We all know I despise Compaq and Best Buy and we all know that I now despise myself for going to them not that one time, but now a secondtime. For background info, in 2001, we bought a Compaq desktop and had nothing but trouble with it. The first time it crashed good, I called Best Buy because we had bought the 3 year extended warranty where they’re supposed to come to our house to fix it. They told us – for some unknown reason – it was not their problem, call Compaq. They in turn told us it wasn’t their problem to call Best Buy. This went back and forth a couple of times before I decided I was going to have to fix it myself.
All that was before HP acquired Compaq so even though I still dislike Best Buy, I went there again and ended up buying m laptop there the beginning of November.
A month and a half later, I go to use the cd rom and it’s gone. Not listed in My Computer, the device manager says there’s a problem with it, and I can’t reinstall the driver, a system roll back did nothing – so I took it into Best Buy. Again, I have the three year extended warranty, this one for bring in service. Note that nothing else was wrong with the system. Just the cd rom was gone.
On Wednesday, December 14, I drop off the laptop. They tell me they are extremely backed up and give me a projected date of being done as Thursday, December 22.
Fast forward to Sunday, December 18, I’m at church and Steve’s home with Elijah who’s sick. He calls me afterward and tells me that Best Buy called and said the computer was ready, I could pick it up at any time.
So on Monday the 19th, I travel an hour south to pick it up.
One of the first things the guy tells me is that the computer system of the all mighty Geek Squad is down and has been down/slow for the better part of the day (this was about 11am). So he can’t pull my info. But I’ve got my paper so he finds my laptop by that.
He brings it out and says, “did they call to authorize a charge for reinstalling your operating system?”
“Uh, what? No. I just got a call that said it was ready, come to get it. Why would they need to reinstall the operating system?”
“Because Windows got corrupted.”
“Uhhh, okay… no, I didn’t get a call for that.”
“Oh okay then.”
After some more meaningless conversation, I am looking at the papers and I say something like, “so do I have to pay for that?”
“Oh, no, if they didn’t call to authorize it, then you don’t have to pay for it.” I ask him, out of curiosity, how much would it cost. He gives me a figure just short of $60.
Something tells me to, so I try to turn on the laptop. When I open the computer up, I notice that my screen is extremely dusty, much dustier than it has ever been. He says something about the battery being dead and asks if he should plug it in. Um, hello, YES. He plugs it in and I turn it on.
Immediately we are greeted with a nice blue screen and some errors. He begins tapping on it and pressing keys and saying things like, “Hmmm, I wonder why it’s doing that.” And, “Strange.”
He pops out a cd that is an obvious burned copy that reads “Windows XP Service Pack 2″ in black marker. He pops it back in and messes with the computer some more. Next thing I know, he’s saying things again about how the system is down and so he can’t find out who worked on the computer, blah blah blah. Basically telling me to leave and wait for their call.
By now, I’m really ticked off. I tell him how I brought it in only for the cd rom, I got a call that it was ready to go home with me, that I drove an hour to pick it up because of that, no one else called me other than that call, and that I needed this computer for business purposes. So he starts scribbling notes down and takes my cell phone number, in case it’s ready while I’m still in that stupid town.
We go to do the only other thing in that town that we were there for, which is another story all in its own. Basically we stood at the Cingular store for literally an hour and 15 minutes before we were helped (some guy who arrived after us was helped first) and then another 15 or so minutes while she “took care” of us. And then left while my mother-in-law and sister-in-law stayed for another 20 minutes to handle their business. The woman was completely incompetent, I swear.
Anyway, after a late lunch around 2pm, I decide to go back to Best Buy.
I wait in line again and then talk to someone else. He was the same guy that took my RAM from me when I dropped the computer off. Oh, yeah, I had them add in 512 ram instead of the 256 it had – that, as far as I can tell, is the only thing the all mighty Geek Squad has done correctly.* So anyway, I tell him what was going on and that I was there to check on it.
The computer is sitting right there on the counter where I left it earlier. There’s a note on it to finish it asap and call my cell phone. No one knows what’s going on though, and he goes in the back to find out.
He returns with a “yeah, your operating system was corrupted and we have to reinstall it, that’s why the cd rom wasn’t working.” Some other guy comes up behind him and confirms this. They open the cd rom and there’s that burned cd again, “yeah, see?” (Like that shows me that the operating system was indeed corrupted, or something.) He says that it’s completely operating system stuff that stopped my cd rom and that no diagnostics turned up anything hardware related. He tells me that many things can cause this, and he strongly stresses viruses and adware. I know this is not the case. It was clean. I’m good and keeping my stuff clean. He tries to tell me that Internet Explorer was messed up, too. I know this is not true, as well.
He then feeds me some bull about them trying to contact me about the reinstall but that the phone number I gave them was bad. That is complete bull crap and without using so many words, I tell him this. I say that I got a phone call on Sunday morning telling me that the computer was finished. And furthermore, this I did not mention, if they had tried to call me and I was not home or the phone did not get answered, they would have been on the callerID, which they weren’t except for that Sunday morning call. So right there, I know I am being lied to and I wonder what other crap they’re trying to feed me.
What I ended up doing then, was not paying for them to reinstall anything and I take the computer home. I do the reinstall myself. Of course, this was after some trouble as I don’t know what the heck they did to the computer, but it didn’t want to do anything at first for me. I then spend several hours on this and trying to get it back into my home network.
What I want to know is this:
1. If they knew the problem was corrupted files in the Operating System and they “could not” get a hold of me to authorize the reinstall – WHY did they wipe out my operating system in the first place? You’d think they’d want to really get a hold of me to authorize that and try to talk me into allowing them to back up my data for their “so very low” price of $89.
2. Why did they call me to tell me the computer is finished if it so obviously wasn’t??
3. And most importantly, who’s copy of Windows XP were they trying to install on my computer?
And this is why I am kicking myself very hard for buying another computer not just from Best Buy but a Compaq. I swear, any more problems with this thing and they’re going to fix it, then I’m going to sell it and get another Dell. So there. Haha.
The best thing out of all of this? My Geek Squad casefile came a sheet of those little word magnets. Now I can spell out “I hate Geek Squad” on my refrigerator. :-P
* – actually, at the time I wrote this post I guess I was so wrapped up in reinstalling everything that I did not realize the RAM was not installed correctly. I purchased 512 MB but I was only running 512MB meaning I got screwed out of another 256MB. I took it back in and, they claim, the package I purchased was incorrectly labeled and was actually 256MB. Whatever it was, they traded it out and I am now running 760MB.
Bit of an update:
Yesssss, thank you very much, I understand about the Windows CD. This has been explained time and time again. Of course, I will never know if you all are right if I cannot test it out myself. But don’t bother bringing it up over and over again as it has already been done.
Secondly, after getting my system running again and posting this post, it was less than a week later when the CD rom pulled the same disappearing act. The solution? Two measly lines in the registry. Amazing how four guys at Geek Squad could not figure this out and had to corrupt my operating system instead. Quick fix guys, not a permanent solution… or a trained one, for that matter. It doesn’t matter that the issue was software and not technically covered by the warranty, they still couldn’t (or wouldn’t) figure out the real problem and instead corrupted my operating system! Morons!
