What is Digg?151 Comments
- JHawk24821, on 10/12/2007, -6/+93"took me a second to load it up"
Sounds like you need to go talk to the Geek Squad. - crexor, on 10/12/2007, -2/+46in an odd twist of irony....well, more coincidence i guess
http://crexor.nfshost.com/upload/Screenshot1.png - cypher35, on 10/12/2007, -3/+41I remember a time, back before Best Buy bought the name and ran it through the mud, when the Geek Squad used to be a collection of computer savy individuals who would do an excellent job of diagnosing computer problems...
Now it's just a bunch of kids with a routine sloopy patch job protocol on standby at your local Best Buy waiting to overcharge you for a service a 12 year old could perform. - SicLikeEbola, on 10/12/2007, -4/+33Very true. They aren't trained much at all and don't all know their computer stuff. And if there's something they can't fix, it's because "you must have a virus." I know they're a bunch of clowns from first hand experience, I work at Best Buy...
*hangs head in shame*
P.S. - Thankfully I don't work in that department.
P.P.S. - I hope none of my co-workers recognize my screen name and get me fired. lol - nx01, on 10/12/2007, -2/+25I worked at a Best Buy in the computer sales department for about 2 months, and it was all that I could stand. I remember one instance in particular where the sales reps in my dept. were high fiving each other for selling this lady on getting a battery backup for her laptop.
Other shady tactics include (but are not limited to):
1. Pulling the price tags off of equipment that has little profit, or is a loss leader (sold at a loss). I got sick of people wanting to buy the $1800 Sony Vaio for "general PC usage", because it was the only one that had a price on it. The $500 HP would have been fine for that, but I got my ass chewed everytime I told customers that the $500 machine (Athlon64, 512 to 1 GB of RAM) would do just fine.
2. Making people talk to a sales manager/supervisor for their warranty. Every machine that was sold had to have the warranty sales pitch. If you couldn't sell them, then you had to have them talk to the supervisor on duty. We were instructed to stall them while management became involved.
3. The outright lies. We had a $599 Toshiba laptop on sale that had a 2 GHZ (if I remember right) Celeron, and 256 MB of RAM which was fully upgradeable. Our management team was trying to convince me that this machine was no good for consumers because it couldn't even do digital pictures (digital pictures was a major reason for people buying computers). Can't do digital pictures?! WTF! Thank god people didn't listen and/or care about that line of BS and bought the laptop anyway.
I had it at that point, and never bothered showing back up for work. Unfortunately Best Buy has by far the biggest presence where I live. There is only 1 CompUSA, and maybe 5 or 6 Office Max's here. I'll hit all of them first before Best Buy.
P.S. Want to make Best Buy's technical people freak? Tell them you use Linux. Their eyes roll back, smoke comes out of their ears. It's pretty funny actually when they realize that there is no way they could know more than you! - foxhoundadmin, on 10/12/2007, -8/+27"Wow! Just wow! This is an extremely inaccurate article.
While I do agree most of the Best Buy in-store Agents aren't the best and most qualified, and it all varies by store/market/management, but in certain markets you'd be surprised at the level of service you get..
If you live... blah blah blah..."
hmmm... i smell a rat! bb employee, bb employee! alert, alert! - LavaHot, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19I agree, most of the people on digg could perform these tasks themselves, but GeekSquad isn't for them, they are for people who barely know what a computer is, let alone how to use it.
I do find some of the things misleading in the article though, they give you totals of what things might cost, and not an item by item pricing. They also do not divulge their sources for their statistics. Also, I do actually work at a Best Buy, and as far as I know, there is no diagnostic fee. - JHawk24821, on 10/12/2007, -4/+22I have an opinion on this, as well as first hand experience. I run a small (30 clients or so) IT company, work 3rd shift at a large (1,000's of clients) server CoLo center, and my g/f is the senior Geek Squad employee at a Best Buy (ranks just below the manager of that department, a job she is training for). While I do not use the Geek Squad personally (I have no need to, I can do anything they can and more) I have a great deal of experience with the services they offer.
