A bunch of useless crap
Published on June 11, 2004 By MasonM In Blogging
Late yesterday I dropped my ailing laptop off at the top computer repair shop in town. The shop is owned and run by a fellow from Pakistan who is extremely good at what he does and he's always dealt with me honestly and professionally. I explained the symptoms to his wife(who works the counter) and that I was reasonably certain it was just a bad solder joint or two in the powering section.

Well, he gives me a call a little while ago and tells me the estimate to repair it is $125. Well, I about flipped. I asked him how in the world he could justify charging that much to resolder a few connections (my diagnosis was correct). He was very professional and polite, and explained to me that disassembling and reassembling a laptop is very time consuming and the labor rate reflected that. Now, I've taken apart a few laptops in my time and I know it's a real pain in the arse. So, I had to give him that; he's right and I agreed to it.

After I hung up the phone, I got to thinking about my days in the tv repair business and being on the opposite end of the nearly identical conversation. I had to chuckle at myself for that one. I used to charge $35 just to come to the house and check out the set, whether I did anything else or not (and that was back in the early 80s). The man is good at what he does and deserves to be paid accordingly.

Frankly, I could have repaired the thing myself if I wanted to go out and buy all the tools and equipment I sold when I started driving truck 7 years ago. Probably wouldn't cost me more 5 or 6 thousand dollars.

I guess $125 isn't so bad after all.

Comments
on Jun 11, 2004
It's all a matter of time vs. money. Is it worth a whole day's worth of your time or $125? It's like changing the oil in your car...sure you can do it for about $10 and an hour of your time, but when it comes down to it, sometimes it's just better to pay someone $30 to do it in 15 minutes and be rid of the hassle.

And $125 is a good price for that. A lot of places will charge you $50/hr. for labour, and that job is likely a 3 or 4 hour ordeal (to do it right).

-- B
on Jun 11, 2004
Yeah Mr Frog. Exactly right. Was a 4 hour job so I really can't complain. Have it back now and using it. Everything seems AOK
on Jun 11, 2004
What a cool and adult posting. You should run for office; you'd be a breath of fresh air in politics---honest, honorable, fair, and responsible.
on Jun 11, 2004
jimbo, I really don't think my agreeing to pay for a laptop repair qualifies me to run for office

hmmmm President....... nah.
on Jun 11, 2004
Besides, how could I expect to get elected if I'm honest??????