Installers, Why Help Noobs and DIY’ers?

just as an aside.... i encourage customers to DIY... i tell them quickly the pertinent info they need, sell them the dash kit, interface harness and antenna adapter and send them on their way..... as we know the bulk of profit on audio in the bay is on the accessories..... so if you make that sale still anyway you are already ahead and also are helping to save your customer money on labour......

i have many customers who have come to me simply with a problem or to buy a fuse holder etc who have now over the years bought thousands of dollars worth of install accessories, data modules, etc and still enjoy the satisfaction of doing something successfully with their own two hands......

of course it's up to you to differentiate between the guy who is just humping your leg for the tenth time and the guy who will actually appreciate what you tell him and potentially buy the recommended accessories from you instead of BB, etc.......

Interesting conversion guys, thanks for your replies

Some of people have brought up some good points, and some that I don't agree with. In my opening post, I asked the question, 'is there a limit to info you should share?', not, 'Don't help people because they are dumb'. Everyone has their own opinions about gear and setups. I like voicing my thoughs as much as the next guy and like hearing what everyone has to say. Well, not everyone...'My dad has that starter and i works real good', is not one of them.

For example, a guy came in to my shop yesterday wanting his deck wired, sure np. He tried to do it himself, cut the factory wiring, ok np. The koss deck he brought is the cheapo style that has the plug for the deck in-line and he cut it off, ok np. During wiring it up, my installer tells me that there is no speakers in the car, feeling bad for the guy, I apologetically tell him, but he doesn't want to stick any more money into his winter beater(or can't afford it), np. My saleman sells him some old speakers of the getto table, and he is going to do it himself and I tell him how. Today he comes back,'I have no sound', ok np. I go outside pull the deck out, double check the wiring, everything looks ok, I asked him if he's sure the speaker wires aren't shorted to ground anywhere and he says he's sure, ok. You deck is screwed I tell him and away he goes. Then he comes back again with a new deck, cut out the deck wiring(cuz he can't unplug the deck because he cut the deck harness off), and can't get it working. I have the car pulled in, have the deck bench tested, no rear output. He just wants rears anyway, so I have my installer re-install the deck to the front outputs and I test the speakers. Found a wire grounded out so I check the speakers and the customer broke of a terminal on the speaker and it was touching metal. Fix that, have the deck re-installed and send him on his way. So, a simple deck install turned into four times the amount of work. Did I charge him more? No. Should I have? Maybe. Will he learn a lesson? Probably not. Did it cost the shop extra? Yep, I still have to pay the techs. Will I see him again? Maybe. Is this an everyday thing? No, but it happens often enough.

Someone said they love fixing customers screw-ups? Can you please PM your shop address so I can give people directions? You can have them all.(I'm not serious,btw).

I should hope anyone who encourages customers to do they're own installs is just talking about decks and simple stuff like that. My shop makes money on labour, and any counter person at my store talking customers into doing stuff himself is going to be looking for a new job. I would never do that to one of my installers, they have kids to feed. Most of my customer come to see me because they need the work done by me. If someone wants to do it themselves and save a buck, then they will go to a BBS where then can buy the gear cheaper anyway. I can't compete with they're prices and I have no problem with a person getting the best deal they can. I've told customers  many times,'If you canget it that cheap, do it'. But even the bbs's send people to me when they can't(or won't) help, and I have had customers tell me before that they wished they'd gone to me first instead of saving a buck.

I never said anything about not helping people who can't afford an install. Almost anyone can do something themselves if they do the research and read. We can tell by the questions asked wether someone has done there homework and is in real trouble or they are to lazy to search for the answer. I might use more discretion in helping people then the next guy, but I feel maybe we can find what we're looking for when we need help with an answer of our own without so much clutter.

But thats just my opinion, everyone is intitled to one. If you want to help everyone or no one, that is up to you.