Every price I charge, in one list.
These are labor prices. They do not move.
Travel is separate and always charged — that number depends on where you are, and it is worked out on the travel page. Read $80 as $80 plus the drive, not as $80 all in.
LABOR
I find out what is actually wrong and tell you what fixing it costs. Always billed, even if you decide to stop there. Go ahead with the repair and the diagnostic comes off the bill.
Startup junk cleared, updates caught up, dust cleaned out. The machine ends up running like it did when it was new. I record boot time and startup load before and after, so you see the difference instead of taking my word for it.
The infection removed, a look at what it touched, and protection set up so it stays out. Not for an active break-in — see below.
A clean Windows or macOS install, with your files, accounts, printers and browser carried across.
The old drive swapped for a solid-state one and everything copied over, so it boots exactly the same, only quicker. Parts: the drive.
More memory fitted and tested, and I tell you honestly whether it will help your machine. Parts: the memory.
A cracked or dead panel replaced with one that matches your exact model. Parts: the screen.
Your files copied to a drive or a new machine, and I show you where everything landed. Includes pulling files off a healthy drive during the same visit.
A machine assembled from parts you bought or I sourced at cost, then tested and set up. The range depends on how involved the build is: $100 if you supply every part, $150 if I spec and source them, $200 for a complex build such as a custom loop, small form factor, or heavy cable management.
Router placed properly, dead spots chased down, passwords and a guest network sorted. Parts: any hardware.
The same for a small business: more than one access point, a printer everyone can actually reach, and names that make sense. Parts: any hardware.
Two components in one open case: the dearer one at full price, each extra at half. RAM and an SSD with clone in the same session is $70 plus $20, $90 rather than $110.
Anything physical that stays with your machine: a drive, memory, a screen, a router.
Billed at what I paid plus the card fee on your payment. I will show you the receipt if you want it.
South Carolina sales tax at 6% applies to separately stated materials only.
Labor is untaxed.
If I cannot fix it, you do not pay for the labor.
The $30 diagnostic and the trip fee are always billed, whether the repair succeeds or not.
If the problem turns out to be on your internet provider’s end, the same applies: diagnostic and trip, no labor.
Liquid damage is the one exception: the diagnostic is billed and no fix, no fee does not apply. I say so before the machine is opened.
Labor is warranted for 30 days on the work performed. If the same fault comes back in that time, I return and redo it at no labor and no trip fee. Parts carry the manufacturer’s warranty.
WHAT A VISIT ACTUALLY COMES TO
Labor is only part of the bill, so here are three real visits added up end to end. Your estimate will look like one of these.
No job minimum in Zone 1, and no surcharge on a weeknight before 2100.
Zone 2 has no minimum either, and the trip fee is billed whatever the outcome.
Zone 3 carries a $150 job minimum, so the $70 labor is billed at the floor. The trip fee is billed whatever the outcome, and I say so before I drive.
Every figure above is arithmetic from the published rates, not a special offer. The travel side is worked out on the travel page.
If it is ransomware, or the drive is failing: power it off and stop using it.
That is the whole of the correct advice, and there is nothing attached to it to buy.
Every minute a compromised or dying machine stays on makes the outcome worse. Turn it off, then write to me and I will tell you who to call.
A live break-in has legal reporting consequences.
Poking at it destroys the evidence you may need. You want a firm that does incident response, and I am not one.
Hurrying a failing drive ruins the odds instead of improving them.
That work belongs in a lab with the drive left alone — not in a one-visit call at your table.
If the drive is healthy, I will copy your files off while I am there.
That is backup and file transfer, on the list above at $75.
Saying no to two jobs costs me work. Saying yes to them would cost you more.
A few specialist jobs I refer out rather than attempt, board-level repair among them, are listed in the Service Agreement.