And I just discovered it...Never give your home phone number to a customer Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
It's worse with your cellphone. I was in the middle of a lesson, and the customer persists! Not with intention, I wasted 30 minutes!!!
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
Cellphones can be turned off...House phones can't...Well, they CAN be taken off the hook...
Posted by Architraz Warden (Member # 4285) on :
Rule number one for computer technicians...
Don't talk about computer technicians.
Feyd Baron, DoC
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
Run --> cmd --> format c
Warning, DON'T try this at home!!
[ January 12, 2005, 01:47 AM: Message edited by: Shigosei ]
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Oh, Boris, I feel sooooo sorry for you.
I tell my customers I have no cellphone. There is a reason my company has a 24x7 helpdesk-- to screen my calls.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
Yes, I have learned this mistake the hard way as well.....
FG
Posted by Lucky4 (Member # 1420) on :
Did they call with more tech questions or *shudder* just to chat?
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
You just have the wrong customers. Most of my customers have my home number (yes, I work from home, but I have a business line AND a home line -- I only give out my home number when it makes sense for the situation, under the injunction that they eat the number after the situation is over. The business line only rings in my office.). So far I've only had one abuse that opportunity, and I figured out that he was doing it because he'd mixed up which number was which. He thought he was calling my business line. Once that was straighened out, he stopped.
But then...if they call me during off hours, the rates are ridiculous ($1K for the first hour). So they have incentive to be real choosy.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
$1k for the first hour?
You must be phenomenal. . . I wish I was phenomenal.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Geez, Jeni. $1k/hour?
Are you, like, the greatest tech on the face of the planet? That's a gig I could enjoy, I imagine.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
I don't think the $1k is about being the greatest tech, I think its about being the tech who most hates being bothered at home.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
I'm just trying to imagine negotiating an on-call contract with my boss and saying, "Oh, and if I have to take a call or come in after hours, it's a thousand bucks per hour."
I honestly can't imagine keeping a straight face for more than the first two or three sentences.
Posted by Jonathan Howard (Member # 6934) on :
BTW, what happened to:
Run > cmd > cd\ > deltree *.* > y ?
I loved using that command when someone pissed me off!
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
That's the thing, though, Tom, afaict she's not an employee of these people, but a person they contract with.
That puts her in a superior position if her skills are in demand, unlike in your case, even if your skills are in demand.
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
jeni, what the heck do you do that you can negotiate such prices in this day and age?
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
Who are your clients that agree to this? I'm not a shabby trouble-shooter myself, I'd charge them half your rates. . .
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
Yeah, but, this implies to me that she is charging 100/hour or something during regular business, which , again, in this day and age, is incredible for IT unless you are in the top of your profession?
edit: post towards fugu
[ January 12, 2005, 12:51 PM: Message edited by: Storm Saxon ]
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
It's not my rate...it's my employer's rate. And no, I'm not any great shakes especially now that our legacy software has been retired. I support a business critical software package though, so when it has a problem, if the problem is significant enough, $1K isn't any big deal. That's just for placing the call. It's $250/hr after the first hour, but usually they're up and running before then. It doesn't happen very often...I've only gotten to charge it half a dozen times in as many years. Though there was one legendary weekend emergency call that took 22 hours and two techs to fix (the hourly rate is per tech). I wasn't on that one, but it ended up being a pretty astronomical amount, well over $10K.
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
Can you name the company?
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
For a generic tech, yes, $100/hr is on the high end. For techs in various specialized fields, not at all.
Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :
We (security services-- IDS, firewalls, etc) charge $250/hour. $300 if you annoy me.
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
Sony? I think their tech support is something around that number... And what I was doing was warranty work for a customer at the shop I (now) work for (again, since I decided I would rather just work for someone else than go through the pains of starting my own business). So the store doesn't make anything on the job, and I get paid about 15-20 bucks an hour for work...Maybe I'll just bill my boss Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
See, Scott, you're in the same range. Actually, you're more. We're $160 for consulting and development. $240 for database recovery (annoyance factor).
Stormy, I'd be happy to email it to you if you like.
Fugu's right on all counts. It's not about being particularly good. It's about specialization. I've worked in the same industry sect since I was 19. I specialize in a particular type of software on a particular (now obsolete) platform for a specific type of wholesale distributor. All of which means that if I wanted to find another job, I'd have to go back to school because I'm worthless anywhere else.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Don't forget to pop in on the $500 mac thread, boris, you've got a chance to make $100 waiting for you .
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
Just to be clear, I misunderstood that the company was charging the fee. I thought she was saying that that was was she was making/hour.
I know many IT people who were making 100K plus a year five years a go that are now making and working under ten bucks an hour.
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
OMG, Stormy, no. I'm salaried, nowhere near $100K. No commissions either. And no raise since Jan 2000 with considerable lack of job security as our company has gone through 8 or 9 rounds of layoffs since then.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
It actually feels kind of weird being an IT generalist nowadays. I can't help feeling like it limits my marketability, but I'm willing to trade that for a little flexibility.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:I know many IT people who were making 100K plus a year five years a go that are now making and working under ten bucks an hour.
Makes my decision to leave the industry all the better. Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
Oh, was the business you owned somehow IT related? Was not aware.
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
I don't ever want to work in IT...I've done it once. I enjoyed it, but the competition is too intense, the butt-kissing to severe, and actual knowledge and capability is almost always ignored rather than rewarded (I got laid off because the guy I worked with had an MCSE certification. Oddly, I was the one who knew how to write scripts and use DOS, and he would spend a day on something that would take me an hour). I enjoy doing shop work, but doing it for other people doesn't pay well, and doing it for myself is too time consuming right now. So, guess I'll just play it by ear Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
Yeah, the industry definitely often operates on the 'it's not who you know, it's who you *censored*' principle.
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Most of my customers have my home number (yes, I work from home, but I have a business line AND a home line -- I only give out my home number when it makes sense for the situation, under the injunction that they eat the number after the situation is over. The business line only rings in my office.). So far I've only had one abuse that opportunity, and I figured out that he was doing it because he'd mixed up which number was which. He thought he was calling my business line. Once that was straighened out, he stopped.![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)