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What Do You Charge for Tech Support?
Posted by
Cliff
on Tue Feb 08, 2005 02:51 PM
from the scratch-under-the-table dept.
from the scratch-under-the-table dept.
war3rd asks: "Years ago I used to offer tech support for friends and family (for free), and ended up doing it for everyone they and I knew. I cut it out because it was taking too much of my time, but I've been getting more and more requests lately due to everything from viruses, spam, spyware, as well as aging PC with Windows 98 and ME (oog!) on them still. I was thinking of saying OK to requests that are convenient, but I want to make it worth my while. So I ask, I'm sure that some of you out there must do this, what is the general going rate for basic user tech support (i.e. getting someone's home machine cleaned up and back to normal email & web browsing capability)?"
"I assume that there is probably some range in different parts of the country, but I'm curious anyway. And let's just assume that I live in the Tri-State area around New York City (can you say 'overpriced?'). I figure I should be able to pull in enough to feed my ever-present desire for better hardware, but on the other hand, I don't want to be a jerk and gouge people who should be able to trust me with their machines. So what to other Slashdot users charge for their tech support services?"
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Business or Personal? (Score:5, Insightful)
However, if you really get so many tech support requests, you may consider setting up a side business, that way you have made yourself commercially available and people know they need to pay for your service.
If they don't want to pay, they know not to call you. If they do call you but not expecting to pay, you can give good excuses like you're so busy with your new business that you can only visit them "later" (so much later that they solved the problem themselves).
Re:Business or Personal? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
helpdesk support wants to be free (Score:5, Funny)
nobody rides for free! "
Parent
Re:helpdesk support wants to be free (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re:Business or Personal? (Score:4, Insightful)
The funny thing is, the people i hate to help the most are my parents. I dunno if it's a mental block of soem sort, but i seem to get most irritated when they do stuff to their computers.
Parent
Re:Business or Personal? (Score:5, Interesting)
(/spelling nazi)Maybe when you were in "colledge" you should have focused more on spelling and grammar. =)
The funny thing is, the people i hate to help the most are my parents. I dunno if it's a mental block of soem sort, but i seem to get most irritated when they do stuff to their computers.
It's not that uncommon. We tend to have more emotional baggage with parents than with anyone else, even spouses and children. When I help out my dad on the computer, I just pretend he's retarded, even to the point of talking really slowly. (Basically as far as computers go, he is retarded. I can't tell him to click on an application, I have to tell him to click on the picture of the compass or the postage stamp with the eagle on it.) Oh, I also bought him an eMac, which was one of the better investments I've ever made. Thank god for one button mice!
Parent
Re:Business or Personal? (Score:5, Funny)
(markup language nazi) So why did you turn off the appropriate tag before the text is was supposed to refer to? (/markup language nazi)
(/smartass)
Parent
Re:Business or Personal? (Score:5, Informative)
However, all of these clients were quite wealthy. I always tried to cater everything towards the client. Some of them weren't as wealthy and didn't pay as much. I told them if they didn't feel like I was worth the money, they should pay me what they felt I was worth - it was then my decision to come back or not the next time they needed me. I'm also a softie, so some people did get away with paying me very little, but I figured it all worked out for everyone.
I carried myself in a professional and friendly manner, so they continued to ask me to come back. When I told one of my clients that I was moving across the country, he asked if he could finance a business for me to run - that way I wouldn't have to move. I politely declined and he has since asked if he could fly me back to work on his computer.
Now, people where I live now aren't as rich as that - I do a lot of free work here, but I also explain to people that since I'm not getting paid, things may take me longer to get around to. I think most people realize that they get what they pay for - or don't pay for, such as the case may be. I also do a lot of bardering. I have one friend that I help with computer stuff and he helps me with my car maintenance.
Parent
Re:Business or Personal? (Score:4, Informative)
I don't know where you live, but where I live, it's not that difficult. To be a sole proprieter, all I have to do , is charge for my services. As long as I am not selling a tangible good, I do not have to worry about sales tax. If any hardware or software needs to be purchased, I make a reccomendation to the customer on what they need to buy, and where they can buy it from. This works out nice. The reseller is getting the sale and has to charge and pay the state taxes, and I get refferal business from the reseller. I then have a spread sheet on my PC that I use to print invoices. Once the invoice is paid, i save a copy for when I file my personal income taxes. I then I writr off a portion of my mortgage/utilities/car insurance/mileage/etc. as business expenses. Running a legal business, does not have to be that difficult, as long as you keep it small.
