Why is it that after you fix someone's cpu the min that something goes wrong they blame the person that fixed it?
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Why is it that after you fix someone's cpu the min that something goes wrong they blame the person that fixed it?
Well It is the way of life, may be all of the 4 lines above in the poll is correct. Don't get mad about that just do your work and try doing it as best as you can. and works just for those who gives your work a positive value. Good luck.
BTW, I didn't know that CPUs are repairable. would you explain abit for me? Thanks
a_420_hacker_24,
This sort of reaction comes as part of the service repair biz. I have come to the point (after almost 30 years in the biz) to tell my customers that I warrantee the hardware, not the software. If they screw up the OS and then jump me later because they think I "messed it up" I just calmly explain that I will fix it again for free, if it is hardware I worked on, but if I find that it is a configuration problem or a virus or otherwise software related that it is $25.00 an hour from the time I first lay hands on it. They generally call me back later with an apology, and tell me their kid or someone else f**ked it up when they wearn't looking. Then I'll offer them free phone support to help them get it back up and running again... Works every time, and they always come back. Good luck in your efforts to please this customer of yours and others in the future. Just remember to be calm and business like and they will realize you are the expert, but if you blow your stack, they will think of you as incompetant for the rest of their lives. Agood deal breeds more good deals, a bad deed can bury you forever.
I believe he means by cpu as a computer system itself.... so a_420_hacker_24, if that's the case - please note a CPU is the computer's processor, not the computer system as a wholeQuote:
I didn't know that CPUs are repairable. would you explain abit for me? Thanks [/B]
Sorry, but that's just one of my pet peaves, it just really bothers me when someone calls a computer a CPU.
Like to replace HD,or configure software, or just about anything that can go wrong with a computer. When I said CPU I mint the hole computer. not the central processing unit.
Ah. Thanks for mentioning.
Good way to put it aeallison. It definitely comes with the territory - the whole "blame the last person that worked on it" thing. I originally decided not to get into repairing/configuring people's machines as I felt that it could possibly more of a headache than not. Since then, I have given it much thought; however, my other interests - mainly security - keep me very busy with hands-on practice and tons of reading. If I had time, and maybe if I didn't have a family and all, I would probably do it. There is alot of money to be made in this at my company. The way it usually happens is: you go out to work a trouble ticket, and you do a terrific job - customer service and all - and then, they start talking to you about a problem they are having at home. Next thing you know, they are offering you money to come out and take a look at it. It's tempting; it really is. But I just don't have the time.
That's why you get a business license, get liability insurance and have contracts (including warranty info, etc.). Even if you just fix people's computers as a hobby, you can get a "working as" license and purchase liability insurance (though it'll be kind of expensive without a real bus. license). If you don't do that, at least make up some formal contracts that you make your client sign. Otherwise, you're basically S.O.L. if they can find a way to prove that what you did caused their problem.
As for what aeallison said, he has a good point. Keep your clients happy and they'll keep coming back and recommend you to their friends. I charge way more than him (the only time I would charge as low as $25 would be if I were doing work for a friend of a close friend). My close friends are free, and everyone else starts at $50 an hour and goes up from there, depending on the work involved, etc. Usually, though, I do as he suggests, and offer free phone support and physical work relating to what I did for a certain period of time (from 1 month to 6 months) and I give a discounted rate for repeat business and/or repairs after my warranty expires. As he said, I keep 'em happy, and they keep on coming. :-)
AJ
Blaming the technician is common in all sorts of businesses,
not just the field of computers. I used to work on cars. One of my
favorite stories is of a car that is towed in to the shop because
it won't run.
After you get it running and return it to the customer he says.
"It ran better before you worked on it." It's one of the reasons
I got out of the repair business.
I can fix your car, but I can't fix your life!
:cool:
Sometimes I wish I would have stayed in SoCal avdven, I was born and raised in LA County...Quote:
I charge way more than him (the only time I would charge as low as $25 would be if I were doing work for a friend of a close friend). My close friends are free, and everyone else starts at $50 an hour and goes up from there, depending on the work involved, etc.
I now live in SW Missouri, and in a town with a population of about 2800 people, talk about culture shock when I moved out here. :) Needless to say that if I charged what you do I would not get much work, and these peeps think $25 an hour blows goats....sorry bout that I have been here too long...:D
This is the truth, every time you work on something, whether it be computers or cars, you are automatically to blame for everything that happens to it forever it seems.Quote:
Originally posted here by rcgreen
Blaming the technician is common in all sorts of businesses,
not just the field of computers. I used to work on cars. One of my
favorite stories is of a car that is towed in to the shop because
it won't run.
After you get it running and return it to the customer he says.
"It ran better before you worked on it." It's one of the reasons
I got out of the repair business.
I can fix your car, but I can't fix your life!
:cool:
I have customers who have had work done and then 7 years later when another part of their car rusts, they think it was because of the work they had done on the other part 7 years prior.
No different that computers, many people think hardware and software are virtually the same thing. So as a result, fix their hardware, in their minds, you are responsible for all that goes wrong with the computer.