Every day, people flock to Geek Squad in Best Buy looking for help with their computer problems. Here are the top 10 fixes that they are offered by their under paid, under trained staff.
10. “How do I...?”
The truth of the matter is that a majority of people only know how to perform 1 or 2 tasks on their computers. When they try to do something out of the ordinary, like trying to burn a CD, something always goes wrong. Geek Squad (GS) will sell: 1) 1 to 2 Hours in-home training. Overall Cost: $159 to $228.
9. “I can't check my email.”
This is more common with people who have just gotten their first high-speed internet connection and are using Outlook or Outlook Express. Although Best Buy(BB)'s proxy actually filters all non-BB email, GS could just reference the ISP's pop3 and mail settings and input them for the customer (Cost would be $29). But as most employees aren't familiar with these they offer instead: 1) In-home networking setup. Overall cost: $159.
8. “Only the LEDs come on.”
Every once in a while a power surge, or just plain cheap parts, will cause a computer's power supply to fail. BB will recommend: 1) Full hardware diagnostics 2) New power supply 3) Installation of said power supply. Overall cost: $168-$198 (depending on cost the cost of the power supply).
7. “It doesn't turn on at all.”
Same as the case above, but instead of the power supply the motherboard failed. BB will sell, even if the computer is obviously hopeless: 1) Full hardware diagnostics. Overall cost: $69. Afterwards, they will recommend a data backup (+$99) and a new computer.
6. “My camera/printer/scanner isn't working with my computer.”
This is a classic case of the training GS employees DON'T get. If a customer comes into the store with this sort of issue, the only recommendation they will receive is 1) In-home computer peripheral configuration and/or 2)1-Hour in-home training. After they receive said service, approximately 20-50% need a redo service call. Overall cost: $159-$228
5. “My program X isn't working right.”
Be it AOL, Office, Norton, or whatever, people somehow always manage to find ways to get their programs to stop responding properly. In most cases they will be offered 1) Windows updates and “agent tweaks” (a collection of registry edits claimed to improve system performance by up to 40%) 2) Re-installation of said program. Overall cost: $58. However, if after this work the program still doesn't work, diagnostics, an OS Restore and a redo of the previous labor will be offered. Overall cost (in ADDITION to the previous $58 which is non-refundable): $257
4. “It crashed and I'm going to get a new one, but I need my data off of it.”
Sometimes people realize that their computers are outdated, and if they crash (even if the fix would just be an OS Restore) they would rather just get a new computer entirely. The problem is most people also never back up their data. The cost of labor at GS for a data backup, regardless of whether or not it is successful, is $99 for data less than <9GB and $159 for >9GB. This does not include cost of DVDs or external HDDs that the data will be copied on to.
3. “My camera/printer/mp3 player stopped working.”
Since no GS employees actually receive training on anything, if a customer comes in with a problem with any random device that isn't a computer and isn't under warranty, the GS employee will ALWAYS tell the customer to go purchase another one. Even if the fix is anything from new batteries, ink, physical cleaning, or settings/firmware.
2. “The Internet doesn't work!”
Regardless of the specific problem and quick fixes – from winsock fixes to potential removals of a single virus – GS will sell: 1) Hardware Diagnostics 2) Physical Cleaning 3) Data backup to DVD 4) Operating system restore 5) Windows updates and “Agent Tweaks” 6) Anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Overall cost: $398
1. “It's so slow!”
This may very well be the single greatest problem people have with their computers. In all actuality this is usually caused by a bad hard drive or viruses/spy-ware. In any case GS will sell: 1) Hardware Diagnostics 2) Physical Cleaning 3) Data backup to DVD 4) Operating system restore 5) Windows updates and “Agent Tweaks” 6) Anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Overall cost: $398 (Sound familiar?)
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Not as bad as they say
I work for GS currently, and im sure glad i don't have to be forced to work in no best buy either. Working purley for GS without having to worry about selling a thing. I can concure that some agents don't know what they should. I look at the people where i work tho and 80% of them can do thier jobs right the first time quickly and efficiently, you get your bad apples everywhere. ( I should know, ive worked for Apple too)
This whole article is full
This whole article is full of shit.
Ignorance is bliss
I worked for the "Squad" and everything that was stated is true.
