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Computer Repair Job Gone Bad
This week I encountered a computer repair job that went bad. I’ve had experience dealing with jobs gone bad in the past and I have learnt how to avoid them in most cases. However, I think this one was unavoidable. Heres my story.
I get a phone call from the client wanting me to go out onsite because computer is running very slow. It explained that it was fast when they first bought it but it has since become unusable. I told them my price per hour and they ask me how long it would take to fix . I said “something like that would usually take 1 – 1.5 hours depending on what is wrong with it”. At this stage I believe the problem is caused by either viruses or too many applications at startup.
I arrive at their house and they show me to their laptop. The laptop is about a year and a half old and in relatively good condition with the exception of two keys missing and a virus infested operating system. They still had the missing keys but the silicon rubber below the key which makes them spring back was also pulled out. I tell them that I will try and put the keys back in as it is so they don’t have to buy a new keyboard, but I’ll have to do it offsite.
I took the laptop back to my workshop and looked into how to get the keys and their silicon springs back on. It turns out that the keyboards silicon springs are all part of one sheet that all keys use and somehow, these springs have been ripped out from that.
To make matters worse, it seems that the actual buttons below the silicon on the keys wouldn’t work correctly so even if I did manage to get them back on, the keys wouldn’t work.
I decided it was time for a new laptop keyboard so I called my client and told them that the damage is too much for me just to put the keys back on and that they would have to buy a new keyboard for it to get it working properly. I gave them a price and they said it would be fine.
I went ahead and installed the new keyboard and it worked great. Since that was fixed, I got to work removing the viruses and spent about 45 minutes or so using the standard virus removal tools like Process Explorer, Hijack This and Autoruns. After removing the active viruses, I installed AVG and did a full scan of the system. It turns out hundreds of critical system files in system32 have viruses attached to them. To make matters worse, the heal option didn’t work – only the Delete/Move to the Vault option.
Given the spread of the virus and the effect on critical system files. I called the client and told them that a format is going to be the best option that will produce the best result.
They agreed reluctantly and I asked whether they have their WindowsXP CD. They said they didn’t didnt have it as far as they knew but they will call their ISP (who supplied the laptop) to see if they had it. The client calls back later and told me that the ISP said that the laptop doesn’t need a CD, but has a recovery partition on the system. I didn’t have time to check it out while on the phone so I said “fair enough, Ill take a look”.
Later, I boot up the system to search for the recovery partition or recovery option and there wasn’t one. I call my client back and tell them it cant be done using a recovery partition and they should double check see that they weren’t given a XP CD. I said the only option left is to buy a Windows XP CD for $XXX or supply me with one.
At this point they just exploded saying that I keep changing what I’m saying and keep increasing the price for the repair.
I tell them that the computer needed a new keyboard to get those keys working and it needs a format to fix those viruses.
It is possible for the laptop not to formatted but it will still be virus infested, many things wont work properly and there is the security risk of those viruses stealing personal information like credit card numbers, passwords etc..
I told them that I have tried to get it done as cheaply as possible to begin with by seeing if I could just put the keys back on and remove the viruses manually. My usual method is to see if a repair is possible first rather than just replace. For example, if there is just one virus on the computer then a format would be overkill, so I tried a repair first on their laptop but it was worse than expected.
They yelled at me a little more and told me to bring the system back to them right now. I said “sure, no problems. As long as I get paid for the work I have done so far” (replaced keyboard).
I got in my car and headed over to there and when I was almost there the wife found out what the husband said to me (who is the one exploded) and asked whether they could pay me the day after I drop it off.
I was thinking “hell no, no pay no laptop” but ended up saying that I only provide accounts to businesses. The chances of me getting paid by a angry home user (who already has their computer back) are very slim.
I arrive at the clients house, drop the computer off, get paid in cash for the work done so far and went on my way.
In their eyes, they probaby think I am a shady computer technician and will most likey say bad things about me to others.
In my eyes, the new keyboard and format is what the computer needed to be fixed. If I didnt do both of them they would have come back to me saying it wasn’t fixed.
I dont think I could have won with this one, regardless of what I did. There are just some jobs you can’t win.
For further reading on jobs gone bad, one of our forum members “Simmy” posted his story about a job (and a client) that went bad. Its a good read which you can check out here.
