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When NOT to Charge
Every now and then there are computer technicians that post “should I charge for this?” questions in the Technibble forums; and the most of the time the answer is yes. This post, however, is about when NOT to charge.
There are a few simple rules I follow to help me make my decisions.
When to charge:
- If something took me diagnosis/bench time but the client didnt want it fixed (or its unfixable)
- If its the clients fault (obviously)
When not to charge:
- If whatever happened is my fault
- If I cannot fix something due to my lack of knowlege in the area
- If I didnt do it right the first time and have to do it again
Unfortunately, the “should I charge or not?” question sometimes falls into a grey area. Here are two examples of my own that fell into a grey area:
A few days ago I had a call from a client whom I setup a network printer for about 6 months ago but the printer was no longer working. I went out there and discovered that the printer had obtained a new IP address from the router but all the computers still thought that the printer was still at the old IP address. This would definitely be my fault but it turns out that the client had seriously messed with the network setup at some point swapping plugs and changing settings. This leads me to mention another rule I have: If I client makes their own changes to my working setup. I will charge them if they break it.
It was a relatively quick fix as all I had to do was manually set the IP address of the printer rather than use the default setting of having it automatically obtain the IP from the router. This should stop the printer from changing its IP address again.
So, should I charge for this one? The client did mess with the setup which could have easily caused it to stop working so I should charge. However, I felt that this problem would have eventually happened anyway as I didnt predict that the IP may change one day.
I also gave the client the benefit of the doubt that they messed with the network after the printer changed IP’s in order to troubleshoot. I’ll never know if they did something to screw it up, but I felt this problem would have probably happened anyway so after I fixed it I didnt charge the client.
My other grey area story was about two months ago I had a client whos laptop wouldnt boot into Windows. It turns out that the hard drive was dead but she desperately needed the information that was on it. So, I hooked it up to my data recovery system which took about 15 minutes, started the recovery but it couldnt read the drive.
I tried various settings with this application but was still unable to read anything off the drive. I then tried a setup and a different data recovery application and could read some of the data on the drive but it was going terribly slow. I left this running for about a day and a half and managed to get about 31,000 files. When it finished I looked at what was recovered and it turns out it was just the “temporary internet files” folder which is obviously not the critical files they were after. I burnt these files to a CD anyway and replaced the parts/operating system for the laptop.
I wondered whether I should charge for the data recovery since it did take a fair bit of my time. In most cases, if something took me time but was unfixable or the client didnt want it fixed, I would still charge them for my diagnosis/bench time. However, in this case I decided not to because I didnt retrieve anything of value and I was already getting paid for the replacement harddrive and OS install time. This client was also a good client who I have earned over $1000 from in past jobs.
It is a good idea to have like the ones I mentioned above, but occasionally you need to bend them a little like in my second story. There is no point being a penny richer and a dollar poorer.
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@Stu,
I completely understand your moral dilemma. I had one like that not more than 2 weeks ago. I went in and installed a printer driver and it only took me 3 minutes to fix it. The family certainly didn’t look rich. My rate is $100 per hour with a 1 hour minimum. The family goes to my church and I charge church members $60 per hour but still I didn’t feel that was right… So I told them to put the $60 in their next tithe check and we’re even. Whether or not they did it is of no concern to me, it’s between them and God. But at least my conscience is clear.
@Bryce,
I agree about the static IP. I’ve had nothing but trouble with DHCP printers and I quit doing that a long time ago. Where I run into problems is when a copier/printer tech sets them up and I set up the network. Guess who always gets the call when the “Network Printer” doesn’t print.
For me, it boils down to doing the right thing. I gotta feel like I’m helping to want to charge. If we’re not providing value… how can we feel right about billing?
I pretty much stick to the same type of criteria. I always manage to keep the customer and get a pat on the back for being honest.
There have been a few times where I’ve really questioned whether or not I should charge.
First example, I offer a free onsite quote service and a young couple want a quote for fixing a non-booting computer. I can see they are broke and unlikely to go ahead with any work. In the process of disconnecting the hard drive and reconnecting it later, I discovered the computer would boot again. I can see they can’t believe their luck. I recommend they get everything off their hard drive while they still can and have it replaced. They um and ah about it and I can see they are going to risk carrying on with the dodgy drive. So I decide on the spot to charge them a small fee for getting their computer going again. They didn’t like it one bit and never paid, in fact I still have their computer. Was it right of me to charge? I’m still trying to figure that one out.