More Interesting Articles:
Compute Repair Fraud on YouTube
Best Buy’s ‘Geek Squad’ Accused of Pirating Software – April 13, 2006
Couple’s Supposedly Destroyed Hard Drive Purchased In Chicago – June 1, 2006
My Best Buy Nightmare – October 26, 2005
166 Comments
Ugh, I’m sorry you had such a terrible experience with the tech support. I’ve heard that Dell isn’t much better in terms of customer service though, although supposedly their products (provided that they actually ship you the correct one) *are* more reliable. I guess we all really need to take heed of the “Buyer Beware” warning.
Your Best Buy sucks… My Brother has had acomputer with them since early 2000 and over that time has gotten two new laptops for nothing. Somehting went wrong with the machine and Best buy bout it for what a similiar computer sold for. U need to move to a cooler place. :-P
Wow, that is a terrible crappy arse day in my opinion! Our Geek Squad always seems to be wondering around aimlessly… never busy or “working” at all. I have personal friends fix my comouter issues and NEVER buy those warranties because they never cover the problems that pop-up :( Better luck for the future I hope. *Hugs and a little holiday cheer for you.*
WHAT?!!
Let’s see…earlier this year, I wanted my hard drive data backed up and I took it to geek Squad and they said the data was corrupted and the drive unusable. But, wouldn’t you know? I popped it into my computer and it’s still working.
My mom and I decided that Best Buy and Circuit City are both crappy stores. You have to pull a lot of stings and people’s body parts, for that matter, to get what you want from Best Buy, and from Circuit City, you have to kill everyone who works for them to get something (only kidding, but it feels that way..) Geek Squad is there to screw people royally.
Ever Since Geek Squad merged with Best Buy, Pete’s Mom is looking bad. (Pete is a former class mate and his mom was one of the founders of the Geek Squad).
And this is where I’m going to say that somewhere in the week I’ve had the laptop back, the CD ROM again disappeared from view and was unusable. And then I found this article on Microsoft telling me to delete two registry keys. So far so good. Though, I don’t really get it, because the article was in reference to the CD ROM no longer working after uninstalling some specific programs for cd burning (used these on the old Compaq desktop I had). Either way, we’re running so far. And that’s good. Because I was getting quite upset that this happened again so fast (or at all for that matter). I wonder if one of my programs is doing this, but then again, I’ve not anything that’s different from my desktop programs on here…
Okay, enough of this…
Geek Squad; interestingly, in my area, Geek Squad employs anyone who wants to go through training, even if they’re not into computers. Some managers are strict when it comes to employment, while others depend on training. I’ll be posting a really ‘interesting’ story about BestBuy soon.
It’s like CircuitCity; walk near the cameras section or computer section and ask any tech associate there which is the bext computer, and they’ll always recommend the most expensive thing. Or at Fry’s [frys.com], they’ll even say 128 mb ram is enough to sell low-end generic systems they’re carrying for their specials season.
Now, if we can’t trust retail stores where we have the luxury of taking our stuff directly and talking to someone, what can we do? Trust mailing things back and forth to the companies directly? That sucks.
Have you ever stopped to think that the “windows xp service pack 2″ cd JUST contained the service pack and not the whole Windows? Pretty common..
As you stated it blue screened when they turned it on. They obviously did not wipe your Operating System. It merely had some sort of problems/coruption. If your CD-Rom was not working when you brought it in, but is now after re-installing windows (you mad eno mention of it NOT working now) then there was obviously problems with Windows in the first place, so seeing a blue screen would not be a suprise… it is already screwed up what do you expect?
Accident I would assume, everyone makes em.
They were probably not neccesarily trying to install Fred Dunkin’s Windows XP on your computer. It was a backup of Windows XP disc that they probably keep for their use but do not want to use the actual thing in customer’s computer because it is possible to have their disc scratched in a customer’s computer. Your laptop also has a CD-Key at the bottom if they wanted to install Windows they could use that or the restore CD’s that they keep logged in the back for certain models. OR they were going to try recovery console using Windows to possibly see if they could fix it that way.
How do you think going to Dell will solve your problem? Their customer support can be absolutely horrid at times, not to mention trying to get something fixed. In-Home support from dell = contracted computer repair specialist *randomly* picked from your area.
To Joe Schmoe with an obviously fake name: no, it was the complete Windows package just as the CD said it was. They also told me they were reinstalling the operating system with that CD, so there you have it.
To Eddie with the obviously fake email address and URL that I removed: you obviously have not read the whole post nor my followup comment on it.
They did wipe my operating system, they basically said as much. When I took the computer in, there was nothing wrong with it other than the CD Rom not being recognized. The rest of the computer ran PERFECTLY. I had had no blue screens whatsoever with it. The only way the OS could have been wiped out was when they did it. The blue screen I saw was a Windows reinstall that was halfway through when the lid had been closed on it. It was the same blue screen I got later when I took the thing home and started it up to reinstall it myself.
As previously stated, I did make mention of the CD rom again not working. Within a week of getting everything reinstalled, it quit again. I then found instructions on Microsoft… well, read my previous comment, will you?
And as for Dell, I love Dell. I have a Dell desktop that when my motherboard died they sent a guy who was here three days in a week with different parts and pretty much replaced every part in that thing. No probems since and it was all free to me. Much better than anything Compaq or Best Buy ever did for me.
lol @ these comments. I wonder if it’s BestBuy employees responding. :p Any chance these 2 posters have ip addresses really close to each other?
Even though I think Dell computers have one disadvantage of having everything shipped back and forth during problems, they do pay for shipping. Dell computers also have the lowest complaints reported compared to Compaq and any BestBuy transaction; no need to take a computer back most of the time in the first place. Whether or not they randomly employ outside people, Dell support is still rated higher than BestBuy customer support, and that of Compaq/HP.
Apparently, people not only not read and listen carefuly in person [aka BestBuy], but online too [the above 2 posters].
Yes, I am employed with the Geek Squad.
Yes I have seen some horrible things happen to customer’s machines.
Most of the time our precinct is called upon to clean up other store’s screwups. The Geek Squad I work at is staffed with some of the best technicians I have ever seen.
I *must* stress this. Your experience at ANY Best Buy or Geek Squad Precicnt is ENTIRELY dependent on the store and the store’s management. There is little to no corporate oversight aside from setting budgets for labor and sales.
I’m not trying to defend the organization as a whole, just my little corner of it.
As for the Windows XP CD, We keep images of OEM restore CDs on our computer and burn them off as neccessary. The liscense on the bottom of your computer is all that is needed to reinstall windows and it is entirely legitimate.
I don’t see a problem with using a burned Windows XP CD, you can install from any media and still use the product key on the bottom of the laptop to register/activate the software. Have you ever had a good experience at any store? It sounds like you like to find something wrong with service anywhere you go, perhaps you are the problem.
69.132.34.226 for “Joe Schmoe” (cpe-069-132-034-226.carolina.res.rr.com) and 65.28.111.17 for “Eddie” (CPE-65-28-111-17.kc.res.rr.com).
:-D
Amazing how these comments come in two’s, isn’t it?
To both Laranzu and John: Yes, I understand about the CD. I’ve understood that now for quite some time.
