6 ms·

This is a junior sysadmin I suspect. With a bit more experience you'd learn to say something along the lines of "no downtime, sure, that will be 30 grand" and t

This is a junior sysadmin I suspect. With a bit more experience you'd learn to say something along the lines of "no downtime, sure, that will be 30 grand" and the ability for downtime will suddenly materialize. Him and his friend did this big song and dance, took a huge risk and only got paid for ten hours worth of work in the end.

zrail 6y ago
$30k, 80% up front, strict liability waiver that says I’m not responsible for loss of business or anything else if there is downtime.
- pedrocr 6y ago
  Now you're over-charging massively. If you have no liability and are guaranteed pay, charging for just double hourly rate is more than enough as a "stupid and non-standard requirements" kind of thing.
- imtringued 6y ago
  You can't get paid upfront and at the same time get a liability waiver. For a 100% guarantee with full liability $30k doesn't actually sound ridiculous because it would require obtaining 100% identical hardware and doing at least one test run on that hardware before actually doing it on the production hardware. What the contractor did is basically "wing it", explain a way to get zero downtime to the client and then not actually offer a guarantee by doing the operation straight on the production hardware. Really this was more about convincing (ie bullshitting your way through) the client to let you do the work than actually doing it properly and for a huge sum of money. It wouldn't surprise me if there was actual downtime for a few seconds and the client simply didn't notice it.
cellularmitosis 6y ago
> sure, that will be 30 grand I am having trouble finding a reference to it now, but I've heard patio11 refer to this as "the Japanese no". Don't ever say "no" directly, just quote an astronomical price.
- x86_64Ubuntu 6y ago
  People in the trades world do it too. If a job won't provide the margin they are seeking, or the job is more difficult than it's worth they will up the price. If the consumer chooses them to do the job, it's at a pricepoint that's worth the trouble but they are really hoping to be passed over.
  - coldcode 6y ago
    The Rolling Stones tried that with Microsoft and "Start Me Up", they quoted what they thought was ridiculous $10M. Microsoft said sure, no problem.
    - Strom 6y ago
      That's a fun story. Looking more into it, it seems that $10M is based on rumors and it was more likely $3M. [1] Doesn't change the point of the story though. -- [1] https://www.networkworld.com/article/2220097/what-microsoft-paid-the-stones-to-help-launch-windows-95.html https://www.networkworld.com/article/2220097/what-microsoft-...
    - vntok 6y ago
      $10M is a debunked urban legend; the actual figure is only $3M, which is pretty standard. Microsoft's whole ad campaign for Win95 cost about $200M after all.
  - briankelly 6y ago
    My dad's in construction and frequently gives out "fuck off" quotes. It isn't so rare that the client accepts them.
- vorpalhex 6y ago
  I had a client who wanted me to write some code in Adobe Coldfusion of all things. Not wanting to say no to an otherwise good client, I quoted some insane hourly. And now I know that Coldfusion is absolutely miserable to code in (and the client tried to dodge their bills!).
- 6y ago

zrail 6y ago

$30k, 80% up front, strict liability waiver that says I’m not responsible for loss of business or anything else if there is downtime.

pedrocr 6y ago
Now you're over-charging massively. If you have no liability and are guaranteed pay, charging for just double hourly rate is more than enough as a "stupid and non-standard requirements" kind of thing.
imtringued 6y ago
You can't get paid upfront and at the same time get a liability waiver. For a 100% guarantee with full liability $30k doesn't actually sound ridiculous because it would require obtaining 100% identical hardware and doing at least one test run on that hardware before actually doing it on the production hardware. What the contractor did is basically "wing it", explain a way to get zero downtime to the client and then not actually offer a guarantee by doing the operation straight on the production hardware. Really this was more about convincing (ie bullshitting your way through) the client to let you do the work than actually doing it properly and for a huge sum of money. It wouldn't surprise me if there was actual downtime for a few seconds and the client simply didn't notice it.

cellularmitosis 6y ago

> sure, that will be 30 grand I am having trouble finding a reference to it now, but I've heard patio11 refer to this as "the Japanese no". Don't ever say "no" directly, just quote an astronomical price.

x86_64Ubuntu 6y ago
People in the trades world do it too. If a job won't provide the margin they are seeking, or the job is more difficult than it's worth they will up the price. If the consumer chooses them to do the job, it's at a pricepoint that's worth the trouble but they are really hoping to be passed over.
- coldcode 6y ago
  The Rolling Stones tried that with Microsoft and "Start Me Up", they quoted what they thought was ridiculous $10M. Microsoft said sure, no problem.
  - Strom 6y ago
    That's a fun story. Looking more into it, it seems that $10M is based on rumors and it was more likely $3M. [1] Doesn't change the point of the story though. -- [1] https://www.networkworld.com/article/2220097/what-microsoft-paid-the-stones-to-help-launch-windows-95.html https://www.networkworld.com/article/2220097/what-microsoft-...
  - vntok 6y ago
    $10M is a debunked urban legend; the actual figure is only $3M, which is pretty standard. Microsoft's whole ad campaign for Win95 cost about $200M after all.
- briankelly 6y ago
  My dad's in construction and frequently gives out "fuck off" quotes. It isn't so rare that the client accepts them.
vorpalhex 6y ago
I had a client who wanted me to write some code in Adobe Coldfusion of all things. Not wanting to say no to an otherwise good client, I quoted some insane hourly. And now I know that Coldfusion is absolutely miserable to code in (and the client tried to dodge their bills!).
6y ago