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For example:
———–
2kjk3-q34-234-blah
ASUS Corp.
Windows XP Home
———-
I’ve been using xp9in1 for at least a year. Hasn’t failed (dozens of uses). The above would just be XP HOME OEM. Installs using generic key and then prompts you to change it once installed. Speeds up the install process as well as you don’t need to mess about until you get to the desktop.
Happy to link you to an iso if you email me.
Hey Gyaresu,
What is this xp9in1? Where can we get info on it?
Les
Bryce,
I totally understand,you did the right thing I would have handled it in the same manner. It is hard to explain what you found wrong since you took it back to your shop. Would they have felt the same if you had stayed there and done everything in front of them, hard to say.
Les
I think the problem is that you assumed too much. Computer running slow, I can think of about 100 different things that can cause this. You said usually, when you talk to customers they are like children, they do not hear the maybe, will see, usually and the ifs. They hear 1-1.5 hours and that is it.
Second, don’t ever quote a price unless you are willing to work for free to fix that problem. Keyboard is understandable, but they still heard 1-1.5 hours.
You also assumed the customer would have their software. Once you get more experience you are going to learn that more people will not have it. Get on the bittorrents and start downloading. I have over 250GB of software. I also make an iso of every piece of software I can get a hold of. ** Do not reuse any keys. JUST BURN THE SOFTWARE! ** Most program keys you can get off the user’s computer. WHY you do not have every copy of every Microsoft OS software made boggles my mind. You did say you were a “TECH”?
Easy way to have fixed this:
Boot up computer at clients location, make sure it was not an easy fix. Tell them I need to look into this keyboard, and system issue. I need to take to back to my shop (never say home) and run a few tests. I will call you back in xx amount of time and give you the results. Here is when you give them the complete cost, not a guess.
I do free diags as they only take a few minutes of actually time. Plus once you have the computer you are going to get the fix job (unless you try to charge them for software they already own).
I am very legal and legit. In no way did I mean install software that was not purchased by the customer. If the software on the system and illegal that is for someone else to prove. I can sleep at night knowing I did not give away software for free. If you do a Belarc and find XP, Office, and Nero keys. Yet the customer cannot find the software. I will use my software with the customers keys. I will not on the customers word install any software without a provided key/software.
Providing the software is more customer service then technician. The more you can resolve a customer’s headaches the more value you bring to the table. Painting that customer into a corner saying pay or provide is not a good move. If you provided the software therefore eliminating this out of the equation would you still think this was a losing battle?
Even it is take 8 hours it still gives you the information needed to produce a valid quote of work. 8 hours later is better than 4 phone calls back in forth making you look shady and out for more money.
first off a xp9in1 if you are a member of MS technet you would know that this is a pirated software and thus illegal
and the man did every thing right the best he could do all except for a few things
he should have asked to see the XPcd or recovery cd at the beginning
my policy no cd no fixie
and the second
he focused on the broken keyboard instead of the OS and virus infections
a broken keyboard to a laptop is nothing plug in a generic usb keyboard and poof the case keyboard is bypassed
and the third thing is telling the client that a virus infection can be enough to require a complete loss of all data on a system via format if the system is massively infected and put this in writing and have the customer sign it giving you permission if required to erase everything
Why don’t you have either copies of the disk or a copy of xp9in1 (multi version xp install disk)?
All you need is their key.
Apart from that I totally commiserate:
Cheap client buys cheap (crap) laptop from Hardley Normal (Australian retailer) pre-hobbled with Norton System Stops & 47 pointless bling-progs that load on boot.
Cheap client uses machine cluelessly throughout steady decline of whatever limited functionality it started with to the point that it totally stops and then they ring you.
You mistakenly (again [I promised myself I wouldn’t do this any more]) quote them on a best case scenario knowing that really it’ll only be worth it if everything goes smoothly. Accepting that you may end up doing an all nighter (in between episodes of scrubs) running scans and ridding the machine of evil.
Cross fingers >> hope for easy repair.
Bam! Bad RAM/HDD/CPU/SCREEN/GFX/PSU etc. and now you’re ringing them up to let them know that the bill is going to be 75% of the original price of the laptop.