To John: No, I am not the problem, no, I do not look for something wrong with service wherever I go. I am a pretty easy going person and actually often overlook the stupidity of service persons and the like. Such as in a recent podunk town in Indiana, I overlooked the fact that my tacos at the great and mighty Taco Bell all had the amount of cheese equivalent to the breakfast of a mouse. Yeah, I’m like that. I am often the doormat, I get pushed around. But of course, from reading one post about one day out of my life… how could you know that?
I made the mistake of applying for a position for Geek squad. I went and interviewed with the manager. He was more interested in how I dealt with the public, how I sold stuff then, how well I could fix computers. That told me a lot and was glad I never got a call back from them. They hire incompetent people to try to sell you stuff you do not need, and when it comes down to fixing the problem they are clueless. Instead I got hired by IBM, trust me IBM has problems too, but not as bad as Geek Squad to say the least. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to correct their shoddy work. At IBM and we did support for Geek Squad,(the computers they used for cash registers) even their managers were morons. Case in point, they had a machine down which they were going to reload it. I said I would call back in an hour. I called back in two to make sure the reload completed. The manager got on the phone and said its still doing the reload, my reply it’s been 2 hours it should be finished. He then noticed the hard drive light was frozen after I asked him to look at it. We sent a “REAL” tech to fix the computer. I work for my self now on the side from my regular tech job; I cannot tell you how many customers I have had, where I had to fix what the geek squad techs have broken. Also I have heard the in-store techs copy information off users PCs for their own use. Lastly anybody working for Geek squad should be ashamed of themselves because charging what they charge should be considered highway robbery.
I’m gonna address a few of the things here. First of all, as to the original post, there is no doubt that they screwed up. Your CDROM not showing up in my computer, but showing up with an exclamation point in Device Manager is a simple upper and lower filters issue. There are two registry keys which affect this, you delete them and reboot and it works again. Two things can cause the problem: malware and defective cd burning software.
To the IBM guy: of course Best Buy’s managers are idiots. There are no Geek Squad managers, only store managers whose experience is in retail. They don’t need to know how to fix a computer to do their jobs. Also, you say IBM sent a “real tech,” even if we wanted to fix the computers ourselves, our contract with IBM expressly forbids it and we would void our tech support options if we did anything we were unauthorized to do.
Yes, we charge a lot, but you have a service which has a flat rate, so you know exactly how much it’s gonna cost up front, whether the work takes 2 hours or 10. Also, you have one of the largest retailers in the world backing it up. If you have a problem with the Geek Squad’s work, and the person you’re dealing with doesn’t want to help you, ask to speak with someone else. Most of us are far more concerned with ensuring that our clients are happy with our work than we are with extracting money out of them. Every precinct is generally a mix of folks who are fairly inexperienced and maybe good salesmen, and other folks who are true technicians and are more interested in fixing computers than dealing with everything else. Naturally it’s going to be luck of the draw when you talk to any particular person.
I hope you have your flame retardant suit on.
If you read the fine print your almighty three year warranty doesn’t cover software issues. That Windows disc with black writing on it is just a service pack 2 UPGRADE disc they make copies of, not the full operating system. You are making it out they they load copied OS’s on machines. If you weren’t so one sided you would know that the disc is MEANINGLESS, it’s all tied to your product key on your machine. You are lucky they didn’t have to send it out for service or you would have waiting longer than two weeks to get it back, which they typically do. It’s a shame you felt you got bad service from Best Buy and decided to waste even more of youe time to complain about it. Like any other major corporation, there will be some customers that are disatisfied with their product or service.
I really hate to hear of your GeekSquad plight. I work for Geek Squad actually and believe me my frustrations are mirrored to yours. When we rolled out in 04 to all Best Buy stores everything was great. But overtime Best Buy has morphed us into their personal “selling” machines. I never offer a customer more than they need as that is not our motto (or at least mine). When I first started, all the techs were old school Best Buy Techs and knew their stuff. I was in the company of my peers and excited to come to work. Slowly things have changed, we have cowboy managers who pull us to the sales floor instead of fixing customer’s computers who have been waiting for a week. Anyway, I do my best to take care of my customer’s and ensure repeat business. As far as the CD-ROM issue goes, thats a well known problem and I could have taken care of you in about 15 minutes. What they did was wrong and very ineffecient, but seriously we are not in charge of the “techs” that Best Buy hirers. . . Best Buy makes all the decisions not Geek Squad, unfortunatly we are just along for the ride and a brand that is slowly withering away.
kellix – moron! of course the management was interested in how well you deal with the public as Geek Squad is a customer service based company. you can be capable of fixing a PC but horrible with people and be utterly worthless. I personally fixed cars for 9 years and left my career to go with Geek Squad full time. you hear so many complaints because you are looking for them – for one, and second – we are the largest computer support company in the world. WOrl domination was our motto – now its a reality – move over and watch as you may learn something.
You need to sit in the corner and cry somemore. Really. I have been reading through your “blogs” as i stubbed across this site through a friend. All you do is bitch and complain about stuff that you have NO idea about. If they were USING the cd-rom to reload your os OFF A CD then your problem IS with windows and not with your CD rom drive. Did that thought process ever cross your mind?
And as for them reloading your os withOUT permisson, i will take your side, that is COMPLETELY uncalled for. They should have at least called and left a message or something before they did the work.
But as for them being backed up all the time, i visited the local bestbuy a today and made a realization. They….are….busy. They have a HUGE volume of computers and customers to deal with. Mistakes are bound to happen. I saw this blog a few days ago and thought of it while i was there. i went us to the geek guys and asked them rougly about how many computers they had at the time. They have over 85 computers there to work on, though at first i did not believe him. I asked him to show me and, no joke, there back area was filled to the brim with computers and laptops. I can only geuss they try there best to finish computers as fast as possible but if they have to deal with whiny jerks like you all the time, then they might get slowed down
“Lastly anybody working for Geek squad should be ashamed of themselves because charging what they charge should be considered highway robbery.” pfft get over yourself will you. I have worked places that charge triple the Geek Squads price for a data back up. If you do not like the prices dont ******* shop there. How adult to have a website and whine about prices.
Dell…………Hahahahaha…………..Hahahahahaha……….. Thanks for the laugh. Now the questions they asked Kellix in the interview. 1) How well would you work with the public?…………Wouldn’t your customers be the public? How dare they ask such a question! 2) How well you can fix computers? Well, isn’t that what the job was for? Again, how dare they! I’m tired of hearing people whine about their experiences at retail establishments. If you don’t like them, DON’T SHOP THERE! I think it’s time to get down off the cross, use the wood to build a bridge, and GET OVER IT!
69.132.34.226 for “Joe Schmoe†(cpe-069-132-034-226.carolina.res.rr.com) and 65.28.111.17 for “Eddie†(CPE-65-28-111-17.kc.res.rr.com).
Those IP addresses are in different parts of the country. Both appear to be Roadrunner related. So is my IP address. Settle down. There’s no conspiracy in the fact that a few people actually subscribe to Roadrunner as their ISP. The name may be a pseudonym as Best Buy, like any large retail entity, doesn’t authorize employees to talk about company issues. Dell, IBM, and any other retailer would be the same way. So.. I am NOT a spokesperson for Best Buy/ GeekSquad, and yes, I will disguise my real name. Big deal. Were you pissed that Deepthroat didn’t reveal his identity till recently?
