Pricing my time

[jrbarnett]

I've been asked by a friend to help set up a recently purchased new laptop and printer.
This is a replacement for quite an old system that is on its last legs. I would be doing the work next weekend.

After having a quick look at the old system yesterday, speaking to her about what she wanted and looking at the details of the new laptop, I've got the following tasks in mind:

1. Setup and activate preinstalled Windows XP on new laptop.
2. Install and activate Office 2003 (purchased separately at the same time) on new laptop.
3. Transfer current data and OE email folders from existing PC to new laptop and test.
4. Configure dial up internet connection to existing ISP with web browser and email settings from existing PC.
5. Set up all in one, install drivers and software for all in one device on new laptop and test.
6. Give friend a quick tour of XP and Office 2003, as its a huge change from Win98/Office 97 she is used to.
7. Check that the system is running a good antivirus package which is up to date.
If time permits, install as many of the patches for OS, Office and other apps as possible.
8. Guide friend through sending off for "free" Vista upgrade via included upgrade voucher
(but not to install it without consulting me or another trusted computer expert).
9. When complete and working, obliterate the entire contents of the HDD on the old PC, prior to sending it for recycling.

Here's the crunch:
For friends and relatives, I normally do these things for free, as otherwise I end up getting called in to fix problems created by non technical users with a lack of technical knowledge, or incompetent service personnel done by "experts" who don't know what they are doing and end up messing the system up.

She insists I pay her the going rate. I've had a look in my local newspaper and on the internet.
I can't find prices for a reputable local independent tech within easy access of my area.

Any ideas of what is reasonable in this case? I'm in the UK, just outside London.

Any other comments on what to do would be welcome.

John

 

[smah]

Tough situation. If you want to do it for free & she is insistent on paying, offer to accept payment in the form of a nice meal (either home cooked or dining out as appropritate), drinks included, of course.

 

[rosieb]

John

Mr R currently charges between £300 and £400 per day for that kind of work.

If she's fairly au fait and won't be calling for all kind of minor stuff, then he'd do mate's rates of £100 per half day.

Rosie
"Don't try to improve one thing by 100%, try to improve 100 things by 1%

 

[jrbarnett]

The reason I generally don't charge is quite simply that if I do, they expect - and I feel obliged to do - follow up work later on for free if it relates to something I did (eg once the machine is up and running, and needs further tuition on the use of Windows XP).

Well known UK major computer manufacturers now generally offer an install, set up and configure at time of delivery with a basic tutorial facility for £100, but of course this isn't the same as I'm not the vendor of the computer equipment and this generally doesn't cover moving of data over from old computer equipment.

My experiences so far mean I wouldn't describe her as au fait with technology.
When she asked about transferring information from the existing PC I asked if the existing PC had an ethernet card, a USB socket or a CD writer?
Her reply was "Its got a slot for CDs, don't know if that's what you mean" (after I had a look at it, it is only a CD-ROM drive).

All she wants the computer for is to be able to browse the web, send/receive email and write word documents and Excel spreadsheets and print them out.
To be honest though, you can't get anything much slower or cheaper than what she did get in the end.

John

 

[porkchopexpress]

I try to avoid doing work for friends unless it's for free, people usually say just charge me your hourly rate of pay at work. This sounds like a good idea unless it takes longer than a couple of hours as it starts mounting up. I'd aim for between £50 - £100 and if it turns out to be a nightmare job just suck it up.

 

[Welshbird]

I have an ongoing deal with my hairdresser.... I help him with his Mac - he cuts my hair.

Fee

The question should be [red]Is it worth trying to do?[/red] not [blue] Can it be done?[/blue]

 

[Tarwn]

I had an ongoing with a photographer, I charged him half my normal rates for website work and he did my wedding for free. I still feel guilty charging him at all, but on the other hand I've done about 100-150 hours worth of work on his site over the years for work he would have paid 3 times as much for, so that makes it seem a bit more reasonable.

 

[porkchopexpress]

Yeh i have a similar deal with a mechanic friend of mine and he's the reason that i don't like charging my hourly rate.
He spent three hours in the cold fixing my suspension and only charged me £30, i can't justify sitting on a chair for three hours installing Windows while drinking coffee and then demanding £80. As it's both of our free time that we do this in i also feel it's unfair to suggest that my free time is worth more than his.

I suppose it come down to how close you are to the friend.

 

[AlexCuse]

My friends pay me for help with various beverages. For an involved problem like yours, the rate would be a nice bottle of single malt ;-)

Ignorance of certain subjects is a great part of wisdom

 

[jrbarnett]

Well, the job has now been completed. In the end I went with £100 for the lot, which works out at about £30/hr.

John