Topic 'Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?' in forum 'General Questions' - dslreports.com

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 11:45:05 EDT

icex posted : No, I'm sick of the smart ass replies.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 07:35:14 EDT

AVD posted :

said by icex:

Let the thread die already.

I wonder if this general attitude contributed to the customer just blowing him off.
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Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 23:51:28 EDT

icex posted : Let the thread die already.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 16:56:01 EDT

medbuyer posted :

said by battleop:

"we don't want your opinion"

If you don't want an honest answer don't ask the question to begin with.

as I said already...

I believe the OP has learned his lesson here already and chalked up a lot on the "charge to experience" balance sheet...

and just so to be clear, his questions were answered....in good and of course the smartass way hence the " we dont want your opinion" retort...

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 13:18:14 EDT

battleop posted : "we don't want your opinion"

If you don't want an honest answer don't ask the question to begin with.
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Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 12:50:42 EDT

icex posted : I think you should read again. Were did I say that after they paid me $25 I diden't return the machine? I diden't. Read the fucking thread.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 12:06:55 EDT

medbuyer posted :

said by silentlooker:

If it's nearly impossible to prove there is agreement it might as well not exist.

rule of thumb is, if you and or the other party doesn't come to an agreement, walk away immediately. period...

i never contract paid for services without a written agreement...and even if I have one, I ask a ton of questions and make sure to note of it in the service agreement specially when you see one with a good amount of fine print mumbo jumbo at the bottom.

if you can't or if you see another party not holding or can't seem to hold a verbal agreement, don't try making any negotiations in the first place...

I believe the OP has learned his lesson here already and chalked up a lot on the "charge to experience" balance sheet...

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 10:52:55 EDT

silentlooker posted :

said by billydunwood:

said by silentlooker:

No written agreement=no agreement at all. Verbal agreement means nothing, you basically did virus removal out of goodness of your heart. Refusal to return machine after customer pays $25=theft and if that was me I would sue you in court.

Wrong. A verbal agreement is an agreement, as long as both parties acknowledge. Yes, the odds of that happening are slim to none, however it is still an agreement. Just because something is not in writing, does not mean its not an agreement.

If it's nearly impossible to prove there is agreement it might as well not exist. Yes you are technically correct that verbal agreement is legally enforceable.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 04:25:29 EDT

billydunwood posted :

said by silentlooker:

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 01:34:54 EDT

silentlooker posted : No written agreement=no agreement at all. Verbal agreement means nothing, you basically did virus removal out of goodness of your heart. Refusal to return machine after customer pays $25=theft and if that was me I would sue you in court.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 22:25:00 EDT

waldoooo posted : didn't read all the replies but I learned the same lesson in the automotive custom fabrication business long ago. Customers change their minds, talk to people who convince them to do something else or just can't come up with what they thought they could and tell any story to cover their tracks.

Have a signed written estimate once you diagnose it or often they are a ways away from you so have them sign a receipt for the diagnosis and $25 fee, call them for a verbal agreement once you figure it out from a cell or land line that will document the time. once they agree note on the invoice the price quoted, time and date of approval. That may or may not hold up if they took you to court but most people are pretty honest, you get a signature and they know you are serious about business.. it might piss them off if they have to come back 25 miles or so just to sign to approve work.

its not worth making waves with the customer just for the fact how damaging one person badmouthing you can be, when people are satisfied most don't go too far out of their way to pat you on the back(some do) but an upset customer will make as many waves as they can.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 11:39:02 EDT

AVD posted :

said by NickD:

Someone gave me their computer and promised to pay me $100 to fix their computer. Oh my, it was full of viruses and spyware. 5 windows with a fake antivirus scan popped up on boot up. There were so many "toolbars" on the browser. I had backed up the hard drive because it was so badly infected I decided to reinstall Windows. He kept annoying me because I was "taking too long." Then he decided to argue over the price he promised to pay.

I got so tired of it. I decided to restore the backup of the hard drive with all the viruses on it. Of course, I imaged the hard drive after reinstalling Windows, in case he decided to change his mind and pay me. He didn't, so I gave his computer back exactly the way it was when he gave it to me, full of viruses and spyware. I had to be selfish because I don't work for free.

what took you so long?

my ex wife got her laptop fixed, and the guy put in a lockscreen? If she didn't pay the extra $$$ he wanted, she didn't get a password.
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Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Wed, 05 Dec 2012 01:18:56 EDT

NickD posted : Someone gave me their computer and promised to pay me $100 to fix their computer. Oh my, it was full of viruses and spyware. 5 windows with a fake antivirus scan popped up on boot up. There were so many "toolbars" on the browser. I had backed up the hard drive because it was so badly infected I decided to reinstall Windows. He kept annoying me because I was "taking too long." Then he decided to argue over the price he promised to pay.