I’m sorry that you had a less-than-wonderful experience with BestBuy and GeekSquad, but as another poster pointed out, it greatly varies from location to location / management to management. That’s not an excuse, it’s just a fact. Dell will not always be the solution to your problems. Yes I do work for Geeksquad. We service Dell computers on a daily basis (at least 2/day and sometimes 5/day.) Usually we’re working on them because the customer felt abandoned by Dell (especially once the warranty went out) or it’s a software issue like spyware that Dell won’t help them with unless they format (wipe out) the computer & reinstall. At least GeekSquad (on the whole) is willing to try to FIX your operating system.
No reseller guarantees the performance of the software/os on the systems they sell. There’s NO WAY to provide free software support in place of the OEM maker without charging for said support.
It’s kind of like going to the grocery store, buying a steak, and being mad because it didn’t taste the way you wanted it to when you cooked it. The grocery store only has control over the quality of the raw material (the steak), not the way you cooked it (use it.)
Best Buy’s steaks and Dell’s steaks are not of significantly different quality. The difference is that you have to call Dell for support, whereas you can at least talk to someone face to face at Best Buy; and Best Buy didn’t make the package the steaks, whereas Dell did.
Dell hardware is nothing special. It’s not bad. It’s not great. It’s a Dell. The cases on the entry level Dells fall apart easily. Dell has even told a customer of mine that their hard drives are special and that only a Dell HD will work in a Dell. Anyone with any technical expertise will recognize this simply as a ploy to sell an overpriced generic hard drive from the Dell parts center.
Ever since Dell started to compete with lower priced computer makers and tried to grab the lion’s share of the computer market, their customer satisfaction and service has dropped dramatically:
http://www.forbes.com/2005/08/16/dell-customersatisfaction-falls-cx_ld_0816dell.html
Quote “Dell’s customer satisfaction now merely meets overall customer satisfaction with the PC industry.”
http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1848939,00.asp
Sure. Get a Dell. Nothing wrong with it, but you’ll have to be up for phone support when a problem arises, and be prepared for a format/reinstall if it is a software issue.
Who get’s turned down by a company and still thinks highly of said company? Sorry you’re ego got hurt Kellix. Yes, Best Buy is a retail business. That surprises you? Lets say you’ve got 5 techs on duty at about $10/ hr each for a full 12 hours. Those techs have to pull in $600 a day just to break even (and that’s not paying any other bills.) What’s a good retail profit? 3X mark up? $1800/day? Pretty reasonable in a retail environment…. In order for Best Buy to provide a tech service at a brick and mortar store, that service HAS to make money. Otherwise you’re back to 5 hours on the phone with some guy in India.
Managers are morons? In other words someone who doesn’t understand computers is a moron. Nice… probably why you didn’t get hired. You’re a great tech I’m sure, but BBY can’t afford to take that attitude with it’s customers.
Techs who work for themselves are I’m sure quite skilled, but they rarely have access to legitimate licensed software to do the job they’re asked to do. I can’t count the number of times customers have come to the window with work done by “some tech guy… who charged them $$ to fix their computer” “oh yeah… he upgraded me with something” usually a pirated operating system that completely hoses the customer in the long run. Or they bring us their computer because some fly-by night tech/computer store that messed up their computer and is no longer in business or won’t answer their calls. See… nasty rumors work both ways…. Not nice is it?
I’m just posting to say my peace. I’m not expecting to change any minds. It’s plain that yours is already made up, and that’s OK. Sorry you had a bad experience…
YOU ARE A FRIGG’N IDIOT. THATS ALL I CAN SAY. READ YOUR DAMN WARRANTY IT DOESNT COVER SOFTWARE THATS WHY THEY WOULDNT FIX YOUR OTHER COMPUTER DIP****. YOU ARE ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE IMPATIENT ***WIPES THAT WANT EVERYTHING DONE WHEN YOU WANT IT.
KELLKIX IS HATE’N THE SQUAD CAUSE HIS DUMB*** CANT GET HIRED. HE PROBABLY OWNS A DELL TOO.
For the record though, if a computer comes in missing the CDRom, yeah… broken upper & lower filters in the registry is the first thing one should suspect. Checking/fixing that takes all of 3 minutes w/o interruptions (maybe 30 w/ typical interruptions.) (Technically this IS something wrong with the operating system and technically falls under flat rate charges for fixing the OS.) It’s like book time when you have your auto serviced. It might take the mechanic 1/2 book time to fix your paricular automotive issue -if they’re good- but they still get paid book time.
Remember, neither BestBuy nor Geeksquad broke the registry. Also, this is an issue common to WindowsXP, not a particular computer brand. It DOES suck that your computer ended up worse than when you brought it in. I know many GS agents that would have tried editing the registry as a quick fix (after a disclaimer was signed) and then hand it back gratis if the worked though. If the registry issue was all that was wrong I’d be really mad at the final BSOD outcome too. I’d definitly be upset with the lack of communication at the very least. I would be remiss to assume that your computer did/or did not have further issues though.
To start off, I once worked at Bestbuy. First selling computers, and then I was moved to the tech department. I eventually quit after having gotten sick of being constantly told to provide great customer service and then not being given enough time to do that. But, what did the most to push me over the edge was customers. Not all of them, just most of them. There are a majority of people in this world who have learned that if you complain enough, you will get something for free. People were referring their friends to come to me at Bestbuy if they needed to buy a computer. When I moved to the Tech bench, I took the same attitude and knowledge. Suddenly, I had people yelling at me over things they broke (cracked screen on a dropped notebook,…) because they thought if they complained enough they could get something for free. Now, to get to my point. Bestbuy, Circuit City, CompUSA (well maybe not CompUSA),… all used to try and take care of their customers. The problem, customers were always trying to get something for free. So, all these retailers had to change thier policies to become profitable. Once Bestbuy did this, that is when they started to expand nation wide. Do I like this or agree with it, NO. That’s just how it is. In this respect, customers did this to themselves. These major retailers now sell things like service plans because if you don’t have one it is easier to tell you there is nothing they can do.
I would much prefer that service plans don’t exist. You should be able to pay more to get a better item that will last instead of having to buy added insurance on a crappy one. But then again, consumers are to blame for this also. In retail, cheap will always beat out quality. So, for any manufacturer to compete they have to make their items as cheap as possible. Which leaves consumers with who are willing to spend more for a quality item having no choice but to buy a cheap one with an added service plan/ extended warranty. (The only company I have dealt with that makes good quality inexpensively is Samsung. Conversly if you want a good high quality name brand item, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you ever buy Sony [but that's a different story, I still have nightmares about being drown in broken PS2's not to mention camcorders, cd players, computers, IT IS ALL CRAP as far as reliability is concerned. Thier stereos are mediocre])
To try and tie this back to the issue at hand. It seems you failed to notice TWICE that the service plan only covers HARDWARE, NOT SOFTWARE (and for anyone else, it DOES NOT COVER ABUSE, so if you drop it and it breaks, you screwed yourself). This does not mean that I think Bestbuy was not responsible for helping you. In response to your first computer, it was a software issue. Compaq tech support was responsible for that. Second time was a software issue also, same thing. Bestbuy WAS RESPONSIBLE for verifying that it was a software issue and not a hardware issue in both cases. THERE, THEY FAILED! Both times.
So, in the end, I am not entirely sympathetic to you problem, because we as consumers brought it on ourselves. Any company that would provide good customer service without trying to take us (the customers) for every penny, will go out of business.
