If you're getting the calls, you already know the ones. The computer is slow. There's a warning on the screen. The printer stopped. Someone phoned claiming to be Microsoft and now nobody's sure what got clicked. You're an hour away, or three states away, trying to fix it over the phone with someone who can't see what you're describing.
Stop. Call me instead. I'm retired, I live in Spring Valley, and I've got nowhere to be. I'll sit with your mom or dad at the kitchen table as long as it takes, fix the thing, and explain it in plain English without hurrying. I'm not young either, so nobody gets talked down to.
How it works when you live somewhere else. You call me at (803) 265-8088 and tell me what's going on. I call your parent, introduce myself, and set up a time. I show up, or connect remotely while they watch their own screen. When it's done, I call you, and you pay by card right then over the phone from wherever you are. Your parent never sees a bill. Then I email you two plain sentences about what was wrong and what I did, so you know.
The one promise that matters. I will never ask your mother or father for a card number. Not on the phone, not at the door. You pay me. If anyone claiming to be me ever asks them for payment, it isn't me, and I'd like to hear about it.
What I usually find. Most of the time it's not serious. Something got installed that shouldn't have been. A password changed and nobody wrote it down. The Wi-Fi router got moved. Occasionally it's a scam that got further than it should have, and then we deal with it calmly, including who to call at the bank. Either way you'll get a straight answer about what happened and whether anything needs to change.
Yes. I call you when the work is done and take your card over the phone. Stripe emails you the receipt. $175 for a remote session, $275 for a house call, up to two hours either way.
Fair. I'll call him first so I'm not a stranger by the time I knock, and I'm happy to do a remote session instead where he watches every click on his own screen. Many people prefer that for the first time.
I can make it a lot less likely, and I'll spend time showing them what the fakes look like. I'll also tell you honestly if the computer itself is part of the problem.
I don't do contracts or monitoring, on purpose. But you can call me any time, and if they'd like me to stop by every few months to look things over, we'll just set it up as a normal visit.
Call (803) 265-8088. If I'm under someone's desk, leave a message and I'll call you back the same day.
$175 remote or $275 at your house, up to two hours. Card when it's done.
Other things I fix: Slow computer, Virus and scam popups, Printer problems, Wi-Fi and internet, Email, New computer setup, Backup and lost files, What it costs, Scam phone calls.