GS
One word... its business, and BBY is winning. Complain how you will. I take offence to a few points... 1. Agents are not close to being idiots, or the neighborhood computer kid. We handle the repair of 25 computers at time, while juggling everyday customers, assisting customer service, shipping warranty repairs, and handling phone calls regarding repairs. We are also expected to have knowledge in basically anything that Best Buy sells, being that we handle all warranty work on anything that needs serviced. For a person getting their feet into computer repair this job is perfect. I promise that no where else will you be given the opportunity to work on 25 computers, with 25 different problems... and with all honesty, not have to worry if you break it because you have all the resources to fix it. Fact is if you screw up somehow there, you have a multi billion dollar corporation standing behind you and that kind of power leaves you some room for error, versus if your repairing free lance, people just sue. Point is experience like that is priceless, thats unarguable. I'm not saying its the best job ever either, every job has its flaws. 2. I'll make a bold statement: the prices are fair. In home 2 device networking and computer setup is $229. Anyone who is a experienced tech, going in home for a repair, hardware or software related, requires quite a bit. This requires you having proper tools on hand to complete a job, a vehicle to accommodate, the gas and time to get on location. Your a computer tech, your getting paid for your time and WHAT YOU KNOW at this point Now figure in what you think would be reasonable for labor. All things considered, going in home to repair. I would personally never charge any less then $50 an hour and thats cheap. Back to the $229, don't sound so bad now? Two device networking, ISP configuration, delivery of everything, security software and installation, initial computer setup and configuration. All that included, I personally would have a hard time matching $229... I don't know about all you complainers, I fix computers for the money. Show some respect for yourselves, I don't know about you... but I didnt spend thousands of dollars on school to pay myself $15 - $20 an hour to fix computers competing against GS.
rtfa stfu & gtfo
It is kind of surprising how quick people are to defend geek squad, and then how commenters assume that I think geek squad is over priced.
The point of the article is mainly two-fold: common issues users report with their computers, corporate/retail solutions to said issues.
Yes I used to work for best buy, yes I soon became the head-tech (I'm not gonna lie, coming in at 6am and blasting drum n bass while working on 16-20 computers at once [12 on KVM, 4 laptops above, and at least a few new computer setups floating around the front counter and computer department] until 10am wasn't so bad). To be blunt, idiot customers (this has never, and will never change though), idiot coworkers, idiot management, and idiot corporate is a little much for any normal, intelligent, down-to-earth individual to handle.
But, I have no regrets. One day an idiot customer walked in, I helped her, and it led to my SWEET-ass government contract I now hold. Actually, it was due to best buy's inability to help her, and my willingness to step in, that I am now self-employed.
Still, go ahead and defend retail services. For you, they seem to have done a great job with their advertising and branding. May I suggest that instead of bitching on DESINC's blog, you fill out one of those online surveys listed on your worst buy receipt? Leave us the fuck alone.
geeksquad
How would you know, have you worked for geeksquad? or are you one of those assholes whole come in bitching and we charge you for this stuff for no reason just to make you mad. And if you can fix it, and know so much about computers and cameras, why would you bring it to geeksquad in the first place? Geeksquad offers free services all the time and " not getting online," that charge you call $398 that is crazy, Agents usually fix an internet issue on the spot free of charge, even though we could charge them just to look at it. And about us not being trained and uneducated on computers and the problems to come with you say are completley unrealistic. Obviously you are the one who is if you cant get an overall price or that agents " ALWAYS" tell customers to buy a new camera. If that was true we would always be out of stock. We are expected to know not only computers, but cell phones, printers, scanners, networking, home theater and pretty much everything technical known to man. If you know as much as us on one thing, try figuring out the rest. I've gotten questions on home electrical systems phone networking, and multiple other home issues like how to connect two phones and make a intercom systems. The real problem with bestbuy in general management is under trained which causes thus problems that you are having. Try getting fired for not hitting budget enjoy....
If you read the website, you
If you read the website, you would clearly see that the writer worked as a lead tech @ Best Buy for a long time. Read more posts before making an ass of yourself, k thx. If it makes you feel better, This ex-GS tech is now a private computer consultant with clients such as UC Davis.
Author missed the point ....
