almcneil
Posts: 1,236 +1
Well I knew this ould inevitably happen. I now have my first disgruntled customer. After spending 12 hours working on his comp, it still isn't working perfectly. In the 3 months since I started up my in-home servicing business, I have yet to reformat & re-install. I've managed to save everyone's installation, no matter how badly corrupted by spyware. Until now.
Here's the situation. His son was using (and still is) Limewire and Ares, two peer-to-peer filesharing programs and the comp got chaulk full of spyware. Consquently, it caused all kinds of problems. Initially, I removed all the spyware and got it working. Then I got a call from him saying his printer isn't working just right. I returned and fixed that. Then I got another call a few days later. His son turned on the comp and went to use Limewire and it came up in arabic! We solved that problem over the phone. Then I got a call from him the other complaining he can't open a mail attachment. We tried to solve it over the phone but it turns out that Windows won't assign "pdf" files to Adobe. I suggested he save pdf docs to his Desktop and open them directly with Adobe Reader. He did't like that. So I returned again, fixed that problem with a repair install. I got a call from him today saying his printer has the old problem again and his Internet is acting funny. Now he's getting seriously pissed and wants to take his comp to Staples to get them to reformat & re-install. I explained to him that that solution is highly undesirable as the store only does the re-installation of Windows and device drivers but leaves it to you to re-install programs, Internet and restore files. Not to mention, all your settings and configurations are gone. He doesn't like that idea. Then he complains, "I don't mind paying the bill, I just want the damn thing to work!"
He's the type of customer that is fickle. When I fix something, he loves me. He pays me, even feeds me beer and wine while I work. But when something doesn't work just right, he's on the phone complaining he paid for something but it's not working. When I get into explanations about the pros and cons of saving the installation versus reformatting/reinstalling, he tunes out. I want to make him understand that in the end, trying to save the installation is a lot less hassle and irritation than reformatting/reinstalling. I know from experience that most customers don't keep their program CDs or lose/misplace them. Worse, they even throw out the case or sleeve with the installation keys. Consequently, it costs then a lot of time, money and aggravation re-installing programs! Then there's the aggravation of setting up your comp exactly the way you had it. I get the impression I can't make him happy in the end.
Trials and tribulations of dealing with general public customers!
Here's the situation. His son was using (and still is) Limewire and Ares, two peer-to-peer filesharing programs and the comp got chaulk full of spyware. Consquently, it caused all kinds of problems. Initially, I removed all the spyware and got it working. Then I got a call from him saying his printer isn't working just right. I returned and fixed that. Then I got another call a few days later. His son turned on the comp and went to use Limewire and it came up in arabic! We solved that problem over the phone. Then I got a call from him the other complaining he can't open a mail attachment. We tried to solve it over the phone but it turns out that Windows won't assign "pdf" files to Adobe. I suggested he save pdf docs to his Desktop and open them directly with Adobe Reader. He did't like that. So I returned again, fixed that problem with a repair install. I got a call from him today saying his printer has the old problem again and his Internet is acting funny. Now he's getting seriously pissed and wants to take his comp to Staples to get them to reformat & re-install. I explained to him that that solution is highly undesirable as the store only does the re-installation of Windows and device drivers but leaves it to you to re-install programs, Internet and restore files. Not to mention, all your settings and configurations are gone. He doesn't like that idea. Then he complains, "I don't mind paying the bill, I just want the damn thing to work!"
He's the type of customer that is fickle. When I fix something, he loves me. He pays me, even feeds me beer and wine while I work. But when something doesn't work just right, he's on the phone complaining he paid for something but it's not working. When I get into explanations about the pros and cons of saving the installation versus reformatting/reinstalling, he tunes out. I want to make him understand that in the end, trying to save the installation is a lot less hassle and irritation than reformatting/reinstalling. I know from experience that most customers don't keep their program CDs or lose/misplace them. Worse, they even throw out the case or sleeve with the installation keys. Consequently, it costs then a lot of time, money and aggravation re-installing programs! Then there's the aggravation of setting up your comp exactly the way you had it. I get the impression I can't make him happy in the end.
Trials and tribulations of dealing with general public customers!