Sometimes, solutions to clients’ problems are so simple you feel like you’re ripping them off.

In this case, a guy who works as a freelance tech support guy shares how he solved someone’s problem by just… Closing Chrome tabs.

But it was actually a bit deeper than that.

Let’s read the whole story.

I made $45 by closing Chrome

Okay, I did a little more than that, but that was the main thing.

I’m an amateur tech for hire. I have a little formal training, but I’m mostly self-taught.

I mostly work with seniors from the retirement village down the road. Occasionally, I’ll get hired by an older gen xer (I’m a younger gen xer at 48).

Anyway, it’s not enough to make a living doing, more like a hobby that gets me a little pocket cash now and then.

I charge $30/hr with 30 min minimum.

Like I said, it’s not a lot, and I’m not going to charge a huge amount like the stores do, especially to those who are on fixed incomes.

He is genuine and kind to his customers.

Plus, unlike the big stores, my policy is that if I can’t fix it, I won’t charge you.

So today’s client was the daughter of one of my customers who passed away late in the winter. Long story short, I became close to this woman and her daughter.

Anyway, the daughter was in town and had been complaining about her computer being “so slow.” I already knew what the problem was.

It was more than 7 years old, and she liked to have 10+ chrome windows and tabs open plus 3-4 word windows open at once.

I had explained to her once that her computer couldn’t handle that much processing and memory at once (I used different, less technical terms).

It was the same issue again.

So when I got a chance to sit down with it, guess what I found? I had to wait more than 7 minutes for windows to fully load. When it did, Chrome had all these windows open.

I told her she had to close them first (I would’ve done it, but last time she flipped out).

So once she got everything closed, I went to work while she went to take a shower.

I tested my theory by having task manager open and opening several Chrome windows and watching the memory usage go up and up with each one.

So by the time she came back, I was just looking for any rogue programs or bloatware that might’ve been installed OEM.

He explained it in a way she would understand.

She asked how it was doing, and I said, purring like a kitten. She was surprised and asked what was wrong, and I said user error.

I explained what was going on using an analogy of putting things on a physical desk until it was no longer functional. I told her to limit herself to no more than 3 tabs.

She asked about her Yahoo that she was having trouble getting into. I had her open it, and lo and behold, it opened no problem.

I did some other diagnostic stuff, cleaned up the startup programs, etc.

When I left, it was running a full virus scan. She was using some program I had never heard of called Eset, but it was doing fine, so I didn’t mess with it.

This was probably the easiest job I’ve ever done.

He deserved every penny.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this.

Something to consider.

Exactly.

Someone shares their experience.

Why is Chrome like this, anyway?

Very wholesome.

Another reader shares their thoughts.

You can do so much just by having patience with people who have questions.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.