I would not see it as a problem if a member corresponded privately and
offered to provide either remote help or in-home/in-office help at an hourly
rate. The member needing the help can just say no thanks. End of story.
$28/hr is a huge bargain for pc repair/virus eradication, especially if
there's no payment up front and no payment without a successful outcome.
The going rate around hear seems to be about $65 to $150/hr, and some techs
charge for their travel time, too.
Rogerx mentions that some malware infects a computer so completely that a
fix can only be accomplished by use of another computer (to download the
programs or whatever). So it makes sense that some members of this group,
especially if they don't live in urban centers, might be interested in
hiring a simplycomputers2 member.
I think the circumstances under which members can offer services or refer to
their own or others' websites should be clarified.
SB
-----Original Message-----
From: simplycomputers2@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:simplycomputers2@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of RogerX19
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 12:20 PM
To: simplycomputers2@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Simply Computers] Re: Requesting fees for providing help
Hello Vincent,
I was a little surprised about your posting that a person asking for
compensation for their work should be reported to the Group's owner for
removal.
Many of us offer tech support in this Group for free, but that is just
advice ... the user still has to do the actual work.
If someone offers to do the work for the person, is there no way (as far as
this Group is concerned) for them to be fairly compensated for the work they
do?
I had not read the rules for this Group in some time, so when back just now
and did so.
Sure enough, one of the rules is:
"THIS GROUP IS A FREE SERVICE: Ignore and report any member that requests
compensation"
I'm glad this issue came to the forefront before I violated that rule!
Obviously there are people who are always trying to scam someone else out of
their money, but there are also honest people who are ready to do the work
that someone either can't, or won't, do for themselves, for which they
expect to be fairly compensated.
I don't know the circumstances behind the instance that you mentioned, but
was $28 an exorbitant fee for the work the person was offering to do?
It's becoming more and more prevalent that once a computer gets infected by
some malware, the existing anti-malware products cannot completely clean out
the infection AND restore the computer to original running condition.
Often malware infects operating system files to the extent that, once
removed, the computer still does not function properly.
We have had numerous reports on this board of people using the
formerly-highly-recommended SuperAntiSpyware, only to find that it rendered
their computer almost totally unusable!
It is becoming commonplace that, in such instances, the only resolution is
to delete the operating partition, re-partition the drive, then restore the
operating system, along with all updates, applications etc. etc.
As this can easily be an all-day affair, is it inappropriate to offer to do
this for someone for a fee?
I would also like to note that offering to help someone for a fee is not the
same as demanding that they pay a fee (as in the case of computer hijacking,
where the computer is first infected, then the offending party offers to
repair it for a fee)
Perhaps there is no way this Group can filter out who is a legitimate repair
person, and who is a scammer, but what are we to tell people who come here
for help? If we suspect that they need "hands-on" repair instead of just
advice, who do we send them to?
It's easy to recommend that they find a "reputable repair shop" in their
area ... but how do they do that?
Do you have one in your area?
Who do you refer people to? Best Buy? Make-It-Work? A local mom-and-pop
computer repair shop? do you have those in your area?
Computer disinfecting is getting more and more time consuming, and that time
is getting more valuable, hence the tendency to want to be compensated for
it.
Again, I'm glad this issue was brought to the fore.
rogerX
--- In simplycomputers2@yahoogroups.com, "vincentwinterling"
<vwinterling@...> wrote:
>
> Dear Simplycomputers2 membership:
>
> A distraught new list member, who has now left the list, contacted the
> owner's group the other day to express concern that their request for
> assistance was met by a reply from a list member, "Eric," who
> requested a fee of $28 to help him with his problem.
>
> While we would hope it would not have to be stated, we are a free
> group. Assistance for problems is always offered without cost to
> members.
>
> If you are ever requested to provide payment for services by any list
> member, please report it immediately to the owner's group
> (simplycomputers2-owner@yahoogroups.com) and we will promptly remove
> that person from our group.
>
> Thank you.
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/simplycomputers2
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