How Good Is The "Geek Squad"

[Grinder]

Recent problems with my PC made me wonder if
Best Buy's "Geek Squad" is any good. Is it?

Absolutely not. Geek Squad is the new Jiffy Lube.

 

[The Browns]

Hi,

Recent problems with my PC made me wonder if
Best Buy's "Geek Squad" is any good. Is it?

Thanks,
Gary

 

[Skeleton Man]

Recent problems with my PC made me wonder if

Absolutely not. Geek Squad is the new Jiffy Lube.

$275 in repairs to plug in the IDE connector ? That's ridiculous.. very
interesting report though.. (as is the Jiffy Lube one)

Chris

 

[Grinder]

$275 in repairs to plug in the IDE connector ? That's ridiculous.. very
interesting report though.. (as is the Jiffy Lube one)

There's quite a bit of complaint about Geek Squad in the blogosphere,
and on consumer advocacy sites as well. An additional pound of
anecdotal evidence comes from my own interactions with them. It's
clear, to me at least, that a "good" geek in Best Buy's eyes, is one
that sells services rather than one that has technical proficiency.
Sadly, computer repair as an industry is highly susceptible to this type
of chicanery.

 

[kony]

Hi,

Recent problems with my PC made me wonder if
Best Buy's "Geek Squad" is any good. Is it?

Thanks,
Gary

A squad of people is only as good as the individual you
happen to get looking at your PC, and how much they've been
trained to maximize profit for the squad instead of minimize
cost or address your specific needs.

In general you would get a squad to install a piece of
hardware for you if you weren't able, and that's about all.
For the best specific-computer problems and resolutions you
are much better off asking a geek friend you know or taking
it to a local mom-n-pop computer shop, preferribly one with
older technicians instead of teenagers who most assemble
grey-label systems and run antivirus and adware scanners
(unless of course all you need is your PC disinfected, but
even then some techs are a little too quick to format a hard
drive before asking if all your data is backed up).

So the short answer is, consider them a last alternative,
you might do as well fixing a problem yourself as there is a
lot of information out there for DIYers, the internet is a
great resource for computer information if nothing else.

 

[Lez Pawl]

A squad of people is only as good as the individual you
happen to get looking at your PC, and how much they've been
trained to maximize profit for the squad instead of minimize
cost or address your specific needs.

In general you would get a squad to install a piece of
hardware for you if you weren't able, and that's about all.
For the best specific-computer problems and resolutions you
are much better off asking a geek friend you know or taking
it to a local mom-n-pop computer shop, preferribly one with
older technicians instead of teenagers who most assemble
grey-label systems and run antivirus and adware scanners
(unless of course all you need is your PC disinfected, but
even then some techs are a little too quick to format a hard
drive before asking if all your data is backed up).

So the short answer is, consider them a last alternative,
you might do as well fixing a problem yourself as there is a
lot of information out there for DIYers, the internet is a
great resource for computer information if nothing else.

'the internet is a great resource for computer information'

yes it is WHEN the computer is working but USELESS when it is not and its
your only system

 

[kony]

'the internet is a great resource for computer information'

yes it is WHEN the computer is working but USELESS when it is not and its
your only system

If there is only access to one computer within reasonable
traveling distance, priority #1 might be moving.

 

[Lez Pawl]

If there is only access to one computer within reasonable
traveling distance, priority #1 might be moving.

or just buy a cheapy system capable of running tinternet only.

 

[Gary Walker]

Hi,

Recent problems with my PC made me wonder if
Best Buy's "Geek Squad" is any good. Is it?

Thanks,
Gary

 

[Gary Walker]

Hi,

Recent problems with my PC made me wonder if
Best Buy's "Geek Squad" is any good. Is it?

Thanks,
Gary

I just concluded a great experience involving the use of my local Geek Squad repair facility. Without all the boring detail, The GS performed the repair(s) on our laptop, just as they promised. The local GS facility was very detail oriented, very professional, and everything proceeded from start to finish without any problems, drama, or surprises.

I realize there are frequently problems involved in this business, but I can't recall any interaction with a service group in the last decade, where I've been as satisfied, comfortable, or excited.

