Firstly, thank you for your interest in my service. Here are details of how I work and how I charge. I think it represents a fair balance between providing value for money and making a living, but if you think I’ve got it wrong, please tell me. I’m always looking to learn from my customers.
I’ll cover my charges, my working philosophy and explain what I can and can’t do.
Here goes then....
Hourly rate
At present, I charge £20.00 per hour. This is lower than most computer service providers and, I think, probably lower than any Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer in Cumbria. Most MCSEs work for medium to large businesses, either permanently or as contractors, and can earn quite a lot of money. My service is aimed at home and small business customers, who are unlikely to want to pay £60 plus per hour. I do it like this because I enjoy it and want to make a modest living, away from the pressures of working with large corporate networks. Money isn’t everything, after all.
Minimum change
There is no minimum charge. If I can fix your problem in ten minutes, then I’ll charge you for ten minutes.
Travelling costs
My service is focused on Cockermouth itself, which means I can walk or cycle to any address in the town in a short time. I enjoy the exercise and it costs me nothing, so it costs you nothing either. However, if I have to drive to reach you, the high price of motoring means that I have to make a small charge, currently 40 pence per mile, to help with the cost.
Support for Business
Click here to see what I can do to help your business.
Hardware problems and spare parts
I have lots of PC hardware experience and can fix almost any broken desktop machine, but the vast majority of PC problems are software-related, so it’s very unusual for spare parts to be required. Hardware prices continue to fall and it’s not really practical for me to keep spares in stock and risk being left with expensive and obsolete items.
If new parts are required, I will advise the customer where they can be obtained for self-purchase, or offer to purchase items on the customer’s behalf with no mark-up.
Software problems
This is where PCs really cause trouble for their owners. Sometimes, Windows won’t start at all, giving the user Microsoft’s infamous ‘Blue Screen of Death’ only too familiar to PC support people worldwide. Often, the best fix is to reinstall Windows from scratch, but this runs the risk of erasing any data on the hard disk. I can usually lift the data from a non-working system and copy it back when it’s fixed.
Other software problems are less serious, but often challenging and always interesting.
Many machines I encounter are riddled with viruses and other malware. If you’re connected to the internet (which I assume you must be, because you’re reading this), it’s really important to have anti-virus and other anti-malware software installed. Also, make sure that you install the latest Microsoft patches to keep your PC safe. I can help you with this if you’re not sure what to do.
Some malware infections are extremely difficult to remove, which leads on nicely to ...
Tricky jobs
PCs are very complex beasts and, despite working with them for over twenty years, I sometimes hit a problem that I’ve never seen before, or don’t know how to fix.
My practice here is to gather as much information as I can during my initial visit and return to base to do some research. Once I’m confident I know enough to tackle the problem, I return to carry on with the job.
In cases like this, I do not charge for the initial visit, nor do I charge for the research time. I think it’s fair to charge only for the time it takes to fix your problem, not for the time it takes me to find out how to fix it. The knowledge gained will stand me in good stead for the future, so I’m happy to bear the cost of the learning and am grateful for the learning opportunity.
If you have a multitude of problems, which is often the case, and I’m able to fix most, but not all of them, I think it’s fair to charge for the work I’ve completed successfully. I’m very tenacious and don’t like to admit defeat, but if the only way of solving an annoying but not very serious problem is to wipe the hard disk clean and reinstall everything from scratch, then I’ll offer that option, but not necessarily recommend it. Sometimes, it really is better to live with the irritation of a slight problem than spend lots of time and money trying to get rid of it.
Where do I work?
I usually work on customers’ own premises. There’s more than one reason for this. I wouldn’t be particularly happy for a complete stranger to take my PC away and I can understand that customers might be reluctant to risk me walking off with theirs and never seeing it, or me, again. For this reason, I don’t suggest taking a machine back to base unless the customer knows and trusts me. Added to that, it’s difficult to carry a PC any distance on foot or on a bike and using a car adds to the cost. Sometimes, however, it really is better for me to take a machine off-site. For example, a complete reinstallation of Windows, together with lots of applications software, can take the best part of a day, but much of the time is spent sitting around waiting for things to happen. If I do it at your premises, I have to charge for the time I spend watching that hourglass or progress bar on the screen. If I take your PC back to base, I can do something else during the waiting time and charge you less.
Loan equipment
If your problem proves particularly troublesome, or I’m waiting for parts, I can often lend you a PC to keep you going in the meantime. It won’t be state of the art, but it will be good enough to keep you ticking over. I don’t charge for loan equipment.
Confidentiality and discretion
I guarantee not to divulge customers’ information to any third party. All working copies of data made during data transfer or data recovery jobs will be either destroyed or left in the customers’ possession.
During my career, I’ve encountered quite a lot of material on PCs that some would find offensive. (It’s a dirty job, but somebody has to do it!) I’m very broad-minded and not easily offended, so whatever you’ve been up to with your PC is your business and not mine. I assure absolute discretion. The one exception is if I find material of the ‘Gary Glitter’ variety, in which case, I will report it to the police immediately. I’ve not encountered any yet and hope I never will. If you have ever used your machine for this sort of thing, best not to call me at all.
