do you charge for your services?
Discussion
right helped out friend of a friend with his pc which took 2 home visits and a couple of hours. would you have charged them lots? prob is in IT pcworld do things for £30 etc and if a new pc costs £300 is hard to charge over £100? in the end got £40 but it was a token amount and soooo not worth my while. If i was to do it again could I get away with more. It just pisses me off seeing as i had to pay £95 + vat per half hour for a plumber recentely and yet as a qualified IT person am expected to help out for peanuts? maybe i should just say no! do you charge if so how much?
Anyone who's a close friend or family I'll look at theirs FOC. Anyone else I give them the number of a local company that does that sort of work, I'd rather not touch it.
Only exception is when people have a useful skill or trade and are willing to exchange their time for mine. Knowing a local plumber or electrician who owes you an hour or two can be very handy.
Only exception is when people have a useful skill or trade and are willing to exchange their time for mine. Knowing a local plumber or electrician who owes you an hour or two can be very handy.
Personally, the only people I help out with IT are family members. I know it sounds selfish, and unfriendly, but it's my day job, and I cant be arsed to offer my services when i'm outside work.
For a start, i'm salaried at work, so I have no real idea of a per hour cost to charge, plus you know if it's a mate/neighbour/'neighbours cousin who he's not seen for 3 years but knows you work in IT', then you know your going to be expected to do stuff for free/beer tokens/mates rates. I have helped people out in the past, but I do tend to shrink into the background as soon as someone starts talking about their PC.
As for family, well I dont charge them, but I guess as they are family they can pay back later with babysitting duties. It's always a drag when they call and engage you in conversation for a short while then start off on "I've got this problem with my PC..."
For a start, i'm salaried at work, so I have no real idea of a per hour cost to charge, plus you know if it's a mate/neighbour/'neighbours cousin who he's not seen for 3 years but knows you work in IT', then you know your going to be expected to do stuff for free/beer tokens/mates rates. I have helped people out in the past, but I do tend to shrink into the background as soon as someone starts talking about their PC.
As for family, well I dont charge them, but I guess as they are family they can pay back later with babysitting duties. It's always a drag when they call and engage you in conversation for a short while then start off on "I've got this problem with my PC..."
Two visits and a couple of hours for a home user - £100 is not entirely unreasonable I think... depends how far away they are, how close friends you are. When friends get involved its sometimes better to agree favours for favours.
Sometimes no price is cheap enough for some people, if you did it for a tenner they'd still bitch so you've just got to pick a price that makes it worth your while.
I'm willing to bet that the bill at PC world would have been more than £30 BTW!!
eta, Plus they'd drop it off at PC world's counter and pick it up again without checking it, how much for PC world to go to their house at night and do a couple of hours of hand holding? Significantly more than a ton I'd wager.
Sometimes no price is cheap enough for some people, if you did it for a tenner they'd still bitch so you've just got to pick a price that makes it worth your while.
I'm willing to bet that the bill at PC world would have been more than £30 BTW!!
eta, Plus they'd drop it off at PC world's counter and pick it up again without checking it, how much for PC world to go to their house at night and do a couple of hours of hand holding? Significantly more than a ton I'd wager.
Edited by buggalugs on Thursday 4th October 10:17
My rules are now trivial. If it's a family member and they've bought a Windows machine against my advice then they get no support. I don't do Windows support, full stop (even if I know the answer, I'm not spending hours beating a system I can't stand into shape).
The members of my family who have bought Macs get whatever advice or support they need from me. And, after the initial week or so of learning the differences and 'getting to know' the system (for ex Windows users) - I've had virtually no 'support calls' like I used to when they used Windows.
Simple really, and works well
The members of my family who have bought Macs get whatever advice or support they need from me. And, after the initial week or so of learning the differences and 'getting to know' the system (for ex Windows users) - I've had virtually no 'support calls' like I used to when they used Windows.
Simple really, and works well
I dont charge, if I did then my rates would need to be 50 per hour to make it even vaugely worth my while, which people would think excessive. I fix familys and close friends for free, sometimes a few beers come my way while i'm fixing.
The other reason for not charging is it sets the expectation that everything that goes wrong from then on is your fault. Fit a new graphics card, when the MB goes pop 1 year later, it must be related to 'whatever you did'. I guess the PCworld view would be just keep charging them per hour, but that's awkward if it's friends.
And yes I do sometimes wonder what your plummer/car mechanic aquantance would say if you suggested they came round for a few beers and fixed your sink/car that evening.....
The other reason for not charging is it sets the expectation that everything that goes wrong from then on is your fault. Fit a new graphics card, when the MB goes pop 1 year later, it must be related to 'whatever you did'. I guess the PCworld view would be just keep charging them per hour, but that's awkward if it's friends.
And yes I do sometimes wonder what your plummer/car mechanic aquantance would say if you suggested they came round for a few beers and fixed your sink/car that evening.....
I don't do Windows support, for anyone. It's bad for my blood pressure. I'll happily help you with your Solaris installation, but for some strange reason, no-one has that.
Would people expect their solicitor or accountant to do jobs for them for free? So, why do they expect IT people to?
(Well, OK, I occasionally tinker with my wife's XP PC, but that's doomed; I'm going to replace it with a Mac or Linux, as time and funds permit. There's no way I'm letting Vista in this house.)