Each customer experience is unique, but based on my GS experience, I would certainly return for service should the need arise.

As usual, standard disclaimers apply. My relation to Geek Squad is exactly as noted. Nothing more, nothing less.


Gary

 

[Thip]

I just concluded a great experience involving the use of my local Geek
Squad repair facility. Without all the boring detail, The GS performed the
repair(s) on our laptop, just as they promised. The local GS facility was
very detail oriented, very professional, and everything proceeded from
start to finish without any problems, drama, or surprises.

I realize there are frequently problems involved in this business, but I
can't recall any interaction with a service group in the last decade,
where I've been as satisfied, comfortable, or excited.

Each customer experience is unique, but based on my GS experience, I would
certainly return for service should the need arise.

As usual, standard disclaimers apply. My relation to Geek Squad is exactly
as noted. Nothing more, nothing less.


Gary

A friend of mine had the Geek Squad look at her computer. They told her it
couldn't be fixed. so she bought a new one and gave the old one to me. I
had the old one fixed in about 20 minutes.
Caveat emptor.

 

[philo]

"G

A friend of mine had the Geek Squad look at her computer. They told her
it couldn't be fixed. so she bought a new one and gave the old one to
me. I had the old one fixed in about 20 minutes.
Caveat emptor.

Considering the first guy was so clueless that he responded to a 14 year
old post I doubt if he would have known the difference between a working
computer and a non-working one.

I too got a computer from someone who said Geek Squad wanted way too
much money to fix it. It was literally a two minute job. I just had to
plug the CPU fan into a different header.

 

[Norm X]

"Thip" wrote

[snippage
A friend of mine had the Geek Squad look at her computer. They told her
it couldn't be fixed. so she bought a new one and gave the old one to me.
I had the old one fixed in about 20 minutes.
Caveat emptor.

Ditto. I stood in line for the Geek squad at a local Best Buy. The woman in
front was told that her new shiny laptop was DOA. She left in huff and
ignored my offer to buy it. My question to the Geek squad was whether they
had a multimeter ($20) to diagnose my desktop. Nope. Hence, they don't own a
oscilloscope or know the principles of electricity. The name Geek Squad is
offensive to a well educated public. Best Buy went bankrupt. Good riddance

 

[larrymoencurly]

Recent problems with my PC made me wonder if
Best Buy's "Geek Squad" is any good. Is it?

In a past century, a friend of mine thought of working for Geek
Squad but found the starting pay was only $10 an hour, way below
the rate for real techs.

The in-store centers don't do much, and you'd be lucky to find
somebody who knows how to actually fix a serious software or
hardware problem, and they send the serious work to their central
repair center.

To get an idea of how low level Geek Squad competence is, try
downloading their manuals, like the "CIA Technical Handbook",
which is basically Computer Repair For Dummies, not something
for people who are already real techs.

 

[larrymoencurly]

I just concluded a great experience involving the use of my
local Geek Squad repair facility. Without all the boring
detail, The GS performed the repair(s) on our laptop, just
as they promised. The local GS facility was very detail
oriented, very professional, and everything proceeded from
start to finish without any problems, drama, or surprises.

You didn't go into any detail at all but gave nothing but a
100% generic review. There's no credibility in that.

 

[Gary Walker]

You didn't go into any detail at all but gave nothing but a

100% generic review. There's no credibility in that.

Yes, I know. I was trying to avoid a long dissertation on the problem(s).

But, since you asked, I will elaborate.

The computer, a Dell Inspiron 7720, was dropped from a standard height bed, to a carpeted floor. unfortunately, the AC plug was attached, which cracked the male

plug and bent/dislodged the female receptacle for this plug. The receptacle hole was wallowed out, and the metal surrounding was significantly bent and twisted.

Certainly, no more AC power/charging was now available.

In addition, about a month prior, the CD/DVD drive stopped working. Yes, it would open, accept disc, and close. But, didn't seem to spin up, although I could hear it

trying. Device Manager notation for the device described a registry corruption (code 19), which I did research.

