My promises to you
People pretending to be computer help are the most common way older adults in this country get cheated. You are right to be careful. Here is exactly what I will never do, so you have something to measure me against.
What I will never do
- I will never call you first. If your phone rings and it is supposedly me, and we had not arranged a time — hang up and call me back at (614) 526-8883.
- I will never tell you your computer has a virus. Anyone who calls you up and says that is running a scam. Even if they say they are me.
- I will never ask you for a password. Not your email, not your bank, not anything. If something needs signing into, you type it and I look away.
- I will never ask you to buy gift cards, wire money, or send cryptocurrency — and I will never send you a payment link or ask you to pay while we are on the phone. You pay $99 in person, after the work is done, by card or cash.
- I will never ask you to open your bank account while I am connected to your computer.
- I will never connect to your computer unless you are sitting there and you say yes.
- I will never leave anything on your computer without telling you. If I do put something on, I show you how to remove it and write it down.
- I will never rush you. There is no hurry, there is no deadline, and there is never a reason you must decide right now.
How to know it is really me
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Ask me for our code word. We choose one together, in person, at your first visit, and I write it on the card I leave by your phone. If I cannot say it, it is not me.
Never say it first. Make me say it. Anyone who asks you what the code word is, is not me. -
My number is (614) 526-8883. It is on your card and on your invoice. Any other number is not me.
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If I ever read you a web address over the phone, it is always this one: tech.estepz.com/remote. If someone reads you any other address, it is not me — however much it sounds like my website.
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You called me. Every session starts with you calling me. If I am calling you at a time we agreed, I will say our code word before I ask you to do anything at all — and if I do not, hang up and call me back.
Before we have a code word
We agree the code word at my first visit — which means at that first visit there is not one yet. So here is how that one works:
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You booked it. I only come to a home when the person living there, or their family, called me and we agreed a day and a time. I never knock on a door unannounced.
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Ask me to wait outside while you check. Close the door, call (614) 526-8883 yourself, and see whether my phone rings. I will not mind in the slightest — I would rather you did.
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Have someone with you. A neighbour, a friend, one of your children on speakerphone. Any of that is welcome.
Want your son or daughter on the call? Good — I prefer it.
People running scams work by getting you on your own and keeping you there. I would rather have your family listening in. Put me on speaker, or give them my number and have them call me first.
What $99 covers
One session, however long it takes. In your home or over the phone, whichever you prefer. You pay when the work is done and you are happy with it — not before.
If a job turns out to need more than one session, I will tell you that before I start the second one, and you decide. You will always get an estimate before I begin, whether or not you ask for one.
Anything here you would like to talk through? Call me: (614) 526-8883