Lemmings don't think, so I doubt it's the bonded & insured thing (which
I wonder just how much if at all they are B&I).
It's not more, it's about the same with a few things broken out & priced
that regular shops would just charge per hour for. Bottom line is one
size fits all, ala cart pricing.
You & I have seen just how much BS the customer will put up with and
STILL come back for more. GS is on the same track except I don't think
they are "fixing" as many PC's as we did, just re-fixing them & fixing
them again while charging over & over.
Ben Ruset wrote:
The one thing that GS has that nobody else can touch is the "brand."
Most customers (lemmings) feel safer dealing with a big name company
rather than Joe Blow Computer the sole proprietorship. It gives
customers a sense of security in that they have a large company to hold
accountable when there are problems.
In addition, GS members are also insured & bonded. How many local techs
can say the same?
So that's likely why the price is higher.
warpmedia wrote:
I think you're all missing the point that GS represents the state of
the repair business vs. the cost of today's PC's.
They're charging a set fee (and insane one) and getting it for
REPEATED bad work on a daily basis. So yes, those of you charging less
or feeling you need to give a customer a break are ripping yourselves
off.
If they came out and decided it would take several hours to clean a
system they would simply say it's more economically sound to re-format
& reinstall the system (which it it is). Then they would charge you
$90 to back up (& restore?) the data on top of that. No hourly rate,
just a comodtized fee for a service. Need apps reinstalled, same deal,
a fee per-app.
I'd say were going the direction of car repair where there is a set
time & fee allotted to a task and if you can get it done faster, the
more profit in your pocket. This should be fine by us all since it
free us from multi-hour surgeries & potentially huge charges to the
customer, it also justifies charging "market value" per incident.