Solution:
if == not_crap
Increase hourly rate A$150:
You will therefore have a more ‘implied’ value.
Your clients will mostly be business’ == more_money more_often.
They will shoosh and listen when you tell them things.
You will have more money or work less (whichever you prefer).
You won’t mind so much if you get some muppet client because you’ll be earning enough that you can sack them.
then == world_peace
Their key was a special branded one. Most of the time you need the exact disk. You cant just use an OEM or Retail.
First off, I don’t think I would have given them a quot without seeing the computer first. I have made this mistake and learned my lesson. It may only take 4 mins for a spybot scan to run on my system but on an 8 year old p3 system it might take hours. Second thing and this goes to Tektility
While I agree that most clients wont have their software I cannot agree with throwing out bittorrent as your source. I think Bryce is trying to stay legal and legit. I have a 250 gig HD and two 80 gig drives full of software and I would never dream of letting any of it touch a customers PC. If they don’t pay for it or its not free, I don’t install it.
Their key was a special branded one. Most of the time you need the exact disk. You cant just use an OEM or Retail.
Not true. Branded installations *are* OEM installations, and a standard Microsoft OEM disk will work with any OEM’s custom key.
You can’t[1] use Dell’s OEM disk to reinstall an HP, but you CAN use a basic OEM disk to reinstall a Dell or an HP.
You can ALWAYS use an OEM disk. The main trick is that the branded manufacturer’s disk often has specific drivers for the hardware, which you have to replace manually when you use the MS disk.
[1]: And by “can’t” I of course mean “Dell doesn’t want it to work”, not “it’s impossible.”
Well, byrce I think you handled the situation as it was given to you.
You have to understand that many customers are overtly suspicious of being defrauded (by anyone) as you repair computers you try to set a price on what you exactly know and give ballpark quotes for unique jobs, that’s what I do. Unfortunately many customers are unwilling to accept the price for an job that entails more than what was originally thought to be benign issue.
Get that dirt off ya shoulder, man !
Onto the next job.
Look, you can’t always run a “Belarc”, especially if you can’t boot into Windows with the current hard drive’s install. So, if they DON’T have a copy of Windows, nor the Product Key code, the customer has no choice but to purchase a new OS or Product Key, IMO.
And as far as software is concerned, I make no guarantees regarding that. If I have to make a new install of an OS, that’s my initial charge per hour. Should they wish these programs to be reinstalled, I’ll do it, but at my hourly rate.
You’ve done the exact right thing in this situation, Bryce. ALWAYS PUNT BAD CUSTOMERS. I don’t give a hoot HOW many people they badmouth to; likely, they’re a PITA to everyone in the service industry and the people they whine to will take their “opinion” with a grain of salt.
The customer is NOT always right.
Good comments guys.
“Second, don’t ever quote a price unless you are willing to work for free to fix that problem. Keyboard is understandable, but they still heard 1-1.5 hours.”
I keep my options open when quoting “depending on what is wrong with it”.
“Not true. Branded installations *are* OEM installations, and a standard Microsoft OEM disk will work with any OEM’s custom key.”
Didnt work in this case, also the last branded version I came across (an ASUS) didnt work with OEM either. Just wouldnt accept the key (saying its invalid).
Im totally aware there were things I could have done or done better. If I didnt everything perfectly it wouldnt be much of a post. The point is im showing it can happen to anyone, including me.
I think it’s all too easy for use to read these posts and say things like “you should have done this, or you should have done that”.
Yes on reflection all of us could say we could have handled any bad situation differently; however at any given time all we can do is our best based, on the circumstances at that time.
I thought the aim of this forum / Community is to provide advice, moral support and encouragement when needed, in order to make all of us and our chosen profession better.
I think occasionally some of have gotten a little too overzealous, with our criticisms, rather than trying to remain constructive.
My apologies, if I offend anyone, but that’s my opinion.
I don’t see much that could have been done differently. The only real thing I see that seemed a bad choice was worrying about the keyboard. They weren’t complaining about it so I would have plugged up an external and checked the system. This would let me make just one call about the keyboard and/or the system.