The first mistake that most (not all) technically minded people make is in assuming that the population (read: everyone else) has a clue when it comes to computers and the accompanying technologies. This is just not the case. Our elderly grew up in a time when even television did not exist (the world's first public demonstration of a working television system that transmitted moving images with tone graduation (grayscale) on 26 January 1926), let alone computers. Our older adults are still holding onto (with a firm grip) the era of records, 8-tracks, and VCRs. Most middle age adults still think CDs are pretty neat, and can't program their VCR, although they do at least know how to use it. You really have to get in the 30 year old and younger group before you start seeing across the board understanding, at least a vague one, of the technologies of today. Of course the younger generation "gets it" and can handle downloading an MP3 or two, burning a CD, or chatting via IM - but that’s about it. If terms like TCP/IP, SSID, Solid State Disk Drive, SATA, Torrent, and DeCSS mean something to you, count yourself among the lucky few that are actually riding the technological wave - opposed to the others that are drowning in it.
That being said, most people, regardless of age, have a computer or at least have access to one. You can't help it really; it's almost a necessity in today's society. Through repetition, most users know how to do (as the article states) a few things on a PC but not much else. I know this for a fact because I deal with people all day that work with multi-million dollar projects that rely entirely on computers - yet they are completely at a loss when their computers come up with an error message. Being an IT person doesn't mean that you know everything there is to know about IT. I am sure that although I have at least a loose grasp on wireless, someone trained in the technology could run circles around me.
That is where the Geek Squad comes in. When a user trains themselves to do exactly X on a computer (read email and chat with friends) and Y happens (a virus, spyware, another user installs something, new hardware, the list goes on), they have literally no idea what to do. Geek Squad is there to help these users out, for a price, letting them get back to doing X as quickly and painlessly as possible.
Finally, have you ever been to a Best Buy and actually looked at the products they sell in the computer department? If you have, you have without a doubt noticed the huge packaging, plastered with buzzwords and techy jargon that is meant to make the buyer feel like they are getting something really "cutting edge" and "high tech" - when in fact most of the stuff they sell there is anything but. For example, you will find 56k modems, floppy discs, and PS/2 keyboards in mass quantities. Even their newest items on the shelf are "last weeks news" compared to what you can find after just a few minutes Googling or reading some of the many tech sites out there (Anandtech, Tom's Hardware, HardOCP, etc.).
Bottom line, some of us do not need their services - but the greater percentage of the population does. Don't hate them because they are making some (serious) cash doing something that you could be doing right now. If you want to buck the system, offer classes to neighbors and friends on a technology that you know something about. Knowledge is one of those wonderful things that grow when you share it with others. - Yashar, on 10/12/2007, -8/+23I used to work at BB. That place sucked, im glad I dont work there anymore. They are theives. They claim it's not commision, yet they work you like it is.
DOWN WITH BEST BUY!
p.s. I feel sorry for you. Quit while you can. - xJudahx, on 10/12/2007, -10/+24Look good on a resume....LOL
From best buy $10/hour or whatever the ***** pay is, to 6 figures...are you getting a PHD in computer science? Even is you did, your starting pay isn't going to be that much.
When I see BB on a resume, I act like it's a fast food job or the like. - Chilblain, on 10/12/2007, -6/+19We're not all bad. Geek Squad Agents. I feel bad that some agents give poor service. try to show up others by overcharging and taking easy ways out. There are lots of us who are dedicated to giving the best service we can. From my experience, this article is highly inaccurate in the majority of cases.
- xJudahx, on 10/12/2007, -8/+21Come on, we all know this.
The general public that uses this lame service are doubtfully on digg. - asdfer, on 10/12/2007, -4/+16True story from a neighbor of mine.
They had virus/Trojans on their computer that prevented them from using web browsers. Obviously the computer was zombified at that point - they still could receive and send emails at a snail mail pace.
She called Geek Squad for a price quote. Here's the kicker:
it'd be $250 for a house call just to take a look at the computer and it would be 2 weeks from that day. She wanted it asap, and they slapped the "emergency house call" and raise the price to $500 for diagnostic. - bleaknik, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12Exactly.