Oh, and in reference to Dell, the last consumer report I read, Dell was ranked 5th in customer support and reliability. The used to be cheap of the cheap E-Machines was ranked #1 in CUSTOMER SUPPORT & RELIABILTY.
P.S. all service orgainization have their problems. This is for the guy who worked at IBM. After a tech repair, my external scsi tape backup on my server still does not work correctly and after $50,000 for a server plus maintenance contract, I expected more!!
well.. to start with COPYING windows CD is NOT illegal.. what IS illegal is using WinXP serial key on several machines when it is authorised for only one….
creator’s taste for colours sucks…
and at the end…..
every company can have a problem…if moron comes in and is having a problem with 1-2 computers out of overall 1000 serviced i’d say its a pretty cool service center.
people like that i just want to smack.. with a baseball bat..
To the last 12 commenters:
I really don’t have to defend myself or my opinions to you, this is my website, afterall. 90% of you are lucky to even have had your comments approved and out of moderation. I appreciate thought-out and polite comments and opinions, but most of you have just seen fit to show your lack of intelligence by using profanity and attempting to insult me. What is that going to do? Do you think this hurts my feelings? Do you think your measly insults will make me take this site or post down? What, are you afraid of losing your job should word get out that your company isn’t all they’re cracked up to be?
Let me attempt to make a few things even clearer here. (However, if you had all actually read the post thoroughly as well as previous comments, you would already be privy to this.)
1. I know about the operating system CD. I did not at the time I wrote the post which was why it was posed in question form. I understand this. Big deal. It wasn’t the main issue anyway.
2. Yes, I know the problem was a software issue, and I know that software issues are not covered under warranty. I did not know at the time I took the computer in that it was a software issue. I did not take a lot of time and try to solve the problem myself at first because it had all appearances of being a hardware issue and the computer is under warranty so why not take it in? C’mon, people, again, if you had actually read everything you would already know this.
3. All Geek Squad had to do was tell me it was a software issue and what to do and we could have been happy. But, no! What I was really angry about was this:
a. Being told the job was completed when in reality nothing was completed as the issue remained and the operating system was gone.
b. Their wiping out of my operating system without prior authorization and then wanting to charge me for reinstalling it.
c. The fact that I was flat out lied to when I was told they “tried to authorize it but the phone number you gave us was bad.†Riiiighto, Matey. And it was just as bad when they called to say the computer was ready.
4. I never said Dell was anything special. Just letting the world know that they’re the only ones who have ever given me any support that was actually worth anything instead of pushing me off on someone else or denying it was their problem, or making it worse, etc.
Moving along…
Specifically to “os god.†You are no god. You have no idea what you’re even talking about. I was told they wiped the operating system and were installing it with that CD, that means, gasp, that that CD contained the operating system. I don’t “make anything out.†I just tell it like it is. As far as “flames†go, well… I’m not afraid of fire.
To “YuP.†I am laughing so hard now. That’s hilarious, world domination, huh? Like Pinky & the Brain? Why don’t you take note? You’re just a fad.
To “Jon†and anyone else who claims to have been brought here “by a friend.†And that would be why I have over 254 hits for February from geeksquadforums.com, that would be why your IP address matches one of those hits. Right. Do you actually see me crying? No, you don’t. Why? Because I fixed the problem myself. My computer runs great, no thanks to you. The rest of your comment is just so ridiculous it doesn’t deserve any more attention.
To “Wow†– you attempt to insult me and my website using something someone else said. How “adult†of you. And the language you use, your mother must be ashamed of you. How about you grow up and learn to use the English language to your advantage?
To “Dan†and “Five Fingers.†Wow, you’re just not even worth it.
To “Foques.†Do you really have nothing better to say? Please, the guy visiting from 198.22.123.103, otherwise known as Best Buy Co., Inc. in Richfield, MN ought to have something more profound than that. Does your manager know what you do with the company computers? Or are you the manager? Too big of a baby to come up with something worth any value? Or maybe you smacked yourself with that baseball bat instead?
To the rest of you recent commenters: thank you for your comments that are mostly thought out and polite. Though I still either disagree with you or again you have not fully read what was already written and are beating a dead horse. Also, to those who made reference to my first computer’s problems – I never did tell you what the issue was, did I? So how could you know if it was software or hardware?
Finally, I am not wasting my time complaining about anything. This is a blog site. An outlet of free time. This Geek Squad thread only makes up about .01% of what is on this site. I can say whatever I please here, whenever. If you don’t like it, go somewhere else.
But keep it coming, boys. Because the more you whine about one person’s opinion on the internet, the more popular my site gets and the more Google adores me. For that, I thank you.
Wow I must have really struck a cord with the Best Buy morons. Let’s get to some answers, to the jerk about the service agreement, IBM will let people that are competent, read the word “competent” to work on the computers if they have the skill to do so if IBM help desk allows. Since 90% are not we do not usually allow it but read the agreement. I have read Geek Squads agreement between IBM have you? Also if they are a Geek Squad manager not a BEST BUY manager you’re saying they shouldn’t know crap about what to tell their employees? Also to the moron about, customer service, I won 14 customer service awards with IBM, I think I know how to do it; Geek squad is too worried about selling then fixing. Also I pray to God I didn’t get hired by Geek Squad, I have a tech job where I make a tons better living then even the highest Geek Squad manager. Lastly to the ex-car salesman or ex con-artist what car salesman are, go ahead and tell you how great they are. Most people after experiencing Geek Squad NEVER go back. So you might be No.1 today. It’s going to change in time. So con artists and incompetent morons keep breaking PCs, you keep me in business fixing your work. I sleep well at night I bet you don’t.
Amazing how these “Geeks” have nothing better to do with their time. Do they not know that by showing their lack of intelligence they are proving your point about the GS even more? Wise up little boys, detach yourself from mommy and GROW UP.
too funny – facts are facts – Geek Suqad is the largest computer support group. Google it, get your info right, and know your facts. As for fear? ok buddy, whatever you say. The only thing I have to fear is fear itself – and that is nothing more than a word! Everyone is entitled to their opinion – problem is only few can take constructive criticsm maturely or present their opinion in a professional manner. Enjoy life, its to short to cry about your shopping experience at a retailer when there are so many others to shop with. No more responses, this is a dead post and topic.
While you are spelling out your hatred, perhaps you could learn how to spell “refrigerator”. Here’s a link to help start you down the right path:
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/refrigerator
To wow (and a few others). Let me ask you a question – If you went to your local Auto mechanic and asked him to bring his lift, tools and talent to your driveway to work on your car; what would he charge you?
Geek Squad comes TO YOUR HOUSE or are there AT THE STORE and you ‘only’ get charged for any parts that may be needed and a ‘flat rate’ for services. Have you been charged for thier time (ever).
Yes I work for the Geek Squad, and like some of the other posters to this blog I am sorry for the trpoubles and woes you have experienced at the hands of a few within BestBuy. We are a brand, and most of us hold the brand to high standards.
I will (and have) go out of my way to give the best possible service and experience to my customers I can provide, regardless of the hours I spend.
Goodknight… Goodnight. You’ve NEVER made a typo before? Grow up.
