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BlitzenZeus
Burnt Out Cynic
Premium,MVM
join:2000-01-13
Beaverton, OR
 ·Verizon FIOS
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to Oleg
Re: [video] ABC Crash Get Burned Computer Repair
Sadly nothing new in the world of uninformed users. Many of these companies give the good ones a bad name. They can try to defend their high rates, but in reality they can't. If people are really going to these places they might as well consider buying a new computer, or ask a friend to come over going to many of these rip off artists, especially geek squad. However I will say that to Geek Squad's benefit they usually won't charge you unless they find, and can fix the problem, which is a common practice of good shops.
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My hourly rates:
$25 per hour.
$35 per hour if you want to watch.
$45 per hour if you want to help.
$75 per hour if you tried to fix it, and failed.
$125 per hour if you called tech support, and didn't fix the issue while making things worse | |
cdru
Go Colts
Premium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
| said by BlitzenZeus  :They can try to defend their high rates, but in reality they can't. The most expensive company was $100 plus 6.6% sales tax. My guess is that they have a $100/service call minimum or $100/hour. Yes it does seem high, but if that was their stated rate before and the customer excepted, there isn't too much room to complain about being burned.
Running a business where you prorate a $100/hour job that takes 5 minutes to $8.33 isn't going to make you money? How many tradesman contractors such as electricians, plumbers, hvac techs, etc have a service call fee that is around $100 too? Most. | |
Jeffrey
Merry Christmas
Premium
join:2002-12-24
Dix Hills,NY
clubs:
 ·Optimum Online
·Verizon FIOS
 ·Vonage
·magicjack.com
1 edit | said by cdru :said by BlitzenZeus :They can try to defend their high rates, but in reality they can't. Running a business where you prorate a $100/hour job that takes 5 minutes to $8.33 isn't going to make you money? How many tradesman contractors such as electricians, plumbers, hvac techs, etc have a service call fee that is around $100 too? Most. That's the thing. I don't find $50 to $75 a big deal for someone to come to your house and diagnose this problem.
My drier stopped working back in February, and I hadn't a clue what happened. Called an electrician, he came over 10 hours after my call, was here for 10 mins and found the problem. Dryer was only getting 110 instead of 220 from the box, and charged me the $75 visit fee only.
Guess what? He gets a call again the next time my ass needs an electrician.
The fact of the matter is that as a consumer you're paying for the lack of knowledge. Surely it would have been free (or next to free) if a person could unplug their PC, open it up, and plug the power cable back in. It's a 5 minute job, but they didn't or couldn't do it. So guess what? You gotta pay someone.
I know zero about dryers and electricity, so paying a guy $75 for 10 mins worth of work to have the peace of mind knowing my dryer wasn't broken was $75 well spent, especially considering I lack knowledge about all things electrical. (I can change a lightbulb, but that's about it.) 
If any of these guys had charged for items not broken, then I could see more room for argument.
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"Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy." - George Carlin
[my ramblings] | |
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