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I’ve been helping people with computers since I was 19. Some of it was paid, and some of it was for friends or family. I’ve charged as much as $100 per hour for my time, and I won’t take a dime if I can’t fix the problem. Consulting has been nice supplementary income over the years, but I’ve done a lot more free work for friends and family. The idea for this article came after reading a series of comments on http://www.Slashdot.org about doing tech support for your family. The problem is not your folks; they changed your diapers and raised you. You’re going to a very hot place later on if you don’t help them (or at least have to deal with MGS—Mom Guilt Syndrome). My dad has called me many times over the years with personal computer probems, as well as stuff I should have charged his company for when they had horrible computer support people. I was proud to help my dad out, even if it meant losing sleep sometimes. He’s come a long way and is approaching the “geek” stage. I’m so proud! My goal here is to discuss the other people that call—brothers, sisters, friends, close and distant relatives, co-workers, or even acquaintances. When I worked in a computer store, people would ask me to go to their house and setup the computer and install the software. This was an easy decision - charge for it. However, the line becomes less clear when your brother needs your help and he just cleared 4 trees from your yard. Of course you help, but if that brother only calls when his computer is down and he’s suddenly “busy” when you need help it’s easy to be “busy” yourself. Luckily, my siblings are awesome and we help each other out often. Relatives are a tougher decision. My family, while separated by hundreds (St. Louis) and thousands of miles (Hong Kong) is very close. I don’t have a problem helping any of them, but I’ve heard horror stories from my friends about distant relatives that expect 3am support for 3 hours when their Mike Kaltschnee computer dies and they’re on a deadline. What do you do? Do you even exchange holiday greetings? Should you tell them to wait until morning or when you get some free time? Or just find some local help? It’s really hard to debug a system you’ve never seen over the phone. I have had to tell people that I’ll call them back at a later time. It’s hard to do but you have to decide if they are taking advantage of you. Sometimes you make the wrong decision but don’t let them do it to you twice. Friends are easy to decide which way to go. If your buddy is a good friend, and you both help each other out, it’s usually “yes.” However, if they are more like an acquaintance, you should feel free to tell them that this is what you do for a living (or as a side business) and you typically charge for it. It’s up to you to discount your rate, or even barter for the work (I’ve done computer work for countless dinners, home-made honey, venison, computer parts, and even a discount from a doctor). Many people are open to trading services - it’s always a good idea to have a plumber owe you for recovering his business records after he accidentally deleted them. Don’t charge if you can’t fix it, and don’t be afraid to tell them you don’t know how to do it. I’ve tried to fix things I had no business fixing when I should have told them a polite “no.” I’ve had to spend additional time fixing my mistake. Know your limitations and let them know you haven’t done this before. People think you know everything if you seem proficient, but there are too many things for any one person to know everything. Give them the choice of letting you do the work or finding someone more qualified. Everyone will feel better (and you won’t feel guilty about making things worse in some cases). The moral of the story is that you have to remember you have a very valuable skill, worth up to $100 per hour, and if you feel that you are being taken advantage of you should not feel guilty about charging for your time Remember that they would have to pay a computer store to fix the computer at probably double or triple your rate. |
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We all know the feeling of dread when we
pick up the phone and it’s a friend or family member saying,
“You know that PC I bought last year? Well it’s not
working right...” It seems that if you’re a computer
geek you’re the one that gets the call at 9pm (it usually
happens during your favorite TV show) with a desperate voice
on the other end that you know hasn’t backed up anything
in two years.