May 10 2008
Why Are Computer Repair Price Lists So Hard to Find?
The question on the tip of every computer owner’s tongue when they need repair services for their PC is, how much is this going to cost? Depending on the age of the machine, some personal computers are not worth the investment of hundreds of dollars of labor charges to try to fix the machine.
Unfortunately, there is no price list at most computer repair businesses. Many businesses charge a flat hourly rate to fix your computer, regardless of what the problem is. You can save up to 50% of this hourly fee by bringing your computer in to get it fixed instead of making the technician make a house call. That means you’ll have to disconnect all the cables and keep track of which holes in the box they plugged into, but it is well worth the savings you will realize in the hourly rate of the technician.
Computer Repairs
A price list for various computer repairs, if you could find one, would include maintenance and repair items. In fact, on of the few fixed price list computer repair items you will find is a maintenance tune-up for your computer.
During a typical tune-up, the technician will check the health of your PC. The technician will see if your PC is infected by any viruses, spyware, adware, malware, or unsafe or suspicious cookies. The technician will then remove any problematic programs and install software that will vaccinate your computer against future problems of the same type. The technician will also check and adjust your Internet security and privacy settings to help prevent future security issues. Finally, the technician can adjust filters that provide safety for your children while they are browsing the internet.
Computer Upgrades
Another service you might find on a computer repair price list is a list of computer upgrades. Virtually all upgrades involve the purchase and installation of some type of hardware, like new memory, a new graphics or sound card, or a new hard drive. The labor charge for installing the new hardware means the computer repair organization will rely again on its hourly charge, making a computer repair price list unpredictable.
This argument, against creating a computer repair price list, seems invalid when you consider that there are only so many parts on a computer that can be replaced and upgraded, and all those items are installed in a uniform manner, across platforms, from one PC to the next. Every peripheral, for example, needs to be located close to the outside front or back of the box so that the user can plug a cable into it.
It seems as if a computer repair organization ought to be able to track the time it takes to change a video card, take the average of that time over a representative sampling of different machines, add overhead and profit for themselves, and create a predictable computer repair price list.
Related posts:
- Computer Careers: What Does A Computer Repair Technician Do?
- Finding A Computer Repair Technician In Your Local Area
- Sourcing Computer Repair Parts For Your Machine
- The Finer Points Of Dell Computer Repair
- Some Of The Essential Computer Repair Tools
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I don’t know whether this comment will be posted or not, because it goes against the basic premise of your post…
But, I personally think that posted price lists aren’t such a good thing.
When you start getting into the minutia of upgrade, you could be looking at a long list. Considering the different types of memory, sizes, and speeds, those with heat spreaders, those without, etc… you could be looking at a broad range of prices, even if you charge a flat rate for labor.
Another reason why we don’t charge a flat rate for anything, is because you never know how long it’s going to take. For example, say I am called to do an onsite “housecall” and the issue was described as an e-mail problem. When I get there, the problem isn’t just e-mail, but also the entire Internet is down. There is obviously a virus infection. On top of that, the computer needs memory and a really thorough tune-up. What should I do here? Should a charge a flat rate for each of these fixes? Or should I just give a rough estimate and then (upon client’s approval) get down to work?
We do “cap” labor at 3 hours for single computer residential jobs… IF we are allowed them to take them back into the shop. That helps keep the costs down for the customer. But, if we are working on multiple computers, or the customer has to have the work done onsite, or it’s a business (more complex network) we charge for whatever time we are onsite.
A price list also turns what a technician does into a commodity, by stripping everything down to price. It encourages the client to shop on price alone, and disregard all other qualities of a computer repair facility.
Recently they did a study on what those shopping for computer repair looked for in a repair shop. The top on the list were honesty, quality, someone who didn’t talk down to them, quick response, and someone who actually picked up the phone when they called. Notice that price isn’t even in the top 5.