Policies

Rates  •  Billable Time  •  Payment  •  Email, Phone & Remote Support  •  Cancellations  •  Our Hours  •  Emergencies  •  New Clients

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Our standard engineering/consulting rate is $225/hr, billed in 15 minute increments. For on-site work, there’s a 2 hour minimum per visit. There's also a flat charge for travel per-visit based on location, typically $85-$100 within the Metro-Boston area (within the Route 128 belt) and Metrowest areas and slightly higher for locations outside of the Route 128 and Metrowest areas. Initial on-site evaluations are a 1 hour minimum, plus the travel charge. Travel beyond those areas or overnight is negotiated in advance. Our Helpdesk rate is $185/hr, billed in 15 minute increments.

Billable time is any time spent that utilizes our expertise. Time spent creating proposals, providing purchasing advice, walking through new facilities, meeting you at the Apple Store, speaking with vendors or contractors on your behalf… these are all billable functions. Just as with our service time, we do our best to complete these tasks quickly and thoroughly. We don’t hang around and chat on your dime!

Also, we’re paid for our time, not necessarily a specific result. Think of a lawyer or a physician; they get paid even if you don’t win. Technology is a dynamic environment. It might work when we leave, but stop working the next day. We strive for solid solutions, but on rare occasions, it can take several tries to get things to work, and we bill for our time along the way.

Occasionally, we will have to take a call from another client when we’re with you. We do not bill you for this time, and remember – that call may be you next time.

We require that new clients pay on site, in the form of cash or check, as well as VISA, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. Please make checks payable to Call Andy! Macintosh Consulting. Any invoices are due upon receipt, unless other terms are arranged with us in advance of any work performed. Existing clients with whom we have arranged terms will be billed according to those terms.

Project payment terms:

Hardware: 100% paid up front to order equipment

Consulting services: 50% up front, 50% immediately after project completion

Technology often enables us to solve your issues without coming to your location in some instances. We do this whenever possible, as it is the most efficient use of everybody’s time. For existing clients, short calls (<5 minutes) or emails are without charge. For longer interactions or new clients, we bill our standard rate in 15 minute increments, but without travel or minimum.

We use our discretion in evaluating whether or not phone, email, or remote support delivers more value than an on-site visit. If we feel that your issue cannot be solved remotely, we will work with you to schedule an appointment.

We understand that occasionally circumstances come up that require you to cancel a previously scheduled appointment. We will do our best to accommodate these situations, however, we ask that you give us as much notice as possible. Cancellations made within 24 business hours of an appointment will be charged the 2 hour minimum for that appointment, while cancellations made when we are already in transit will be charged at the 2 hour minimum plus travel. We will always work with you to reschedule your appointment in a timely fashion.

We’re available 24x7x365. Having said that, our “official” business hours are 9am to 6pm, Monday through Friday, except for recognized holidays. Our on-site appointment starting times are typically 10am and 1:30pm.

We do have to eat to think, so during any full-day appointment we will quietly step out for 30-45 minutes to grab lunch. This is not billable time.

Any request to work outside of these hours is evaluated on a per-request basis.

We will do our best to provide the fastest support possible. If your emergency does not conflict with a previous appointment, we can generally be on site within travel time + 30 minutes during business hours. If it is an after-hours emergency, we can provide phone, email, and remote support at our typical rate if appropriate, or schedule you for the next available appointment. We evaluate each emergency on a case-by-case basis and work with you to get an optimum resolution.

"But what IS an emergency?"

An emergency is a situation where your ability to work is totally compromised. Only you can determine when a situation is an actual emergency, but here’s a helpful checklist:

• You have restarted, and the problem still exists

• You have repaired disk permissions, and the problem still exists

• You have restarted your modem and router (for network issues)

• Your system is unresponsive

• You can’t perform a critical function

• There is a very strange sound

• Smoke. Anywhere. Anytime.

For after-hours emergencies, we also request that you ask yourself the following before contacting us:

• Is there a temporary workaround, however imperfect?

• Can this wait until business hours?

We request that all new clients print and sign OR electronically sign this page prior to our arrival. This represents our contracted typical policies, although each individual client agreement is different and must be approved verbally or electronically ahead of time.

Signature: ___________________________________ Date: __________________