Repair woes...

[Clayford]

A friend of of a friend contacts me, he has a gig tomorrow night and his ZVex SHO is busted could I look at it. Sure bring it on over, we'll look at it and see what can be done. What's it gonna cost - it's a $200 pedal... I told him I have almost every part in the pedal and it shouldn't be more than $15-$20. He gets here and the insides smelled of beer and had some dried crud on the PCB.. It needed cleaned up with some electronics cleaner, a new diode, two caps, and a tranny. I asked for $20 to repair it and suddenly I'm an jerk that's "trying to f*(< him over". He said he could just send it off to ZVEX who would fix it for free. I naturally sent him on his way with a $200 brick and don't let the door hit you in the arse on the way out. Friend wants to know why I wouldn't just fix it for (this is the idiot) the cost of the parts.

I've repaired the occasional pedal for folks before. Price has always kinda depended on relationship. Now even if ZVEX would fix it for free (doubtful) the shipping and insurance there and back are likely to be at least $15 and you have a gig tomorrow. I don't think asking $20 for my time, knowledge, and parts is unreasonable is it? 

<edited for for clarity, edits in italics>

[croquet hoop]

Not unreasonable at all, especially since you told him how much it would be from the outset. Plus, given the state of the pedal and the emergency situation, he should have been happy to have it fixed this way.

You should have put the old parts and dirt back in, given back the pedal and told him "okay, send it to Zvex, good luck for your gig tomorrow" 

[gordo]

The dude is a complete a$$hole.  Standard bench charge is a half hour at $75/hr for a lot of shops.  ZVex isn't going to fix it for free, and certainly not in 24 hrs.  The guy should have not only been VERY grateful that you fixed it, but should have gladly paid you $20 and brought over a six pack.

[jkokura]

Yeah. I fix pedals for a local shop occaisionally. I told them my bench rate is $20 an hour plus parts. I was told to raise my rates by double...

Seriously. The guys nuts. I have friends I've fixed pedals for that I said I'd do it for free, and they still paid me $25 for a half hour of work. If he isn't trying to pay you, he's another one of the entitled masses that are walking around.

Jacob

[jimilee]

I would've told your friend that his friend is a dick and perhaps not send anyone your way for repairs. agreed 20 is way cheap for a pedal repair.

[alanp]

Heard an old story, once.

A company's old machine that they can't do business without dies. They try and fix it, no joy, expensive consultants can't get the wanker going... eventually, someone decides to call in the original designer.

He comes in, spends a few minutes looking at it carefully, and makes a chalk mark on the side. After he leaves, the company finds the problem there. They get a bill for $10,000 two days later, and promptly demand an itemized bill.

"Chalk, $1. Knowing where to put it, $9,999."

Or, tldr, tell him to fix it himself if the fix itself is not even worth that much.

[spin]

Wow, $20 is a steal. How could this guy expect anything less than that? It's not like you sold the pedal for $200, why would you price match his word on a free repair..
I had a similar thing happen with a little combo amp I fixed a couple years ago. I charged I think 45 bucks to figure out and replace two caps that were going bad. "it only cost you $2 in parts" is what i heard. some people...

[Clayford]

"Chalk, $1. Knowing where to put it, $9,999."

That designer quote is perfect in this case - because that's exactly what the issue is. The fix is quick, the parts are cheap, but knowledge isn't

I would've told your friend that his friend is a dick and perhaps not send anyone your way for repairs. agreed 20 is way cheap for a pedal repair.

I received a text from my buddy that hooked the sh!tbag up with me. Apologies were made. Apparently said idiot is not his friend but a friend of a friend. Things happen.

The two fixes I've done for friends I said parts only and they brought beer and cash as well. I didn't complain. I worked on a couple of personal pedals for an employee at my local guitar shop - wah mod and fixing a Rat - nothing fancy, a few resistors, transistors, LED's, and a switch - I left with a dozen of my preferred strings and was also given a used Phaser that I liked the sound of when I brought them back.

You should have put the old parts and dirt back in, given back the pedal and told him "okay, send it to Zvex, good luck for your gig tomorrow" 

Like I said - he left with a $200 brick

Generally people are happy and even grateful to have their broken favorites restored to working order. Others are idiots.

[pickdropper]

Yeah, I think that some folks look at cost of parts but ignore the value of one's time.

The funny thing is that all of my friends understand that.  I've only ever run into an issue with friends of friends.  I've found that it's better just to quote a price ahead of time.  That sorts things out.

