Laptop swap - old for new: how long should it take?

[goombawaho]

I've got a customer that was complaining that it took me about four hours for me to move everything over from his old laptop to his new laptop. Before you reply, the job consisted of:

Setup new laptop (various Windows options and settings)
Install Microsoft Security Essentials, Power Commander, Drag Analyzer, Microsoft Office, Service Shop, HP 4700DN Printer, Configured Outlook for email and transferred contacts
Transferred all data from old to new laptop - approx 30GB

I had never seen the three programs before in my life: Power Commander, Drag Analyzer and Service Shop and I had to figure out where to get two of them (off the internet as a free download) and transfer their databases from old to new computer.
For the other software (Service Shop), I had to call support to find out where their installer was located on the server.

Is there an easier way to do this? Bare metal backup/restore to dis-similar hardware??? That would require like a technician's license for Macrium or something similar. Expensive.

I see yellow flags waving if this new customer is questioning my hours/billing.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[edfair]

Not an unreasonable amount of time. I've gone through as much time on a transfer without having the new programs.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[mattKnight]

>I've got a customer that was complaining that it took me about four hours for me to move everything over from his old laptop to his new laptop

What was their expectation? How long did you tell them it would take?

Take Care

Matt
I have always wished that my computer would be as easy to use as my telephone.
My wish has come true. I no longer know how to use my telephone.

 

[goombawaho]

I didn't tell them anything about an estimate. I had no idea what programs they had on their laptop or how much data. What I'm really worried about is if this customer is going to be a "whiner" about billing. They've got a lot of work to be done (very juicy ripe berry for the plucking) but I don't want to be nickel and dimed on billing. Besides, I charge $20 less per hour than their old IT person who screwed up just about everything from what I see.

The other concern is that they seem to think if you're a "computer guy" that you know about ALL programs. Let's face it, most people run very limited and common programs (Office, browsers, iTunes, Adobe products etc.) but some people have oddball stuff and you can't walk in the room and have actually seen them before.

Big yellow flag at this point.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[mattKnight]

>What was their expectation?

It's worth finding out what they were expecting. If their old IT guy would have taken 60 minutes to do this then their expectation may be more aligned to this despite the charge per hour disparity; your counter to this is the quality gap, if you can point that out.

If, as you suspect, they are likely to whine about every bill, that "very juicy ripe berry for the plucking" might turn sour

Take Care

Matt
I have always wished that my computer would be as easy to use as my telephone.
My wish has come true. I no longer know how to use my telephone.

 

[randy700]

Perhaps the complaint was due to the customer being without his computer during that period.
Much of the setup work, such as loading programs, could be done without taking his computer.
Once that's been taken care of, you only need his old one long enough to transfer his data.

This way, the job still takes the same amount of time, and should be billed that way, but the
customer has equipment available for the majority of the time.

Just my 2 cents worth. Personally, I think 4 hours is quite reasonable.



Randy

 

[goombawaho]

If their old IT guy would have taken 60 minutes to do this

Well, I would want to know how anyone would do this in an hour or two hours. Clue me in.

If, as you suspect, they are likely to whine about every bill, that "very juicy ripe berry for the plucking" might turn sour

Yeah, sour grapes instead of juicy berry is not good for me.

Perhaps the complaint was due to the customer being without his computer during that period.

Customer has a desktop in his office, so not the issue.

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[edfair]

I can relate to the old IT guy doing it faster. It comes from knowing the process from having done it before. I'm sure it won't take you as long the next time since you've discovered the issues.

Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[mattKnight]

If their old IT guy would have taken 60 minutes to do this
Well, I would want to know how anyone would do this in an hour or two hours. Clue me in.

I think you're missing my point; I'm not suggesting that the time you took to complete the work is excessive and that the figure 60 minutes was an example (If I rephrase as "If their old IT guy would have less time to do this", does that make it more understandable?

What I'm saying is that if the old IT guy took less time to do it - then that is their expectation and if you are seen to take more time than that then you are perceived to have offered less value. (to be clear - I am not criticising the work or time taken). Your natural response to this kind of query should be to push your quality of work.

TLDR; You need to manage this particular customer's expectations more carefully, especially until the mutual trust is better

Take Care

Matt
I have always wished that my computer would be as easy to use as my telephone.
My wish has come true. I no longer know how to use my telephone.

 

[goombawaho]

Understood.

Well, some people (customers) you can't manage that well. They have unlimited expectations with minimal budget. I think this customer is "peeved" because everywhere we look, something is configured wrong or just half-baked. So, he probably sees a lot of money draining away to fix things. Certainly not my fault. He got a quote from some other company and apparently that scared his pants off. So, again, I probably need to think "cheap customer with unreasonable expectations, tread carefully".

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[ponoodle]

Several years ago I did some contract work for a large financial institution. I was doing exactly what you did, swapping old laptops for new ones, data and programs. I was expected to do two in an eight hour day.

 

[goombawaho]

It's all about expectations I suppose - reasonable or otherwise!!

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[Andrzejek]

Would it be possible to inform the customer on what’s involved in the works and how much time each step takes? They may be less likely to complain... Maybe?

Have fun.

---- Andy

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.

 

[goombawaho]

I hate to do that because there are so many variables. Do they 500MB of data or 20GB to transfer? Do they have 10 programs to install or 2? Do the programs have config files or databases that need transferring or not. It's hard to tell if I haven't touched their original PC first, which was the case here.

Somebody just calls up and says, "I got a new computer, need to transfer everything over to my new one".

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.

 

[gbaughma]

I'd say with 30GB of data and reinstalling their software and transferring, you did it in a relatively short amount of time.

Just my opinion.



Just my 2ó

"What the captain doesn't realize is that we've secretly replaced his Dilithium Crystals with new Folger's Crystals."

--Greg

 

[goombawaho]

Well thanks to all for answering!

"Living tomorrow is everyone's sorrow.
Modern man's daydreams have turned into nightmares.