I contacted, mostly via email, four local, prominent repair facilities, and received no reply from three. The fourth, that I did speak with on the phone, suggested that I

just scrap the laptop, mostly because of the AC power plug injury. I also spoke with a friend that operates in the IT consulting business. Altgough his focus is

software / network related, he also suggested the repair costs could probably not be numerically justified. He also said that this is probably the reason that none of

the other repair facilities returned my contact.

So, I was stuck. Granted, I knew that a replacement laptop could be purchased for far less money than the original cost of the injured unit, it was only about 20

months old, and my wife liked the unit very much. So she began making some phone calls, and eventually landed on Geek Squad. I have to admit, that's probably a

call I would not have made due to some of these testimonials, and a personal experience I'd had about 7 years earlier.

But, they were very professional and eager to help. So, I wrote up a narrative on the problem(s), and off it went to Geek Squad on 3/17. Or course, it was to be sent

to their repair facility in Kentucky, so it would not return for awhile. In the interim, Geek Squad provided us with a URL where we could check o the progress of the

shipment, repair, and return. After a little less than a week, we were notified of the estimate for the repair. It was then my authorization to proceed or cancel.

I guess at this point I should detail the numbers involved. Upon "drop off" at Geek Squad, I was charged ~$35 to start the process. I guess this was probably partly

a shipment fee, and a diagnostic fee. This was probably fully explained to me but I can be a little loose on details sometimes. When the estimate was disclosed,

awaiting my authorization, it was $270.41 for the AC power injury, and the optical drive fix. I authorized the fix. But, I'll also add here that I had some difficulty in

granting this authorization. I tried to authorize via email because I just hate telephone usage. Unfortunately, telephone contact is foremost to the Geek Squad, so we

had some crossed communications.

So with the repair authorized, things were again rolling. I would check the progress URL every few days to see how things were going. I recall seeing that progress

had stalled pending receipt of an ordered part. Eventually, I saw where the laptop was winging its was back to the local Geek Squad, and I was notified same.

We went to the ;local Geek Squad facility based on the appointment we made for retrieval. This was a new concept for me. The Geek Squad seems to conduct all

this repair business ny appointments, or "reservations", as they term them. So the young lady brought out the laptop, along with another package. I asked the

content of this additional package, and was told it was all the replaced parts. Although I have no need for damaged parts, I thought this was kinda' neat.

We sat down with the Geek Squad young lady(they all seem to refer to themselves as "Agents"), and proceed to walk through inspecting the repair, and ensuring

that everything was working correctly, and nothing else had been broken. The Geek Squad has these small cubicles that avail AC power, a network connection,

and any other facilities that might be needed to verify the repaired unit is functioning correctly. I checked everything pretty quickly, thinking that if something was

wrong I'd just have to return.

So, I got home with the computer and launched into my weekly administrative duties of delayed updates, backups, plugging in the new WiFi broadcast password

that I'd changed once the laptop disclosed the original password to Geek Squad, and any other maintenance activities.

In summary, this has been a lot of detail. And I'm about spent with providing it. I never thought about a possible word/byte count limit such as you might see on some
Web forms. But this is Usenet, I've never seen anything like that there before.

So, the laptop repair was executed flawlessly, the laptop looks brand new again, my wife is happy to have it back, and I was very happy with the experience.

But, here are some additional notes on the experience.

.. Before we selected Geek Squad, we were gonna' just show up with the laptop at Micro Center for the repair. But something told me to call Mivro Center to avoid
a wasted drive out there if we were turned away. Sure enough, it seems that Micro Center only repairs items that were purchased at Micro Center.

.. Prior to "drop off" at Geek Squad, I prepared a single page letter detailing the breakage, cause, serial number, and components included in the "drop off". I got
the Geek Squad Agent to sign receipt of this letter. She really seemed quite happy that I'd provided this information.

.. Something I either didn't comprehend, didn't hear, or just didn't care, was that the final repair charge was $270.41. From this, the original ~$36 charge was

deducted. So the final charge was ~$257.?? including local tax. As I stated earlier, this was a high end laptop, and could've been replaced for much
less that it's original cost. But, I thought the repair cost was still very reasonable. Not everything can simply be reduced to a numerical comparison.