The only real problem with Geek Squad is the staff. They are under qualified kids. The points the author made about the charges are just silly and show his obvious ignorance of running ANY business. In the service business you either
A) Do it yourself
or
B) Pay someone else to do it at whatever "market rate" is
People are free to do business with anyone they choose. I'm in this type of business and let me tell you it is VERY difficult as demand is sporadic and advertising is necessary yet very expensive (Yellow Pages). It's also filled with a bunch of idiots who only have a game plan of undercutting the competition. They come and go and put silly ideas in the public's "head" that you can actually run a businesss by doing various repairs for less than $50. LOL. Yeah, maybe if you live in your mom's basement, don't advertise, and have a grand total of 25 customers - which is more or less the status of these "guys". Add to that no formal education and a dubious "experience" record.
In short, I'd lay off the Geek Squad. Even though their services aren't worth it at any price, at least they are charging for it! This field NEEDS businesses that charge enough to make it profitable.
and to think that i was
and to think that i was going to apply at geek squad a couple of years ago! i'm sure glad i didn't!
Add something to “The Internet doesn't work!”
When I was with GS, half of the time the a customer's Internet didn't work was because somebody with GS forgot to remove Best Buy's proxy settings from a previous visit. I'm SO glad to be out of there.
former agent view
I'm glad to be a former agent to once again refer to Best Buy by it's true title: Worst Buy
I agree, agents do no receive training other than it pertains to operations, sales, or marketing. For the most part, and as I was hired, I was told that 70% of my job would be sales oriented. Neeing a job, I had no problem with that and still don't.
I worked for a year FT in GS, and then another 6 or so months PT. During this time, there were quite a few "agents" that come and went. Only one in that time had a CS degree, which was myself. A few had received MCSEs through some high school program, but the vast majority were actually just "the kids down the block" aka "timmy" that a few of the double agents posting here seem adimate about not recommending.
For what I produced, the pay was lack luster and quite honestly for me to ever take GS seriously it would have to be much more serious about technical side of computing than the sales side. As well, i had to consider it more of an in between job because frankly the hours varied from probably 30-35 hours too. I was good at sales I got better hours than a lot of people, was great with customers, and did stick to the needs of the customer. Let's just say I understood CARE+. I sold countless in home services, upgrades, services, data backups, etc, I was a very strong seller with technical know how to back it up.
With that in mind, it's one thing to charge $400 to fix someone computer in good faith, and another to see this customer returing 2 - 3 times and their computer still isn't fixed right because "timmy" worked on his computer, but the difference is "timmy" is now an agent that wears a clip-on. Very impressive, Mike Fitzgibben's son is a nuclear physicist, and "timmy" can wear a CLIP ON!
Because my new job I had a chance to find out a different perspective. As a employee working for two companies, in good faith I continued to give GS the ok when someone would ask me. However, now that I knew the people asking for service, I was able to really get an inside thought from the customer's perspective. 2 out of 2 were fairly disappointed with their service and cost.
To an end, I agree, GS is less about clicking buttons and more about knowing why you need to click the buttons. That's what a lot of people don't get about any sort of tech services. Yes, anyone can click "next", it's knowing that you need to that's the difference.
But because Best Buy's policy of low pay and lack of real qualifications for agents, any stupid kid (which we had a few stupid, and a few good agents) can be a GS agent. The people that hire them, including usually the GS supervisor doesn't know jack about computers anyway, at least in more than a cursory sense. Our store had 2 supervisors during my employment, one was a prior "computer's manager" and the other was a high saler from "appliances", neither of which had any formal training in the area of computing.
I won't even get into the Worst Buy's brainwashing of employees, I'll save that for another day.
GS
Very well thought out discussion. While my store is not like this - I can easily see how this could occur.
As for the "brainwashing" - well, it only works if you believe in it. And then you're probably a lost cause anyway!
I also agree, excellent
I also agree, excellent reply
well put
I totally agree! Thank you for the excellent comment.
REPLY
most comments are true, but the GS is just a business, they exist to make money. What they charge is in no relation to anything. The DIAG tests could cost $99 and people would still come. So if people are willing to pay the DIAG fee with no problem then whats the issue? Comp USA charges nothing, who cares, I bet Best Buy gets 50% more customers a day compared to other stores, reguardless of prices. So when people start complaining of paying high fees then the Geek Squad will lower prices, but until then let the money roll in.