In case any one is wondering:
Family and close friends I don't charge
Home users I charge $20.00/hour,
Businesses, I charge $65/hour plus travel expenses. I'm not looking to get rich, I'm just looking to support my own hardware habit.
Parent
Barter your services (Score:5, Insightful)
I know people who can easily fix a leaking pipe or lend me some decent power tools, but have no clue about computers... getting on their good side can save you a bunch of money at a later point.
Parent
Re:Business or Personal? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:Business or Personal? (Score:4, Funny)
$50 an hour if you watch.
$100 an hour if you help.
Parent
Re:Business or Personal? (Score:5, Funny)
Same here, and it amazes me how many people offer beer as payment. How many people would offer beer to a mechanic before he fixes their brakes on their car before and while he does the work?
Parent
Market vs. Cost (Score:5, Informative)
1. cost model: If you were doing this as a living, you'd understand that you'd have a portion of your time that you could actually be out billing, vs. a portion you're unable to bill. Researching things, fixing things for people that end up not paying, fixing things that you goofed up the first time and don't bill for the second time, and being idle are all unbillable times. While I've seen models where employeers pretend they can have people 80% or higher billable, this places great stress on the system long-term. At 50%, you're going to have to factor the downtime. So, if you want to make $50,000/year, at 50% billable (on 50 weeks worked), that's 1,000 billable hours a year = $50/hour (easy math). But you might find additional expenses you need to include, like taxes and social security (oops! there goes a huge chunk), health insurance, general liability insurance (if you do this, I'll guarantee you'll eventually have someone sue you for something assuming you have deeper pockets than they do) current and legal licenses to software, a new laptop every year (they get beat to hell traveling), Internet connectivity, cell phone bill, etc. - and you're suddenly up over $60/hour.
2. comparative model: My plumber in my small town charges $70/hour. I'd argue that my nonstop education in technology (vs. his rather static field) deserves at least $10/hour more, not to mention the college education appropriate for it. $80/hour is my "plumbing rate" in the Midwest. Fixing PCs or running cables = plumbing.
3. service model: If you're able to do much more than "computer plumbing", charge appropriately for the job. I'm a certified security analyst, so I charge $155/hour when doing assessments (cheap actually). I charge $125/hour for Cisco engineering.
4. "bill" your gratis accounts: I take care of some little old ladies and relatives in town. I let them know (and occasionally will print a courtesy invoice with the actual charge and credit applied) how much it really costs. I ask them to donate to a charity - the church ladies all do so to our church, and church has new gravel covering the parking lot, utility bills paid and other important things from a tiny bit of computer work from me.
The best thing you can do is enforce that the computer world is a business and a profession. I encountered a "do it for free" attitude when I moved here due to a 20-year-old hack that did so. When you give it away without any cost, you make it worthless and cause people to think what we do is not legitimate. Electricians, plumbers and other technicians all have to feed their families and pay their bills. Neglect your car and demand free repairs, and you'll suffer the consequences. Computer techs need to help the public understand their PC is no different than their car in this manner.
Parent
For a family member? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:For a family member? (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Reconsider (Score:4, Insightful)
My rule is that I will fix friends and family members computers if I happen to have the time and they clearly appreciate my help and don't see it as my obligation. If they offer to pay me, I'll ask for a dinner sometime or just a case of Bass beer.
Trust me, taking money is more hassle than it will be worth.
Re:Reconsider (Score:5, Insightful)
I also want my brother-in-law to be a little beholden to me, because he's good with doorknobs, and I'm an idiot around doorknobs, and I'm going to need a doorknob upgrade soon (this may sound like a stupid example, but it happens to be absolutely real).
If my brother-in-law needs more than I can handle, then I'll help him choose a consultant that he can pay (and be mad at when his machine fills back up with goo).
So... I don't usually charge for basic support. I do it when I have the time, for people I like.
Parent
Re:Reconsider (Score:5, Funny)
What's "doorknobs" your secret word for?
