Rates and Policies

Fees - Residential and Business

Residential
First fifteen minutes (initial analysis & diagnosis, in our office only).............Free
On-site Repairs..........................$50/hour, rounded to 15 mins, minimum 1 hour
Repairs in our office....................$40/hour, rounded to 15 mins, minimum 1 hour
Training (max 2 people) (on-site)..........................................................$50/hour
Training (max 2 people) (in our office)...................................................$35/hour
Group Training, dependent on attendees and subject...........Fixed price (contract)
Spyware Special (evaluation and updates of antivirus & antispyware on your computer, status of windows patches, scans for infections and removal of obvious problems, appx 2 hours. Does not cover removal of deep infections or recovery from damage by infections.)........................................................................$50
Regular Tune-Up (spyware sweep, patches, defragment, driver updates, BIOS updates)...................................................................................................$80
Travel Fee (for more than 25 miles roundtrip)................................$5 / 25 miles
Pick Up & Drop Off Fee (for work done in our office)...................................$10

Business
On-Site Consulting during business hours.............................................$90/hour
On-Site Consulting after business hours...............................................$60/hour
Cabling (Small Jobs: RF (coaxial), Ethernet, Phone) after business hours.................................................................................................$30/hour
Documents and Templates...............................................Fixed Price (contract)

Privacy, Payment and Service Policies

We at Starry Night Computing Services, LLC are a "Mom & Pop" computer consulting and repair company. We are vehement believers in the philosophy "do unto others as you would have done unto you", and as such are opposed to breaches of privacy and violation of our clients' trust. With that in mind, there are times that we will have to go rooting around your hard drive to search for infected files, or to back up your data. We promise that we will not snoop around your private files for unprofessional purposes, nor will we take or keep any of your data without your express permission. However, if we come across blatantly illegal content during the course of repairs, we are required to report it to the proper authorities.

We have a free 15-minute evaluation policy in order to reassure you that we care about doing the job right. Some conditions just take time to diagnose properly, especially hardware problems. It is vastly easier and more efficient for us to do most repair work in our office, and allows us to make use of all of our tools and spare parts. It is not as easy to diagnose and repair some problems outside of our office, so please keep that in mind when choosing a service location.

We don't charge you for the time we are not actively working on your repair in our office. For example, when a computer is infected with a virus or spyware, the scans to detect & remove the infections can last for over an hour sometimes. If we're doing something unrelated during that hour, we are not going to charge you for it, unless we're on-site at your home or business.

We will consult with you before any purchase of spare parts. Sometimes we can sell used parts, but for many items we will recommend a new item, and can either send you the information to purchase the part yourself, or for a $10 flat surcharge we can purchase it for you and add the item to your repair invoice. Because we are not a store, we do not keep many new parts on hand. If the replacement part does not resolve your issue, you are responsible for returning it if you purchased it yourself; otherwise we will return it if we purchased it for you.

Some of our work is guaranteed. Hardware repairs, driver installs, software upgrades, documents, etc. However, some services are not guaranteed; one service in particular is virus and spyware removal. Because of the deep nature of some infections, we cannot guarantee that we will uncover all infected files or be able to repair all damage. With some very deep infections, the only alternative is to do a full system restore. We try to give our clients a realistic idea of how well the infections have been repaired, and if a full restore seems to be the only solution we will contact you before we proceed.

We believe in educating our clients about the use of their computers. In that vein, we try to provide free supporting documentation with many of our repairs so that you know how the problem occurred, and how to prevent it from happening again. Because we are only a small part-time duo, we are not able to provide full documentation for all situations. If you are interested in learning more about your computer, we are happy to discuss repairs with you, or offer you one-on-one training (either pre-written or learner-driven q&a).

Payment is expected in full at the time the computer is returned to you. Cash and checks are accepted. No money orders. Paypal (credit card) payments are accepted only for those who are pre-approved before repairs begin. In some cases we also accept bartered goods and services in exchange for computer repair work. If you are a farmer, artist, etc. please ask before repairs begin if we are interested in substituting part of your bill for barter. You will receive a receipt at the time that you pay.

We want to make friends, not enemies. If you are unsatisfied with the work done to your computer, please speak with us.

Liability Policy: Starry Night Computing Services, LLC is not responsible for accidental damages or theft to your equipment while it is in our care. We take all appropriate measures to secure items in our office and during transport, but we cannot foresee or prevent all accidents.