When I fix or modify things for friends, it's not uncommon for me to do it for free, but I want that to be offered by me and not expected of me; there's a big difference.

[raulduke]

What a d*ck.

This kind of thing infuriates me.

Some people just want everything for free.

I see it all the time at work, and also when I build pedals for people. It really, really, gets on my t*ts!

[Govmnt_Lacky]

I find that this thought process carries over to pedal purchases as well.... the entitlement and "something for nothing" attitude.

You can build a Tubescreamer and A/B it with the real deal and they sound identical. Try to sell it for $75 and people look at you like you are a con artist. "C'mon... it didnt cost you that much to build it. Why are you charging that much?" 

Ok then.... go pick one up on eBay for $400 then moron!

I tend to chalk this phenomenon up to pure hype! Do you plan on USING it or are you going to keep it in your safe deposit box?!

Sorry... did I wonder off topic? 

[raulduke]

I think the sense of self entitlement and 'everything-must-be-free' attitude is becoming a lot more common.

Look at music; a lot of kids these days don't see the point in actually paying for it. 'why should I pay for an artist I love when I can torrent it/listen to it on Youtube?'

Another common thing I have found at work is policies regarding payments. A lot of companies will only pay on receipt of a statement that in no uncertain terms states their account will be closed, and legal action will be taken, if they don't. This is pretty much company policy at some places!

This kind of sh*t really makes my blood boil. It's one thing being tight/frugal (I am a Yorkshireman afterall ), it's another being a d*ck who refuses to pay for anything!

[pickdropper]

I find that this thought process carries over to pedal purchases as well.... the entitlement and "something for nothing" attitude.

You can build a Tubescreamer and A/B it with the real deal and they sound identical. Try to sell it for $75 and people look at you like you are a con artist. "C'mon... it didnt cost you that much to build it. Why are you charging that much?" 

Ok then.... go pick one up on eBay for $400 then moron!

I tend to chalk this phenomenon up to pure hype! Do you plan on USING it or are you going to keep it in your safe deposit box?!

Sorry... did I wonder off topic? 

I've hit this on occasion.  Most times, it's folks on TGP PMing me out of nowhere and trying to get me to build them a one-off for significantly less than they could buy the real thing.

I think from their perspective, they are getting a pedal built by a DIYer that won't have the resale value of the real thing (both true statements).

From my perspective, they are effectively asking for a one-off custom pedal.  The resale value doesn't really factor into the value of my own time.  If you ask somebody to build you a custom motorcycle, it isn't going to have the resale value of a Harley, and you aren't got to get it for less than half the price of a Harley either.  The economy of scale that mass production affords is completely lost on a single person building a single pedal.

That said, I've met some cool folks that were very realistic.  I've turned more of them down than accepted (for my own reasons), but there are folks out there that understand the value of time and craftsmanship.

[Clayford]

I find that this thought process carries over to pedal purchases as well.... the entitlement and "something for nothing" attitude.

You can build a Tubescreamer and A/B it with the real deal and they sound identical. Try to sell it for $75 and people look at you like you are a con artist. "C'mon... it didnt cost you that much to build it. Why are you charging that much?" 

Ok then.... go pick one up on eBay for $400 then moron!

I tend to chalk this phenomenon up to pure hype! Do you plan on USING it or are you going to keep it in your safe deposit box?!

Sorry... did I wonder off topic? 

I don't think you did, but I've only had good experiences from friends wanting something built. Fuzz, TS, boost are the usual requests and I'm ok with building those. I did get a request for a Timmy which earned a sideways look from me along with a quote of $150... But that's what they normally are! I know! Go buy one and support Paul dang it! There we go with those strange ethics again.

I think the following should be my payment policy going forward for repairs etc:
"Terms are payment in advance, in full, and all sales are final, with no letters of credit, lay-aways, or IOU's. We do have a buy-back policy: If you buy it, don't bring it back."

I had a text message from said idiot. He's sorry he flipped his sh!t, can I please fix his pedal and he'll pay me the $20. There's a part of me that wants to help him and another part of me that wants to tell him to fold that $20 till it's all sharp corners and stick it.

[Govmnt_Lacky]

I had a text message from said idiot. He's sorry he flipped his sh!t, can I please fix his pedal and he'll pay me the $20. There's a part of me that wants to help him and another part of me that wants to tell him to fold that $20 till it's all sharp corners and stick it.

Or, you could tell him that "Due to unforseen circumstances and fluctuations in the marketplace, the cost of the repair will now be $40!"

Should cover the cost of a six pack