1

A bit of background; I’m an IT tech at a school currently, a few years ago I was fixing pcs on the side and getting money from most (some friends I did for nothing or alcohol) but I stopped because;

1.) Once people (even those who barely know you) even remotely know that you work in IT they expect you to fix it for free at any time.

2.) Once you provide a paid for service e.g. installing a graphics card and dual monitors if anything goes wrong with the pc after that they expect you to fix it because it happened after what you did for them. e.g. the internet won’t work and somehow that’s my fault 3 weeks after installing a graphics card/extra monitor for them?

Anyway that’s all in the past.

But recently I met some people (4) fishing and they asked me what I do and this weekend I get 2 messages from 2 separate people;

“hi mate can you look at my auntie’s computer sometime?”

and also

“hi are you any good with not being able to get online, my pc is playing up”

FACEPALM

I’m seriously thinking about telling people I’m a cleaner or receptionist or just plain “I work at a high school” and hoping they ask no more beyond that.

I was pretty stern with them and explained why I no longer do it and was nice.

This was around 8pm and 9:30pm on a Saturday evening. I thought I had gotten away from this. My time is for me, I do this stuff all week long the weekend is my time, fixing pcs or equipment for people is the last thing I want to do on a precious weekend or holiday.

If I were to do it for anyone except close family it wouldn’t be free, I wouldn’t expect my mate who’s a plasterer to do my house for free on his weekend why is IT any different?

I’m rambling, I tend to do that and I apologise, my question is;

How do you avoid this? Do you not tell people what you do? Does anyone else get this happen to them?

ps hope this is posted in the right place, answered many questions but never actually created a post before.

68 Spice ups
2

Just use the go-to answer - “Sure, I will look at their PC. $100 per hour, one hour minimum, and the only warranty you get is the one that is attached to whatever parts you have to buy”

27 Spice ups
3

I tell people I’m a SysAdmin, and they generally assume it’s not PC stuff. Or they don’t bother to ask me. I get word of mouth referrals from people I work with, but it’s never free. My friends are all IT, so they don’t ask, and I pretty much only see my mother since the rest of the family exiled themselves to stupidity. Don’t say IT, use Network Admin, or Network Engineer, something that implies “complex technology” but not consumer computers.

9 Spice ups
4

As Nancy Reagan stated “JUST SAY NO”

Photograph_of_Mrs.Reagan_speaking_at_a-Just_Say_No-Rally_in_Los_Angeles-NARA-_198584.jpg
Photograph_of_Mrs.Reagan_speaking_at_a-Just_Say_No-Rally_in_Los_Angeles-NARA-_198584.jpg800×1184 191 KB
15 Spice ups
5

http://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/100327-how-to-avoid-free-it-service-aka-dinner-table-tech-support

** flies away*** :slight_smile:

6 Spice ups
6

I get it all the time. My response depends on the person. Generally the less intelligent they are the higher my quote is in hopes of scaring off the idiots that will react in the manner that you described.

8 Spice ups
7

Nice one garnock, for one of them the price would definitely be higher. Network engineer does sound good also makes me sound like I work with phone lines or something to a lamen. Thanks mxtj, must have missed that nugget of gold in the past. I have bookmarked it and may have to order the t-shirt.

1 Spice up
8

Tell people you work in IT as a job your free time is your time… unless of course you get offered enough money!

2 Spice ups
9

People think I’m crazy for not doing extra IT work. I think they’re crazy for turning it down.

http://community.spiceworks.com/topic/568936-personal-laptops-windows-8-passwords-and-sticky-keys

Not sure why I do tho…

People quote crazy prices to put people off, I’ll undercut and take the dosh!

No. I do not have a social life.

3 Spice ups
10

If you really want to completely avoid the situation then you will have to lie. Say that you do anything else but work in IT. Just remember that this is a lie you might have to live with for awhile if you become friends with the person.

I had the same thoughts that you did a few years back. After helping more people than I would have liked with their home computer issues I really considered never again telling anyone what I do. I like what I do, most days, and that makes not being honest about it hard. So what I’ve started doing is simply telling people that I only do that sort of work for the company I’m employed with and I do not do anything on the side. Then I start telling them about my many hobbies and usually by the end of that they either have walked away or have a laugh about my not having time to do any side work.

2 Spice ups
11

There are at least 2 threads about this every week. Learn to say no to people, stand up for yourself, or give them outrageous prices ($150 per hour, 3 hour minimum, plus a trip charge).

People wouldn’t expect free work from you if you had always charged everyone, or simply refused.

5 Spice ups
12

I just tell people “Sorry, but I don’t work on computers outside of my job” or “I don’t wish to perform those services, try taking it to (local computer repair company*) and seeing what they can do for you.”

Since it’s not work, you’re personally liable for anything that may go wrong. Especially since a lot of problems involve viruses or hardware failures, there’s already a good chance that there could be some irrecoverable failure (such as a Cryptolocker infection without backup). As soon as you touch it, they can try to blame you if you’re unable to do anything, and say the lost data is “your fault”.

And of course, they’ll try to pay you as little as possible. Just too much risk for too little reward.

If you don’t mind some white lying, then “I have a non-compete clause and I’m legally forbidden from working on your PC” is also an effective response. Of course, chances are that unless you work for Geek Squad or a call center, working on someone’s PC isn’t really “competing”, but I’ve yet to meet a single person who caught onto that.

(* don’t recommend they take it to Geek Squad - support your local small business!)

3 Spice ups
13

One of the nice parts about working more on the server and network side than on the PC support side is that unless it is family or very close friends I have an easy out.

“Can you look at my home computer?”

“Is it a server?”

“No, it’s a laptop”

“I’m not the right person to take a look”

9 Spice ups
14

Send them my way… I am broke.

7 Spice ups
15

Give them your rates and smile… tell them that for x per month you offer an ongoing break/fix service or each time is x + vat.

2 Spice ups
16

I always try to give them a bit of free advice and then direct them elsewhere, like a device manufacturer or another support company. It’s okay to offer services, but you need to make sure that you’re clear as to the scope of the work or charge an hourly rate so that you have a plan to bill customers if other issues arise.

1 Spice up
17

When asked if I work in IT, I just say yes, smile and then walk away.

1 Spice up
18

“I have a tendency to break things, especially computers. You have a good backup, right?
I need to brush up on not messing up. Sure, I’ll try, just give me a lot of time. I’m not sure what to ask you about your computer. Go ahead and bring it to my garage … just help me push my car out. Do you have an extension cord that I could borrow and one of those light bulb screw-in outlet things?”

3 Spice ups
19

I always just say, “no hablo ingles” Urban Dictionary: No Hablo Ingles

1 Spice up
20

"Well yes, sure I’ll take a look at your PC, I’ve worked for many high level clients, like Gary Glitter, Pete Townsend, and Jimmy Saville, I’m sysadmin to the stars…

where did you go?"

2 Spice ups