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Being the (free or low-cost) family IT support over Holidays

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timetokill said:
that "real quick" part. You know that shit's a lie 99% of the time.
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This is the inherent issue. I'd be cool with reseating some RAM that somehow popped out, or plugging in a wire that's moved out of place but most of the time its malware, spyware, virus related and that's straight up time consuming. If its gonna take me an hour or more I want to be compensated.
 
timetokill said:
Yeah I'll help, but man do I hate the way it's brought up.

Dread hearing this at any family gathering:
"Hey do you think you could look at our PC real quick?"

Fuck that "real quick" part. You know that shit's a lie 99% of the time.

Cue next 2 hours of everyone else laughing and having a good time while I'm in the computer room trying to get rid of like 50 viruses, spyware, ask toolbars and whatever other shit, because they install everything they come across, the husband is visiting porn sites, blah blah blah. Oh yeah, and the PC is something they got 7 years ago so they "don't know why it runs so slow now."
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In this situation you say "This will literally take hours to fix. I can come back another time, take the PC with me and give it back later, or you can visit geek squad at Best Buy."

Thats what I do. When people underestimate how much time something will take just tell them what's up.
 
I'm the electronics guru for my family. They always ask my opinion on stuff. I don't mind that because it usually means we'll get the item that I want and won't have to try and fix crap products later. The only time it gets out of hand is when they kinda drop bombs on me like "Hey, I'm thinking of buying a radio. Can you research them and tell me which I should get? Cya later!" Then they leave to go do something else while they expect me to just drop everything and learn all I can about radios.
 
Koomaster said:
Tell them no that you are on holiday and won't be doing any work. Simple.

LOL @ all the people who thinks the OP should be doing all this stuff for free b/c family. Being 'reserved' to go to all these places and fix things for people for no reason, is being a doormat. They could at least offer to pay instead of it being an expected thing the OP is required to do on his holiday.

How about every time you go home to visit family they all ask you to do their taxes while you are there b/c you are an accountant - sounds fun right? You get a week off work, travel, then have to do work on your vacation for no pay. Doesn't sound like a good deal to me.
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I am sure the OP got help from his family one way or another, not to mention it was his grandmother. What the heck you guys have in your family?
 
I have never declined to help anyone in my family, it's just that I would have liked to stay at my parent's and enjoy Christmas. Also I don't consider my grandmother's brother to be the closest of family. Yea I took money from my grandma and I would again since I worked a good two hours on that PC and had some slight problems along the way. She offered it to me, I said she doesn't have to and she handed it to me and I took it and thanked her. I am a bad person :-(

I used to work IT where we charged 89€ per hour and these people know it wery well. I feel my grandma is being awesome and she clearly understands me even though I have NEVER asked for anything. Best grandma ever. Her brother is loaded and literally called my parents today to make sure "don't let him leave before coming here. I want him to teach me how to use the printer, set it up and do both of those with internet apps on the tv. Takes five minutes, will buy kebab." I don't like that. I may be unenployed but I want my christmas too :-)
 
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Family is an exception of course, but neighbours or friends of your relatives? Charge them by the hour.
 
Suairyu said:
In regards to them pimping OP out without even asking?

Definitely tell them to stick it.

I get the massive impression that the "they're your family you should help them" crowd aren't actually reading the OP though.
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He's seemingly proven time and time again that he's fully capable of helping with technical issues. If he has refrained from saying no before, of course people will continue to ask. His parents have taken notice and offered his services to others. This all could have been stopped if he said something earlier.
 
I don't give a shit about anyone in my family besides my sister/parents so it's easy.

For them? Sure asap!

Anyone else? Fuck you go call geeksquad and get ripped off.


Being a pushover would be a horrible way to live your life. I don't get how so many gaffers live this way without becoming horribly hateful towards themselves.


Your best two options are.

Grow some balls and tell grandma's bro you are spending time with family on xmas he can call someone else.

"Forget" to go there like a coward and just avoid the douchebag moocher.

Or the worst option, let some d-bag moocher take advantage of you.
 
ReturnOfTheRAT said:
He's seemingly proven time and time again that he's fully capable of helping with technical issues. If he has refrained from saying no before, of course people will continue to ask. His parents have taken notice and offered his services to others. This all could have been stopped if he said something earlier.
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You are correct. I have never said never when Yes was a viable and reasonable option. I however have declined when I would have had to bend over and do some serious rescheduling to make some simple fixing. I said to take it to some other professional (I was working It back then) and pay up
 
Only reason I ever "have to" go to my parents any more is for some sort of tech support. Kinda tired of it, they are just so intimidated by tech.
 
