Improper free technical support: 10 methods

　　In daily work and life, colleagues, relatives or friends who do not know the technology often encounter such technical problems (such as computer/network problems ). They will ask you for free help, which often gets you off guard, and your first instinct is to promise free help. However, it is often a headache for you to do this kind of work. If you do not want to provide free technical support, refer to the following 10 methods to reject it.

　　1. I can't do anything about this device.

If someone wants to run high-end applications on an antique and cheap machine, you can use this answer. For example, in a second-hand market in Beijing, I spent 55 yuan to buy a 386 instance and asked you to install Windows Vista. I have a personal experience. That was a long time ago, we split the Win95 hard disk running on 486 and ran it with 286 (1 MB in memory. Surprisingly, although it took 15 minutes to start for the first time, there was no crash. When you press the button again, the computer will crash after a few clicks. Are you still planning to spend time on this technical problem ???

　　2. I really don't have time

This is not a good excuse. It is recommended to list it as a secondary choice. Because you may get a reply like this: "It's okay, and I'm not in a hurry. Put the machine here first. When are you free, please fix it for me ". One day, you fell down by this machine and fell into a swollen face. At the same time, you also learned how to swear. You didn't realize that this was inappropriate until you threw the machine out.

　　3. I cannot do this job. It is beyond my capacity.

This method has both advantages and disadvantages. Although this is a good method, no self-respecting technician will admit that "I cannot solve this problem ". After all, in the long run, others will think that you are "a person who cannot solve any technical problem ".

　　4. the company signed an exclusive service agreement with me

This method is rather conceited and not applicable to relatives and friends. However, this method may be useful if people who are not familiar with you regard you as cheap technical support. After a lot of painstaking persuasion, they may be able to persuade you to work for them for several hours. If you are not afraid of saying you are an old man, use this method boldly.

　　5. It is not cost-effective to fix this item.

They are advised to consider buying another one, which is not cost-effective for repairs. If they are lucky, they will accept your suggestion to buy a new computer. You are in peace.

　　6. You can help, but you also want to help me...

When someone asks you for free technical support, this reverse psychological technique can be used to cleverly reverse the situation. If a painter asks you to help solve a computer problem, you can ask him to draw a picture on your window in return. This method can be applied to a wide range, such as kitchen or bathroom remodeling, car maintenance, or lawn care. I once asked someone to repair the garage door, and I helped someone install/maintain the hard drive and burner. However, people who think this is unfair or not willing to use you.

　　7. Private activities are prohibited during work

Worst of all, some colleagues regard the IT department as their own free technical support. If your boss is opposed to using company equipment and solving personal problems during work, the requests from those colleagues are really huge! It's so embarrassing!

I remember a colleague often asked us to help her solve her PC problems. She insisted that she was going to finish her job at home. (her children had a bunch of suspicious programs online and the computer was useless.) We should help her solve the problem. We will send this request to her department director to check the supervisor's opinion. Sure enough, the supervisor did not agree, saying that she basically didn't work in the office, and she had no job at home.

　　8. Why don't you send it to a repair shop?

We should not forget that the technicians in these repair shops rely on repairing their home computers. Most of us have contributed (business) to our local small repair shops, and we know that repairs are not stable.

　　9. I have no original system disk.

This method works when you are sure someone has no valid software license. On one occasion, a customer's publisher was a special locked version (bound to the computer). After we changed the processor and motherboard, the publisher software was naturally unavailable. I blurted out, "I have a normal version ". I should have kept silence. This customer chased me for several weeks and finally I lied that the installation disk was damaged.

　　10. Simply say "no"

When you don't want to provide free technical support, there is no more direct, simpler, and more honest way. You don't even have to explain the schedule of your activities. After work, you start to enjoy your free time, just like your colleagues. Maybe you don't want to spend all your time solving computer problems. It is worth noting that when they encounter problems and need help, our technicians are their best friends, but once the problem is solved, our friends will be left behind, they wouldn't think of you the next time they need you.

The above method is just a reference. If you have other good methods, share them with you in your comments!

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