Generally speaking, Digg is not the target market for the Geek Squad. I would never take my PC there... but that's because, along the way, I've offered the same types of services in one form or another. While, I never charged people $250 to tell 'em to buy a new PC... People were still willing to pay big bucks to get their Online Poker working again.
You see, I'm a strict Darwinian. By that, I mean survival of the fittest. Some people have the know. And some people do not. Those who do not can do one of two things...
1.) Pay someone else an exorbitant amount of money.
2.) Live without a computer.
To that note, the Geek Squad has done a wonderful job building a profitable business venture by capitalizing on people's stupidity.
Remember: I never use Geek Squad, AOL, etc. But someone does. - Taedirk, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13I had something incredibly insightful to add right up until I noticed the girl-on-girl kissing to the side of the article.
- Toon, on 10/12/2007, -4/+14I know linking to your own blog is considered a no-no on digg and I'd never do it if it wasn't very relevant. I'm not looking for "publicity" of any sort, just to contribute to the discussion. I'd copy and paste the text here, but the article I wrote is fairly long. Mod me down if you must; I completely understand.
But here's my Geek Squad horror story: http://thetoon.blogspot.com/2006/08/two-parts-air-quotes-one-part-best-buy.html
Like I said, mod me down if you feel it's inappropriate. It won't ruin my life. - anachronaut, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12@ JHawk:
1) Show me where asdfer equates sending email with a web browser. Hint, it's not in this statement:
"They had virus/Trojans on their computer that prevented them from using web browsers. Obviously the computer was zombified at that point - they still could receive and send emails at a snail mail pace"
Here's another hint: It's not anywhere in any of his/her statements. You're attacking a strawman that YOU created out of thin air.
Do you even know what a zombie [computer] is? Do you have even the slightest grasp of how spyware/trojans on a zombie could very easily disrupt or block all browser-based traffic but still allow email traffic on ports 25/110 to still make it through, albeit very slowly?
Stop being a tool, open your eyes, and admit to yourself that you mistakenly jumped to the wrong conclusion. Or keep being an idiot, I'm done with you all the same... - Yashar, on 10/12/2007, -5/+14they give geeks a bad name.
- Yashar, on 10/12/2007, -6/+15that'll be $300
- rofflcopterr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Totally agree. Diggers are techies. Old women are not. That's who Geek Squad is for. If you can fix a computer you scoff at GS pricing. You're pricing them off of your knowledge and budget. When someone knows a computer JUST well enough to check their AOL e-mail and use an instant messenger, $300 isn't THAT expensive to have someone 'just do it' for you. Yes, we know you can do it for "half that" and so can I, but why? To be the hero? That's another trouble with the 'ole "I've got a friend who can do the work for free" bit. Yes you can, but when is he going to do it? Those guys ARE prompt, and you've got to admit that. Your friend might be free but when is he available?
- trparky, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10I work for the GeekSquad myself. I used to be like you, working for people on the side cleaning up machines, but then I got smart. I joined the GeekSquad. Why? Because doing it on the side was paying me jack *****.
- packosmokes, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9I was given a laptop at an old job. I wasn't sure it would work since the battery was dead and I couldn't power it up, plus I had no power supply. While at 'Best' Buy looking at power supplies I asked a Geek Squad crapstain if he could plug in into one of their power adapters to see if it would work. I wanted to see if the laptop was functional before I bought the power supply. Easy. All he'd have to do was plug it into the wall.
He told me, in a very snide tone, that it would cost me $50 dollars just to do that, not including any additional charges for his 'expert' time.
After telling the Geek Squad goon to go to hell, I then went across the street and got help from the people at Office Depot. The laptop was fine and they got my business (I bought a power supply and battery from them).
A little customer service goes a long way. - threepio, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Geek Squad does the same thing a mechanic does: Charges you a premium for ***** you *could* do yourself.
Here's the crux:
1. Be computer savvy - Most folks aren't.
2. Take the time to learn about the device in question - I don't know ***** about engines. I do know ***** about compiling my own kernel. Hence, I don't call geek squad, but I do go to Minute Lube to get someone to change my oil and try to sell me a $99 tramission fluid service every time I'm there.
