| Forum Home | ||||
| PC World Chat | ||||
| Thread ID: 87374 | 2008-02-18 23:42:00 | IT charges. . . . . | nofam (9009) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 641846 | 2008-02-19 05:58:00 | $30 an hour. It works for me, it's not like I could make more being employed by someone at my age. If I wasn't working from home, though, I'd have to charge about $65 to make the same money in the pocket per hour. |
george12 (7) | ||
| 641847 | 2008-02-19 06:17:00 | To techies out there, how do you guys bill your customers? And how do you deal with customers that refuse to pay your mentioned hourly rate? :P | jason_f90 (3544) | ||
| 641848 | 2008-02-19 06:55:00 | And how do you deal with customers that refuse to pay your mentioned hourly rate? :PRip their throats out and feed their innards to their cat ;) | Greg (193) | ||
| 641849 | 2008-02-19 07:30:00 | To techies out there, how do you guys bill your customers? And how do you deal with customers that refuse to pay your mentioned hourly rate? :P Most of the time its not a problem, If a customer has a problem with the PC and its hardware, because most of the time those repairs are done in the work shop, I have their PC. They are informed of the repair cost and they know exactly how much its going to cost them. If its going to take much more than an hour I take the PC back to the workshop. If they don't agree to the cost of repairs they have two choices, either they pay for my time so far and I bring back the PC as is ,and since most hardware can be sorted within a quick time 15- 30 minutes the charge is not to much. If they want to repair it if they say they cant afford the cost right away, but want it fixed we work out a payment over time that both are happy with. Others I simply say call me when you have the money and I'll bring it back. Got one guy said keep it till I have the money - that was in January 2007 - still got the PC and about every 2-3 weeks he calls to say he'll have the money next week and he will call to arrange a time to return it :rolleyes: Had to take 1 person to court/ 3 to Baycourp - So Far. Others if you "know" by their attitude on the phone that its going to be trouble you simply don't take the job - Better to lose the odd job and know you're not going to get ripped. Theres nothing to say you HAVE to do a job. But you never can really tell - late last year had a call, just by his attitude I thought it would be trouble - so I made the charges high and said I was booked up and couldn't get to him for approx two weeks (this time it was true - I was booked solidly ahead for two weeks) He said thats fine - So I went around and looked at the PC later that night, only a 5 minute drive - dead board + other parts - told him an approx cost since I had to check on prices, it was going to be around the $500 - $600 mark with labor - he pulled out a hand full of $100 notes and said heres $500:eek: I took the PC/ Money and said I'll order the parts and work on it in the evenings, 3 days later he got it back,and I charged only the normal price- he even gave me an extra $100 above the cost, and a dozen Tui's for doing it quicker. |
wainuitech (129) | ||
| 641850 | 2008-02-19 08:11:00 | I have been self employed for many years. You have to charge enough to cover all your costs, tax, ACC levies depreciation on vehicles and equipment etc and still make a reasonable profit on top of all that. You also must have enough cash flow to cover any repairs or other supplies you need in running your business. If you do not charge enough you will not last very long. I consider $100 per hour for any expertly carried out work to be cheap. So long as your customer knows what they are getting into at the start and you do what you have charged for they have no reason to complain. The general rule is if you have to much work your charges are too low and if you have not enough work your charges are too high (or nobody needs your service). As far as PITAs (Pain in the A... customers) who are never going to be happy avoid/get rid of them as soon as possible. They are just not worth the hassle. |
CliveM (6007) | ||
| 641851 | 2008-02-19 08:13:00 | Over heads. thats why the likes of HN charge what they do. When the opposition undercuts you, they are effectively cutting there own throat. Trademen that undercharge devalue there work and it makes the one's that charge the proper amount seem like ripoffs.. This goes for any trade. | plod (107) | ||
| 641852 | 2008-02-19 12:15:00 | they are not just paying for the time we spend, they are paying for the skills. if they had the skills then they would DIY and not ring a tech YES .........unfortunately since a lot of pc repair work is done out of sight of the customer they dont always appreciate how much time and effort has gone into the job.....they dont realise also how many years of continual learning and studying and reading and experimentation and experience have been invested either........ Personally I charge $40-60 p/h depending on if I like you or not and if the jobs a ***** or not.......and also I do tend to charge older people who have really ancient pc's a bit less cause sometimes the job would be worth much more than the pc lol........i'll often advise em of that tho...... Travel......hmmmm.....well I dont really have fixed charges but I do tend to charge *around* $0.50c per km.......approx....... |
drcspy (146) | ||
| 641853 | 2008-02-19 19:09:00 | Late last year had a call, just by his attitude I thought it would be trouble - so I made the charges high and said I was booked up and couldn't get to him for approx two weeks (this time it was true - I was booked solidly ahead for two weeks) He said thats fine - So I went around and looked at the PC later that night, only a 5 minute drive - dead board + other parts - told him an approx cost since I had to check on prices, it was going to be around the $500 - $600 mark with labor - he pulled out a hand full of $100 notes and said heres $500:eek: I took the PC/ Money and said I'll order the parts and work on it in the evenings, 3 days later he got it back,and I charged only the normal price- he even gave me an extra $100 above the cost, and a dozen Tui's for doing it quicker. That's the kind of job I like. :thumbs: :D |
wratterus (105) | ||
| 641854 | 2008-02-19 19:21:00 | YES .........unfortunately since a lot of pc repair work is done out of sight of the customer they dont always appreciate how much time and effort has gone into the job.....they dont realise also how many years of continual learning and studying and reading and experimentation and experience have been invested either........ Personally I charge $40-60 p/h depending on if I like you or not and if the jobs a ***** or not.......and also I do tend to charge older people who have really ancient pc's a bit less cause sometimes the job would be worth much more than the pc lol........i'll often advise em of that tho...... Ditto to all the above:thumbs: Apart from the $$$ unless it's relating to elderly people, but often they actually want to pay you more than you ask since its obvious to them you're not trying to take advantage of them. I Know one lady that every time I go to see her I get a big batch of home made choc biscuits as well. :D |
wainuitech (129) | ||
| 641855 | 2008-02-19 19:59:00 | To techies out there, how do you guys bill your customers? And how do you deal with customers that refuse to pay your mentioned hourly rate? :P They don't get it back unless they've paid. Only a few people get to take it first, and I know them. |
pctek (84) | ||
| 1 2 3 4 | |||||