Second, most common situation is those simple 5 minute jobs where an elderly lady hasn’t inserted a cable correctly. Do you charge full whack? In theory, yes, in practice I feel guilty.
Bryce, i going to say that you may be wrong about printer. Most network printers that are set to automatically obtain an IP may change if power is lost, regardless of the network cable status.
@Stu
I have a simple rule. If you don’t pay you don’t get your computer. I will give the customer two weeks to pay , at that point I will tell them they have 30 days to pay or I sell their computer to make up my cost.
@ICEinLAVA, Yep, I’m aware they do that. In either case its my fault for not setting a static IP.
It cost you $35 for me to touch a customers power switch. If I can fix problem in 5 minutes, I do other relevant real repairs for 25 minutes. The customer has me for that block of time. If i go out to an old lady house and its a simple fix, say 5 minutes, I need to at least get $10 for gas. Am i wrong?
Bryce is right on about when to charge imo. If it’s not your fault you better be charging. I make my clients fully aware that I have a minimum onsite charge. Remember this is not being greedy, this is just covering yourself. That job that may have only taken 5 minutes onsite probably cost you an hour of time. I rarely go anywhere less than a 20 minute drive. 20 minutes X 2 plus 5 minutes (which counting parking and gathering my stuff, etc. is usually more like 20 too) usually brings me close to an hour anyway. Be fair but be firm.
I completely agree. Your criteria for when not to charge are exactly the same as mine.
I like the topic and also battle with it from time to time on when/if to charge for certain jobs.
But the rule my old boss told me one time is that if you’re doing a job/task and not getting paid for it. Consider it to be a hobby.
I admire your criteria for not charging.
Especially the “If I didnt do it right the first time and have to do it again” and “If whatever happened is my fault”. I have seen many greedy people who charge for this. It just sickens me……
@Stu
i can understand where you are coming from feeling guilty, however you are offering a service and you have to eat too. old lady don’t get a couple of liters of petrol free just because its not a full tank. the time it takes you to get to the site theres easy an hour in traveling and packing and unpacking. you cant run a business giving out free service to everyone over the age of 50…
When not to charge
When you will get a call back from that business if you dont charge when they think its your fault
Giving away all this free help isn’t going to help you save up for a new krave! Has anyone else seen it? (motorola.com/krave) It’s a flip phone with a touch screen, 2 MP camera, full html browser and bluetooth functionality. Definitely worth checking out.
Gunslinger, I do the same thing. I make the customer sign the work order when they come in saying if they decide not to follow through with the repair or take it to another shop there is a $25 bench fee, and if the computer is left for more than 30 days I “try” to sell it. Before I started doing this I sometimes didn’t get paid for 3 months. It hurts if it’s slow and you have bills to pay.
I also try to be fair with my clients but you have to be very careful as you may give the client the idea you are a “soft touch” and he may try for free visits or discounts in the future he may also tell his friends.
I’ve done discounts to “poor” & “older” clients only to be told on a later visits they’ve just had a very expensive holiday or bought a great new car.
So how about when a tool you use for work is damage by a malfunction of the client equippment? or a piece of hardware thats was working fine get damage for a malfunction of the client equippment?
recently a was working on a netbook for a client, and i was backing up the data for a reinstallation of the OS on a 8Gb Flashdrive that belongs to the client, but after backing up when i was going to extract the Flashdrive it got damage pretty bad and i could not fix it (i even try low level format)
so, should i pay for that drive? even when it was not my foult?
PD: please forgive my low english knowledged am from latin america..
You guys who have money issues need a basic service charge. I charge $40 and then almost nothing for everything else. This way I know I’m going to get paid no matter what the issue is and then the more work I do the more I get paid. Software installations are $14.99, Memory $29.99, Cards $39.99, Hard Drives $39.99, Operating systems $39.99, network stuff $49.99 (per computer/device), peripherals $12.99 (should probably raise this to $29.99), diagnostics / software troubleshooting $29.99. Data transfers/backup up to 3gb $29.99, up to 10gb 49.99.
Now compare these prices to staples or bestbuy and you’ll be shocked at how much lower mine are.
Staples charges $99 for up to 10gb backup/trasnfer, $70 – $90 os install / system recovery (not including backups/software installs/etc), virus removals $90 (but they just run one scan of norton from a usb drive which does nothing at all in practice- other than infect machines that aren’t infected), etc.