I'd jump all over that in a heartbeat.....
.... I mean... the part about helping out a neighbor... and... such....
"Well as you know my wife works from home..."
I'm in the minority who would happily fix their stuff for free, especially if I'm going to be putting down roots in the neighborhood. I'd just be up front and tell them I don't promise any miracles and if they really get annoying about it "yeah, you know I just don't know what to do here. Might want to take it to geek squad."
1. Problem solved
2. Reputation intact if not increased.
3. Profit.
Why does physical proximity automatically mean you are socially obligated to offer services for free?You might be great at computers, but you suck at being a neighbor.
And people wonder why computer geeks have a reputation of being socially awkward.
Perhaps a better response would have been to tell him that his problems sounds awfully complicated and could take a few hours and you really don't have the time right now with the new house etc etc etc.
It would have certainly come across much better than the "I'll help, but it's going to cost you."
There was an engineer who had an exceptional gift for fixing all things mechanical. After serving his company loyally for over 30 years, he happily retired. Several years later the company contacted him regarding a seemingly impossible problem they were having with one of their multimillion dollar machines.
They had tried everything and everyone else to get the machine to work but to no avail. In desperation, they called on the retired engineer who had solved so many of their problems in the past.
The engineer reluctantly took the challenge. He spent a day studying the huge machine. At the end of the day, he marked a small "x" in chalk on a particular component of the machine and stated, "This is where your problem is."
The part was replaced and the machine worked perfectly again.
The company received a bill for $50,000 from the engineer for his service. They demanded an itemized accounting of his charges.
The engineer responded briefly: One chalk mark....$1
Knowing where to put it....$49,999
It was paid in full and the engineer retired again in peace.
The problem with their particular situation is that there's a work router and work VPN involved, along with two freaking iPhones. It's not your typical "we have a wireless router and a laptop that aren't talking to each other" situation... it's a bit of a cluster. The quickest approach to fixing it - ASSUMING I have documentation on VPN settings and acocunts (yeah right) - is to reset everything and rebuild from scratch. If everything goes smoothly you're still talking 2 hours or so. Realistically, we're probably talking 3 or 4 hours.
Wow, I cannot believe the whining in this thread. You think this only applies to computer people? My father is a carpenter and remodeled each of his sisters' kitchens for free. (He has eight sisters.) People around the neighborhood always ask him for advice on rotted sofets or doors that don't close right. Do you think he says "Yeah, no prob I can look at that for fifty bucks"?
My mother is a nurse, lots of people in the neighborhood call her when their kids get sick. She'll frequently go a few doors down and see how they're doing, listen to their chests etc. Do you think my mom freaking bills them?
There's nothing wrong with going over, taking a look, and saying something like "this would require a substantial amount of work, I could do it but a network professional might be able to do it a little bit quicker and better".
To top it all off, the guy will owe you a favor. Wouldn't it be nice to have a hand the next time you need to seal the driveway or clean the gutters or something?
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As others stated, many people do not see your computer/networking help as any sort of sacrifice. They almost act as though they're doing you a favor by offering an opportunity to exercise your skills.
The problem with everything you described (other than the kitchens that he did for FAMILY) is that they're quickies. Fixing someone's FUBAR network is never a quicky, and the moment it goes sideways, you get more phonecalls. A nurse listening to a chest takes 20 seconds and a walk out the door after offering a little advice. It's not going to come back to haunt you in two weeks with another 3 hours of work.
Don't be naive. This is NEVER how it works, and I (and others) wouldn't be so frustrated by such asinine requests if it was. Read my post again. I've been in the biz for over a DECADE. I'll tell you how it works, okay?
Exactly!!!I know, I get it, that's fine. But I'll be honest, I live in a neighborhood now that's pretty "anonymous" - neighbors don't really say hi to each other, kids don't play outside, etc. And it's kind of crappy, because I grew up in more of a community. I'd rather we all knew each other and helped each other out, because given the demographics of the area, it's likely we all have some variety in our skills.
Yes, I agree, if by "putting down roots" you mean install some spyware on their computer so you can browse their computer remotely later on.
So... Honest business-professional response=socially awkward.You might be great at computers, but you suck at being a neighbor.
And people wonder why computer geeks have a reputation of being socially awkward.
Perhaps a better response would have been to tell him that his problems sounds awfully complicated and could take a few hours and you really don't have the time right now with the new house etc etc etc.
It would have certainly come across much better than the "I'll help, but it's going to cost you."
Did you install a program that turns on her web cam and sends you pics the day she turns 18??I help with close friends. Beyond that I charge or barter services. Even with close friends I sometimes barter services. Recently a computer belonging to a friend's daughter (who's 14 by the way you pedo bears) broke down. He asked me to fix it but stated he always hates having me do stuff for free all the time. So I said, I don't like mowing my lawn so we worked a deal to have his daughter mow my lawn a few times to pay for the cost of me fixing her computer yet again.
This doesn't mean I am going to spend two hours trouble shooting someone's network, but I might give them 10-15 minutes taking a look at it before tell them to get a professional. Or in this case I would have made a lame excuse like it's too complicated and been done with it. At least that way you appear to make an effort instead of coming across as a jerk.
Did you install a program that turns on her web cam and sends you pics the day she turns 18??
Yea, but I am a nice guy for trying to help while you are a jerk for trying to make him pay
In general, the world doesn't reward honest/good people.As Phoenix pointed out it is all about tact. Sure you might be telling little white lies, but at least you will come out of it looking positive.