Whiners
Agreed. People whine too much. Just because Best Buy gets the amounts of money for these services doesn't make it bad or wrong. Many people probably are grateful that they were able to get their system fixed. I'm sure the original poster also gets upset when business people work hard and in so doing, become wealthy. Those wealthy bastards need to start giving away their money because otherwise it's not "fair". The world would be a better place if best buy would just start charging almost nothing for their services--better yet, they have lots of money--they should just do it all for free.
C'mon dude (I mean the original poster--not the person I'm replying to). It's business. Businesses make money. Communists distribute it.
Not so much the OP getting mad about a company making money..
It's the pretence of them selling themselves as knowing what they're doing, when all they're doing is offering a lot of unnessecary, generalised, overpriced services for problems that could more than likely be properly solved for a lower cost by someone with an ounce of knowledge. Not "Timmy with the clip-on" and his cheat sheet of 5 different costly solutions to a wide range of problems, marketed as the guy with the answers.
"Treasure your dreams, because they are the blueprint to your house of pain!" - A Ninja
Ask A Ninja
GS is retarted
Ya I'm a tech at compusa and a pc repair company. At compusa our diag is free and if its a quick prob like it wont turn on i just try a PS tester and a shop PS. $30 to install it and like $40 for the PS a hell of alot better than the retards at best buy. and if its slow a tune up is $70 and if restore is needed its $129 and the $70 is decuted from that and full back up of any size is $99 so the most you could spend there is $228.
I agree GS is retarded, but
I agree GS is retarded, but I also know that they needlessly push product to the customer, once again taking advantage that they know nothing. I had an instance in my former days in GS that one of my co-workers wanted to force the sale of a modem, when the customer clearly stated they never intended to use it. They refer to the customer as the dollar amount of their job, not the name.. example, not Mr Smith's laptop, but rather then $300.00 laptop. Being there makes me realize what a joke that is, but I can image this being the same for mechanics and other services, but my brother owning a mechanic shop always referes to his customers in name and never takes advantage of them and still makes alot of money. Bestbuy always told us, even on the interview, to sell and sell that is the bottom line. Do they want techs or sales people?
My Life at Worst Buy
I'm also the proud writer and artist for a little comic hosted here at desinc.net called "My Life at Worst Buy"
here's one of the better ones:
http://www.desinc.net/worst_buy_2
there are some more posted at desinc, just take a look around or at my blog :D :D
ass wiper paradox
that's what you get when you pay someone to wipe your ass. 'omg why do you charge so much? i can wipe my own ass."
who is the ass-wipe now?
Not Quite Accurate
I worked as a what amounts to the Geek Squad supervisor before they introduced the precinct chief position. Yes, there are times where a GS agent will recommend something that is a bit overkill. However, keep in mind that if a user is asking questions about how they burn a CD, they are usually provided with some brief guidance and if they still seem to be struggling, then an in home training is recommended. The training is on a per-hour basis--so if the user has their question answered to their satisfaction in 10 minutes, the agent will work with the user on any questions that they have. I've never had a user complain about an in-home service. Most in-home customers are SO GLAD to pay the cost to have some hands-on training w/ a competent and friendly person that actually can match the level of instruction w/ their level.
Secondly, when a user comes in with a 4-5 year old computer that has problems posting, we usually do recommend a new pc. A brand new emachine was usually approaching the same price as the hardware and service required to diagnose the problem and repair the machine. This isn't because we just unplug the power supply, it is because we test the power supply, test the memory, test the hard drive/file system, and run, at least, a virus scan. I think for 59 (what it was at the time), being sure that your power surge didn't damage the rest of your computer is worth it. On an older computer, it just isn't worth it.
If you are upgrading, we always recommend a file-transfer. If you want to pay for the service, most likely you aren't able to ensure you get the files you want anyway.
For the majority of the people reading this post, yes, the GS doesn't provide a good value for you. But, the GS services aren't marketed for you.
I wish people would stop complaining about this. 90% of customers I interacted with found the GS services to be a great value and always want to recommend them to their friends. The other 10% is made up of people with unreasonable expectations, those who made mistakes which resulted in their current situation, and, yes, even situations where mistakes were made on our part. It did happen. We are human.
