Here is where you can read about our policies and procedures for our various PC support services!
Support Services Policies and Procedures
THE PROCESS
Next, call or email us to schedule a date and time for your service call.
Upon arrival, we will ask you to sign a hard copy of our Payment Terms and Release Form. This is how we ensure we're in agreement on pricing and also gives us the necessary permission to work on your system.
When the work is completed, you will receive an invoice detailing the time spent, services performed and charges,
Payment is due and payable to us directly at that time (unless other arrangements have been made in advance.)
We will telephone you the following day to verify that your system is functioning correctly.
Our Release Form is necessary because even a system which appears to be functioning normally may be functioning in a compromised or failing condition or even coincidentally fail during our service call. We must protect ourselves from legal liability for such chance occurrences.
We primarily market services to residential clients, home offices, and small businesses with less than 50 computers. However, we can offer services to larger corporations. Call us to discuss your needs.
SERVICE CONDITIONS
My service is limited to IBM-compatible PCs and servers - sorry, no MacIntosh at this time. I support DOS, Windows, and Linux operating systems. Be aware that retail PCs manufactured by large companies such as Dell tend to have proprietary parts which are costly and time-consuming to replace. Also I avoid laptop hardware maintenance because laptop parts are proprietary and costly and require extended labor time.
I recommend upgrading to new technology rather than spending excessive money on an old machine. I can save you money in this by doing a bare-bones upgrade - i.e., buy a cheap machine with minimal components and use the components of your old machine to enhance your new machine.
All repairs are subject to determination of repair and economic feasibility. You may elect not to proceed with the repair after evaluation.
You can reduce billable time by making your PC available with adequate work room. It may also help if you can provide the original software installation CDs if needed.
We assume - and recommend - that you back up all your data before any work is begun. We would be happy to perform a full backup for you prior to starting any work, at our standard hourly rates. The backup can be just your personal data or the entire system. The CDs are yours to keep after all work is completed. This assumes you have a CD-RW device installed in your system.
Additional billable time may incur due to the detection of other issues that require correction. You will be informed and your permission obtained before any additional work is begun.
Some services may require the purchase of software from third parties. We normally try to use free and/or open source software to reduce our clients' costs, but this may not always be possible for commercial clients due to licensing restrictions.
SCHEDULING
Services are usually provided on a next day basis. Same day, emergency four hour and emergency one hour responses can be made for emergency responses, an additional emergency fee will apply which is a surcharge of 25% on our regular hourly rate. Emergency service is booked on a first come first served basis and may not always be available. We cannot guarantee that we will resolve a problem within any particular time frame, or even that we will be able to attend to your problem at any given time (prior client commitments may iinterfere). All of our work is offered on a best effort basis only.
CHARGES AND PAYMENTS
We do not charge a travel fee unless you are outside our area of coverage. Our regular coverage area is the immediate city of San Francisco and areas immediately adjacent to BART. We can provide phone, email and remote support to any location. Depending on the project, services may be available outside my normal area. Call for details.
Currently our normal hourly rates are $25/hour for home users, and 50/hour for small business users. There is a cap of $100 on billable charges for home users ONLY. These rates are subject to change at any time.
Time spent purchasing or transporting parts for a client is billed at $20 per hour.
Services falling under the category of ";programming" or "system design"; (database development, CGI scripting, shell scripting, application or system programming, etc.) are extremely difficult to do. It is not possible to guarantee completely error-free results under all possible conditions of use. Our satisfaction guarantee for these services applies only to remedial work when errors are identified.
Expenses if any are detailed on your invoice/receipt. Receipts are not sent for expenses, except for large expenses. Questions about expenses will be answered by available documentation. Expenses paid to third parties are not refundable under any circumstances.
Depending on the service or product, estimated expenses or a percentage hereof may be required in advance.
A late payment fee shall be levied for accounts overdue beyond thirty days. There is also a $30 returned check fee.
We accept company and personal checks, cash, bank and postal money orders, and bank (cashier) checks. We accept company purchase orders with prior approval and credit verification only.
REFERRAL CREDITS
For every referral who retains our services, the referrer gets a credit worth twenty percent of the referral's initial invoice, or two free hours of service, whichever is less.
Discounts apply to service charges only; parts are not included.
PREPAID PLANS
Basic phone and email support is available for $25/hour or $500 annually (maximum 20 hours per year). Phone support is limited to no more than 15 minutes a week on average for the annual plan. It's okay if you need an hour as long as it isn't every week. Email support is unlimited. Issues that cannot be resolved in 15-30 minutes are not suitable for phone support as a guideline.
Prepaid multiple hour contracts are available. These contracts require a three month commitment (unless other arrangements are negotiated.) A minimum of ten hours per month is required. Additional minimum increments of ten hours per month can be contracted. Please see our Retainer and Maintenance Contract terms.
New! See our Unlimited Flat Rate PC Tech Support Service offering!
Prepaid clients receive one free hour of service for every twenty hours of prepaid service contracted for.
Rates listed in our marketing materials are to be used only as a guideline. They are not binding and are subject to change. Rates quoted on our Payment Terms or other contracts are binding for the services or period specified.
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