First to Val: You definitely had a bad experience. I admire your spunk with regards do some of your replies to some of the impolite responses posted here. You crack me up! I of course take some issue with the blanket statement that GS/BBY/CPQ sucks, but you are legitimately posting about something that happened to you. I hate to see one person’s bad experience at on particular store make us all look bad. The problem is that it brings both sides out of the woodwork, and unfortunately sometimes in nasty way.
An example of the other side: Kellix.
Kellix. A BBY manager you were working with didn’t know how to do something computer related so you call him a moron here. I point out that attitude is incongruous with good customer service and you call me a moron. You pretty much SLANDER Best Buy, Geek Squad an everyone associated with them in a blanket fashion and then point out that you’ve won 14 customer service awards. I don’t think I need say much more. You reveal yourself quite effectively. As Val said about most of the posters… keep it coming. I say the same to you. The more you write the more you show who you are. I need say nothing, except you might want to have a friend proof read your post before submission. We all make gramatical errors but your sentence structure makes your post a bit difficult to read.
Val… I just found it humourous. Ironic, really, that “spell” and a typo were in the same line. Get a sense of humour.
Goodknight….get a LIFE. Seriously, you must be a lonely pathetic person to comment about a TYPO. Can we all say loser? Sheesh.
You seem to have a pretty had opinion about Services. I understand the pain and hardship you went through, but you blame the whole rather than the site where you took the unit.
As for anything else, suck it up. Talk it up with another Geek Squad and move on.
Another coward who can’t leave a real name or email, aye?
You’ll notice that this post was originally made in 2005. I have quite moved on. It seems, however, that it’s the Geek Squad employees that can’t move on.
You know, since you’re visiting from the same Best Buy store as “Foques” above, I assume you’re an employee as well, 198.22.123.105 through Best Buy Co., Inc. from Richfield, MN. Not that I enjoy repeating myself but, “Do you really have nothing better to say? Does your manager know what you do with the company computers?”
Don’t care to finish reading these posts, all I can say is cry more. Your computer was broken, you took it to a place to get fixed. Just because ONLY your CD-ROM drive was not functioning does not mean that it could have been fixed without removing your OS. But oh wait, yes it could have, it would have taken weeks to go through and find exactly what was missing from that of a standard Windows XP Install. About the “written in black ink”. We (I work for Best Buy) are licensed the use of Windows XP CD’s, however we are not given CD-Keys to go along with them, we have them because people don’t bring us their CDs. Long story short, when you sit there and complain about them taking too long, then you contradict yourself by making fun of a copied CD, maybe you would think in your head, “maybe these CDs are copied so more computers can be worked on at one time”. I see people like you come and go, day after day, if you hate Geek Squad and Best Buy so much, leave, don’t come back. Fix it yourself. Computers are a pain in the ass, I have worked on them for years now, and still to this day, this happen that I can not solve in 5 minutes. Yes, they should not have called you when the computer was not ready, and yes they should have tested the computer to double check before they did call you. Yes, I will admit there are flaws in the way ANY computer tech shop works, but when you sit here, obviously much older then I, and complain about simple things, it makes me regret ever getting into the retail buisness. There is no way to make you happy. You WOULD have had to pay $60 more to have XP installed, since that is Geek Squad procedure, yet you didn’t because no call was made. They made a mistake you gained from it. I don’t see you complaining about not having to pay $60. “Well, they made a mistake I want to pay my $60″ BUT, when a mistake is made out of your favor, you cry about it. Nothing personal to you, I just had to vent because everyday I see people like you come into my store and you all wonder why we don’t want to help you, because you all bitch and moan about this and that… FYI, in retail when you sit there and complain you more then likely will NOT recieve all that you want. I talk to my managers when I get customers like you and I tell them how you are acting and tell them I do not wish to help you. Last point, it is Christmas time when you brought this computer in, what do you expect, biggest shopping months of the year. I am done venting.
First of all, your comment is the hardest piece of crap I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. So let’s take it piece by piece, shall we? You know, especially since you don’t care to read enough in the first place to know that I have already addressed everything and that you are not bringing anything new to the table… just beating a dead horse, as you would have it.
Don’t care to finish reading these posts, all I can say is cry more.
Who’s crying? It’s your “not caring” that has made you look like a complete moron, beating that dead horse. Next time won’t you try to finish reading what others have said so that you can save yourself some dignity?
Your computer was broken, you took it to a place to get fixed.
Read that again. The computer was not broken, only the CD rom was not functioning.
Just because ONLY your CD-ROM drive was not functioning does not mean that it could have been fixed without removing your OS.
Who ever said that was the case?
But oh wait, yes it could have, it would have taken weeks to go through and find exactly what was missing from that of a standard Windows XP Install.
Yeah, that’s why it took me all of five minutes once I found the error code when it happened the second time. A Geek Squad employee should have known right off where to find the error code and have solved it in a matter of minutes.
About the “written in black inkâ€. We (I work for Best Buy) are licensed the use of Windows XP CD’s, however we are not given CD-Keys to go along with them, we have them because people don’t bring us their CDs.
Blah blah blah blah, we already know this.
Long story short, when you sit there and complain about them taking too long, then you contradict yourself by making fun of a copied CD, maybe you would think in your head, “maybe these CDs are copied so more computers can be worked on at one timeâ€.
No one’s making fun. I was having a serious conversation. I had a concern. I know now the issue, as you could have seen if you’d actually read everything.
I see people like you come and go, day after day, if you hate Geek Squad and Best Buy so much, leave, don’t come back. Fix it yourself.
People like me? You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’m like. You have read one post about my experience with a bad Geek Squad store and you use that to make judgement on what I am like as a person? Grow up. I am secure in the knowledge that I am a polite, honest, and hard-working person. One bad experience at the fault of others does not make me a bad person.
Note that I have fixed the problem myself, twice! I don’t plan on going back except should I need for them to fulfill the extended warranty that I paid for.
Computers are a pain in the ass, I have worked on them for years now, and still to this day, this happen that I can not solve in 5 minutes. Yes, they should not have called you when the computer was not ready, and yes they should have tested the computer to double check before they did call you.
Tell me something I don’t already know. Of course they should have checked on things before calling me, blah blah blah. If you haven’t noticed, that was about 90% of my point with the original post.
Yes, I will admit there are flaws in the way ANY computer tech shop works, but when you sit here, obviously much older then I, and complain about simple things, it makes me regret ever getting into the retail buisness.
How old do you think I am? I am 24, I doubt I’m “much older” than you. Not that that would be an issue to begin with. And again, you must be pretty insecure if reading one blog post from one website about one experience of one person out of all the places and people in the world makes you regret getting into retail. C’mon.
There is no way to make you happy.
There are plenty of ways to make me happy. I take stock in the simple things. LIKE GOOD SERVICE. Once again, we’re back to the issue of you not knowing me.
You WOULD have had to pay $60 more to have XP installed, since that is Geek Squad procedure, yet you didn’t because no call was made. They made a mistake you gained from it. I don’t see you complaining about not having to pay $60. “Well, they made a mistake I want to pay my $60″ BUT, when a mistake is made out of your favor, you cry about it.