If you are unhappy w/ their pricing, don't use them. If you think it is a fair deal, like the majority of their customers, use them.
Exploitation?
Some people would consider charging what you want for "overkill" service exploitation. And working for 12 years in electronic retail has taught me 1 thing, on a whole people are idiots. Doesn't mean you have to take advantage of that fact and overcharge them, or offer unnessecary services because they don't know any better. Responsible retail is about providing nothing more than the customers needs, not saying, "If I can charge them for and it and they don't comlain, it's all ok!"
"Treasure your dreams, because they are the blueprint to your house of pain!" - A Ninja
Ask A Ninja
I'm sorry, I'll try harder,
I'm sorry, I'll try harder, please don't fire me.
Business
I have seen both sides of the issue. The experienced tech who thinks he can solve a problem in a better way for less money, and the business man, who is trying to turn a profit.
Personally, I side with the business man. I have seen experienced techs fail because they weren't able to make enough money. Sure their fixes were cheap, but they usually took up way more time than they expected. So the tech winds up billing for only one hour out of three. Mostly because he was so confident that he could get it done in one that he only quoted one hour of work. And as we all know, once you commit to a price, you can't go up.
The business man realizes that he has to make enough money to not only cover his salary but that of the techs, plus operating expenses. Sure $159 may be a high price for some things, but it is what keeps the business running. And those "drastic" measures you mentioned? They are the quickest way to solve a problem. Sure, as techs we may want to take a few days to really delve into the problem and understand what is going on. But as a business, your goal is a quick turn around with a solid pay off. Instead of spending days on an issue, just format the computer and be done with it.
I have seen many many techs fail because they don't understand business, and I have seen many business men succeed because they do. Business is not a learning environment. You aren't there to expand your understanding of computer knowledge at the expense of low profit and slow turn around. Heck, you aren't even there to give the customer the best option for them. You are there to keep your business running. Business is all about making money. I am tired of listening to know-it-all techs who claim they could run a business so much better. All that have tried, from what I have seen, have failed.
^^ Worst. Post. Evar.
So you'd be perfectly happy if you took your car to a mechanic because it seemed to be sluggish, and 1 of the headlights was out, and he turned around 10 minutes later without looking under the hood and said, "Yep, that'll be $800 for a new engine buddy."
It has nothing to do with "expanding your knowledge at the expense of low profit" (a statement that makes little sense when examined), it's about providing your customer with the best possible service.
If it wasn't just plain, outright rude and anti-social, I'd call you an idiot, but I'll leave it to insinuation....
"Treasure your dreams, because they are the blueprint to your house of pain!" - A Ninja
Ask A Ninja
Jerim, you said "nstead of
Jerim, you said "nstead of spending days on an issue, just format the computer and be done with it."
This typifies why I hate tech support. If I have a system that I have spent weeks to months customizing, you want me to kill it and start over. Instead of using your time to diagnose the problem and fix it, you want me to use my time to rebuild my system from scratch.
You need to let the customer know that you appreciate the value of saving his time.
I would gladly spend days to
I would gladly spend days to diagnose and fix your machine instead of formatting, keeping all your special tweaks and shortcuts. I bill $50 per hour, up to 8 hours per day.
Actuallly, your're half
Actuallly, your're half right. Some of the most successful businesses on this planet are so because they recognize the needs of the customer first WHILE addressing the needs of the business. Usually a happy business is one that has plenty of customers willing to bend over backwards and pay them without hesitation...not because they are forced to bend over a cold rock. Businesses like Disney, Southwest Airlines, Fed-Ex...all of these companies have a steady history of solid customer care and suppport. When Fed-Ex promised the package would be there, it was. When Disney promised the happiest and most magical place on earth, it is, for the most part. And Southwest Airlines is praised as one of the foremost companies in customer satisfaction. All of their success has one thing in common...the customer is first.
With that being said, when you take care of your customer, the customer takes care of you. And, for the sake of argument, we will incorporate the tech side of this. If you fixed everyone's computers cheaply, quickly, and permanently that came to you, you wouldn't have much of a business later on. But should anything else go wrong with those customers' computers(and we ALL know there will be problems)...the first place they will return to is you. Also, they won't hesitate to tell all of their friends how amazingly they were treated should one of their friends or loved ones happen to have a computer problem.