Parent
Re:Reconsider (Score:4, Insightful)
When I fix someones computer, I tell them that they have to follow my rules inorder for the 'warrenty' on my tech support to be valid and they include:
1) Never open Internet Explorer again, use Firefox.
2) Never open Outlook Express again, use Thunderbird.
3) Use ZoneAlarm and don't allow 'random' programs to access the internet and don't allow anything to act as a server.
4) Schedule weekly virus/spyware/adware scans and update the definitions before scanning.
Failure to comply with these rules (which I tell them I can verify if they have been following the rules), will void the warrenty on my service and result in an additional charge if they require additional support. Harsh, but I don't get too many extra support calls
Parent
Yes Yes Yes (Score:5, Insightful)
Helping for free leaves them indebted to you instead of you to them. It's a great way to generate goodwill, as well as a nifty way to receive an unexpected favor later. I'd say it's better to have a positive accounts-receivable column, even if you never see a dime.
Taking money is opening up a can of worms. Blood is thicker than water... but the one thing that's thicker than blood is MONEY. People have this attitude (and sometimes rightly so) that as long as they're paying you, they have a leash on you... they then bother you/demand things from you, often out of proportion to the amount of money exchanged. That's a sticky situation to get into with family, friends, and coworkers. Do you want some kind of disgruntled attitude/tension between you and your friends? I don't.
Just by doing it for free, I've received all sorts of gifts in kind. Those gifts have included computer hardware, gift certificates, beer, lunch, etc, etc. I NEVER solicit such gifts, and I always make an effort to turn them down. That may sound odd, but I actually enjoy working on computers, and my day job already involves helping others (I'm an ER physcian, so I already see plenty of no-pay/self-pay/uninsured patients for free; doing the same to the occasional computer just doesn't bother me that much)
Then there's the simple act of doing something nice for people... sometimes that's its own reward.
Parent
Re:Reconsider (Score:5, Informative)
They asked me to help them order a computer (dell) and when that computer started to malfunction they kept calling me - and I kept telling them "you bought this from Dell call Dell."
One time they did an OS upgrade (a year after I setup their network) and their network connection on that computer started to malfunction. I did charge them $200 for me having to drive to their place, figure out what they did, and then reinstall the networking files.
I feel bad in some ways - but then realize that they are a business - they charge people and so should I. You may want to register as an LLC. It protects you legally (lawsuits) and you can do a lot of tax deductions...one company tried getting my SS# so they could list me as an employee and run taxes on me, etc. I told them no way...they can cut me a check to my business. They wanted that EIN number - again no way. B2B they only need your business name (only one business per state with that name allowed anyhow).
In the end, make it clear as to what you are offering. Even better, put it in writing and have them sign it. Make it a simple/stupid document and you are pretty well covered.
Parent
Re:Reconsider (Score:5, Funny)
I feel bad in some ways
You feel bad because this crap is so easy for you because you're an alpha geek. But consider, others are not alpha geeks because while you were tinkering with computers, they were out getting laid and partying.
Now they're calling you.
You gave up sex, drugs and rock and roll to be this good. Make it pay off. ;)
Parent
Re:Reconsider (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, this isn't true. A standard part of a corporate vendor relationship is giving your client information, such as your EIN. For your information, they are legally required to file a 1099 with the IRS covering all payments that they made to you in any year where the total exceeded $600. To file that 1099 they need either your SSN if you're an individual/dba, or your EIN if you're a corporation. Its not just standard practice, its the law. This filing can be waived for some forms of corporations, but not all of them.
Parent
$90. (Score:5, Interesting)
Are you kidding? (Score:4, Funny)
I barter.... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:I barter.... (Score:5, Funny)
given up on getting a girlfriend, eh? :)
Parent
Re:I barter.... (Score:5, Funny)
[I get away with this 'cause she doesn't read
Parent
Re:I barter.... (Score:5, Insightful)
Nothing illegal about this - and it would be hard to make illegal... "Hm Your Honor, my brother fixes my car for free...and yes I do fix his computer for free...he is my brother afterall"
Parent
I'm in the same boat (Score:5, Informative)
In my professional life I've charged two hourly rate: $100/hr and $50/hr. I can't ask Ma and Pa Rancher/Farmer for that. I would think that undercutting what the area computer shops would charge would be acceptable. When I did service work at an Apple Specialist shop we charged a $45 bench fee for all computers and a $75 bench fee for all laser printers, just to take a look at them. Then our hourly rate was $50/hr. The markup on parts was anywhere for 40% to 200%. That was in '98. If I charged $15 or $20 an hour and maybe something for gas if I had to drive more than 5 miles or so, wouldn't that be agreeable with these rural customers? They'd have to drive 40 miles one way to get to the nearest town with a computer shop. With gas prices the way they are, that adds up fast.
