Do you think that you should have to pay for tech support?

Question

My ISP charges me ever time I have to call them for support. I said that this isn't right. You can't charge me for somthing that is your fault. They said "We Can" and I should sign up for the "tech support package" for unlimited calls for an extra $15.95 a month. I said I will be looking for a new ISP.

Answer 1

My time and knowledge is quite valuable, I charge a high but fair price for it and I give alot of it away at no charge (certainly if I happen to have screwed up). It's called customer service. That being said...
ISP's and manufacturer tech support should be at their cost, to a point. It is their product after all, and if the problem is their fault or otherwise directly attributable to them, than they should certainly bear the cost of that. Where they should not be responsible for the cost and have every right to charge is where customers are trying to use them to help with installing xyz program that they downloaded onto their computer, or when the customer has failed to protect their machine from viruses and spyware rendering the machine a mess, or in most cases any home networking problems.
It sounds like an overburdened small ISP that has trouble dealing with every little problem that customer's have and think is the ISP's responsibility and they are using this partly as a way of curbing that.issue.

Answer 2

Good for you. Microsoft also charges some outrageous amount for tech support, which is why I have never called them. Other tech companies, like Red Hat and Novell, don't charge for tech support. It's included with the purchase, usually of enterprise software. For personal stuff, I just stick with Linux. It's free, and so is the tech support.

On the other hand, paying for tech support might not be so bad if the software was free. However, it seems a little wrong to charge someone both to use their software and to answer a question about their software.

Answer 3

There are two separate issues. One is obviously tech support and the other is fault reporting and rectification.

If there is a fault and you determine that it is their problem, report the fault describing what you have done to determine that it is their problem, and they will fix it for you. They will not charge you for fault reporting.

Now, if you call tech support with no idea if it is a network fault or a problem with your equipment, it is reasonable that they charge you for their service if it is not a network fault.

Generally, if you do not know what you are doing, report it as a fault and even if it is your problem, you may get away with it.

Always remember, when a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with experience gets the money and the man with the money has an experience.

Answer 4

With 20 + years of experience and schooling, I think $75.00 is worth it to someone. But I guarantee my work. I once worked for CompUSA and their tech support was free, up to a point in time, but I still got paid by the tech support team, whether I answered a phone or not. Of course the phone rang constantly.

Answer 5

I agree, it should be free considering it is their fault for the issue/problem that occurs to you 90% of the time. Not to mention alot of tech support people take forever to fix one problem. And then a new one arises soon after.

Answer 6

I think you should break charges into different categories. For instance... Yearly Consulting Maintenance- 2,500.00 Bi-Yearly- 1,500.00 Monthly- 250.00 Weekly- 80.00 24 Hours- 25.00 I have a maintenance agreement with a software package that I my company bought as a add on for technical questions. It cost 800.00 yearly, and is convenient when needed. Good Luck!

Answer 7

I could not agree more. Their junk doesn't work, and they want you to pay them to read to you from a script. Help!! tech support is out of bananas!

Answer 8

it's like anything else. Anything you pay for is going to cost you more money. They oughta give the stuff away. They'd still come out ahead.