That doesn’t even make any sense. No, I would not have paid for the operating system to be installed not only because they didn’t call me but had they, I still wouldn’t have paid it because I can *gasp* do that myself. Why pay someone else to do something that I can do quickly and easily in the comfort of my own home? Especially when that would have meant leaving the computer at the store for another period of-who-knows-how-long and then making another two hour round trip to pick it up at a later date. So logically, I would not be complaining about not having to pay $60 in the first place because I would have never had them reinstall it in the first place. So, no, I did not gain from their mistakes. Not one bit. And, again, I’m not crying about anything.
Nothing personal to you,
Really? Because it sure seems personal, the way all the Geek Squad and Best Buy employees are coming here to attack me – try to tell me that I’m a person who’s never happy, or I’m a bitch, or I’m stupid – all without really looking at the facts. Yes, I know who’s linking to me, I know where you people are coming from to this site. For instance, I know that you searched Google for “Geek Squad cd” and came from there where I am currently listed on page 1, site 3. Not that I take it personal, of course, really I laugh every time a new comment on this post comes through because you guys just continue to make yourselves look bad. In fact, the more you discuss it, the higher I move on the search engines with this post and the more people that come here and decide not to give you their business.
I just had to vent because everyday I see people like you come into my store and you all wonder why we don’t want to help you, because you all bitch and moan about this and that…
Back to the not knowing me. I find it extremely interesting how this keeps coming up with you. You have no real facts or defense so you feel you must attack me as a person. Interesting.
FYI, in retail when you sit there and complain you more then likely will NOT recieve all that you want.
Um, okay. Who ever said that I sat there and complained? I never did. I was up front with the guy, I spoke plainly as to what I needed done and I voiced my concerns about why I was called to pick up a computer that was so obviously not ready. No one also seems to care that I was obviously lied to when they tried to tell me I gave them a bad phone number (which was crap because – hello – they called to say it was ready, didn’t they?). And through it all, I really did remain polite. It’s my way. I believe in treating others as I would like to be treated. Though above I say that I was ticked off, I never once raised my voice, never got nasty, never did anything you all seem to assume I did.
I talk to my managers when I get customers like you and I tell them how you are acting and tell them I do not wish to help you.
How professional of you. You know, I worked in retail back in the day. I had the ability to calm down irate customers quickly and make them happy. I know what it’s like to work in retail as well as other types of business and whenever I’m at a fast food place that’s slow or gets my order wrong, I’m still nice. Do you see where I’m going with this? I treat others as I wish to be treated. I remember what it was like being there. I don’t yell at people or get nasty or slam things around, I don’t even threaten.
You should really take some notes. Helping the unhelpable may be one of the greatest traits a person can have. And as you continue to pass judgement on me, a person you’ve never met, I guess I can do the same to you – you seem like a very fickle and spoiled person. Try helping that unhelpable person – when you’ve finished, you just might feel like you’ve accomplished something.
Last point, it is Christmas time when you brought this computer in, what do you expect, biggest shopping months of the year.
So what? Because it’s Christmastime I should expect horrible service and faulty repair?
I am done venting.
Go ahead, vent all you want. It’s quite funny. Just next time, try some paragraphing and cognitive thought.
Boy..these Best Buy people just keep on making themselves look like idiots. Is that a requirement when applying? “Can you go to someone’s website you don’t know and make our company look bad with your stupid comments?” “Yes?” “Ok, you’re hired!”
If you hate customers and reatil so bad then HELLO! GET A NEW JOB!
I am sure corporate would absolutely lovvvvvvve to see how their
lackeysrepresent them when out of the store/warehouse. I for one, have never seen such true devotion from underpaid retail clerks, ever. Wow!I’ve never used Best Buy for anything technical (I find them poorly stocked with overpriced, lower-end product), but after seeing the behaviour of these “company representatives,” I’ll keep my business flowing to those who know the business–not just how to wrangle more fees out of their customers. This coming from a business owner who spends more on electronics in one trip, than these guys make in a year, possibly two. (Do you want fries with that?)
In my experience, this is usually indicative of the inmates running the asylum (i.e.: the retail crew running their own private operations out of the back door). Thou doth protest too much… nobody making that kind of money would get their undies in a knot over a customer who has been this consistently scammed and baited.
I’m just sayin’! ;)
I personally enjoy my job, I enjoy the people I work with, and have helped customer after customer with their problems. I have been yelled at for 10 minutes and still helped that customer, When I can.
I made that post at 1 AM, and I will admit it seemed a bit targetted to you. In all honesty it wasn’t, it was me venting, as I would have either done on my own personal site, or to a friend. So first off, would like to apologize to you. You had a bad experience at Best Buy, thats fine, where I got upset, is when I started to think back to the other customers who have had a bad experience and to me, it set something off, so I do apologize.
About making us look bad. I personally do not work at Geek Squad, I just have friends who do and I work very close to them. I have helped customers time and time again, helping them fix problems that were unfixable. I would have been that Computer Salesman that if you went up to and asked, “Hey I think this is a simple problem, I can’t get my CD-Rom drive to be found”. I would have helped you and probably done the work on the sales floor if we were slow. That is if it was as easy as you said, finding a Microsoft post about the problem.
I joined retail to help people, that is what I do. It is just those customers I get that just make me think, why am I putting myself through a stressful job when I could be doing more. I then help them and a few other nice customers, learn about their life and strike fun converstation, and I feel better, I enjoy my job again.
Long story short, I made this reply not to change anyones opinions on my first post but to apologize for the manner in which it was posted. Aside from that, if customers are going to read one situation where a customer was unhappy and decide not to go back to that store, I guess every buisness in existance shall fall. There is not a store out there that has given 100% customer satisfaction, atleast none that I have found. Aside from that have a good day, and am glad your computer works. I can recommend 2 stores for you to visit next time for a computer. Circuit City, have fun finding someone who knows anything, or is will to go out of their way to make you feel welcome at the store (saying this as I do everything listed to all of my customers, even those that are angry, I go to my manager when they want a discount for no reason), or 2. Compusa, I however have never found a single person to help me in that store before in my life. So, try those stores and maybe you will come back to Best Buy, or maybe you shall have that once in a lifetime experience with the workers there.
Wow. What a great set of posts, it’s the best blog I’ve read so far on Geek Squad BB/ Customer Service issues. (I started a few hours today) But I didn’t really read much about Comcrap.
I can imagine from the author’s point of view, why she was frustrated. She had good reason to be. She had a computer issue. She took it to a brick and mortar business where she was lied to, multiple times, first when she was told that the machine was fixed, then that they didn’t have her number. Then they went ahead an unsuccessfuly reinstalled her os without even asking for permission. In the end, after wasting her time, she was almost back to where she started. Anyone who would just look at those facts alone would dismiss that that was a horrible experience, and probably a horrible place to do business with.
Now the fact that it is Best Buy / Geek Squad is probably the only reason there’s so much flaming going on. Because people who belong to that organization are getting insulted. Pride is the issue here.
Alot of people from BB / GS have claimed that not all GS’s are the same, while evidently true, it’s not to say that customers don’t and shouldn’t expect them to be. We’re in a franchised USA where we expect to have the dunkachino in one dunkin donuts in nj taste just like the dunkachino in a dunkin donuts in ca. If you can’t raise your level of quality to meet the needs of your customers, and someone else can, you will lose business. Frankly, it’s funny that the end user kept going back to BB, perhaps this can be an opportunity for a local computer shop? Where do you live again?