One thing I don't hesitate to do is recommend buying a new computer. Most of these rural folks have ancient systems, at least by today's standards. If the machine is still useable and they understand that they can't run new software on the old machine, I'll help them fix it, even if it's replacing hardware like a bad HD. I highly recommend they replace the machine if they are trying to run new software on a circa '97 Windows 95 machine. It's just too old. I also never recommend the buying computers at the area Ma and Pa computer stores. I always recommend they buy from a larger company with an established reputation, support and warranty system, and will be here next month or next year when the machine has problems. I recommend Dell or Gateway to those people. I tell them about the back to school specials and help them find a system that fits their needs. I figure that's a much better suggetion than to tell them to go to Best Buy or CompUSA and pick up the special of the week. Sure the individual piece of hardware has a warranty, but if Ma and Pa Computer Shop closes up, they're not going to be able to find anyone else willing to figure out what's under warranty and what's not on an old machine. Thoughts on this?
I always set the folks up with some of the better pieces of free software like Mozilla or Firefox, Thunderbird, AntiVir, AdAware, and others. I tell Windows to auto-update without user interaction (something I'd never do on my own machine, but something that necessary on a novice's computer IMHO).
I'm not sure what the best price range is but I know one thing. We can't afford to do it for free all the time.
Don't charge everyone (Score:4, Insightful)
$499 (Score:5, Funny)
My standard (Score:5, Informative)
Don't involve yourself with home users (Score:5, Insightful)
With mid-size companies, you can have 100 customers and make yourself wealthy. You will also be serving 100 tyrants with 100 problems who if they write you a check for $100 will think you owe them your first born.
With large-size companies, you can have 5 customers and make yourself wealthy. You will also be serving 5 people who don't give a rats ass what you do or don't do for them and who if they write you a check for $100,000 will think it's OK if you don't return their call for a few weeks.
This is a slight exaggeration but the basic tenet is true. Don't focus on small fish or you'll be sorry.
Re:Don't involve yourself with home users (Score:5, Interesting)
My fiance is a speech pathologist and told me about an ethical point of her profession that could be applied here. She cannot, within ethical guidelines, take money for services rendered to someone who continuously violates their plan for treatment. For example, people who smoke while receiving voice therapy, people who don't practice their speech as they're told, generally people who make no effort to help themselves.
A boilerplate agreement that customers who don't run antivirus/spyware packages, don't use firewalls, insist on opening strange attachments,etc have support services terminated may get people to take this stuff seriously.
Parent
Re:Don't involve yourself with home users (Score:5, Interesting)
Detroit has one of the worst job markets in the country right now; especially in IT. So, I decided rather than compete, I'd start my own business repairing home users' PCs - I charged $65/hour, less than those incompetant know-nothings from the Geek Squad, and provided good service. I had happy customers, and made a good living without wasting an entire day rotting away behind a desk.
For about 3 months, it was great, then I started expanding my customer base. For every good, repeat customer I had, I had to deal with 3 other know-nothings that'd break break their systems the moment I walked out the door, then call me back, demanding I "fix it right." Education? It was worthless. Switching browsers? They'd agree to try Firefox, and be back using IE 5 minutes later.
I had some customers who made it their point to visit every shady poker, porn, and warez site on the web, open every attachment on every strange email, and somehow break any anti-virus solution I implimented. Then, they'd call me up and want me to either come back and fix it (for free), or sit there and walk them through it on the phone.
These days, I have a low-level support job part time and go to the university full time. I make about 1/5th what I did a year ago, but there isn't a regret in my mind about leaving that business behind. It was miserable and frustrating. Now, I just do PC work for friends and family, and am trying to get them all converted over to Macs, since they're largely idiot-proof. And when I do tech support? They understand it's not a permanant fix, especially if they don't follow my advice, and I don't charge. Make me dinner, do me a favor, buy me some beer, just... whatever. I won't take money, because the second it reaches that level, they think you owe them
Parent
I give folks a list (Score:5, Insightful)
Do not go under 20 dollars an hour (Score:5, Insightful)
Sure, you will lose customers this way, but those are customers you'd want to lose anyway. The cheap naggers who are unwilling to learn anything aren't worth the trouble.