Stormwatch said:
I'm the electronics guru for my family. They always ask my opinion on stuff. I don't mind that because it usually means we'll get the item that I want and won't have to try and fix crap products later. The only time it gets out of hand is when they kinda drop bombs on me like "Hey, I'm thinking of buying a radio. Can you research them and tell me which I should get? Cya later!" Then they leave to go do something else while they expect me to just drop everything and learn all I can about radios.
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One of my cousins did this to me earlier this year when they wanted to buy a laptop. They asked me to research laptops in their price range, set it up after purchase, load the software they need, etc. I'd say in total I spent a good 4 hours all told.

The thing that pissed me off was that I told them the laptop was going to be $300 when I ordered it (they cheaped out, not my call), and they gave me $350 in response. So I thought "cool, $50 for my effort I guess". Then a week later they said "Hey we gave you too much, drop the $50 off next time you're here." That was pretty infuriating to be honest...
 
I never charge my family for help because they all have specialties I might need some day. My old man is a boilermaker, my cousin and mechanic, another cousin a hairdresser. What goes around comes around so when I need something done these are the people who will do it for me for free.
 
Ronabo said:
Only reason I ever "have to" go to my parents any more is for some sort of tech support. Kinda tired of it, they are just so intimidated by tech.
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Show them how to deal with the problems the next time you fix it. My mom got better about this once she realized I wouldn't be on call every time.
 
I'm IT support for a global Fortune 500 company. Every single issue my mother brings me is the most incomprehensible shit I've every seen. I never have any idea how she gets these problems or what to do with it. I swear she is inventing new Windows errors.
 
Only time I get annoyed for being the IT Guy is when people hand me smart phones. I don't know how to use those things why are you showing me.

Conversely, outside of family and work, I will never fix anyone's computer for any amount of money. I'll just say where they can get cheap repairs at a local shop. I don't need the money, and I certainly don't need the hassle. The last time I was curious enough to help someone, well... it involved a plane trip, developing software under the nose of a company, and would result in 5-6 people losing their jobs. Because some payroll lady didn't like those people. ... certainly one of the more baffling "you're a computer person right?" requests.

Edit I Guess: I didn't actually do any of those things. Was just in the description the lady gave me.
 
Kritz said:
Only time I get annoyed for being the IT Guy is when people hand me smart phones. I don't know how to use those things why are you showing me.
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Yeah, this can get pretty annoying. Just because I know how to hook up your Xbox or configure your wireless network doesn't mean I know why your Hotmail isn't working on the random POS phone you bought.
 
I do this for free and I don't really mind because it's my family.

Unfortunately, it's now turned into phone support due to living overseas. I really should just get around to making them install TeamViewer, it'd save a lot of hassle.
 
Same here,
- had to burn a couple cd's (edit audio, split it)
- get wifi working again
- install software on two computers
- fix the audio hookup for the tv surround sound.

and this is my wife's family.
 
Dafuq? I go out of my way to help my family with free IT support. My parents helped pay for my education so it's the least I could do.
 
I find it funny someone used accounting/taxes as an example of something you wouldn't want to do on your time off. I happen to do just that, and more often than not receive services back that other family members specialize in. My uncle is an electrician, another is a welder, my grandfather is a carpenter and my father is an accountant/carpenter. What goes around comes around, if they need my accounting or IT expertise I will definitely help them out.
 
I only help with family stuff and thank god that has basically become non existent.
My gfs Aunt is horrendous for asking me questions about anything from phones to laptops to cameras.

I did once get "volunteered" by my mum to help one of her family friends out. The pc needed nuking from orbit but I spent the best part of four hours attempting to fix it while the husband sat behind me asking me what I was doing at every step and telling me everything from new satellite tv to nasa space storys hed read on the net...

I left and a few days later my mum passed me ÂŁ10 that came from them for helping and said
"oh but it still needs more work". Told them to get it fixed properly after that as if it "breaks" again "Oh it worked before you touched it and now its broken, its your fault"


Few friends are awful for it aswell and theres only so many times I can try to help/teach them before I lose my rag and just copy paste their question into let me google that for you and send them the link..
 
Devolution said:
Show them how to deal with the problems the next time you fix it. My mom got better about this once she realized I wouldn't be on call every time.
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Oh I do. I even leave detailed written explanations or I involve them and show them what I do. It's just they are so terrified of breaking something or doing something wrong they won't try themselves.
 
Family and friends I fix their stuff for free and do all sorts of research and phone, email, SMS and IM tech support. Many of them will gift me after, but it's not expected. The worst thing fit me isn't fixing things, it's always the questions on future purchases like "what TV/HTIB should I buy?"... Well, except smartphones, i'm addicted to info on mobile devices so that one is always easy.

I can imagine other people would get taken advantage of because their family sucks though.
 
Ronabo said:
Oh I do. I even leave detailed written explanations or I involve them and show them what I do. It's just they are so terrified of breaking something or doing something wrong they won't try themselves.
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Haha my mom is afraid she'll get like scores of viruses on my computer even if it's a simple update question. I guess that's better though than people who just go to any old site or click on a sketchy ad.
 
LOL, my mom once thought she broke her laptop because she accidentally deleted a desktop shortcut for her DVD player software.
 