Software piracy
I will not install unlicensed software on a customer’s PC under any circumstances. It’s illegal, immoral and frankly, these days, there’s no need. There are usually excellent, free and legal alternatives to anything you might want to pirate and I’m very happy to help you with them. But if you want dodgy copies of commercial software, please look somewhere else.
What I can’t do
Apple Macs are wonderful machines, but I have no experience of them at all, sorry.
Also, I’m a Linux novice, so am unable to provide much in the way of help (but if you’ve been brave enough to venture off the safe path provided by a Microsoft operating system, you’re probably confident enough not to need any help anyway. I wish you luck!)
That’s about it. If you’re happy with the way I work and think I can help you, please give me a call.
I’ll cover my charges, my working philosophy and explain what I can and can’t do.
Here goes then....
Hourly rate
At present, I charge £20.00 per hour. This is lower than most computer service providers and, I think, probably lower than any Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer in Cumbria. Most MCSEs work for medium to large businesses, either permanently or as contractors, and can earn quite a lot of money. My service is aimed at home and small business customers, who are unlikely to want to pay £60 plus per hour. I do it like this because I enjoy it and want to make a modest living, away from the pressures of working with large corporate networks. Money isn’t everything, after all.
Minimum change
There is no minimum charge. If I can fix your problem in ten minutes, then I’ll charge you for ten minutes.
Travelling costs
My service is focused on Cockermouth itself, which means I can walk or cycle to any address in the town in a short time. I enjoy the exercise and it costs me nothing, so it costs you nothing either. However, if I have to drive to reach you, the high price of motoring means that I have to make a small charge, currently 40 pence per mile, to help with the cost.
Support for Business
Click here to see what I can do to help your business.
Hardware problems and spare parts
I have lots of PC hardware experience and can fix almost any broken desktop machine, but the vast majority of PC problems are software-
If new parts are required, I will advise the customer where they can be obtained for self-
Software problems
This is where PCs really cause trouble for their owners. Sometimes, Windows won’t start at all, giving the user Microsoft’s infamous ‘Blue Screen of Death’ only too familiar to PC support people worldwide. Often, the best fix is to reinstall Windows from scratch, but this runs the risk of erasing any data on the hard disk. I can usually lift the data from a non-
Other software problems are less serious, but often challenging and always interesting.
Many machines I encounter are riddled with viruses and other malware. If you’re connected to the internet (which I assume you must be, because you’re reading this), it’s really important to have anti-
Some malware infections are extremely difficult to remove, which leads on nicely to ...
Tricky jobs
PCs are very complex beasts and, despite working with them for over twenty years, I sometimes hit a problem that I’ve never seen before, or don’t know how to fix.
My practice here is to gather as much information as I can during my initial visit and return to base to do some research. Once I’m confident I know enough to tackle the problem, I return to carry on with the job.
In cases like this, I do not charge for the initial visit, nor do I charge for the research time. I think it’s fair to charge only for the time it takes to fix your problem, not for the time it takes me to find out how to fix it. The knowledge gained will stand me in good stead for the future, so I’m happy to bear the cost of the learning and am grateful for the learning opportunity.
If you have a multitude of problems, which is often the case, and I’m able to fix most, but not all of them, I think it’s fair to charge for the work I’ve completed successfully. I’m very tenacious and don’t like to admit defeat, but if the only way of solving an annoying but not very serious problem is to wipe the hard disk clean and reinstall everything from scratch, then I’ll offer that option, but not necessarily recommend it. Sometimes, it really is better to live with the irritation of a slight problem than spend lots of time and money trying to get rid of it.
Where do I work?
I usually work on customers’ own premises. There’s more than one reason for this. I wouldn’t be particularly happy for a complete stranger to take my PC away and I can understand that customers might be reluctant to risk me walking off with theirs and never seeing it, or me, again. For this reason, I don’t suggest taking a machine back to base unless the customer knows and trusts me. Added to that, it’s difficult to carry a PC any distance on foot or on a bike and using a car adds to the cost. Sometimes, however, it really is better for me to take a machine off-
Loan equipment
If your problem proves particularly troublesome, or I’m waiting for parts, I can often lend you a PC to keep you going in the meantime. It won’t be state of the art, but it will be good enough to keep you ticking over. I don’t charge for loan equipment.
Confidentiality and discretion
I guarantee not to divulge customers’ information to any third party. All working copies of data made during data transfer or data recovery jobs will be either destroyed or left in the customers’ possession.
During my career, I’ve encountered quite a lot of material on PCs that some would find offensive. (It’s a dirty job, but somebody has to do it!) I’m very broad-
Software piracy
I will not install unlicensed software on a customer’s PC under any circumstances. It’s illegal, immoral and frankly, these days, there’s no need. There are usually excellent, free and legal alternatives to anything you might want to pirate and I’m very happy to help you with them. But if you want dodgy copies of commercial software, please look somewhere else.
What I can’t do
Apple Macs are wonderful machines, but I have no experience of them at all, sorry.
Also, I’m a Linux novice, so am unable to provide much in the way of help (but if you’ve been brave enough to venture off the safe path provided by a Microsoft operating system, you’re probably confident enough not to need any help anyway. I wish you luck!)
That’s about it. If you’re happy with the way I work and think I can help you, please give me a call.
