What Do You Charge for Tech Support?

war3rd asks: "Years ago I used to offer tech support for friends and family (for free), and ended up doing it for everyone they and I knew. I cut it out because it was taking too much of my time, but I've been getting more and more requests lately due to everything from viruses, spam, spyware, as well as aging PC with Windows 98 and ME (oog!) on them still. I was thinking of saying OK to requests that are convenient, but I want to make it worth my while. So I ask, I'm sure that some of you out there must do this, what is the general going rate for basic user tech support (i.e. getting someone's home machine cleaned up and back to normal email & web browsing capability)?" "I assume that there is probably some range in different parts of the country, but I'm curious anyway. And let's just assume that I live in the Tri-State area around New York City (can you say 'overpriced?'). I figure I should be able to pull in enough to feed my ever-present desire for better hardware, but on the other hand, I don't want to be a jerk and gouge people who should be able to trust me with their machines. So what to other Slashdot users charge for their tech support services?"

Comments

Don't answer questions

[bigberk]

I just pretend I don't know anything practical. Common (honest) responses are, "sorry but I don't even own a copy of Windows XP", or "I haven't used Microsoft Word since 1999". Within my business I do offer technical support for paid customers without charging extra, but only provide support over email and of course will only answer relevant questions about my software, definitely not generic computer problems.

CompUSA

[Elvisisdead]

I don't do this kind of stuff any more. Not worth my time to do it, and get stuck with the problem. I just refer them to CompUSA, where for $100, they get a fixed labor cost.

It's a win, win for me. They get their equipment fixed and I gave them good advice on where to take it. FWIW, I don't work for CompUSA, just spend there.