Business IS a learning environment. The business that doesn't learn and adapt to the coming changes in the world is the business that stagnates and eventually fails through the very system that once made it successful in the first place. You must take risks in order to be successful...and it looks like computer tech is sadly becoming one of the safe havens of business. People rely on it, people use it daily....let's reem them while we can. That's a very sad way of looking at tech support from either the business or tech side. And sure, tech guys do want to help fix the problem and find out the root cause, but it's the impatience of both sides that make it such a bum job to be in today.
The answer really is simple. Train your staff properly. Quick fixes are just that...quick fixes...and everyone knows that. If everyone kept handing out quick answers to everyone all the time, the world would be up the creek without a paddle...but with today's impatient world...we're quickly headed that way.
OnForce -- half the price and you pick the tech
Onforce is kind of like a reverse-auction for Computer Tech Services. You open a work order, give details of what is needed and then specify how much you are willing to pay (hourly rate, or flat-rate for entire job).
Then you are shown a list of technicians in the area. Shown for each tech is a profile that includes feedback ratings, certifications, etc, You pick which technician(s) you want to offer the work order to.
The first tech to then accept the order gets the work. As a result, there isn't much haggling. A work order contract of $50 or less will generally be enough to get a qualified tech in your home or office for at least an hour.
Onforce takes care of all the billing / payment. You add $11 per workorder and that goes to Onforce. Onforce also takes 10% of the sale amount by paying the tech the remaining 90%. So for a $50 work order contract, you pay $61, and the tech gets $45.
That is not much money but there are thousands of good techs registered with the system who work for themselves and are willing to wh0r3 themselves out for just peanuts.
This service is useful to residential/home users as well as for small, medium and large enterprises.
www.onforce.com
dont get me wrong
don't get me wrong, i hate best buy.
but as their ONLY dedicated repair technician (at my particular store) i pride myself on quick turn-time, accurate work, and extreme minimization of "redos"
a store can tell you how to do ur job, but you do not have to listen, and they cannot force how you think nor can they force you to abuse/misuse people's time, money, and trust
There's a difference between 'expensive' and 'value'
Just because performing some of these operations could be brain-dead easy to some of us, doesn't mean there isn't value in them being done to those who don't know how to do them.
Setting aside the under-trained point for a minute: You could perform an analysis like this on *any* industry where there is always the split path of "can I learn how to do this, or can I pay someone to do it for me": car mechanics, home improvement and even food preparation. In all these cases, it's reasonable to say that one could learn how to do a lot of the work (for example, changing your car's oil or cooking dinner), or someone can run out and pay for the service (say, $40 for oil and anywhere from $5 on up for food). This isn't a bad thing, it's charging for the value of a service, and that value is created in part by those who don't know how or can't learn how to do it, as well as how much the *need* it done.
Data backup is a great example - I can back up a Mac OS X or Windows machine with my eyes shut because I've *spent a lot of time learning about the OSes, what files are important and where they live.* That isn't a trivial thing, but a lot of us seem to devalue it because it becomes so second nature to us. In contrast, that service to those who aren't familiar with it is invaluable, and they're willing to pay for it.
It's "supply and demand," "divide and conquer," and "pick your battles" all rolled up into one big economic system, and it works.
Economics
I think that these targeted prices are very high, who want's to spend 4 times the cost of an application to fix it? The multiple components of each price allow for price descrimination.
When I worked at the Best Buy tech center (10 years ago, pre-GS era) installing an OS, or a component (HDD, modem, memory, NIC) cost less than the program or component. System repairs and backups were about the same relative cost (two hours labor $60 hr was typical). I'm pretty shocked that customers are willing to pay significant fractions of the system cost for repair.
I would think that the margin of the home tech support industry would be lower than that.
Economics?
Whatever, Spydie... Those prices are only too high given that the quality of the tech sucks. Qualified computer assistance costs multiples more than the cost of the applications. Hardware and software are cheap because of economies of scale. I can only scale my time by a given number of work hours in a day.
