Americans have the unalienable right to own a car, a gun, a computer, and to
procreate. At least with a gun the really stupid ones won't figure out how
to disengage the safety, or they will shoot themselves, as many Youtube
videos attest. And if you procreate but don't feed and clothe the kids,
DCFS may come and take them away (or you may get a reality show).
The guy with the bald tires should not have a car. And some people just
shouldn't have computers. Like the PHB in Dilbert, we should give them an
Etch-a-Sketch.
-----Original Message-----
From: Nate Burke via Af
Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2014 2:50 PM
To: af@afmug.com
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] cheap computer phone support
Are they threatening to leave if you don't help them? If not, can you
just say 'sorry, not our problem' and leave it at that? You've told
them how to fix the problem, 'call the local computer guy' If they're
not willing to do that, then its equivalent of doing a cross country
road trip on a spare tire. When they wreck, is it the interstates fault?
Although having said that, I was at the tire shop last week, and there
was a guy there with 300k miles on his tires, they were all bald, but
one was showing the strength members. He was only willing to spend $50,
and wanted only that 1 tire replaced. They didn't have a tire that
cheap (I think his total had come to $65), and he ended up leaving. I
guess it makes sense to some people
On 12/24/2014 2:34 PM, Ken Hohhof via Af wrote:
That doesn't quite look like the answer.
Maybe one approach is to push these people to call the manufacturer. I
see that Linksys, Netgear, Belkin, DLink all have paid support after 30
days. Dell has paid support. Apple has Applecare. HP has SmartFriend
which seems to cover a wide variety of problems and non HP computers,
maybe that's where I should send them:
https://h30617.www3.hp.com/HP/subscription-services/index.asp
-----Original Message----- From: Tyler Treat via Af
Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2014 1:40 PM
To: af@afmug.com
Subject: Re: [AFMUG] cheap computer phone support
Is securitycoverage.com still relevant? DTNSpeednet used to push it.
___________________________
Mangled by my iPhone.
___________________________
Tyler Treat
Corn Belt Technologies, Inc.
tyler.tr...@cornbelttech.com
___________________________
On Dec 24, 2014, at 1:22 PM, Ken Hohhof via Af <af@afmug.com> wrote:
Is there a service out there? For stuff that's clearly not our problem?
I'm trying to take a firmer stance about not spending an hour on the
phone walking someone through fixing their computer or router, because
they are too lazy to Google it or use the manufacturer's website, or
haven't a clue when it comes to computers.
I give them the number for a computer shop, but often they say I can't
pay $100 to have someone fix my computer or router or printer or smart
TV. My business is at the size where I'm not big enough to make computer
repair a profit center, but if I keep doing this stuff for free, I'm
going to have to hire someone to do it, and that's not a cost I can
absorb.
Is there a place maybe with call centers in India that will do this for
less? I know the telcos offer this service for a monthly fee, and I
assume they are outsourcing it. Note that I'm not talking about phone
support for Internet problems.
Oh, and kudos to Apple for fixing the NTP vulnerability without asking
permission. I can't believe the media is portraying this in a negative
light. I'm tired of people who don't keep their computers and routers
and other devices updated. Do people drive their cars until the engine
freezes up because they are too lazy or cheap or clueless to get the oil
changed? I suppose some do. Maybe we need the government to come do all
these things for us.