I got so tired of it. I decided to restore the backup of the hard drive with all the viruses on it. Of course, I imaged the hard drive after reinstalling Windows, in case he decided to change his mind and pay me. He didn't, so I gave his computer back exactly the way it was when he gave it to me, full of viruses and spyware. I had to be selfish because I don't work for free.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 22:36:34 EDT

icex posted : Customer agreed to pay $25 to pick the machine up.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 16:46:23 EDT

SychoSly posted : So what did you end up doing? How much did you end up charging?
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~Sly

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Sun, 25 Nov 2012 14:33:32 EDT

psafux posted : You can bill her whatever she originally agreed to pay and no more.
If she agreed to pay for your time to diagnose and that's it then that's it.

Your scenario is one I have ran into numerous times both in self employment and while working for a repair business. It's more or a less a cost of doing business. You eat it sometimes. Same thing happens in most other professions too.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 10:37:03 EDT

GroovyPhoenx posted : In my own business. I charge 60$ for virus clean up, much cheaper the a box store "express" cleanup and I do it right.

Rebuild of a computer is 50$, because it does take less time since I don't have to play around and be careful since its a fresh install.

A used PC can be bought for 100$ these days, why would I bother shelling out 120$ for a motherboard thats specific to HP? I assume you quoted them the prie of the HP replacement part on this.

People might "want" new but they don't need/have funds for new. Find used and sell them.

Recycle PC's! 8-)

And yes, I've inherited quite a few PC's ad did get a "oh no I changed my mind its too expensive" when I quoted 100$ for a bettter used PC as the motherboard was totally fried when I inspected it. (could even smell that lovely plastic burned smell)

Oh and as for what you should charge her, first, 25$ is what you decided to charge, if you had a verbal agreement from her to perform virus removal, charge her 75$ or whatever your rate it but skip the 25$ as you say you do, if she balks, keep the PC, plain and simple, verbal ok to perform teh virus removal was given, if she doesn't like it, tell her you've had the PC and charge her a storage fee then hold a 1 person auction and sell it to yourself or 1 penny. LOL (just kidding) but do NOT return it to her "disassembled" you took it apart to see the issue and give an estimate, that means you are responsible for putting it together.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 05:59:04 EDT

David posted : Had another one this week, the owner is a dj. Basically someone was a bit toasted and spilled a beer on it.

Pretty much took the hard drive and attached it to a sober machine and got it to read the data. The drunken laptop would boot but if the drive did detect once it was only once.

Final verdict- buy a new one! Considering how much nicotine the laptop smelled like, a new one would go a lot further.
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Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 20:08:12 EDT

PeteC2 posted : Bottom line, outside of the $25 initial fee, I don't see you charging/recouping any more.

The problem is that the work was expected to be done after the customer gave you the money for the new parts, so it is a reasonable expectation on her part that the work had not begun.

With no written contract or anything other than verbal, I just don't see it, although I can understand that you did indeed spend more than a cursory amount of time on the project...but this is one to just eat, and gain wisdom from.

P.S. No, I do not think that what you charge is unreasonably high based on what real repair shops charge, and far better than the pathetic excuse for tech service that is offered by BB and Staples...just don't think that you have much of a "legal" leg to stand on here, for asking more. Virus or not, the computer is still broke, right?
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Deeds, not words

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 10:48:36 EDT

AsherN posted : Conversation should have been simple.

MB is bad. A new one is $120+shipping + $50 to install it. Will take 3 weeks.

Or go buy a new computer. $100 will cover set-up and file copy.

End of work.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 09:00:17 EDT

CylonRed posted :

said by motoracer:

Diden't ≠ didn't.

Which does not matter...

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Sun, 18 Nov 2012 01:21:12 EDT

motoracer posted : Diden't ≠ didn't.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 20:54:14 EDT

icex posted : Nope, don't beleive me I don't give a fuck.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 19:46:34 EDT

AVD posted : Confession?

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 10:41:53 EDT

icex posted : Ok.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Sat, 17 Nov 2012 07:03:05 EDT

ptrowski posted : Yes. Things just don't add up.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 20:24:19 EDT

icex posted : Realy, you calling me a liar? The customer specificaly told me on the phone they dident want to wait on the motherboard to come from China. I told them we could upgrade it with newer parts and she said that was fine she would have the money ready the first of November. Call me a liar all you want, realy don't care.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 19:44:06 EDT

ptrowski posted : Nice try. The wait wouldn't factor into it as they came for a repair. You couldn't fix it as is evident by your other thread, so my guess would be you told them that it would take all that to repair it, not upgrade. Why? Because either way they would have waited either for the board from China or to save up the cash.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 19:38:41 EDT

icex posted : Check amazon for a price on those. I thought about doing that for my excavation business, but most people prefer a daily flat rate around here anymore.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 19:37:21 EDT

icex posted : First, I dident get mad, I could care less what they want to do.

I told the customer we could put a new motherboard in it --- but the pegatron motherboard ships from China which would take 2-3 weeks to get in, if not longer.