Geek Squad Value
I worked at a geek squad "precinct" for a few months during 2005. The article is right in outlining the fact that GS agents don't receive much training AND that the service is expensive. However, I believe that GS does provide a valuable service. The majority of people reading this article probably have some sort of technical skill, be it programming or simply being able to burn a CD. A great deal of Best Buy customers do not even have these sort of skills. GS does a good job of taking care of customer's issues (for the most part). Yes, I think the services could be cheaper, but that's debatable.
During the months I worked for GS, I would say that 75% of the work I did was installing anti-virus/spyware software on new computers. Both of these are fairly trivial actions for a tech saavy person, but yet again the majority of GS customers don't know what settings to use, etc.
well, i agree with this
well, i agree with this comment, and yea they do not train you, but of the 10 other agents that were working with me, about 7 knew what was going on plus me, and one is getting published for an article he wrote on computer repair, another got a high paid job doing computer repair two, including myself have recieved postitions as engineers. We are/were, i quit because i did not have a reason to work 2 jobs anymore, a very tight group, if one person found/figured out a fix for some problem we would pass it on to everyone else that worked up at the precinct. and we run a diag on every machine, because there is a set, time comsuming procedure that we had to go through, so if it could not get online, we NEVER restored first, we would diag, run virus and spyware removal and repair the registry, maybe REPAIR install.
some corrections:
5. The cost for said problem would be 1)$199 for OS solution which includes diag, virus/spyware removal, and physical cleaning. PLUS 2) the software install: $29.
so 228 total not 300+ as you stated.
6. the Databack up does include DVD's or CD's, not an external HDD, that would be stupid. and it includes a virus scan and spyware check, as to not infect OUR computer that we do the backup on.
just a note
data backups technically do not include ANY medium to back the data up to, although our "precinct" provides these as a courtesy as they cost our store practically nothing
and as for number 5... keep in mind that once labor is performed, is is non-refundable. even if subsequent work directly afterwards negates said labor.
(Standard IANAL note) Labor
(Standard IANAL note)
Labor costs are refundable if the labor isn't preformed. If you say that a particular process WILL fix a problem and charge the customer for it, and then complete the process but the problem is NOT fixed, that is fraud and nullifies the value of the labor.
This is because you presented your service as fixing the problem, and so failed to render said service. If you present your service as a task which MAY fix the problem, then all you have to do is exactly what you said you would do.
That's why there's always legal CYA in the contract saying that they don't promise results.
sounds like a mechanics dream...
Wash the windows, and charge $35 for the half hour required to do it properly, then follow that up by replacing all of the glass that can be broken with a sledge hammer. Of course once all the pretty glass has been replaced, you are going to have to clean the new glass as well. And that takes a bit of extra work that wasn't required for the initial glass cleaning, so charge for the hour that takes, $70.
That Is not true
I work for the Geek Squad and I enjoy my job. I do not feel like we charge to much, when we get a computer in the has 7 viruses and is caked with spyware, that can be hours and hours of removal that is if they are successful. For some people who have no idea what they are doing or dont have the time, they dont mind the price, and they apreciate our services.
So true
worked ay Geeksquad for a few months and those are the reasons I left. What a joke they are
a: the geek squad is only
a: the geek squad is only there to push hardware sold by best buy--that's it. people are better off networking to find an "off duty" professional and pay them with love, dinner, beer, or money to fix their machines...
wrong.
best buy has moved to focusing on services, and not on hardware. as an agent for nearly two years, i very very rarely "sold" any hardware, and when i did, i was more focused on what was the best for the customer. you people that complain about geek squad, or best buy are the kind of people that dont need the services that we provide. you can do it yourself, and that is great. but just as stated in one of the earlier posts, some people dont know, or arent willing to learn the services we perform, just as most people are content paying a mechanic to repair a car.
as far as training is concerned, we get ample training, if not from GS directly, then by our fellow agents. Personally, and i can speak for the majority of the people i worked along side for the past couple of years, if we dont know the answer to something, we are not embarassed to say "I dont know" but i always follow that up with "but i can find out." Any agent knows that there are other agents within the company who do know they answer or where they can find the answer... we have tools in place to network with each other.