3. Demonstrate some common sense and some problem solving skills - really, consider the people that you know. No, no, not the folks you play World of Warcraft with, the folks who call you up asking if the "paperclip" will send a copy of the file or if it sends their original - cause, you know, they need the original too.
Geek Squad, Mr. Lube - and many others, many of these corporations charge a premium for services you could do yourself of find elsewhere cheaper - the premium is for CONVENIENCE.
I enjoy how this blog tosses around some statistics like "20-50% require a redo". Really? According to whom?
Face it diggers, Geek Squad ISN'T FOR YOU. They're making a massive profit on what you used to do (and complain about doing) for people for free.
Viva la capitalisma. - exobyte, on 10/12/2007, -8/+16Awww... Look at the cute lesbians on the left of the screen. It's kinda cute.
- ccanni1028, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9I like having the GeekSquad around.
I keep a copy of their price sheet in my briefcase when I go to fix someone's computer. They ask why I charge so much (usually $10 per hour unless they have AOL) and I show them what they could be paying instead. - phlux, on 10/12/2007, -5/+12If they are under trained, how can they also be under-paid?
- asdfer, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11@JHawk24821
Huh??
That's my neighbor.
After she called the Geek Squad she talked to me.
All I had to do is mounting the drive onto another computer, and do virus and spyware scan.
Got it done within 2 hours automatically.
Then reinstall the hard drive - remove her old anti-virus, install anti-spyware apps, Firefox, etc.
That was done without pain.
Then again, the Geek Squad only quoted the pricve per her descriptions. Geek Squad WILL quote more as they found "more problems". They will try selling all the softwares that most people can get the free counterparts.
Most people who called Geek Squad and actually hired them for such services didn't know that they could've gotten better services for less.
@CharlesSaint007
No she didn't have The Geek Squad come to her house nor did she take the computer to Best Buy. - jivemasta, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10I bought a laptop and they had to check it out. And I was trying to make nerdy small talk with him. Here is a short transcript:
Me: Do you have to be A+ certified to do your job?
Him: What's that?
Me: Oh, nothing. - massproductions, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6There is a diagnostic fee, but it if there is a problem, the money you just paid for the diagnostic fee goes towards the cost of the repair.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10@asdfer
You should have told your neighbor to get off his/her ass and take the computer directly to get repaired. Serves them right for requesting in-home service when they clearly didn't need it. - hooges, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9I can confirm this article is painfully inaccurate. It basically is saying that all the things that they COULD sell, they do.
If someone has viruses/spyware, its 199. That includes hardware diags and a "tuneup" While that may be expensive for some, for people that don't know what they are doing and need their computer fixed and taken care of, its not a bad deal. Its all about value to a customer, and what may not be valuable to you, may be to someone else. - jivemasta, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Actually I couldn't find a better deal anywhere online. I got a amd x2 1gig of ram 120gb HD and ati video for $699. Everywhere I looked online had x2 systems starting at around $800 with less ram.
- anachronaut, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10@ JHawk:
"The only thing obvious here is that you do not know what you are talking about."
If you actually read and comprehended asdfer's statement (you know, the one you quoted), you'd realize something:
1) In this case, you're obviously the one who doesn't know what he's talking about
2) You need to take a remedial reading comprehension course
So which is it? Or do both apply in your case? - noGoodNamesLeft, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Spam; exact same spiel was posted as a reply on the article's website itself.
- silvrrwulf, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6To his credit, A+ is an antiquated and typically useless cert.
Although I agree with you... he sould at least know what it is. - VSKBadCRC, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Ever taken a car into the shop to get it repaired? Check out the costs involved with getting your radiator flushed and hoses checked. And all that money so they can stick a hose down my radiator and flush it out, I could do that myself and save myself all that money and time.
Or would you look at what I just said and call ***** because you know that there's more to it than that. - ApocalypseTrol, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Thank you for saying what needed to be said.
- chmod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"The Best Buy business model is: price things at a loss to get people in the stores"
If that were true I would shop at best buy more. The problem is that it is not true for most items, especially the store brand stuff (markup is just stupid on that stuff). - intekra, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8Well written! ;-)
- NanoStuff, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Maybe I should feel terrible about the situation, yet I also feel that exploiting ignorance may be the evolutionary way of reducing it. If there's a demand for shoddy overpaid computer assistance, so be it.