Good article Bryce…
To be honest however, I can kind of see why the customer might be a bit upset after that took place. Put yourself in the perspective of taking your car into a mechanic for an oil change, and being told you have to get a new muffler, transmission fluid change, spark plugs, and it still sounds bad when you take it back from the garage… that drives me nuts.
I really think in this case Bryce, you may have made false promises to this customer, and obviously they were expecting something entirely different then the outcome.
I guess the only way to protect yourself in this case is to stress the other side of the coin, that is “I may be able to replace the keys offsite, however, the entire keyboard may need to be replaced as well.” or “Although a virus scan and tuneup should take care of the issue, serious problems may require a complete format and system reinstall..”
Of course, this kind of flip-flopping can make the technician look confused and unsure of his/her abilities as well.. It’s a fine line.
I recently had a similar issue. I advised a customer to bring a computer in for what sounded like a basic driver issue with a NIC. The customer was waiting and I realized soemthing was a little beyond the ordinary driver issue so I had him come back an hour later. Eventually I relaized that so many services were not running that it was beyond me to track down the culprit of everyone so I backed up his data and told him it needed to be reformatted. I quoted him my cheapest price for a reformat and did the work for that price. Although I spent a lot of time discovering the problem and did more than the basic reformat I felt like I had not followed my own best procedures and thus should do what I could to make the customer satisfied. Neither of us were expecting what had happened but there were no hardware problems (thus only costing my time) and although my time is valuable to me the happy customer and a decent but small service fee was what i considered to be fair. I get a lot of quick fixes and this one turned into something more. Now maybe I’ll be more cautious about quoting prices and following my own best procedures. PS. I was so glad to find this site as it has helped me a lot with just starting out. Thanks Everyone.
People like that explode because they don’t know any better. They don’t understand about computers and think repair persons take advantage of this.
I am not a computer technician, but I can imagine how was the situation you faced at that moment…You have tried to find the cheaper solution for your customer and have been very communicative with your customer. Just keep up the good work.
Whew! Great dialogues!
I agree with Miracle Blade.
Last conversation i had with Microsoft they said “You actually need three things to legally reload a OEM XP computer 1)COA License 2)Original Media (CD) 3)The little booklet that comes with XP OEM Software. Now i have always gone by the original cd/coa rule but never thought about the booklet. Just a question to all the AVG lovers out there – Do you ever scan with another AV from time to time to ensure that AVG is indeed working (Not Nortons)
Personally i would’ve looked at getting the computer cleaned up first before even mentioning the keyboard and i’ve found with the way we do things reloads are few and far between
Sh*t happens — as with any job or industry. I’ve had jobs go sour quite a few times in the past.
Bryce, I imagine it must have been a little painful dealing with this.
I see that you thought you left open a range of possibilities when you said, “depending on what is wrong with it”. I agree with you to a certain extent, but also remember that you have to be utterly clear about these things, because people in general have both somewhat of a ‘service-paranoia’ and they are complete laymen where it comes to computers. So it needs to be made very, very clear to them what the context is. You may have to give examples of what may happen and how much it may cost, from the lower to the higher end.
One thing is true, you should have ensured whether or not they had a Retail or OEM XP CD before continuing with anything. You should not have done any repairs until you knew that. Otherwise, it will just seem like you’re adding and adding costs, and the customer could not have gleaned that from you in any other way than you being fully aware of the situation, and they being fully aware of the possible outcomes for them and telling them. Things like operating system cd’s, licenses, need to be known from the beginning.
The 9-in-1 XP thing that someone talked about isn’t as great a ‘fix’ as maybe thought, because there are more issues regarding legality than just installing someone’s original license key unto a new XP install of another source than the customer’s cd. To think that you’re legal because you change the key to the customer’s original key does not make that XP legal. Sure, the XP core is basically the same, but what protects you and the customer from breaking legalities as enforced by Microsoft is not solved by changing to the customer’s key on an installation from any 9-in-1 disc. For all we know it may be virtually undetectable, but even post SP3 recently has been added the pirated copy message hotfix that will tell you (or worse, the customer) that their copy is probably not legal. That would be undesirable for sure, wouldn’t it? If anyone else has more actual experience with this, they may give some more information.
Bryce, about the ‘branded’ issue. You do know that MS made the ‘ChangeKey’ app?
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