How not to run a PC repair shop...

[Dreamstalker]

This is the place that's responsible for Owner's Pet(tm), the one who took a floor vac to a rig and who I've added to the Canonical Coworker list.

The "bench" is a nightmare. Basically the owner (who doesn't really need the money) set up 2 folding tables in the back half of a small shopfront. The place looks like crap from the outside...reminds me of a tiny, dismal computer parts shop in Middletown RI that folded last year. Vidcard boxes in the window that are faded and I'm willing to bet the hardware is still in there (ouch). The for-sale shelves are a mess, stacks of older parts that nobody wants half of which still have the price tags from Microcenter on them.

There is no dedicated shop-use computer*, I'm resigned to using clients' repaired rigs to access the internet to find fixes for other clients. Given that these machines typically have no firewall or AV installed, and the shop does not have a good hardware firewall in place (why the hell not?), I don't feel comfortable doing this.

2 weeks ago, I diagnosed (but could not complete testing on) a customer's machine...dead memory. I told the boss exactly what I had done, what still had to be done, and what the fix was (new PC3200 sticks, of which we had none in the shop). This was a computer that his assistant had put together, the installed memory was slower than the motherboard needed (RAM was PC2700, minimum the board would function with was PC3200).

Last Tuesday I'm informed it was returned to the customer. OK say I, the boss found some memory that would fit.

Thursday, it gets returned. Note stuck on the case (in the customer's writing) is basically a carbon-copy of the original issue.

Oh

What do I find when I open the case? A single 1GB stick of PC2700 that I had discarded the previous week when the assistant killed it

No PC3200 to be had in the shop (again), so the most I could do was pull the memory that was in there and leave another note for the boss. I also sent him an email detailing what had to be done and how much it would cost the shop.

* well there is, but it's a crap-ass Dell laptop with a busted keyboard

[earl colby pottinger]

Quit!

Find another store and quit this place!

And if you are in a small town where there are no other stores to move to - Start your own!

It does not sound like you need much to out compete this guy. Clearly without you he can't do the repairs properly.

PS. If you do leave, DON'T DO HIM ANY FAVOURS with repairs in the future. And that especially means NO FREEBIES!!!!

[draggar]

This store isn't run by a guy named Ken, is it?

[Dreamstalker]

No, but his name does begin with K...

The "main" computer is located on top of a display cabinet which is about a foot taller than a normal table. For correct computing posture, should the only seating be a chair with a borked back designed for someone who is at the most 5' 5"?

Survey says...NO. (I'm six-foot even btw)

Game Store had the same layout, and there I at least had an adjustable stool (register was also on a shelf designed to be slightly lower than the rest of the case). The only other option for me is to stand. So, backache from stooping, or stiff neck/"gorilla arm" from having to unnaturally look/reach up?

[Dreamstalker]

More tales of the assistant. I thought today was going to go okay until I'm told: "no, [owner] will fix" (regarding the computer from last week with the borked RAM)...and the part isn't on-site why?

A woman came in to photocopy a newspaper clipping. She wanted it taped to a plain sheet first, so I reached for the roll of transparent tape I had been using at the time to patch something...only to get into a scuffle with the assistant who kept trying to hand me a new roll of frosted scotch tape rather than let me use the roll I had in my hand. My experience with frosted tape is that it does not photocopy well and this clipping was small enough that it would be covered by the tape, hence my reasoning for using the clear stuff.

Upon completion of the copy/fax job (which took 3x as long as it should have due to the assistant), the customer insists that I accept a $2 tip for helping her and get myself an iced coffee. Assistant sees this and goes nuts after she leaves, telling me I need to put it in the cash box (there's nothing against accepting tips, you certainly didn't help).

Now the owner wants me to sell the piddly stock of retail parts on ebay (now it's starting to seem like Groundhog Day: Job Edition). Two things:
1) My not-touching-ebay-with-a-ten-meter-cattleprod-again notwithstanding, the electronics category there is full of fraud.
2) He would almost be better off donating the old stuff and taking a tax writeoff, half of it isn't worth the shipping and the other half probably isn't going to bring a decent price.

[earl colby pottinger]

Quit

Why don't you quit there. I am sure that in the long run you will be blamed for everything that goes wrong at this store.