- mateo60, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5In my experience, it was a notebook computer. With a desktop, I could do it myself, but the notebook was under warranty.
I was amazed with the level of ignorance of the Geek Squad (because it wasn't just spyware or a virus, it was actually a broken componet of the machine). They did more damage than good to my notebook and eventually, after MANY visits and several weeks of them having my computer, I eventually made a scene in the store with the manager, and I got new notebook computer if I promised never to come back.
I won't go into details of the idiotic diagnostic things they tried because it's too long, but the Geek Squad people I delt with (all of them) were utterly worthless. - chookalana, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Go to the Genius Bar for any of these problems. Price: $0
- def1, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@Toon:
Dude. That was awesome. - acoot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I got carried away by the "kiss gallery" on the left hand corner of the page. By the time i got myself to read the article, it was an hour later and 100 comments
- xxNIRVANAxx, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5"Spewing your hate isn't going to help your cause, it just makes you look like a redneck *****. ....And oh yeah, BB losers, get a real job."
Ironic much? - crexor, on 10/12/2007, -7/+10@Intekra
I believe xJudah's comments are well said, and judging by the diction of your comments here and before, its obvious you're not getting a phd. if you make where three times 10 is just getting warm, so say, 50/hr, you would already be six figures before taxes. And in xjudas defense, theres not much at best buy , in store, which is what he was referring to, that would qualify anyone any more than working at a fast food restaraunt, which is exactly what he meant. - jcaino, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7I used to work at a Best Buy pre-Geek Squad as a PC Tech.
No, I really cant comment on how it is now - but when I worked there (and sometimes worked at the 2 other nearby Best Buys for coverage reasons) most of the people behind the bench were fairly knowledgable and would not take advantage of customers. To me, I had to dig this down as inaccurate - however, this is not saying that this stuff doesn't go on. It does vary greatly according to management. Some stores are all about revenue, while others "get it" and realize that the revenue comes from having happy customers rather than gouging them.
Like I said though, this really runs both sides of the fence. For ever horror story, I'm sure there is a good one. When I was a tech there, cleanings were performed instead of blowing the customer off to buy a new one - and often if cleaning and adjusting a device didn't work, we didn't charge them for the cleaning.
As for diagnostic fees - well, back when we did it - we explained the problem as best we could before charging them diag fees, and if we had a good hunch it was dead, we told the customer so.
But as they do, maybe times have changed, after all, Best Buy did buy the geek squad knowing they could make loot of their reputation. When I was a tech, we had to do good work to build a reputation...
Eh...who I am I kidding...***** the corporate monster that is Best Buy...but there are some knowlegable people in the Geek Squad (There's one guy still at my old store that knows his *****, and one guy finally just got his degree and certs and got smart and got out) and I just feel the need to stick up for some of the people I know do know their stuff... - VSKBadCRC, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yeah, laptops can be rough sometimes...
Whenever you check your laptop into Best Buy the service program they use to check it in (It's called STAR), dictates which items can be serviced in-store and which ones must be sent out for service. Items that require being sent out are usually Media Center laptops, and laptops utilizing SATA laptop hard drives.
The problem is that when they're shipped out they are shipped out to the manufacturer if it's still under their warranty, and out to one of Best Buy's service centers or Geeksquad City, depending on a number of factors.
The other time we send stuff out to service is for replacement of parts we don't have available in-store (Mainboards, optical drives, etc).
The problem though is that the store you take it to, has no impact on how services are performed, and therein lies the problem. There's a lack of consistency across the board when stuff is sent out. Manufacturer's randomly reload machines that are sent out, and sometimes our service centers just ***** stuff up and either don't repair it properly the first time, we do something stupid (Like leave the mouse data ribbon unplugged in the laptop).
In either case it falls back onto the store, and the in-store Agents take the ***** for it, even though they had nothing to do with the actual repairs performed. - pseudojd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+410 an hour?!?! you should be charging 8 or 9x that.
- Llanowar, on 10/12/2007, -7/+10And in addition to that they probably steal anything usefull from your harddrive.
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