Re:Do not go under 20 dollars an hour (Score:4, Informative)
First, think about the total number of hours you're able to bill in a week. Trust me when I say that you will have a hard time billing more than 50% of the time you spend "working", based on the amount of time you spend travelling getting to and from customers, the time you spend dealing with the financial side of being self-employed, the time you spend getting new business (even taking phone calls or e-mails from prospective customers) and such.
Assuming a 40 hour work week, that's 20 billable hours a week, or (assuming a 2 week vacation), 1000 billable hours a year. At $20 / hr, you're billing down a whopping $20k.
But wait... you don't get to take all that home. First of all, you need liability insurance and professional errors & ommissions insurance. That is, unless you feel like going bankrupt when someone trips over the bag you left in the middle of the floor and gets brain-damage from hitting their head on a table.
There's also health insurance, which you have the honor of paying for yourself. And self-employment taxes to uncle sam. And an extra phone line. And that new laptop, external hard drive, copies of Quickbooks, Acronis True Image, etc.. etc.. etc..
In fact, it's quite common for independent consultants to "take home" only 50% of what they "make".
And anyway, if you're any good, you're worth more than $20 / hr. Take a hint from the plumbers and electricians... $80/hr+ is really what you need to be thinking.
And if someone complains about $80, tell them to call up "Geeks on Call" or "Geek Squad". Geek Squad doesn't show up for less than $160 guaranteed.
-R
Parent
A pound of flesh. (Score:5, Funny)
Wots the similarity between computers and compost? (Score:4, Insightful)
Rule: Once you accept money for a service, the relationship changes. I fix computers for the odd friend. I do not charge.
I fix computers for customers who I do charge.
So what about the compost?
I like to garden to relax. I also maintain a triple bay compost area at the back of the section. I generate more compost than I can use. I started offering bags of compost to friends for free.
Some months later, my wife pointed out that the bags I purchased to put the compost in, had cost $200. Works out to about
I starting asking for a coin donation for the compost to cover the cost of the bag, I would explain to the people.
In the first 2 weeks of "selling" 5 bags, I recieved 5 "feedbacks". Previously I recieved none over 2 years, over maybe 100 bags given away.
Comments I recieved were:"
- "But I bought a bag last time, I don't have to pay for another?"
- Recieved a call from the wife of a customer, saying there was a milk bottle cap in the compost. Could she bring it back and get another bag of compost.
- "I don't have any change, can I give it to you later?"
- "Oh, thats a bit expensive. You can get twice the amount of compost from the garden centre.". ( I later learn that thats per bucket, and the liners you can buy for the cars Trunk(US), boot(UK, Aus, NZ) cost $2.00.
I have gone back to giving it away.
Ferengi Rules Of Acquisition (Score:5, Funny)
Exploitation begins at home.
The key point with the beer offering (Score:4, Funny)
When you start to work on the computer do so in a distracted manner - keep talking and babbling while glancing back and forth at the screen. Horror stories about computer problems you've fixed (real or imagined) are good, but especially comments about things you've done that have fucked up computers. "Yeah I used to think anti-static wrist wraps were for pansies, then there was the time I blew out an entire system from one little spark. Damn, over $1000 in damages, just from my stupidity. Oh, were did I put that anti-static strap? Must have left it at home, oh well, no biggie."
Also make sure to make comments like "Whoops! Hmmm, well didn't really need that anyway.", "So you do shopping on the Interweb? Man you should change your password, that one is too easy to hack." "What are these pictures of? analdogsex.com? I didn't know you leaned that way." "Jesus! You've got more spyware than the Kremlin in here!"
If you are really mean you can also play some nice practical jokes while you are there. You know the stuff - make hardcore porn auto launch when you log in, switch the sounds out for farts. Whatever floats your boat.
Odds are you can do the tech support blind, deaf and drunk anyway but the nice thing is you get to entertain yourself, terrify your friend and quite possibly next time your friend will take the machine to a shop instead of calling you to fix it.
