WOF: Do you provide tech support to friends and family?

User Comments: 99

1. July 17, 2010 12:25 PM
   

   Wendig0, TechSpot Paladin, said:

   I'm constantly providing tech support to family and friends. Thankfully I have remote desktop for those long distance fixes... The ones that live close get a personal drop in visit.

   Reply
2. July 17, 2010 12:37 PM
   thatguyandrew92 said:

   st1ckm4n said:

   Recently a girl came to me saying her LAN adapter won't work. It was confirmed faulty, and she had to find a wireless connection to use internet. A couple of days later, she comes to my room, saying "I went to electronics store to buy an adapter so my LAN would work, but I can't take off the back of my laptop." I had no idea what she meant, but I went to investigate. I first asked to look at what she actually bought - it was a PCI expansion card! Her reply was "oh no I'm such a noob!!"

   Love it! rofl

   Reply
3. July 17, 2010 1:26 PM
   LordAnarchy said:

   "It's against the law to own two computers" Overcharge to keep ****** off the internet.... Doesn't work all the time because I still see them on.

   I provide support all the time, the use of remote support (Teamviewer is the tops!) helps like crazy. I love fixing computers. I don't ask for payment at all, if you want, you can otherwise I just here to help. The missus could have SUPER slow performance and won't say a peep. I got on and this thing was running like a dog and I asked her why didn't she say anything...

   "Because I knew you were busy with helping other people with their computers, I didn't want to bother."

   She's a keeper Anyway, I love to help. It's all experience and it's fun. The only folks I charge of folks family refer to me. P.S. HIren Boot CDs and Avast FTW! Anyone else use Hiren?

   Reply
4. July 17, 2010 1:46 PM
   

   Yad said:

   Yes of course.

   For family and close friends i do it free.

   For others i charge them a little XD

   Reply
5. July 17, 2010 1:50 PM
   

   tengeta said:

   I do it, most don't pay and I don't expect it. I get plenty of non-tech favors when I need them so I see it as fair game. Plus anytime I help my grandmother with anything she dumps her bank account on me even if its just hooking up a DVD player (I'd give it back but she seriously gets more angry about not giving the money).

   Reply
6. July 17, 2010 1:53 PM
   Staff
   

   Matthew, TechSpot Staff, said:

   I wouldn't say it's the lack of payment that bugs me, because I don't mind helping out. It's the frequency and type of calls.

   It can get a bit frustrating when a perfectly capable human refuses to takes the initiative of Googling something very simple like renaming an icon or installing an instant messenger -- and if you do it once, they'll never hesitate to call again.

   Worse, as many have illustrated, they often forward their friends and friends of friends... and friends of friends of friends. Before you know it you get a call every week about the taskbar being moved or how the "blue e" won't let them get online.

   Imagine if the situation were reversed and one of us called them about similarly trivial problems (granted, these computer issues may not seem small to them). I have to wonder how they'd handle a weekly call about spilled orange juice.

   There is a bright side to helping with every single minor issue: they don't have the opportunity to make things worse.

   Reply
7. July 17, 2010 2:43 PM
   nismo91 said:

   well i did help quite a number in fact. most are for free, otherwise, a drink or a meal.

   Reply
8. July 17, 2010 3:49 PM
   

   Gars said:

   yes, ofc

   do my best

   only for the exp

   fujitsu bring me on my knees - but next time(in a day) ill broke there cockpit and ill pull everithing from the inside to the public

   ...

   so i skiped some bad words for all the companies and there bad practice (and lack of support)

   i need to thanks to HP - they have great support on 32bit

   years ago i got one of the first chipsets thats hold 8gb ram with quad cpu supported

   but i was forced from HP to return in 32bit (x86) cos of lack of drivers (and CREATIVE to be honest)

   now, i cant buy anything from HP

   for me the "word is SUPPORT

   Reply
9. July 17, 2010 4:00 PM
   Guest said:

   From my side, yes all my family from my mother side and my father side are depending on me because I'm only who studied the IT Major and I'm only who like doing an adventure with computer and following latest technologiest.

   Reply
10. July 17, 2010 5:20 PM
    

    LookinAround, TechSpot Chancellor, said:

    Yes. I provide tech support for friends and family.

    My motto: "I compute for food"

    Reply
11. July 17, 2010 5:46 PM
    fwilliams said:

    Only if they are using Ubuntu. I do not support them if they want to use Windows, besides all they have to do is re-install the OS every few months.

