the ex fellow employee

[thehippie777]

I don't know if anyone has this issue, but for some reason a lot of my friends consider me oober computer savey. I am not. I like to learn new things & manage my own computer....but yeah. Also, my boyfriend is tech support for a local cable company here and people call me & want me to somehow enslave him to (out of work of course without pay) fix their computers. Now how fair is that???

Lady I used to work with called me the other day & left me a message. Asked if either I or my boyfriend new anything about Macs. I am a bit of a Mac hater from long ago, but I digress. She got this Mac, it's not working. She claims she called tech support for it but no go. I doubt it. She is a huge money hungry crazy lady who constantly wants more money & to rip others off.

Anywho, she also continues to add: Hey could your boyfriend get us a discount if we go with *his company*? Lady! No! He is tech support & not sales. We get discounts because he works for the company.

Can't wait to call her back...eventually.

[Machero]

Skills To Pay The Bills

Yea, it's always annoying when people you know want you to fix things without any payment. I never mind doing it when you can do it "in trade". When the person you are doing the work for has a skill that you don't possess. ie, giving the plumber a freebie fix.

But when it's someone who simply cannot be bothered, I simply cannot be bothered. I work for a big box chain, and people think that I am the same as the sales associates, always ready for free advice. People need to learn that time is worth something these days.

You can put a monetary value on an intangible idea. Especially when it is a matter of skill. Skills are learned. Learning things take time. Some people have a knack for their particular skills. That's how you start out.

You need to post the conversation of when you call your former co-worker back. This should be riotous.

[Yfandes]

"Sure! $50 per hour, four hour minimum, plus costs, cash up front!"

We used to get that a lot. I don't mind helping good friends who don't take advantage, and return favors, but I cant believe that coworkers and relative strangers think its OK to ask us to:

- order parts and build you an entire computer plus install your weirdo software where "don't worry, Ill pay for the parts" seems to be your idea of not taking advantage.
- come to your very busy bar/restaurant an hours drive away and expect us to fix the 4 POS machines behind the bar during a busy Friday night while the bartenders are spilling drinks on us and think that "buying us dinner" is acceptable payment.
- sidle up to us in a bar and ask us to move your OS and software ("I lost the cd keys and all the installation disks") to a new computer for "drinks"
- call us to come fix your virus-ridden computer and then feed us a gourmet dinner and rare and expensive red wines while we yell at you to stop uninstalling the antivirus software, and comp us drinks whenever we visit your restaurant - no wait, thats ok

[lordlundar]

- call us to come fix your virus-ridden computer and then feed us a gourmet dinner and rare and expensive red wines while we yell at you to stop uninstalling the antivirus software, and comp us drinks whenever we visit your restaurant - no wait, thats ok

Yeah, don't shoot yourself in the foot there.

[protege]

"Sure! $50 per hour, four hour minimum, plus costs, cash up front!"

That's my standard reply now...after getting calls from some relatives about their computer issues. The last one being..she did something, but couldn't remember what she did, other than her computer "didn't work right" now. This big problem? She's turned on the formatting codes in MS Word, and couldn't turn them off

I did have some help when I built my last computer. One of my neighbors builds machines as a hobby, so I asked him for advice. He put together a processor/motherboard/RAM lists, told me what power supply I'd need...but let me choose the drives. I did nearly all the work, ordering the parts, etc. But, before I fired it up the first time, I had him check everything. I've messed around with computer hardware for years, but I'd never built one from scratch. I simply wanted a second opinion, and didn't want to cook my new toy!

[Hyndis]

I did have some help when I built my last computer. One of my neighbors builds machines as a hobby, so I asked him for advice. He put together a processor/motherboard/RAM lists, told me what power supply I'd need...but let me choose the drives. I did nearly all the work, ordering the parts, etc. But, before I fired it up the first time, I had him check everything. I've messed around with computer hardware for years, but I'd never built one from scratch. I simply wanted a second opinion, and didn't want to cook my new toy!

Nothing wrong with asking for advice. Hounding someone is another matter entirely, but simply asking for advice is just fine, particularly if you're unsure of exactly how to proceed but want to learn. Electronics are expensive, so mistakes can't really be afforded by the average person.

[PepperElf]

she claims she called tech support for it but no go.

i doubt that too. unless they quoted her a repair price that she didn't like. i've seen them work on 7-yr old computers, so i'm sure they can fix it... but she might not want to pay for it.

[wynjara]

A friend of mine in college had a sticker on the dashboard in front of the passenger seat that said "No, I won't fix your computer." Just to prevent anyone asking

[tropicsgoddess]

It bugs me is how people think that anything done on the computer (web design, tech support. etc.) they feel it should be free of charge. Uh no. Some of us PAID to learn those skills and some us need to make a living to pay our bills, so either pony up the dough or go stick it where the sun don't shine.

[powerboy]

My last boss/friend done that to me. They knew that I know computers. I do not know a lot about the hardware, just the software. They wanted me to look as the computer because it was slow. Okay I done that. I first went into the cookies and found that they didn't delete any of them, for the whole time from when they first got the computer. So I asked if I could install CCleaner, Tweak Cleaner Standard & Zappit. He ofcourse said yes and I did. Deleted the cookies and alot of other things. Also made the computer a little faster because of Zappit. I use all three in that order. That is when it loads the computer after being turned on and before I shut it off. A little Tip for the Zappit program. You do not have to turn off the computer after it says.