Repairing student home machines

[tomscaper]

Today i had a kid come to me and ask if i would have a look at his home machine and that he would pay me.

Now i said no that i couldnt but i was curious if any of you lot have done this.

i potentially can see problems and personally i would stay far away from this. But i was curious if anyone does or has and what potential problems could arise.

[plexer]

Well in theory if you wanted to do it and I presume it would be his parents paying you and you doing it in your own time then it's up to you if you did it or not.

 

However this would then mean you would have to set yourself up as self employed and pay taxes etc... applicable to this work.

 

Ben

[rhyds]

Staff/family: Yes

 

Pupils: Unless the machine comes under the 1st headding, then it's a no-go.

[mrforgetful]

Unless you took payment in wine or beer like I do when fixing staff PCs at work

[Halfmad]

I'd never do it, never I tells you!

[mattx]

Only staff equipment, and even then I make them bring in their stuff to the office......

Payment in wine and Hamlets suits me fine and also a certain Mr Darling.....

He can shove his tax where the sun don't shine..... :-)

[bossman]

You have to declare your intentions to your LEA as they have a vested interest and you could be treading on their toes.

 

I know this from experience when our then deputy headteacher asked me if I fixed computers outside of work. Long story short i fixed his new computer for him and charged him £70 to which he did not complain but i then got a call from HR at LEA asking me to declare my interest via a large document which they would send out to me.

 

This I did after they told me that it was him who had rang them and asked if I was right in fixing his computer. What he thought was that he should not have been charged at all because of his position.

[tomscaper]

i have repaired teacher computers before but i always made clear it was outside of my job and my choice to do this.

 

The deputy head once did expect me to set up her wireless router, she even asked my boss if it was ok for me to do this, and was i free to go round her house the next day. i was stood right next to her at the time. she kind of caught me off guard and i said it would be fine. in the end she didnt need me to sort it out as all she needed to do was turn it off and back on.

[mrforgetful]

Ah that's 90% of IT Support!

[Geoff]

That, and playing Guitar Hero.

[mattx]

all she needed to do was turn it off and back on.

 

Sounds like she rang Moss from the IT crowd.....

[tomscaper]

I though it was Roy who always said that line.

[mattx]

I though it was Roy who always said that line.

 

"Oh! I am a giddy goat"

[tomscaper]

Moss's quotes are funny though although my favorite has to be.

 

Fire, exclamation mark, fire, exclamation mark, help me, exclamation mark.

123 Cavendon Road.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours truly,

Maurice Moss

[sidewinder]

This I did after they told me that it was him who had rang them and asked if I was right in fixing his computer. What he thought was that he should not have been charged at all because of his position.

 

lol to be fair the head is the one staff member I wouldnt charge...any favours I can do him would surely do me no harm

 

As for teachers, I dont ask for payment but 99% of the time I get a bit of cash, wine or chocolate for doing it. Not going to be declaring any of that!

[craiglay]

I have been known to fix computers for beer before!! Not in school I must add. I sometimes get asked for advice from staff / parents but would shy away from fixing their computers. I have fixed the occasional staff members laptop but not charged.

 

Don't forget insurance cause if their pc breaks even futher, you could be liable.

 

Craig

[PEO]

I once had the maths teacher come to me asking me to save her marriage. Her husband was spitting daggars over setting NTL internet. lol iwent to her home, took me 2 minutes to sort the wee problem.

 

what did i get... i hear you ask

 

two fantasic new friends, a meal, and the next day a bottle of jack daniels and malibu.

 

Happy days!!

 

I have also like most peeps on here, have recived chocolates, wine, and money.

[tech_guy]

You have to declare your intentions to your LEA as they have a vested interest and you could be treading on their toes.

 

I know this from experience when our then deputy headteacher asked me if I fixed computers outside of work. Long story short i fixed his new computer for him and charged him £70 to which he did not complain but i then got a call from HR at LEA asking me to declare my interest via a large document which they would send out to me.

 

This I did after they told me that it was him who had rang them and asked if I was right in fixing his computer. What he thought was that he should not have been charged at all because of his position.

 

And the moral of the story is always install REALVnc so you can remote in and stuff a virus on it afterwards..... :twisted: Only joking....

[TechSupp]

Must admit when I started this job I said no, then made the mistake of sorting one out at their home, next thing its, oh something else is wrong can I go round? Learnt the error of my ways and said no.

 

Once you do one its open season I've found, you end up doing everyones after hours that is. If they can bring it in and I have the OK from the head then thats a different matter as if I'm not doing that I'd only be fixing a school one.

[PEO]

I did give my mobile number to a member of staff before the holidays. I built him a PC and said any probs give me a ring and i will talk you through it. turned out he didnt have any problems but hey guess what, he freely handed my mobile number out to other members of staff.

 

Didnt know this till another staff member during morning staffroom meeting said she was gona ring me that night to talk her through a problem on her machine.

 

I told her to never ring me out of school hours and to delet my number. and then proceded to lay down the law to the geezer that gave my number out.

[rambo_tw]

I've done my fair share of PC repair for friends of family. Some, will pay well and some will expect you to give up your whole weekend for £10. I'm young so they think £10 is alot to me, newsflash, it isnt! Some will gladly pay me well.

 

It's my fault too because I'm too nice. I dont have the gut to charge big bucks. Got any tips for this ? hehe.

 

I dont take on as many jobs as i did before now because of people taking advantage of me. They think the £10 they gave me 3 months ago is enough to warrant me fixing the computer again.

[Lee_K_81]

Biscuits, beer or wine are the usual currency. Leave it as you doing them a favour, and then them buying you a gift as a token of their appreciation. Unless they're fit, in which case letting you take them for a drink would be acceptable.

 

Money causes too many problems. There's the whole tax / self employed / vested interest.

[Lee_K_81]

I've done my fair share of PC repair for friends of family. Some, will pay well and some will expect you to give up your whole weekend for £10. I'm young so they think £10 is alot to me, newsflash, it isnt! Some will gladly pay me well.

 

It's my fault too because I'm too nice. I dont have the gut to charge big bucks. Got any tips for this ? hehe.

 

I dont take on as many jobs as i did before now because of people taking advantage of me. They think the £10 they gave me 3 months ago is enough to warrant me fixing the computer again.

 

Family and friends are the worst for taking advantage. I hate it when people ask me "how much?" I ought to say before hand i charge £20ph or something. Sometimes they dont even offer to pay.

[rambo_tw]

Yup, I try to avoid getting into the discussion that if their computers are broken. Some people don't appreciate how hard this stuff can be and how long it can take.

 

The last person i fixed a computer for asked how much it took me, I said 5 hours. (Okay it wasn't a straight 5 hours, I had to leave it scanning etc) but he was shocked and paid me £60. I love those type of people

 

I just hate people who don't even offer to pay. There was this one guy at work who had obviously been looking at porn on his computer asked me to clear all the junk off it. It took me a good few hours. I took it back to him, gave it to him, and he said "Thanks, bye, see you Monday". No offer of paying. He's recently asked me to look at his other computer too, he can forget about that!

[Midget]

I only fix my family's machines and my neighbours because he's a nice guy, him and his sons do favours for me (driving instructor, mechanic, electrician) and he buys me a pint and chucks me a couple of quid if it takes any large amount of time, but everyone can go swivel