.. I have/had no doubt that I could have repaired the optical drive error myself. My WEB research seemed to indicate this was just a rogue device confusing the
system with its signals. However, I will say that the optical drive was replaced. Perhaps this was the most expedient path, because on tact for repair
was simply a software R&R of the device. Pergaps the optical drive really was bad. It was only used about once every month for a recovery disc creation
during administrative duties.

.. I'd had friends that had taken their computers(desktops & laptops) to local repair shops for help. Usually, this was some kind of OS problem. or maybe an internal
drive gone bad. But, I was always amazed at the number of times they had to return to the repair shop after the fix was supposedly complete. I had none
of this drama. My repair, perhaps simple, was completed correctly, one time.

.. As I mentioned earlier, the optical drive was replaced. Also replaced was a large "cradle" looking piece. I'm pretty sure this was the pending part that was

ordered. I don't know what this is called, but I learned later that this is the whole bottom of the laptop. I'm sure it was replaced to clean-up that AC
receptacle hold where the metal was bent and twisted. I would have lived with the bent and twisted if they just fixed the AC power connection. But,
this attention to detail returned the laptop to a new appearance.


So that's my story. I've been working here without the net of a WP, spell checker, etc. Please excuse my mistakes. You wanted detail, now you have it.

 

[Norm X]

"Norm X" wrote

[snippage]

The name Geek Squad is offensive to a well educated public. Best Buy went
bankrupt. Good riddance

"Bitcoin as a currency doesn't make any sense," she said. "You basically
have a whole bunch of cyber geeks trying to tout themselves as a monetary
authority. That's just not going to fly."

From:
http://rt.com/usa/hackers-security-dvrs-bitcoin-miners-913/
Hackers turn security camera DVRs into bitcoin miners

Published time: April 03, 2014 01:5
[snippage]

 

[larrymoencurly]

I just concluded a great experience involving the
use of my local Geek Squad repair facility. Without
all the boring detail,

But you managed to far more than make up for that in
your next message, at least 2 pages that could have been summarized as:

17" Dell laptop dropped 2 feet onto carpet, its AC plug
and receptacle and DVD drive broke. The in-store Geek
Squad sent the laptop to their central repair center,
and the cost was $257-270. They acted professionally.

30 minute repair, $50 laptop DVD, $20 for the socket
and plug, not exactly a repair that would have stumped Dynatronics.

 

[Alek Trishan]

In a past century, a friend of mine thought of working for Geek
Squad but found the starting pay was only $10 an hour, way below
the rate for real techs.

The in-store centers don't do much, and you'd be lucky to find
somebody who knows how to actually fix a serious software or
hardware problem, and they send the serious work to their central
repair center.

To get an idea of how low level Geek Squad competence is, try
downloading their manuals, like the "CIA Technical Handbook",
which is basically Computer Repair For Dummies, not something
for people who are already real techs.

Do you think they can hire real techs for $10 an hour? ;-)

A dozen or more years ago, my son had to quit being a chef because of
carpal tunnel syndrome. Because his old man and his sister were in the
computer business, he decided he would get in too. He started at a
geek-squad-like operation as an unpaid apprentice and worked his way up.
Now he's a senior primary support engineer for a company that develops
software to monitor, manage and automate distributed and mainframe systems.

 

[Gary Walker]

But you managed to far more than make up for that in

your next message, at least 2 pages that could have been summarized as:



17" Dell laptop dropped 2 feet onto carpet, its AC plug

and receptacle and DVD drive broke. The in-store Geek

Squad sent the laptop to their central repair center,

and the cost was $257-270. They acted professionally.



30 minute repair, $50 laptop DVD, $20 for the socket

and plug, not exactly a repair that would have stumped Dynatronics.

You asked for the detail. Now your whining because I gave it to you.

I would like to hear your time/materials/profit quote for the repair if it really had been presented to you. The ease of a project always increases as
the possibility of actual performance decreases.

Yeah, I probably could have gotten it done cheaper somewhere. Then I could
have returned again because it hadn't been done correctly, or tested. Your
quote(s) already omitted the bottom shelf of the laptop. A part probably
gained only through Dell. Personally, I think your logic are the reasons
that these repair facilities fold so frequently.