    Reply
12. July 17, 2010 6:09 PM
    BabyFaceLee said:

    captaincranky said:

    ...Why does the best sex always come after the purchase of a new dishwasher?

    I dunno but maybe you should try it with your wife next time you get one. ;-p

    Reply
13. July 17, 2010 7:12 PM
    

    captaincranky, TechSpot Addict, said:

    I dunno but maybe you should try it with your wife next time you get one. ;-p

    Well uh, I traded her in on a long string of girlfriends, all of whom were better in bed.

    Reply
14. July 17, 2010 7:50 PM
    

    dividebyzero, trainee n00b, said:

    Ah, comparison shopping!....unlike tech, newegg user reviews not likely to help out there.

    nil satis nisi optimum

    Reply
15. July 17, 2010 7:57 PM
    

    treetops said:

    I'm still in college learning about computers, so I welcome the experience. My cousin a car dealer asked me if I would design a website for him, I was thinking what the hell?! He said he would pay me, I told him I barely know the basics of website design and changed the subject . Other then that I have never been offered money from my family to fix there computers, but I am more then happy too.

    Reply
16. July 17, 2010 9:06 PM
    grvalderrama said:

    Support? It's almost like an ad honorem part-time job the thing I have with my family and friends... I love it but I'm getting kinda tired though.

    Reply
17. July 17, 2010 9:44 PM
    

    Tekkaraiden said:

    It's almost the only time my brothers will actually call me. My wife and I joke about it all the time.

    Reply
18. July 17, 2010 10:57 PM
    

    Route44, TechSpot Ambassador, said:

    Yes because I'm another one of those who belong to a family that forgets even how to cut and paste -- except my nephew who is at least a whiz at software but should never open a computer, ever.

    I love it when they don't listen because they know they can get a "deal" on a new system only to discover the system just isn't performing like they thought and thus are forced to ask questions they should have asked in the beginning.

    I especially love it when silence decends upon the room when I tell them I could have built them a system more powerful at half the cost.

    Reply
19. July 17, 2010 11:07 PM
    grvalderrama said:

    Tekkaraiden said:

    It's almost the only time my brothers will actually call me. My wife and I joke about it all the time.

    Haha, sometimes IT IS sad... =S

    Best WOF ever!!

    Reply
20. July 18, 2010 12:47 AM
    GACrabill said:

    It's a great hobby for us retired folks.

    I only charge for hardware.

    Keeps me pretty busy with family, friends, neighbors, etc.

    It keeps me busy and my mind active and always learning new stuff.

    I especially enjoy telling the widows that I only accept "Hugs and Kisses" as payment .... that gets me some really funny responses .... I used the same line on a guy once and after looking at me for a second, he called my wife over.

    Reply
21. July 18, 2010 8:32 AM
    

    0192837465 said:

    yeah, I do that always.

    Reply
22. July 18, 2010 9:42 AM
    yukka, TechSpot Paladin, said:

    Funny story - or an extremely annoying one depending on your angle..

    My dad took some convincing to eventually move from Windows ME to Windows XP. When I did it for him it took about 8 hours to do the install, transfer over the all the files then "Dad-proof" it so everything had shortcuts on the desktop etc and he could find anything.

    Anyway he had a minor problem with it and I don't live with my parents so for some reason he decided to ring Dell support instead of bothering me with a short phone call. The Indian gentlemen on the phone told him to put the restore disk in which he did and my 8 hours of work was completely ruined and Windows ME was back on the machine.

    Turned out the "problem" was that the internet was not automatically dialling when he clicked on Internet Explorer. A shortcut on the desktop for the diallup connection would have taken me 10 seconds

    That was the last time my parents did anything other than call me directly when they have an issue.

    Reply
23. July 18, 2010 10:08 AM
    

    LookinAround, TechSpot Chancellor, said:

    My dad took some convincing to eventually move from Windows ME to Windows XP

    Now in hindsight, people who needed convincing to move away from Windows ME to XP - now that's funny too!

    Reply
24. July 18, 2010 10:24 AM
    

    Renrew said:

    My tech support is "buy a new one". Works great.

    Reply
25. July 18, 2010 10:28 AM
    yukka, TechSpot Paladin, said:

    LookinAround said:

    My dad took some convincing to eventually move from Windows ME to Windows XP

    Now in hindsight, people who needed convincing to move away from Windows ME to XP - now that's funny too!

    Yeah fair play

    Reply

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