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Topic:
WTF. Clients be cray
This thread has 32 replies. Displaying posts 31 through 33.
Post 31 made on Wednesday March 1, 2017 at 18:31
davet2020
Senior Member
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February 2005
1,051
On March 1, 2017 at 12:42, Mac Burks (39) said...
After dealing with stuff like this for years in the early 2000's...the way i would have handled this from the moment i started is "you will need an appletv at each location and we will need to run Cat5 to each of them".

If people want to play science project with their gear they can do it on their own time or sign a blank check.

You are absolutely correct. The toughest thing is walking into a job that you think will be a piece of cake and giving the customer a preliminary estimate of time. Then when things turn south and things take much longer they want to hold you to the first estimate of labor time even though the extra time was due to problems with their parts and equipment. Better off just stating the rates for labor and leave it at that.
If you are going to do the job...why not do it the right way?
www.fairfaxavi.com
Post 32 made on Thursday March 2, 2017 at 14:30
Ernie Gilman
Yes, That Ernie!
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December 2001
30,104
Regarding my saying you should have the client turn on the system and show you the problem before you touch the system, you said:

On March 1, 2017 at 12:31, goldenzrule said...
You missed when I said this:

"Upon arrival, I always ask what is the system doing, and when"

Well, this doesn't always work. A very wise person with whom you ALWAYS agree had this to say only twelve minutes later:

On March 1, 2017 at 12:43, goldenzrule said...
I had a client call me once because he said that his cable was not working. All he would say is that he keeps trying to watch TV and cannot get it to work. He was not able to elaborate, so I scheduled to go out there and meet with him.

So, you asked the client "what is the system doing, and when," and he was unable to tell you. He would not have been able to put it into words any better if you had been on site at that moment.

Anyway, his issue? He did not know how to use the DVR functions and had set some things to record by pressing record on the remote, but didn't know how to get to the recording shows.

And how did you find this out? Did you walk in, meet him for the first time as you said, and once more "ask what is the system doing, and when"?

Did you turn the system on and show him that everything was working fine, in which case you would still not know what his problem was?

Or did you maybe have him show you what his problem was? That's all I was saying you should do! Start by having the client show you the problem.

THEN you could see that the problem was training. Maybe I should have said that the first step of troubleshooting would wisely be determining if it's a training problem or an operational problem.
A good answer is easier with a clear question giving the make and model of everything.
"The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -- G. “Bernie” Shaw
Post 33 made on Thursday March 2, 2017 at 15:39
goldenzrule
Loyal Member
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8,470
For my sanity, I hope I never meet you.
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