need a funny diagnosis

[dave343]

Ok, so I fixed a PC on a service call and I'm doing my first time sheet but I want it to sound deep, like it was a big thing. Was a dell computer and it would not start up past bios. I went into the bios, exited and rebooted, worked fine and shut down multiple times to test. Ideas?

 

[D3v1an7]

For something as simple as that, I would only bill an on-site service charge, say $20.

You'll impress your client more by being honest than you will be overcharging for a simple fix.

 

[OldMX]

You didnt fix anything, how much you gonna charge for that?

I recommend talking straight to computer owner and explain the situation, i think he´ll agree in paying something for just the visit

oldmx

 

[Slartibartfast]

The XLR fluid was draining from the AGP slot into the QWERTY interface, so you had to PDQ the hole with some AS5 and then check the integrity of the ISA-PCI bus with a multimeter and a DBQ.

 

[dave343]

lol

 

[masher]

Q: "What color database should we buy?"
A: "I think Mauve has the most RAM..."

 

[ribs1]

I've been doing on site support full time for 3 years now. I charge a 1 hour minimum. If I did this job I would tell the client exactly what I did to fix the problem and bill him for 1 hr. Most of my clients do not care if it only takes me a few minutes. All they care about is the computer was not working before and it is working now. And that would not be the case if I did not show up.
By the way, I charge $105 per hour.
ribs

 

[SarverSystems]

$105/hr???

I charge $40 for the first hour, and $25 each hour after that.

I'm not saying you are out of line, but in my area, you'd be out of business quick.

I wish I could charge that much. I'm so busy now, that if I charged that much, I'd be rich...as long as business didn't decline because of it.

 

[InorganicMatter]

Yeah, I'd just tell him there was nothing wrong, and that I charge a $50 fee for driving all the way out here on a false alarm. I know from experience that Maytag charges you $130 if they send someone out to fix your washer and find there was nothing wrong.

 

[ribs1]

$105/hr???

I charge $40 for the first hour, and $25 each hour after that.

I'm not saying you are out of line, but in my area, you'd be out of business quick.

I wish I could charge that much. I'm so busy now, that if I charged that much, I'd be rich...as long as business didn't decline because of it.

SarverSystems,
I don't know how you can stay in business at that rate. You said you are very busy right now? I would bet you could raise your rates and not lose much business. When I started, I charged $40 per hour. Now I charge $105. EVERY SINGLE TIME I send my clients a notice of a rate increase, I get MORE calls. Think about this; if you doubled your rates, would you lose more than 1/2 of your business? Probably not. If you did that, you would be making the same amount of money for half the work and you could spend the other half prospecting for more/ higher paying clients.
I don't know where you live but $40 an hour and $25 after that does not pay the bills in Ann Arbor MI.
Ribs