Your computer is not working and you don’t know how to fix it yourself, so you have decided to bring it into a computer repair service to get it fixed. Before you leave your computer there are a few questions you will want to to ask them. As you ask the questions keep in mind that there are certain answers that you want to hear as well. If they are not telling you what you want to hear, you should bring your computer somewhere else.
- “What is the hourly rate?” You will definitely want to know how much they charge per hour before you leave your computer. You don’t want to go into sticker shock when you are looking at a bill. A reasonable amount per hour is between $40 and $60 dollars.
- “How many hours do you expect to work on the computer?” There is no exact answer to this question, since the tech has not seen the problem yet, but they should have some idea of what the problem could be from what you are telling them. If they can’t tell you a guess, you should go elsewhere.
- “Are there any extra charges?” Find out if they will charge you for anything other than the hourly rate. Hidden fees could raise your price considerably. Most good service centers will not have extra fees other than hardware or software replacements.
- “Is There a Minimum” Find out if they will charge you for an hour even if they only need to work on your computer for 15 minutes. The answer to this is usually yes. Most computer service centers will charge for a minimum of up to an hour of work. There is the possibility that they will only charge for half of the first hour, but these tend to be few and far between.