[Keyboard Cowboy]

As some people might know around here, a core part of my job is repairing computers.

About 6 years ago when when i started this game on a professional level, I was mostly doing hardware upgrade and repairs. Back then, I might have one or two virus removals in year, and spyware was not even heard of. And when i finished up a job, I would give a 3 month labor warranty (along with the 1 year parts) just incase the same problem popped up. Rerely I would need to worry about that 3 month labor warranty.

FAST FORWARD TO TODAY, most of my jobs now are virus and spyware related. 9 times of 10 it because people have not install antivirus on there computes. And when I have installed antivirus, they do not bother up update it.
And according to McAfee eSecurity News Windows 2004-5

Virus Watch
------------------------------------------------------------
Survey Says:
67% of PC Users at Risk to Immediate Virus Infection
================================================== ==========

How often do you think you update your anti-virus coverage? Daily? Weekly? Maybe never? Not surprisingly, perception is different from practice.

While 71% of general users say they do it daily or let their software apply automatic a-v updates, in actuality only 33% have their PCs updated weekly, reveals a recent survey and
follow-up computer scanning by the National Cyber Security Alliance and America Online.

That left two-thirds who have either no anti-virus protection or have not updated their protection in the past seven days.

Anyways, as of lately I have been getting people calling me up asking about what sort of garantee or labor warranty that i can give on virus removal and spyware.
And the only thing I can tell them is that when they pick up their computer, there will be no virus on it.
And they normally get annoyied with this as I normally have to tell them that whether or not they get a virus / spyware tomorrow, day after, next week or next month is purely up to them.

And then they start bringing up stuff about labor warranties and other stuff like that.

Like last year, i had some clown that manage to exculate things to the department of fair trading just because of a computer virus the day after I cleaned it. He did not win in the end, but he did waste about 5 hours of my time.
And there was about 5 other people that I can think of in recent history where they called up about a week or 2 weeks later as they got another virus, and then expecting me to come work for free for them.

Anyways, I need some suggestions on how do deal with people so they can feel safe in dealing with me, and yet I do not have to worry about another day in court because of some one else's studity?

[horndude]

Same way I do in my business, you perform a service, your not the end user.All you can do is build up a good reputation and articulate that to yiour clients.Thats one of my selling points in the business I own and run, I have more experience than most, and without my reputation staying squeaky clean Im out of business cause im too small to make mistakes like the bigger companies can that rely on customer ignorance and can let their service slack off at times.Ive also found that most are willing to pay a little extra for reliable personalized service, its a balancing act for sure.I dont have to deal with the same level of ignorance as you do, Id expect the average PC user you work for is pretty clueless, to them a PC is a confusing but miraculous appliance that be both a godsend and a source of much grief.

A couple things you can do, if some kind of insurance for negligence on your part is available and you dont have it, but can afford it, get it, and mention that to clients.Also, mention your experience level, your terms of service in a clear concise manner, and dont be afraid to tell someone NO.Lastly, be very sure the client understands what they can expect from you both before service and after, your going to deal with idiots no matter what, sometimes your better off just not giving them service if it smells funny or looks bad to you at the time, and thats the toughest call to make, experience is your guide.Trust me, Ive had to learn the hard way too.

[Keyboard Cowboy]

I am dealing with a funny one now. Like I have dealt with his farther lasy year, and he was all cool. His son on the other hand is a bit of a idiot (Man, there was a lot of pr0n on that PC).

Apart from making sure that his antivirus autodate is turned on, i am also making sure there is a print out of both AdAware Logs and Norton's AntiVirus Logs showing clearly that was no virus or spyware on the computer.

Apart from that, I am also telling these types of people
"I can garrantee there will be no virus on the PC when you pick it up. After that, it up to you on if and when you update your antivirus."
I am also making sure that there is a desktop icon for both AdAware and Nortons AntiVirus AutoUpdate.


I know the feeling about learning the hard way.

[EDIT] I guess on of the thing that I don't like about Windows, Virus and Spyware is the way they are so unpredictable. Like I know some people that don't update there virus definitions and not have any problems. And then there is other people that will do all they can in preventative measures and they get hit with problems all time. One of the thing that i get sick and tired of hearing his people saying this :-
"I GOT A FRIEND THAT DOES NOT DO ANY OF THAT AND HE NEVER GETS COMPUTER PROBLEMS. WHY DO THIS HAPPEN TO ME?"
and then they thing you are some sort of idiot or a rip off merchant if you try to any further with them. [/EDIT]

[horndude]

You know, something else you may want to consider, it wouldnt cost much either, give em a basic guide to avoid having to come to you again, maybe a page or two, spelled out in simple terms about how to avoid getting a virus to begin with, you could hand it to them with their PC when they pick it up.You'd think folks would know by now, but if they did, you wouldnt be seeing them

There's only so much you can do, you can lead a horse to water, but you cant make him drink...........

Ive got a friend thats the IT guy at a law firm with about 40 attorneys plus support staff, he's told me all kinds of goofy stories about what people do to their computers, and how hard it is to get them to even install something that takes 3 or 4 mouse clicks, just amazing sometimes.He's gotten to the point where if an update is going to happen, instead of letting the users do it on their own, he waits till after hours and just does it himself, too many folks wont make the effort and then he ends having to install stuff for the slackers that wont anyway AND track down which ones did and didnt do what they were supoposed to do.