Be careful saying no... (Score:5, Funny)
I have been a unix admin and currently am a network engineer. I don't "do windows" professionally. Still, my dad often calls for help. Once I pointed out that as a professor he has a university IT department he can call for help with their computers. His response?
"Listen, I didn't pay for 4 years of college to get lip outta you. Now shut up and answer the fucking question."
Yeah, Dad, I love you too...
My Tech Support Story (Score:4, Insightful)
Last Saturday, my dad asked me to help out a friend of his with his computer setup as well as teach his wife about the internet. Sounds good. I went to the guy's house, and noticed that their "high speed internet" was really not that high at all. I was getting 5KB/sec maximum from all kinds of servers. I was told the provider they were using were one of those mom and pops isps with a cheap $20/month deal for their "broadband" package. Fair enough, we could still work with that. Right a way I noticed that their computer was already full of spyware, and also noticed they were using IE. I explained to them, in very simple terms, the benefits of using a web browser that has better security. I recommended Firefox. I installed it for them and told them to give it a try. They liked it. I then proceeded to explain to them the basics of downloading, chatting on their msn account, etc. By the time I left, everything seemed ok, they seemed happy to know a bit more but I did tell them to look into their slow connection since I know you can get a better connection for the same amount of price.
The next day I get a called from the guy's wife telling me that her "list" doesn't display. I had no clue what she was talking about. After about 10 minutes of trying to figure out what they were talking about, I realized they were talking about their msn contacts list. I asked her if she was having problems signing in. She said yes, "the little green men are not dancing". I figured it might be a problem with msn. I told her to try Firefox and see if she can get anywhere. Nothing, she couldn't get the default homepage. I asked her if she had touched anything else on the computer but she said no, so I told her that it is most likely a problem with their Internet Service Provider and that they should call them and ask them if there are any problems in the area. This woman starts telling me that maybe I broke her computer by pressing the wrong "button" but she was still going to call the tech support people to see what is going on.
The next day at work while on the phone with one of the company's clients, I keep on an incoming call. It was the guy from the previous day. The person wants to know what happened to his computer, he says the new program reset his settings and now he doesn't have internet. He says it is not a problem with the Internet provider but rather the new program that I installed (Firefox). After 30minutes of trying to explain that it is nearly impossible for the new program to just go and start messing around with the internet settings I gave up. The guy is still blaming me for his broken internet. So, not only do I get disturbed while at work but I get blamed on breaking their computer after I went out of my way to help these people?
Their #1 excuse is that they don't have time to learn and would rather be told in a few minutes what to do. Well guess what, it doesn't work that way. If you don't have time to learn, maybe you shouldn't be using a computer! If you don't have time to learn, and can't try out things on your own and unless you are prepared to fork out $ for someone to baby-sit your computer, you should really consider NOT using a computer! It is a complex piece of technology that has a learning curve that you should be prepare to climb, it just doesn't come to you in one day. Just like anything else new in life, it takes time!.
What would you guys do? Until I can find a better approac
My Fee - free if you have a Mac, no Win work (Score:5, Interesting)
Now I generally just push people away who have issues unless they have Macs, and I gently point them that way if it seems like it would be good for them.
I have to admit I did help one guy with a Windows laptop track down a memory problem (using a Linux LiveCD of course)... so I guess I draw the line at fixing Windows, but am OK helping a litte with pure hardware issues.
Is asking for money essential? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:I don't charge much... (Score:4, Funny)
That way no one can work on it, and you're safe from further support calls. I like it!
Parent
Re:My plans (Score:5, Insightful)
Here's the deal: call around and ask local plumbers and auto mechanics what their labor rate is. Find an average and charge that rate for your computer services. It'll be in the ball park of $85+, unless you're in a semi-rural area.
No, he's probably not professional. The reasons plumbers and electricians can charge so much are they are 1- licensed, but mostly 2- they're insured. I can demand $200 an hour, and when the client asks why I charge so much, I can say that all my work is *insured*, that any damage I might unintentionally cause will be covered by the insurance company. The neighbor's kid may charge less, but what happens if he drops a coke into the laptop? What happens if he destroys all the data? What recourse do you have? Because professionals are insured, they can charge more because there's less risk.
Parent