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Tech Support Business (Liability)

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shadowblade1

Member
Joined
Jul 19, 2004
A friend and i were thinking about starting a tech support business(not a legal business yet, just out of home computer repair for now) But on thing that im worried about is liability. If i add a hard drive for a customer and a day later they somhow fry their computer, they could say it was my fault and could try and take legal action/ want me to pay for damages. Now im wondering if i could put together a contract making me not liable for anything that goes wrong and have them sign it before i even begin work. Do i need a lawyer for this? can i do somthing else that will have the same effect? Thanks
 
Me and my buddies are kinda setting up the same thing. But iwill have them make sure i am i am not liable for any damage that happens. We are just building computers for them and may offer some pc tune ups.
 
A work order with some fine print at the bottom that essentially say that they acknowledge that all the responsibility is thiers. Basically, they haveto sign before you do the work and in siging the document, they agree that you are not responsible for whatever.

You might want to google for "free legal advice" "don't need a lawyer" or something else like that. I am sure that there are websites out there that should have the sample forms that you need.

Also, I would think carefully and look into setting up a corporation before you do this. Even with the disclaimer in the contract/work order, that does not mean that you can't get sued. It means that if you do get sued you have a predefined position that your customer agreed to what you say. With a corporation, they can't sue you directly, they have to sue the corporation and if you keep the actual assets of the corporation fairly low, that limits what they could recover.
 
If I didn't know anything about Computers, I wouldn't let you work on my computer saying you were liable if you screwed anything up. Doesn't make me feel secure you know what you're doing.
 
That's the only way that a tech can cover their *** though. I have a general waiver that is basically what Malpine Walis described, and a second one for 4-5+ year old systems and/or those running win 98, ME that also says the customer agrees to pay me full price to repair their system, despite that a new pc would probably be cheaper.

If you don't cover yourself, people will find a way to not pay you, and/or sue you for the smallest/most minor of reasons.
 
I think you just hit on the cusp of doing repair work, the "it never did that before" factor. I do work on systems for some people because there is really nowhere else around here to get it done. First thing I get is a good explanation of what is wrong, and importantly, what they expect me to do, what they think I can do. Usually there is a lot more wrong with the system then they think and if I just fix what they want then they still get back a pretty unstable system. Then I clone the drive before I do any work and keep that clone copy for awhile.

I always have them turn it on and do an inspection of the inside with them there before I accept it for work. Some people bring me say a P100 with 8MB of ram and "want Windows XP" on it. I have seen burnt MB's from no surge protection "wont turn on" I then will tell them what my estimation of repair is and if I think it is worth it to them, often I will just offer to retrieve and back up data to a cd for them and point them to Dell.

But I usually charge only for parts, and make it clear upfront that it may take 30days or more for me to get it done. Its kinda like a favor and at times I just tell people I'm too busy, and I never take more then 1 computer at a time and usually for people I know and like, and I need to have some time on my hands.

The thing is that no matter what I do, almost without exception, once I work on someones system the assume that they own me for tech support. So I am very selective and do not advertise.

I used to try and educate the user, but beyond really pounding home the need for virus, surge,defrag spyware and share/password protection: I leave them to their madness.

(I put the shortcuts on the desk for adaware, defrag, etc. and rename them to "update and run every 2 weeks" or "run weekly")


Good to be back and ramble again
 
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