[Hyndis]

Is the owner aware at how quickly computer parts lose their value? If you've got stock sitting around in boxes until the boxes themselves fade, even donating them might be difficult.

Computer inventory is a lot like food inventory. If you don't sell it quickly, its shrink. Or if you do manage to sell the now obsolete computer equipment, its probably going to be at a loss.

[Blade_Raver]

Heh funny you speak about computer parts decreasing in value...

I used to work at the CompUSA in Maryland Heights MO back in '98-2000 (It's closed down now) back when the Pentium 2 CPUs came into stock and were going for $500-700. They couldn't sell many of them.. and apparently they missed the RMA to the vendor.

I came back to CompUSA back in '02 and asked about the Pentium 2 CPU's.. there was a 333mhz P2 processor that once sold for $699.99 back then.. The system showed a price of $0.01.

They were advised not to sell it because the employee and the customer would be torn new a******s by the retail manager.

I think that CPU stayed there until the store closed down. Unsold. Never to touch a motherboard. Box still wrapped in it's original shrinkwrap.

Sorry to hijack the thread.. felt a need to contribute to the thread.

[draggar]

DS - this shop owner is seriously sounding like one I used to work for in Salem, NH (the company's acronym was TMC).

While I worked there, one of the sales guys was arrested by the FBI for printing fraudulent checks using the check printer they had there.

He always paid us in cash or cashier's checks.

He owned all of the local wholesalers at least $45,000 (each) and would usually send me to Camebridge (I think it was in the Athenian building) and Woburn with somewhere between $7,000 - $25,000 in cash.

[Dreamstalker]

I'm paid in cash too. Although this guy's main job is with the government, one would think that would put the brakes on shenanigans (although, the general look of the place and lack of customers reminds me of an "Asian grocery" existing here in town a number of years ago that we were all convinced was a front for something). No check printers to be had in this place (I don't even think the "front desk" computer has any type of payroll software). The assistant is being paid to sit around and do absolutely squat; at least I try to make myself useful (come to think of it, I could probably handle the place by myself).

He clearly wants my input as to how to run things and I do want to help him but not if A keeps sticking her nose in things....I'm aware there is a severe language barrier, but just waving a hand frantically in my face if you think I shouldn't be doing something is not going to work (and will typically make me snap at the doer).

Thinking back to yesterday's Keystone Cops episode (made worse by the 85-degree stuffiness of the shop--da wolf does not do well in heat), I'm surprised the customer stayed.

Eeeeeh...I suppose I should give it a few more weeks at least just to say I tried (I also need the money until November). There's a pile of Seagate drives that would still bring a few clams on Amazon, but not much else and what there is I think he's vastly overvaluing (who uses SCSI anymore?)

[Geek King]

There's a pile of Seagate drives that would still bring a few clams on Amazon, but not much else and what there is I think he's vastly overvaluing (who uses SCSI anymore?)

Geek King looks at the pile of crap computers that the government still uses and rolls his eyes.

You'd be surprised.

[lordlundar]

Geek King looks at the pile of crap computers that the government still uses and rolls his eyes.

You'd be surprised.

Considering NASA is still using the same type of equipment that they were using when Apollo 11 was launched, it would be quite an effort to surprise me.

[draggar]

Considering NASA is still using the same type of equipment that they were using when Apollo 11 was launched, it would be quite an effort to surprise me.

No wonder they can't get back to the moon!

[LostMyMind]

They can't get back to the moon because of a no-risk thinking. Everything must work flawlessly (a Murphy law issue) and have a back up to a back up to back up. We have hand held calculators more powerful than the computers on the crafts.

Personally, I think if you get 5+ men/women to accept the risk that they might get suck in space, run out of air, get turn into mince meat in a nano sec, etc... Then let them strap themselves in a Xmeg ton bomb and blast themselves up.

[protege]

Is the owner aware at how quickly computer parts lose their value? If you've got stock sitting around in boxes until the boxes themselves fade, even donating them might be difficult.

I have lots of old computer parts, mainly because I scrap old machines after they've been "retired" at work. Anything I can reuse, I can. This includes the drives, any hardware (nuts bolts, etc.), keyboards, mice, etc. But, many things are so old that they're not compatible with my current systems. In that case it gets disassembled and the various bits get recycled. Aluminum heat sinks go in with the cans and plastic parts with the bottles.