I told the customer I could upgrade the machine and build a better, faster machine. Keep in mind the pegatron motherboard was $120 + shipping from China, wait time etc. THE CUSTOMER said they dident want the motherboard from china they would rather me UPGRADE it.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:13:08 EDT

CylonRed posted :

said by Cheese:

So, it's to much, but she will ship to FL to get it fixed? Um... :uhh:

There is nothing he can do about what she told him. She was just providing an excuse.
--
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Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 14:14:29 EDT

David posted : I actually have a notepad document on my desktop so when I start working on it and stop working on it. I thought about getting an amano punch clock for this (sams sells them for like $60) as it would be quicker and easier.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 13:32:42 EDT

Cheese posted : So, it's to much, but she will ship to FL to get it fixed? Um... :uhh:

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 13:28:52 EDT

urbanriot posted :

said by icex:

FYI, I'm not going to sit here for hours upon hours removing virus's using multiple programs to do it just to charge them $35 and I don't think anyone else is

That's the difference between you and a repair outlet, as a repair outlet would remove the virus in a PE environment then scan multiple systems on their bench and charge an appropriate amount of money based on the hour of hands on work and not the time to 'sit there for hours'.

I'd say $65 for a thorough virus cleaning is a fair deal for both parties.

As for your diagnostic work, I think it may make sense to change the way you do things and appropriately charge for the hours it takes for your hands on work. If it takes you 45 minutes to diagnose a failed motherboard, you charge 0.75 x $rate and that's that. If they choose to upgrade with you as well, then perhaps you'll give them a deal.

Your procedures or rules may be affecting your ability to provide a fair deal for both parties.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 13:18:28 EDT

ptrowski posted :

said by icex:

Wow, your a researcher eh? I do computer repair on the side, and do the IT work for the law firm when they need it. Might be weekly work, might be 2-3 months before they need work.

Oh and abour your comment about the pegatron board, your right, same computer. Congratulations.

So instead of being able to fix it, you basically wanted to replace everything. You then got mad when the customer said no to that. And of course they didn't want a new case, they wanted their computer fixed, not replaced.
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Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 11:47:18 EDT

anon posted : If the system is older than 4 years, what you should have done initially was inform the user that it might be worth their interest to save up their money (sounds like money is an issue anyway) and possibly invest in a new machine for X-Mas. Given your $465 just to rebuild the PC with aftermarket parts, it would have been better to save up a couple hundred more and buy something new with a warranty.

Either way, you shouldn't have continued to do work on it on your own without having your payment. So, you're now stuck with just getting paid $25 per your original statement to the customer.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 09:12:40 EDT

AsherN posted : Building computers is a losing proposition. Unless the customer has very special needs, you can get warranted, off the shelf units cheaper.

UNless it's an unusual case, $50-75 covers virus removal. Clock actual keyboard time. It does not matter if the scan takes 6 hours. It's still 10 minutes to install the AV software and start it.

Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 15:52:51 EDT

icex posted : I understand about the dump offs. I actualy have built quiet a few new computers for customers (keep in mind when I build them, I let them know what the warranty on the parts are, like if its ram its limited lifetime warranty, if its the CPU its usualy 2-3 years, etc and just charge labor to install it) and they let me have their old machine.

I actualy have a laptop here somewere that I charged a girl $25 to look at and diagnose the problem with the battery, she never came and got it. Been here for 3-4 years now.

That's something I wrote into my contract to have people sign now (I done it last night) is that if they don't come and get it within 30 days I will offer it to them at invoice cost + a percentage, after that its mine to do whatever I want with it.
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Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 15:49:38 EDT

David posted : well not to burst anyone's bubble or add to any more fire arguements. I do repair work on the side as well. most times if it's an easy $100 or less fix I will take it on. Other times I just flat out tell them "Buy a new one!" I figure they are not going to pay what you or I are worth and android pads are cheaper. I have a laptop at home I quoted repairs of parts alone of $120 and that wasn't for software reload costs I figured about $50 for a reload.

In the end... they bought a new one!

So that's what I do now more or less, cause the industry is driving them to it!

I got tired of getting "Dump offs".

A "dump off" is when people just leave the laptop/desktop and go buy a new one and I am left with the non-working unit and for some reason they don't want it back or I can't get a hold of them again. I decided at that point it goes on a 90 day clock. If you were really that interested in getting it back, you would have taken it back by now!
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Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 15:48:52 EDT

icex posted : Yeah, whats weird is she took it to radioshack before me. When I got it on the bench, the graphics card fan was broke completely, and the heatsink on the CPU wasent hooked on and was loose, so it probaly burnt the cpu up as well. Just a theory.
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Re: What to charge customer for changing their mind?

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 15:43:44 EDT

medbuyer posted : cut your loss for now...charge that to experience...

and before letting that computer go, have her sign something saying that the pc wasnt repaired as per customer, showing a detailed breakdown of parts, prices and labor...

might not be a bad idea to include 2-3 lines below for her to explain why she declined the work.