1

I would like to solicit thoughts on the following possible situation:

  • A ticket is created to work on a desktop security issue. The number of hours worked adds up to $700. Customer gets a bill for the ticket and goes nuts because they could have bought a whole new computer for $500.

How would you handle that discussion?

What could you have done in advance to make that discussion less confrontational?

7 Spice ups
2

The data moveal from old machine to new would have been $200?

3

Could they have confgured the new computer for free? When I am billing I typically give a time estimate and and ask them for an amount that I am not to exceed without approval.

4

Agreed. Also, there would have been time in labor for installing software (if requested), or lost time to the user because software was not installed on the new computer.

5

How valuable is the data on the old machine?

6

I would not charge someone 700 dollars for a security issue…what kind of security issue demanded that much time to repair??!

That said, I have had some issues cost someone 200-300 dollars & can easily justify the cost because it isn’t as simple as replacing the computer - even if you bought a 500 dollar computer, you still have to copy data, settings, programs etc.

7

yep, i would provide a estimate for the services to be performed and and estimate of what it would cost to buy a machine and config it to the buyers approval… then see which one they like the best…

8

Rusty4508 wrote:

I would not charge someone 700 dollars for a security issue…what kind of security issue demanded that much time to repair??!

Well, then there’s that too…

What kind of work was involved, out of curiosity? That may help in the discussion.

9

Rob.Dunn wrote:

Rusty4508 wrote:

I would not charge someone 700 dollars for a security issue…what kind of security issue demanded that much time to repair??!

Well, then there’s that too…

What kind of work was involved, out of curiosity? That may help in the discussion.

I think the biggest issue is ensuring that you are not charging the customer for “learning on the job”. Most people I have spoken to have a set charge for malware removal, because of the degrees of difficulty it can have. That said, a majority of security issues are easily resolved using a standard suite of applications.

10

Use a car analogy: the part may cost $12.00, but the total bill of $500 is mostly the labor and expertise.

11

otgcio wrote:

I would like to solicit thoughts on the following possible situation:

OP said ‘possible situation’ - has this occurred, or are you thinking it will occur?

12

One other thought, while fixing some issues like malware can take a while because of scan times, I typically charge for “Hand Time”. I consider the time to install the software and set-up the scan, and review the results billable. While the scan runs I am off doing other things so the clock stops. It may have taken 7 hours to fix the issue, but only an hour that I was dedicated to that box, so 1 hour of labor.

13

Justin.Davison wrote:

One other thought, while fixing some issues like malware can take a while because of scan times, I typically charge for “Hand Time”. I consider the time to install the software and set-up the scan, and review the results billable. While the scan runs I am off doing other things so the clock stops. It may have taken 7 hours to fix the issue, but only an hour that I was dedicated to that box, so 1 hour of labor.

Same here. Any time that requires my active attention to the issue is billable.

14

That is a good rule of thumb. Of course, it all comes down to expectations of the client too. You need to be very clear ahead of time of what your costs will be & they have to agree to that.

15

Rusty4508 wrote:

That is a good rule of thumb. Of course, it all comes down to expectations of the client too. You need to be very clear ahead of time of what your costs will be & they have to agree to that.

I agree with Rusty4508 on this. It is very important to know what the client’s expectations and budget are. Clients always seem to attach a high intrinsic value to their computers, right up until the point where they have to put money into servicing them.

16

tell them their stupid and you know everything and they know nothing. there was a $200 stupid client expense.

17

I agree. Hand them an estimate that is broken down for parts and labor and then have both of those lists itemized. That way there is no question for what they are paying for.

18

If I have to travel to work on a system though, and it takes 7 hours of which 4 is me sitting waiting for scans to complete, then you are still getting a bill for 7 hours of my time.

I recently had this with a client, I was trying to troubleshoot a printing issue along with other items. At the 3 hour mark we decided to buy an additional printer instead of trying to troubleshoot the only remaining problem, not being able to print from a Mac to a networked windows printer. I ended up only charging for 2 hours, which I don’t normally do but as said above, I was learning and researching as I went so I think we came out even.

19

Limey wrote:

If I have to travel to work on a system though, and it takes 7 hours of which 4 is me sitting waiting for scans to complete, then you are still getting a bill for 7 hours of my time.

I recently had this with a client, I was trying to troubleshoot a printing issue along with other items. At the 3 hour mark we decided to buy an additional printer instead of trying to troubleshoot the only remaining problem, not being able to print from a Mac to a networked windows printer. I ended up only charging for 2 hours, which I don’t normally do but as said above, I was learning and researching as I went so I think we came out even.

Just make sure they know that you’re planning on charging for a whole day ahead of time. I myself have never had a computer that was infected that took more than one or two hours to fix. ComboFix, Malwarebytes, AV-Scan (leave while AV is scanning)…

20

Limey wrote:

If I have to travel to work on a system though, and it takes 7 hours of which 4 is me sitting waiting for scans to complete, then you are still getting a bill for 7 hours of my time.

I recently had this with a client, I was trying to troubleshoot a printing issue along with other items. At the 3 hour mark we decided to buy an additional printer instead of trying to troubleshoot the only remaining problem, not being able to print from a Mac to a networked windows printer. I ended up only charging for 2 hours, which I don’t normally do but as said above, I was learning and researching as I went so I think we came out even.

I am the same, but offer the cheaper option of getting the equipment to me to work on at home. Typically when I go onsite it is a multi-issue call, so I can work other tasks while scans run and never be idle.