holly_walker76•21d agoProlific Poster

That moment a customer tried to tell me how to fix their PC while I was in the middle of it

So last Tuesday I'm replacing a dead power supply on a Dell Optiplex this guy brought in, and he's standing two feet from my bench watching every move. I pull the old unit out, grab my $35 EVGA 500W from the shelf, and start plugging in the cables. He goes "you know, my nephew said you gotta use the same brand or the motherboard will fry." I just looked at him and said "Sir, the power supply doesn't care what brand it is as long as the wattage and connectors match." He kept hovering for another 10 minutes giving me advice from YouTube tutorials he watched. I finished the swap, booted it up, and charged him $60 for labor. He asked for a discount because "it only took 20 minutes." Has anyone else had a client try to micromanage a simple repair like swapping RAM or a hard drive? How did you handle it?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_adam21d ago

You ever try charging someone a "hovering fee"? I've got a sign on my bench now that says "Customer input adds 15% to the final bill." Never actually charged it, but it makes people laugh and back off a little. For guys like that, I just stop what I'm doing, hand them the screwdriver, and say "Go ahead, show me how it's done." Usually they shut up real quick when they realize they'd actually have to do the work. The discount ask is the worst part though. I tell them they're paying for the knowledge of what's wrong and how to fix it, not how fast I can turn screws.

alex_johnson20d ago

Knew a guy who fixed chainsaws on the side, he had a "you break it you bought it" policy for customers who got too handsy. One time this fella came in, started poking at a carburetor while the guy was grabbing a part from the truck. Came back and the thing was dripping fuel everywhere. Handed the customer a rag and said "that'll be $40 extra for the cleanup and the rebuild." Never saw a guy turn so red so fast. The hovering fee thing is funny but honestly I think most people just genuinely don't realize they're being annoying until you make it awkward for them.

williams.kim20d agoMost Upvoted

@the_adam I did something similar once with a guy who kept telling me I was doing it wrong while I was fixing his lawnmower. Just handed him the wrench and said "be my guest." He stared at it for a solid minute then said "nah you're good" and walked away to sit on the porch. That hovering fee idea is gold though, I might borrow that for my own sign. People need to realize that standing there giving "suggestions" doesn't pay the bills and that's not how any of this works.