After about 3 months of somebody buying a laptop from me (not an official business) the laptop seems to be having issues. He doesn't know much about computers, but he wants me to come and fix it. He says that since he's only had it for 3 months, he wants me to fix it for free as well as go to his location (an hour drive). He can't even really describe the problem to me either...since he's not technically savvy. From the sounds of it though, Windows is not booting. I'm thinking either a bad HD or a missing system file. Do I:

A) Do the right thing and fix it free since its only been 3 months and I sold it to him.
B) Say "fuck you" and not fix it and tell him to take it to a computer shop. My time is valuable.
C) Fix the computer but only if he'll pay (parts, labor, gas) unless he takes it to me, in which case, I'll fix it for free unless it is a hardware issue (in which case I'd charge for parts only).
D) Charge for parts & labor regardless of if he brings it to me or not. 3 months is a long time for somebody to fuck up a computer.
E) Other

I've pretty much decided on D, but what do you guys think?

3/20/2006 12:45:37 AM

What did you agree to when you sold it to him?

Because if you didn't state any warranty, you can technically do whatever the hell you want.

3/20/2006 12:56:16 AM

well...since I gave him a good deal on the laptop (sold it to him at cost of parts), there was no warranty specified.

3/20/2006 12:59:09 AM

First off you did the guy a favor by selling him a machine at cost. i only do that for family or GOOD friends. if this guy wasn't in one of those two catagories, then i wouldnt do that again if i were you. if you had charged a nice markup, then that just might justify doing the guy a favor and looking at it, even if you said theres no waranty (and thats if you're being real nice).

but as it is, you sold it at cost, with no warranty. have him bring it to you, or charge (alot of)travel comp for driving a hour each way. and worst case, if its a mobo, he'll be throwing money down the toliet with all your travel and time anyway since you probably wont repair. all this means have him bring it to you, drop it off, and get it back whenever. if its a real quick, hey the laptop is dead thing, then maybe dont charge him since it didn't take that much of your time...if it takes a while to diagnose then charge. if its a result of something he did though (downloading crap software, trying to be mr fix-it etc) then you should charge him regardless. if its hardware related, and you want to be the big sweetie, then don't charge for your time.

in summation, d...or c if you wanna be the big sweetie.

[Edited on March 20, 2006 at 1:17 AM. Reason : ]

3/20/2006 1:13:32 AM

[Edited on March 20, 2006 at 1:37 AM. Reason : ]

3/20/2006 1:37:29 AM

doesnt this thing have some warrant with it from the original manufacturer?

3/20/2006 3:00:26 AM

B. Unless you are in the business of selling stuff, in that case you don't want a pissed off customer running his mouth about you telling him to fuck off. If no warranty was specified at time of sell I wouldn't worry about it. But if you think you can get him to pay you then is it worth it for your time to fix it?

3/20/2006 3:40:18 AM

If its hardware related, there's nothing you can do.
If its software related, its something the customer did.

I'm with synapse, unless close friends/family ... don't get into a habit of fixing stuff that you sell to other people. You delivered it in good terms and in good working order ... anything after that point is either the customer's fault, a string of bad luck, or some combination thereof.

If you plan on doing business again with this person, I'd offer to fix it over a weekend, provided they bring it to you. (A half-day trip really isn't that bad if they use this thing frequenly enough). If you aren't, tell them you will give an evaluation/recommendation only if they can specifically identify the problem ... not counting a "it doesn't work" syndrome.

3/20/2006 5:13:10 AM