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General discussion

$900 bill for installing a home wireless network !

Apr 15, 2005 1:36AM PDT

Hello there,
I have to share this story with the community.

A friend called a tech to install a wireless router in his home. The tech had some difficulty with connecting the router to one of the two computers in the house. Both computers are relatively new and 'may' have needed some maintainance...It took the tech 9 hours to troubleshoot and a $900.00 bill was invoiced.

I've been in the business for 10 years and I'm disgusted that there are people out there taking advantage. I believe there are may steps the tech should have taken to resolve the issue. And the bill for the entire project should be no more than $300.00.

What are your thoughts?

Discussion is locked

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maybe, maybe not...
Apr 15, 2005 2:13AM PDT

If it took 9 hrs. and the going rate is $100/hr, that's what it took to do the job. Get out your checkbook.

Questions to ask:

Was the tech truly competent and it took a genuine 9 hours of competent time? or was the guy a dolt and should have done it in a third the time. If so, the guy is entitled to be paid for his time, but at dolt rates of $30/hour, not $100.

What else was involved? Was the access point and the client adapter/driver a reasonable installation or did he have to screw around with it a lot just to get it to work. Was that the tech's "fault" for recommending hardware with known (or know-able) issues, or was the tech at the mercy of installing the customer's choice of equipment? Was the customer's house a wireless disaster zone that required very careful placement of the AP and lot's of tweaking antenna positioning in order to get the signal to connect?

And the issue of "may have needed some maintenance" is a loaded question. With all the spyware/malware/crapware out there, it very well could have taken 8 of the 9 hours cleaning up the system in order for the wireless network aspects of the job to work satisfactorily. The sad fact is that many, if not most, ordinary customer users have no idea how the spyware/adware industry adversely affects their computers. And the further sad truth behind that sad fact, is they don't really care because they don't see the cost. The computer has not totally failed so they don't realize why email and eBay has been kinda slow for a couple of months now. The spyware industry needs to keep the ordinary user clueless about these things so they can keep their bloodsucking business models going. But as soon as the end user's wallet is lightened by more than a few Ben Franklins, that gets his attention. And finally when more than a few end users start paying attention and pushing back, only then will we see the spyware industry getting squeezed and closed down.

JMO, YMMV
dw

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$400 to install the OS.
Apr 15, 2005 6:28AM PDT

That's the last report I have for this effort in my area.

-> Lesson? Much like calling a plumber, it's gonna cost you if you don't do it yourself.

Bob