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  #1  
Old 01-11-2005, 01:00 AM
Jonathon Watkins
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Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 4,303
Default Free Tech Support: For Life

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4156333.stm

"You're wedded to a computer screen for much of the day, you e-mail and browse the web without a second thought and texting, well, it's just part of everyday life. To your peers, you're no more technologically savvy than the next person, but to your parents you are Bill Gates, Albert Einstein and Mr Clippy rolled into one. Of those who returned to the family roost for Christmas, many will have found the normal festive activities peppered with a rather less traditional commitment: fixing mum or dad's computer."

How true, how very, very true! For me, this BBC news story hits the nail on the head. Your folks give you the gift of life and you give them free tech support for life. Anyone else have the feeling that when you go round to relatives that you may end up seeing more of their computer than the people you went to see? :helpme: And how do you like being compared to Clippy? :wink:
 
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  #2  
Old 01-11-2005, 01:20 AM
tourdewolf
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Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 148
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True - soooo true.

This Christmas it was a format and reinstall all Mom's apps (outlook express inbox had 3000+ emails) 8 hours total - Happy Holidays? :roll:

Does anyone else find themselves avoiding like the plague "technology" discussions with family members.
 
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  #3  
Old 01-11-2005, 01:26 AM
guinness
Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 238

Yeah, but when it happens to me, I usually get a $20 for my troubles (or my relatives troubles, depends on the POV). And given the choice to meet some relatives I haven't seen for many a few years, or ones I barely know, it's not that bad.
 
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  #4  
Old 01-11-2005, 01:32 AM
griph
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Default Re: Free Tech Support: For Life

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jonathon Watkins
Anyone else have the feeling that when you go round to relatives that you may end up seeing more of their computer than the people you went to see? :helpme: And how do you like being compared to Clippy? :wink:
Very true. My parents live in Bristol - 150 miles from my home. XP and Remote Assistance lets me sort out their minor problems from here. But I usually end up spending several hours 'cleaning' up the computer when visiting. Only this Christmas I ended up sorting out their computer, and .... then sorting out the next door neighbour's computer too! 8O Blimey! I'm going to have to start charging for this service!
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  #5  
Old 01-11-2005, 01:50 AM
Jon Westfall
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Default Re: Free Tech Support: For Life

Quote:
Originally Posted by griph
8O Blimey! I'm going to have to start charging for this service!
This is always the hardest part for me - take money or not to take money. My problem thickens as when i'm at work I'm also the techie (you'd be amazed how uncomputer savvy some psychology professors & students are (and equally amazed at how savvy a few are)). But the worst is fixing the parents, and future in-laws, and friends, computers... I'm going to just start telling new people I meet that I have no idea what this computer thing is they speak of.
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  #6  
Old 01-11-2005, 02:10 AM
jlp
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,079

That's soooooo very true.

In fact that's one of the reasons that make me think to find a way to live in my mother's close neighborhood (or her to mine). She's widowed, becoming more and more challenged with her movements, and I'm her only family left. So she's close to needing me for more than just computer matters alone.

Every now and then (a few times a year) I have to take about a whole day to go to her (different city) and repair something, install another (even clearly written manuals are a challenge), etc. And I can't do it when it's needed I have to find a whole day for this.
 
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  #7  
Old 01-11-2005, 02:26 AM
capo
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Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 92
Default ooh... you touched a nerve with that one.

I learned the hard way and just flat out refuse to do friends and family tech support anymore. The last straw was a few years ago - a friend of mine needed a computer to keep track of her real estate business. I found a good deal on a reasonable machine, upgraded the hard drive and RAM, reinstalled the OS, drivers and software she needed, delivered it to her house, set it up, explained everything to her and made sure it was all working okay. (this was after work one evening - I went directly to her house after work, no dinner, nothing.) I got her all the parts at dealer cost and didn't make a cent on anything or charge for labor. 4 hours later I said good evening and went home tired but feeling like I'd done a good deed. Before I'd even had a chance to reheat my cold dinner and say hello to my wife, this friend was on the phone complaining and telling me I *had* to come back because "it wasn't working." None too happy, I did go back. Come to find out, her non technical teenage son had descended on the PC as I was walking out the door - he tried (unsuccessfully) to install a bunch of software on it and managed to get it messed up in no time. I spent another 45 minutes fixing everything he had messed up and told my friend she was on her own. My stock answer these days to the "Hey, you work with computers, don't you?" is "No, I'm a network admin. I don't know anything about fixing computers."
 
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  #8  
Old 01-11-2005, 02:35 AM
whydidnt
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Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,202

Ahh, so I'm not the only one, huh? :wink:

I spent about 3 hours Christmas Eve, installing Windows XP, Mozilla, Ad-Aware, Spy-Bot, etc. on my Mom's computer. She has this nasty habit of hanging out in "free" game rooms that love to dump crap on her hard drive. I've explained after several other cleanings that she should stop, but the reality is she that's about all she enjoys on the dang thing. Anyway, I talked to her last night and she said the computer is still running great, no pop-ups or anything, so hopefully, I've immunized her a little.

Part of the reason I put XP on (at my expense) is so I can have access to Remote Desktop assistant. My parents live about 1 1/2 hours away and it's not always easy getting there to fix things.

I've built several computers for freinds and relatives and am always amazed how they think because I built it for them it grants them unlimited tech support for life, as if the build quality is somehow now responsible for the fact it takes 20 minutes to boot up because their teenage kid has managed to install every conceivable version of "Cool Web" there is out there!. I used to do house calls, but now I tell them to drop it buy and I'll work on it in my spare time. That's slowed them down a little, since they may be without the machine for a week or two.
 
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  #9  
Old 01-11-2005, 02:42 AM
SteveHoward999
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,183

My ex-girlfriend's brother will absolutely never be computer literate. He just does not have the genes. He used to call and ask the same things over and over, and have me repeat instructions a zillion times.

I'd be lying on the floor, with the phone at my ear, beating the floor with my feet like a toddler having a major paddy, desperately trying not to tell him to f*** off and die!!!
 
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  #10  
Old 01-11-2005, 03:04 AM
Ecks
Ponderer
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 51

oh man....this is so true....infact...its almost a monthly thing!!! I'm actually glad to do it since i'm in second yr of college in an IT program and even though its basic, its all good.
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