any work that requires speaking to non-technical people.

 

[GTP]

3. Anything that requires soldering

Exactly why I outsource
Don't mind the others.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

1. Virus / Malware removal
2. iMac & AIO PC repair
3. Anything that requires soldering

But to be honest, if the client is bad then it doesn't matter what the job is. I had a guy that came in and bought a computer and wanted to return it and trade it in FIVE times for a different model. After the 1st exchange I started charging a 20% restocking fee and he didn't like that. Ended up doing a chargeback. I ended up getting almost $400 in restocking fees though, and he paid for those in cash. You can just tell sometimes that a client is going to be a pain in the a$$. I start demanding cash from clients like that so they can't screw you in the end.

I love virus/malware removal, its my thing but AIO PC repair...i'm convinced that some of these AIO design teams have meetings titled "how can we frustrate technicians the most"

 

[LordIntruder]

i'm convinced that some of these AIO design teams have meetings titled

signed. On the other hand, it feels even a little bit better when an AIO comes back to life than when a normal pc does.

The most thing I hate is trying to repair a windows installation from a customer who has done everything he could to make his before little problem to the state "this windows installation is totally done". And I don't mean "finished"...

 

[Kirby]

I utterly loathe the request, "Save everything". So, you want me to save the Windows folder that is completely useless to you on a different computer and give you back a lump of data in a format that means you can't find any of it? No, what they REALLY want is for me to make their new computer exactly like their old computer, programs and all. I find it tedious explaining over and over what "everything" really is on a computer and how programs don't just walk off one hard drive onto another, fully installed and happy.

 

[LordIntruder]

how programs don't just walk off one hard drive onto another, fully installed and happy

Not? Uh! (sarcasm off) You hit the nail. Have had a boss who promised exactly that to all his customers. Ever tried to install a photoshop 5.0 (16 bit) to a 64 bit windows 10? It is just not possible. But try to explain a customer why he has to buy a newer version of a program when the old one is still functioning.

 

[MichaelEC]

Virus / Malware removal. #1 beef. I can do it, but I hate it.

I'm a hardware guy and would much rather deal with anything hardware related than software.

 

[HCHTech]

I inherited a bunch of clients where dynamic dns hosts were setup, many of them with security certificates. Now that you can no longer get a cert for a dynamic host, I'm dealing with reconfiguring these as they expire. It has quickly become my least favorite thing. Billable, yes. Enjoyable, no.

 

[trevm999]

timeclocks

 

[Altster]

Anything to do with Printers

Coming from an old-school tech (me) - most printers are very easy. However, the super-cheap ink jet based printer is not worth the time or effort to fix. That's why the manufacturers sell them so cheap so they will need to be replaced sooner than later. And let's not talk about ink prices (that's the inky grail for the manufacturers.)

Now laser printers, on the other hand, that's a completely different story. They are worth the effort to have repaired as they will usually outlast most other printers on the market.

And last but not least, any impact (dot-matrix) Okidata or Oki or just about any manufacturer are the easiest to repair.

My 2 cents...

 

[Altster]

Customers who want the job done for free!

Ditto.

 

[Altster]

I also hate the people you give advice too and you dont hear from them so you follow up and they purchase something completely different against your advice and then expect you to magically make it better

Many years ago when I was in the office machine repair business, I would get to do follow up on service on a piece of equipment which was never meant to be used in the environment it was sold into. Example: High-volume printing in an Law firm. Salesman assured the client that this was exactly what they needed, but this poor little printer just didn't have what it took to do that type of printing. The printer was a light-weight Panasonic unit and they "really" needed to be using a "Qume" heavy-duty printer. But of course the salesman was too stupid to sell them what they really needed. I reckon he / she was afraid they wouldn't make their monthly quota so they sold anything they could to get "their" job done!

 

[Altster]

I utterly loathe the request, "Save everything". So, you want me to save the Windows folder that is completely useless to you on a different computer and give you back a lump of data in a format that means you can't find any of it? No, what they REALLY want is for me to make their new computer exactly like their old computer, programs and all. I find it tedious explaining over and over what "everything" really is on a computer and how programs don't just walk off one hard drive onto another, fully installed and happy.

That's really easy to handle. You just tell them (and I mean TELL THEM UP FRONT) that you can only save pictures, documents and music if they have any to save. Oh this pertains to residential customers - which is what we deal with the most. But I tell businesses pretty much the same thing. They will need to re-install and setup any specialized software that is / was installed on the old computer / old hard drive themselves.

 

[Altster]

Not? Uh! (sarcasm off) You hit the nail. Have had a boss who promised exactly that to all his customers. Ever tried to install a photoshop 5.0 (16 bit) to a 64 bit windows 10? It is just not possible. But try to explain a customer why he has to buy a newer version of a program when the old one is still functioning.

Then that's when you turn the job over to the boss and let him do the work. I bet he wouldn't make that same mistake twice~!