IT Professionals

PC Repair Wake-Up Call

Posted by on Feb 20, 2008 | 5 Comments

Every once in a while I see something that I consider to be a wake-up call. This would be it.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/LbR4wSAE7NY" width="350" height="288" wmode="transparent" /]

Every day, there are computer repair techs ripping people off. And every day, there are still those of you out there working hard to provide honest, reliable service. So here’s a thought: utilize this information to further your business.

Offer to create a clear, concise report (in plain English) of what you did, why it happened and if applicable, how to avoid it in the future. This simple act of common sense can often prevent you from potentially falling victim to the sort of thing seen above. I would also say that it is high time to rethink diagnostic charges. Start with a free hardware inspection, then begin the charging at the software level. Considering how fast one with any level of commonsense can use their eyes to look over the inside of a PC case, videos like the one above will be left only to those who are dishonest.

Any thoughts from those of you still in the field?

  • Daniel

    We charge 65/hr….bill out time and materials only. If they call us out…it’s 65.00 plus tax. IF and it’s a BIG if the client deserves a break, then something like this would be comp’ed.
    All I have to sell is my time and experiance. If that isn’t worth paying for…go to Best Buy.

  • http://www.justcallmatt.net/ Matt Wilkinson

    These remind me of the local news segments I used to see growing up, except those were usually exposing scams involving auto repair. Seems like bogus PC repair shops are the new bogus auto repair shops… yet the video clips never cease to amaze me.

    This is where having some good person-to-person communication skills is vital. Tell the customer exactly what you think is wrong, why you think that’s the case, and what you plan to do to correct it. Don’t stretch the truth, don’t say it’s “X” when you know it’s “Y”.

    And don’t be afraid to say you aren’t sure if you aren’t sure. That’s better than fudging things.

  • Don

    Where’s the Video?

  • Mike Nelson

    I noticed, and I really want to emphasize this times 100. The video pretty well glazed over the repair place that did the service for free. I go to the computer in my business plan, and I have a $25.00 checkout fee which I void if the customer wants me to work on it. I have, and I repeat have told a customer over the phone to open up the case and make sure all the cables are fully plugged in by pushing on them to make sure they are snug. As I explain, it cost me money to set up an appointment, print up an address map, drive my vehicle over to their house or business and checkout a computer that has just a loose cable. $25.00 can change to $45.00/hr in a hurry, especially if I think someone is running a scam on me, as that first hour is $45.00/hr whether it takes me 1 minute or 59 minutes.

    But I tell people all this from the beginning. There are honest people out there. But we are out numbered by the Geek Squad type, as I have gotten the geek squad computers that I had to repair. It makes no difference to me if a customer wants to pay twice for a computer repair, after all, they do have that multi-million dollar advertising budget to con you into using their service.

  • Cliffystones

    Right on Daniel and Mike!

    This is exactly like the story that ran on KNBC-4 back in the early 1990′s. The repair “scam” was VCR’s then. They disconnected the same spring on 10 units and took them to repair shops.

    They then proceeded to weed out all the dishonest people. Of course, there are good and bad in all people, but then they began to distort facts. They tried to make out one shop owner to be a crook fro charging over $100 for the repair. What they didn’t say was that their “mole” brought the unit in in the late afternoon and insisted that he pick it up the next morning. He was told in advance that there would be excessive overtime charges, and to have the unit repaired under warranty, but he refused.

    I only know about this because at the time my electronics teacher at L.A. Valley college was a good friend of the shop owner and he was furious. This episode opened my eyes as to how low journalistic standards had become., even then.

    As technicians, we are not being paid for the 59 cent fuse, I.C. or whatever. We are being paid for our abilities, our experience, and our knowledge.