At 09:42 AM 12/1/2005, Thane Sherrington (S) typed:
Since he didn't get an AV from me, I don't feel it's my problem if
he has viruses, but of course, I can't be sure he has viruses since
he won't bring the machine in unless I agree not to charge him,
which I'm not going to do. I guess I'm just making sure I'm not
being unreasonable.
Only once have I had to wipe a system because I couldn't get it clean
enough & then I didn't charge the client anything add'l. Heck the
poor sap had so many critters & it was the 3rd time he brought an
infected machine [not the same one] to me that I charged him $200 up
front so I didn't lose much if anything by doing the wipe &
reinstall. I just knew with that client it was a distinct possibility
that might happen & charged him accordingly.
Next time someone calls and tells me they "have the same problem",
I'm going to say, "Actually, you have the same *symptom*. We'd have
to look at it to see if it's the same problem." Perhaps that will help.
Sure, always sweet talk them until you get the machine into your shop
or they have you make a house call then let them have it by telling
them the reality of things. ;-) You did good tho as one can never
guarantee any price without first looking at the machine. If they
don't trust me to keep the job to a minimum then don't bring the
machine to me. I frankly don't give a hoot. I'm confident in my work
to the point of being arrogant & most clients like that but a few do
not & they can hit the road. It helps that I don't do this to make a
living but for fun & money to invest in my addiction. When the
occasional client makes things unreasonable I ask them to please take
their business elsewhere.
I had a client ask me what was the best gaming card at the time &
told them it was subjective to which games they wanted to play & how
much they wanted to spend. The client bought a card someplace else &
couldn't get it to work even after spending hours with the other
places TS then they called me. My response was short & sweet. Sorry.
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Wayne D. Johnson
Ashland, OH, USA 44805
<http://www.wavijo.com>