for those of you comfortable paying the "off duty" professional money/love/beer/food, more power to you... i've been that pro/geek before, and it is great... but the benefit of geek squad is that you have a large corporation with warranties, insurance policies, quality assurance, and "spare geeks" when i am not available. Not to knock the "off duty" guys, but you'd be surpised of the amount of work we do because someone took their computer to the kid down the street that over-exagerated his skills. we find alot of pirated copies of programs, or programs that do more harm than good installed, or systems that just plain out dont work because of the sub-standard work performed. And as far as that is concerned, do whatever makes you feel good, or seems right to you... if you want to take it to a mom and pop shop, and pay a local guy to do it, fine do that... if you want timmy down the road to fix your computer... i'm sure he'll do whatever you pay him for... if you like circuit city/fry's/geeks on call/whoever better go with them... whatever makes you feel better at night.
I cant speak, nor am i trying to speak for all agents... but you people beating us down on message boards and blogs need to get off your high horse, and realize that this is what we do for a living... whether or not you would utilize our services or what you think of our services is a moot point... there are people out there who do in fact swear by the services we perform. Not all agents are high-calibre, there are thousands of agents... and absolutely no way to ensure all of them are as skillfull as they claim to be... but a vast majority of us are very good at what we do, and love our job and our company to death...
My favorite part
I loved the part about how they find illegal copies of software installed by the kid down the street. Isn't it GS that has been illegally using ERD Commander? Other than that I think you have some good points. GS is huge...like McDonald's...and they satisfy a lot of people. That doesn't mean that McDonald's is good food.
No...
they do that, but they're really trying to sell you geek squad services, which are much more profitable for Best Buy than any hardware purchase. Goods are being marginalized and profit is next to nothing. In-home/store services help to keep Computers a profitable business for Best Buy.
Indeed
Hardware sales have possibly the smallest margin of any retail item in the world, it's the aftersales service that keeps any computer hardware retailer alive. Having a well known name doesn't give you the right to charge the earth for services that can be found elsewhere for less. Just because you get away with it doesn't make it right.
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all true
i have a friend that work at gs and he always does the work they way he thinks it should be done. he never does bs stuff like that and wont even charge customers for easy software stuff. my brother and i also do this work as side jobs (when people find a business card on the ground in the mall) and we charge no where near what gs does, but we mostly have real problems like burnt out stuff or a bent up "important" usb drive to solder together or replacing almost everything and installing everything again. building an entire comp has to be the thing we get paid the most for and is the most simple for the price. anyway, its probably best to use a free lancer just make sure they know their shit or ask some people about them.
pay for the important stuff
I did a side job last year right before christmas. The business across the hall from where I work lost the partition on his external drive and ofcourse this was his main drive with no backups. I went in the task letting him know there were no promises that I could retrieve the data. Luckily partition magic was able to repair the partition. It took all of about 15minutes. When I bring the drive I just tell him to pay me what it was worth(expecting maybe $50). I get a check for $400 for 15mins of work. I actually bought my brothers christmas presents last year.
Scam Artists
I personally know about a dozen people in southern california who have used the Geek Squad for 'service' and been flat out ripped off.
One fellow had a problem with powerpoint and a problem with his printer. Geek Squad ripped him off for $562 in service and didn't actually fix the problem. I went over to help him and reinstalled the printer software and powerpoint in 15 minutes. Not surprisingly, that fixed the problem.
Another example is my Aunt. She had a few spyware programs causing problems on her computer. Geek Sqaud charged her $400 in service charges and for software to remove the problems. Surprise, surprise the Geek Squad moron didn't actually remove the spyware. I helped her remove the spyware in about 35 minutes.
Wait for it...
The legions of GS fanboys will say, "Well, you're aunt wasn't smart enough to do it herself, so we took advantage of her lack of knowledge and burned her with overpriced solutions that we don't guarantee. It's her own fault for not knowing better!"
Except, if any other trained professional repairer in another field, (ie. mechanic, electrician, carpenter, plumber) did the same, they'd wind up hiding their face from a current affairs program's cameras in a weekly "exposé".
The difference with the IT service industry is there's no 3rd party regulatory body to license computer hardware repairers the way there is for the building industry or motor services industry, because it's essentially a flegdeling industry.
"Treasure your dreams, because they are the blueprint to your house of pain!" - A Ninja
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