Troubleshooter's income.

[zegulas]

Thanks to digit forum, I am now able to troubleshoot most of PC glitches.
I study in Fy BSc Computer Science.
As I am having holidays now, all my friends are calling up to solve their PC problems. I like to solve PC issues, its my hobby, but recently felt that, the cost of traveling everywhere for so many days is really making me nervous!
So, I am thinking about charging a nominal fee for my services.
So want to ask you people, how much should I start with?

[victor_rambo]

1. Don't charge your friends. You will end up losing friends for a nominal amount of money.

2. If you feel, it is not possible for you to go to every friends house, ask them to come on this forum or may you could create your own small personal forum where you could interact with them.

3. If are comfortable with saying "no", please say "no" in a diplomatic way.

[confused]

well it depends on level of problem+effort required.
and i guess you should charge some min amount just for visiting.
i would say Rs.100???

be warned though, AFAIK some people will think twice before calling you, if they know they have to pay for it....... [i mean who doesnt like fookut ka help? ]

[zegulas]

Oh, forgot to mention this, I intend to charge friend's friends.

[MasterMinds]

helping friends is ok but sometimes it get wierd as they are asking help for silly things like installing os and new harware not working and all that

[phreak0ut]

I've had this thought in my head for sometime now, but I've learnt to cut back on the travel and give tech support on the phone, else they can get the technician

[NucleusKore]

I help a lot of people with their hardware/software installation. I do not charge; once you start charging then it becomes like a business, a commitment to the customer. As I do not charge I am at the liberty to refuse, or say I do not know, or I'm too busy to attend your call.

[confused]

Originally Posted by NucleusKore

I help a lot of people with their hardware/software installation. I do not charge; once you start charging then it becomes like a business, a commitment to the customer. As I do not charge I am at the liberty to refuse, or say I do not know, or I'm too busy to attend your call.

well thats a good point of view. but the opposite will be when lots of people start calling you for the "free help". it would be difficult to refuse many people.......

[dOm1naTOr]

I usually avoid most of em which are more than 2kms away by saying ive some online tute class or some relatives wud come home today. I help only my close friends by assembling systems, troubleshooting etc.

But one of my close friend(who is my well wisher) said openly to a guy that He(me) have been helping other w/o charging nd yuo people are not even concerning whether he is comfortable or not[i didnt knew he told that]. After that some of my friends haded me 200~300 and i got totally frustrated and told that I didnt expect atleast from my close friends.
SO they realized nd are givin all kinda helps like transportation, foodings while helping them.

[confused]

Originally Posted by dOm1naTOr

SO they realized nd are givin all kinda helps like transportation, foodings while helping them.

"foodings" - well thats the first time i've heard that word.
guess foodings = food + lodgings

[praka123]

Originally Posted by confused

well thats a good point of view. but the opposite will be when lots of people start calling you for the "free help". it would be difficult to refuse many people.......

This scenario is what I am undergoing here but for the cause(Linux/FOSS awareness),I am ready

[DigitalDude]

a lot of my time was wasted in giving phone support for my friends during college days charging your friends is an awkward situation though you an try doing it for your friend's friends a nominal amount or a common treat if you du a lot of tech support

btw at present not many of my friends are in the same city even


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[gary4gar]

Whats the harm in charging your friends?

I still remember, back in old school days. i charged even my close friends
When i install windows on my friend's Notebook, he used to buy a pair of jeans or shoes.

sometimes, we used to go out for outing and he paid all the bill.
But if it was a female client, i did it for cheap.

like a Kiss

All for charity & Goodwill

[DigitalDude]

^^
ha! dont lie


_

[ray|raven]

Originally Posted by DigitalDude

a lot of my time was wasted in giving phone support for my friends during college days charging your friends is an awkward situation though you an try doing it for your friend's friends a nominal amount or a common treat if you du a lot of tech support

Had a similar problem, Could'nt ask frns to pay me, coudnt afford not to.
Decided it was best done on the phone. If i couldnt make em do it on the phone, i'd tell em it was beyond me.

It was less awkward than taking money from frnds.

[dOm1naTOr]

@confused
foodings is kinda local word used here for food, more used by youths like clg students.

[Cyrus_the_virus]

If you like troubleshooting, join a call center as partime, you'll get paid handsomely at the same time save you the frustration of not asking money from your friends and at the same time, deal with challenging issues and sort them over the phone.

[confused]

Originally Posted by dOm1naTOr

@confused
foodings is kinda local word used here for food, more used by youths like clg students.

okay..

Originally Posted by DigitalDude

^^
ha! dont lie


_

+1

[Cool Buddy]

If you charge anyone for troubleshooting you need to be sure that you are troubleshooting correctly.

I have an idea, when a friend calls you up, go to his home, repair his PC, have a snack and tell him to get you some people who will pay up for repairs. If you don't like the idea, just tell him that you want to check whether his PC is fine and download a software for that, free net connect. (that works only if you have a limited connection at your home)

[chesss]

let them decide..
when they ask for your help just say , bahut door hai, time waste hota hai and/or costs a lot to travel these days , bache ki jaan loge kya. phone pe hi bata deta hoon etc etc. then they will hopefully offer to pay you something

btw what all do you troubleshoot.. just curious

[Kl@w-24]

When you start charging for 'help', the relation becomes a business arrangement, and naturally if someone is paying you, they'd expect a lot more than just 'friendly help', so make sure you are up to the task. When you are getting paid, you have almost *NO* margin for error, you *MUST* deliver. So think twice before charging. I've been helping my friends for a long time, and I've never thought about charging them. You can decide what's more important - money or friendship. Otherwise you'll be left with strained relations and a damaged reputation.

[Pathik]

^Exactly.
And +1 to Digital Dude and Rayraven.. Exactly the same here.

[zegulas]

Thanks a lot guys for sharing your experience, has really helped me a lot.