LOL. I've been the go to IT guy since I was around 13. When I married the wife her uncle was the go to guy in her family until he tinkered on the grandparent in laws computer like it was a car and blew the cpu. I built them one and locked it. Literally. He's the only person in my wife's family who can't stand me and the feeling is mutual. My family is so big that my IT rounds are usually the only way I can make sure I meet everyone.
 
timetokill said:
Dread hearing this at any family gathering:
"Hey do you think you could look at our PC real quick?"

Fuck that "real quick" part. You know that shit's a lie 99% of the time.

Cue next 2 hours of everyone else laughing and having a good time while I'm in the computer room trying to get rid of like 50 viruses, spyware, ask toolbars and whatever other shit, because they install everything they come across, the husband is visiting porn sites, blah blah blah. Oh yeah, and the PC is something they got 7 years ago so they "don't know why it runs so slow now."
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This is why I've gotten out of the computer fixing business. It's never anything quick or easy. Not only that, but once you help one person, everyone else thinks it's open season.

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A while back I started telling everyone that would ask to use Google first. It was literally my first response to any computer related question. "Did you Google it?" It has paid off. I still help when necessary, but it's much more rare now. I know they've tried basic diagnostics before contacting me and all-around computer literacy increased dramatically.

Teach a woman/man to fish and whatnot.

*Making the holiday rounds I'm still taken aback by how many people have messed up HDTV setups. So many expensive beautiful displays running SD content @_@
 
WinoMcCougarstein said:
You sound like a sniveling, ungrateful little piece of shit to be honest. It's your family for cryin out loud.
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i know you're not the only person to say this but who gives a shit if they're family. google the shit and take 10 minutes of your time to figure out how to do it.

when i was younger I was always told that expression "give a man a fish, he eats for a day. teach a man to fish, he has food forever"

and don't say "they paid for you and fed you!" because it's not even the same situation. a kid has no control over basic necessities at that age while an adult should be competent enough to do some research for a few minutes
 
Eh, I never mind doing tech support for family members. I generally prefer it to having to have extended conversations instead.
 
I'm an only child and my parents are generally quite proficient when it comes to computers and technology. I don't mind helping them out at all, but extended family like aunts, uncles and cousins can fuck right off. I barely even know them and see them perhaps once or twice per year, regardless of tenuous family links, that doesn't give them the right to pester me with their problems. You have to have your limits, because people will take advantage of you.

What I loathe is when people don't even attempt to fix their own problems, they have no concept of troubleshooting or narrowing down the problem, so instead they just go straight to the tech guy in the family. I refuse to help anyone who doesn't even try to help themselves.

A few years ago my car broke down. My Dad (who is now retired) used to be a mechanic. Instead of going straight to my Dad, I used my fucking brain and eventually figured out that the problem was a cracked head gasket. Then it was just a matter of getting a new one and fitting it. I have very little experience with cars, but I'm proud of myself that I at least attempted and managed to fix the problem myself. I could easily have run straight to my Father and begged for his help, but that's too easy. Only if I urgently needed my car would have done that.

The same thing applies with any problem in life.
 
I don't mind helping people who would have something to do with me even if I wasn't fixing stuff. But family I only talk to when they need help? Yeah, I'm busy.
 
If they are at the house that I'm at, I'll do whatever I can. It will pass the time during the day when I'm not drunk.

I've already helped setup windows 8 and teach my parents how to use it on this xmas trip. I'll probably have to work on another computer tomorrow.
 
I generally don't have a problem with helping family (or friends!) with computer-related issues, but I also don't appreciate when they just assume I will take care of their issues without asking me, first. I'll still help somebody out if they do that, but i'll do my best to avoid them afterwards - i can't stand people who lack the common courtesy to ask _if_ i can do something before coming to the conclusion that i'm their personal IT boy and can help them whenever they need me to.
 
I'm not IT but I'm always in charge of fixing my family's computers. Which usually just involves heavy google use and malwarebytes, plus or minus a few programs. It does get old though.

And their computer is always such a mess on the desktop that I have an annoying time getting anything done. There is no need for forty folders on the desktop. Ever.
 
daviyoung said:
OP is unemployed and doesn't work in IT support, so it's not really a busman's holiday. They're asking for a favour, and you're saying the best option is to tell them to stick it.

Nice.
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If someone in my family isn't showering me with gifts/money/praises through out the year or when I help them out, I'm not going to be helping them out. Saying someone is family doesn't mean anything when it comes to your time and money. May as well just say I should give all my services away to some stranger because they are someone's family and are just as deserving of help as anyone else.

About the only person I would help for free is my mom, and even that has limits b/c I know how demanding and critical she is of any work I do for her. If I forsee a favor she asks as taking too long or would be impossible to do to her satisfaction I just say no.

So yes, my advice to the op is to tell them to stick it and enjoy your holiday in peace.
 
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