Would people expect their solicitor or accountant to do jobs for them for free? So, why do they expect IT people to?
(Well, OK, I occasionally tinker with my wife's XP PC, but that's doomed; I'm going to replace it with a Mac or Linux, as time and funds permit. There's no way I'm letting Vista in this house.)
Jinx said:
I am 24/7 IT help desk support for both family and friends - never charge though and never guarantee my work (you get what you pay for 
) never expect payment either beyond the odd home cooked meal and beer 
I see it as generally what part of having friends/family means.
would you feel the same if you were an accountant and they wanted you to do their accounts? ) never expect payment either beyond the odd home cooked meal and beer I see it as generally what part of having friends/family means.
billb said:
would you feel the same if you were an accountant and they wanted you to do their accounts?
Not quite the same -if I was providing computer support for a friend/family's company I would expect payment. Personal accounts I probably would help with without charging (unless they are a one man band as it were) . The difference is whether or not the "job" was for their "home-life" or their "work-life" . Home-life - free or payment in kind, Work-life - payment; though at Friend's rates.billb said:
Jinx said:
I am 24/7 IT help desk support for both family and friends - never charge though and never guarantee my work (you get what you pay for ) never expect payment either beyond the odd home cooked meal and beer
I see it as generally what part of having friends/family means.
would you feel the same if you were an accountant and they wanted you to do their accounts? ) never expect payment either beyond the odd home cooked meal and beer I see it as generally what part of having friends/family means.
Don't charge, what comes around goes around, although agreed on the Plumber front - sometimes people perceive IT stuff as non-specialised!! "Anyone can do it" - yeah right!!
I usually get asked about free/cheap stuff - especially broadband (formerly it was about dialup) - I give my opinion and then people choose to ignore it, then belly ache about this and that, performance, etc... I then have to inform them that they went for the choice I didn't advise on them getting!! Barge and Pole!!
If it was for a business PC/setup then you should be charging or getting services back in kind. If not then people usually get you something or help out in other ways that sometimes you don't remember.. Helping out here and there..
It's not an easy decision!
I usually get asked about free/cheap stuff - especially broadband (formerly it was about dialup) - I give my opinion and then people choose to ignore it, then belly ache about this and that, performance, etc... I then have to inform them that they went for the choice I didn't advise on them getting!! Barge and Pole!!
If it was for a business PC/setup then you should be charging or getting services back in kind. If not then people usually get you something or help out in other ways that sometimes you don't remember.. Helping out here and there..
It's not an easy decision!
My Dad works in IT and used to help everyone out, didn't generally charge but took their old machines in exchange for his time, then rebuilt them and sold them on. Since the bottom dropped out of the 2nd hand PC market (i.e. you can buy a new one for £200 from PC World) - he tries not to. Used to get people ringing up who we hadn't spoken to in years with problems, he just had to tell them to go to PC World after a while.
I used to help sometimes when I was in my early teens, normally got £10/20 for my troubles.
I used to help sometimes when I was in my early teens, normally got £10/20 for my troubles.
I support my close family. They now live in terror of using the computer as they live hundreds of miles away.
Them: The email doesn't work any more.
Me: What's changed?
Them: Nothing!
Me: Has anyone installed any software - that's what I mean by "what has changed?"?
TheM: No.
Me: OK. Its stopped working. Can't diagnose it over the phone. I'll have a look when I'm next up.
Them: When will that be?
Me: Three months from now.
Them: But we can't do the Internet Shopping! Its a disaster!
Me: Have you installed any software?
Them: There was that thing I put on for the three year old.
Me: Ahah! Uninstall it now.
Them: But he likes it?
Me: Want to go Internet Shopping?
Them: OK.
...
Me: Hows the email.
Them: Fine. No problems now.
Me: DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE CONSEQUENCES OF CHANGING STUFF WITHOUT MY EXPRESS APPROVAL?
Them: yes
'ting as phone is put down.
Them: The email doesn't work any more.
Me: What's changed?
Them: Nothing!
Me: Has anyone installed any software - that's what I mean by "what has changed?"?
TheM: No.
Me: OK. Its stopped working. Can't diagnose it over the phone. I'll have a look when I'm next up.
Them: When will that be?
Me: Three months from now.
Them: But we can't do the Internet Shopping! Its a disaster!
Me: Have you installed any software?
Them: There was that thing I put on for the three year old.
Me: Ahah! Uninstall it now.
Them: But he likes it?
Me: Want to go Internet Shopping?
Them: OK.
...
Me: Hows the email.
Them: Fine. No problems now.
Me: DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE CONSEQUENCES OF CHANGING STUFF WITHOUT MY EXPRESS APPROVAL?
Them: yes
'ting as phone is put down.
I skim over the part where its a software company...
I was a field technician for Tiny in a past life, I had to go to this one house in a small town north of Manchester... it was incredibly hot in there the heating was on like 30 degrees or something. The lady of the house was lying on the couch in these little shorts, and the chap came out in a towel. OK not quite my comfort zone at this point but what the hell.
The job was to get this digital camera to work downloading the pictures to the PC... there was nothing much wrong with it. I'll give you one guess what was in the pictures!
My poor young eyes!
The job was to get this digital camera to work downloading the pictures to the PC... there was nothing much wrong with it. I'll give you one guess what was in the pictures!
My poor young eyes!Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff