A Look at Regulating The Computer Repair Industry

Every now and then some Computer Repair rip-off story shows up in the media and finds its way onto YouTube (1, 2, 3, 4). After the Technicians on our forums pick up their jaws from the floor at how unbelievable some of the techs in these videos are, the discussion always turns to regulation of the computer repair industry.

There are Information Technology certifications which are used to regulate those who are being hired by someone else since are used to show that a technician has a basic understanding of certain skills. However, it doesn’t actually mean that the certified person can actually fix a computer. I have personally seen well qualified technicians who were absolutely useless while non-certified technicians were absolutely brilliant.

If you are self employed, you obviously don’t need certifications to get a job since you are your own boss. So who’s going to certify and regulate the self employed and how will it be done? Should we even regulate the computer repair industry at all?

One technician on the Technibble forums proposed a system similar to how plumbers, carpenters and electricians have to be licensed. This regulatory body would require technicians to pass a series of rigorous testing and have a minimum of 5 years industry experience that has to be on paper with the names and numbers of past employers. Similar to applying for a job, once you are all checked out and verified, you get an ID card which signifies that you are approved by your government to do business in the IT field. I’m sure you have all seen those “only used a licensed electrician” ads on TV and this setup would be the same.
To make more computer repair businesses adhere to the standards set by this computer regulatory body, the public will be made aware of this group by large scale news media, signs and public services announcements so regular consumers have the option to see the computer businesses ID card.

While this is probably the best regulatory idea I have heard so far, there is another experienced computer technician on our forums said that he has been running for 3.5 years, started up right out of university with no prior experience and this setup would make him unable to attain the license the other technician is suggesting.
Another great point that the second technician mentioned was the dodgy computer technician shown in these two videos (1, 2) could have more than 5 years experience and knew exactly how to fix the computers on the TV program. His skills may also be good enough to pass the mandatory exams which means he has met all the necessary requirements to become a fully fledged Computer Technician. Being “licensed” his clients will trust him more and he can continue to scam them to his hearts content.

A third technician recommended the idea of a reputation system rather than a regulation system. There could be a website where computer businesses are listed and their clients can leave feedback on the service they received from the technician/shop. Unfortunately I can foresee problems with this system as well. How does the website know if the person leaving feedback was even customer of that technician or store and not their competition trying to give them a bad name? Also, with feedback people tend to use it to complain rather than praise. There are many businesses that I deal with that I am very pleased about, but I don’t hop on the internet posting feedback about them because its a non issue for me. However, I would go online and make it known if I was ripped off so the feedback on this reputation site would be skewed.

All three of these technicians agreed that its very difficult to setup a system that’s infallible that wont affect legitimate technicians in some way.

Now, lets say that we do find a way to regulate the industry that is fair to all technicians; the problem is that it can become over-regulated. My father is a freelance draftsman and he occasionally does some work for companies that develop medical components and this group of companies are now massively over-regulated. When this client first started up about 20 years ago he had his own work processes in developing these components.

A few years later a medical regulatory institution was formed by a small section of the government to cover the development of such components. At this point, the medical regulatory institution had very little power over the businesses but over the years laws were passed, fat politicians shook some hands and this toothless tiger began to grow some teeth. Even more laws have passed since to the point of where it is hurting the businesses.

For his medical products business to remain certified under these new regulations, he has to pass inspections of his factory every now and then by evaluators sent by this regulatory institution. He works hard at making sure he complies to everything but it has reached a point where it has become almost tyrannical. Just recently, he lost a demerit point in an inspection because he had a steel ruler in the factory that was not certified by this group and therefor it was an unauthorized measuring device. A freaking steel ruler..

I can see the computer repair industries regulations getting tighter and tighter as various horror stories arise and politicians have knee-jerk reactions and put in even more rules. Eventually we’ll have to make a hard drive image of each computer before we touch it, even if we are doing something basic, we could even be required to keep a copy of that backup for a few years, pass police checks and get our custom computer builds tested against industry standards.

So, we can have regulation that weed out the computer technician cowboys but we run the risk of being unfairly or over-regulated. What do you guys think?