I can’t agree with her assumption that her computer was clean. I’ve worked with computers long enough (15 years) to know what I can’t know. One thing is that a system is clean. It’s entirely possible that spyware or viri could have caused the issue, and it’s entirely true that it was a software issue. The only time you can know for SURE if a system is clean is to start with a new or wiped drive and reinstall the os off of clean disks.
I also don’t think it was an easy thing to fix, at least, I didn’t know how to fix it off the top of my head. I found interesting points made here by rather knowledgeable techs about the upper and lower filters, thank you! I love learning more about computers, that was not one I knew about. I would have suggested booting off of a system disk to test the cd though, if that works, we know the drive works to some degree, so the software should be to blame, that’s something you can do in just a few minutes.
However, what the techs suggested, about reinstalling the os, even though it wasn’t the most elegant way to fix the issue, it would have worked, and eventually, it did, since it was something the end user ended up doing.
I wasn’t clear on whether or not she was charged anything in the first place, or whether it was a warranty job, if she didn’t pay anything for the service, than you can say that at least she got some free consulting out of it (and a very interesting blog)Good job to all of those involved, it’s been fun!
**
Here’s something I’m going to post that I tried to post somewhere else and failed:Geek Squad does charge certain things by the hour, for example, training. It costs $159 / for one hour or $229 / for two hours, you can find these rates on the site. So really, that’s their hourly rate, if you were to compare them, which by industry standards, even in MANHATTAN that would be considered high. Sure, they do most of the services by the “job”, but charging 159 dollars for installing a $35 cd burner onto your system (it would take an *average tech* 15 mins) is in my opinion, a greedy way to make money.(159 bucks for 15 minutes(do the math), whores can’t even do that in manhattan, and that’s the oldest business in the world!) Charging hourly is much more substantial, however, GS and any other company will agree, not every tech is the same, therefore that’s why they can’t charge by the hour, what a good seasoned tech could do in less than an hour a newbie might take 3 hours to do(or never do), therefore, they’re quietly admitting their weakness and solving a problem at the same time, flat rates = less problems and more money. So, yes, they’re in it for the money, and not necessarily your satisfaction, they are not striving to be great, just effective in selling overpriced tech help in an underserved market. I can’t wait for them to get some competition. Until then, rape away, GS.
**
just wanted to explain the “burned copy” of windows xp in the origional post. this is a copy of windows…. with all legal versions of windows xp on one cd. using file tables made through linux, since most windows systems use the same files depending which OS you want, the software installs this using the same system files everytime. then i, as a GS employee, use the origional key from the customer’s computer. if there is not a key on the side, or bottom, of the unit, we will contact the customer before proceding.
which brings me to “why the HD was formated and OS reinstalled”……..
YOU HAD A HUGE DUMBASS WORKING ON YOUR COMP.!!!!!!
i would have made up some type of bull shit about you had important company docs on your machine and now that their gone, you may lose your job…… Best Buy woul be so scared of a lawsuit, they would have given you complete financial coverage.
F.I.N.A.L.L.Y. finished reading all the posts. I gotta agree with Agent Todd you had a REAL DUMBASS working on your P.C. I believe it’s been posted numerous times but the first thing anyone shoud have checked would be registry. And if they did start messing around in there they should have definately backed up the reg.
Now as far as the Couter Monkeys reformatting your O.S. without your consent this is why it’s important to read what you sign. BUT I do know that they will call before doing something that drastic…for a CD ROM issue you have every right to be pissed I would. It just sound like you have had a bad experience with Geek Squad.
Geek Squad is franchised with over 3000-4000 Agents who do INHOME service (I am not sure how many they have working in stores) but that being said ther are bound to be issues but most of the issues come down to COMMUNICATION. Usually related to the Agent not providing the customer with a clear enough explanation of what is happening and what their options are.
Geek Squad does have good quality techs out there but most of them work in the home not in the store. Yes there are bad Agents as there are bad mechanics, bad doctors, etc.
FOR ALL THE PRICE PEOPLE: Geek Squad isn’t for everyone. And yes as a company we know our prices aren’t cheap. But you have to realize that being said you shouldn’t have used us if you can’t afford us. I have never had someone complain about our prices when I am in their home.
Are we going away? In some markets maybe. But in large markets Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego, New York. I seriously doubt it. In large markets most people are educated enough to fix their own problems on their PC’s but what are their biggest reasons for them using us? “Because my time is worth more than you fixing it for me” I have been into many businesses that have an IT staff that just needed more hands to get a project finished. Why because with flat rate pricing it’s cheaper than paying FIXIT Tech guy from the want ad.
In short anyway we put with our rants and raves it all depends on your experience you have had. That being said I trust no one but myself when it comes to fixing anything or doing anything. I feel bad when I go to places and see someone taking a person for a “ride” with all the additional things they want you to do. THIS HAS been my ongoing battle with the way INSTORE Geek Squad works.
Goodness people, I spent 30 minutes reading over your stupid stories in regards to Geek Squad and Dell. I am all in favor of freedom of speech, but this whole blog should be shut down. You people need to do something better with your time than complain and track where ip address are coming from. All of you should be ashamed and hang your head. Go out and do something productive with your life. Oh, maybe your computers breaking is a sign of a user error. Learn how to use a computer, or take a class its not expensive. Better yet, if you still have the original box. Box it back up and ship it back to the manufacturer with a note stating,”I suck at life, and I don’t know anything about computers nor do I understand how to read warranties.”
The only one who should be ashamed and hang their head is YOU. How dare you come to someone’s blog, WHOM YOU DONT EVEN KNOW, and post such moronic crap? Go back to the planet ***hole from which you came and go f*** yourself. Kthnxbye.
WOW!!! Looks like I hit a spot with you. So defensive, this must mean its true. You people really are lower life forms. By the way calling me names is pointless, and proves my point.
Thank you for being so weak minded, and enjoy your pathetic life.
Hit a spot with me? I am the blog owner.
Thanks, Christine, for the defense. However, I do think that John’s comments show his ignorance and stupidity all in their own. My allowing his comments to even be posted when I have to manually approve them should show in itself that I am the bigger person.
I am not bothered by the comments or threats or the stupidity of these Geek Squad/Best Buy defenders. They’ll see the error of their ways soon enough.
Nothing proves your point. You are a lonely, pathetic man who has nothing better to do than talk down to people he doesn’t know. You are a weak minded waste of space.
PS – Of course you ‘hit a spot’. You come in here running your mouth over something you know NOTHING about and expect not to ‘hit a spot’? Grow up.
Hmmm…. very interesting…
I took my Toshiba laptop in to have the inverter (from what I understand, a piece of hardware that does something to the backlight display) replaced/fixed. Common problem on laptops. Well…I got it back and I have corrupt system files. The OS (WinXP) is unstable and crashes. It turns off by itself. My MS Office software was uninstalled.
I’m so mad! The manager is currently “looking into it” and is supposed to call me back…riiiight. My computer worked FINE before I took it in, the only problem was the inverter. What the he– did they do to my computer?!?!?!?!?!
well for starters they did nothing – your laptop was repaired by a service center that the manufacturer agrees to use. as for the corrupt files – its amazing how you could no whats going on when the LCD displays nothing. It’s just like the lady that took her car for an oil change and her transmission failed a week later. Funny how everyone points the finger at the place of repair wrather than looking in the mirror first. Most problems lie between the chair and the keyboard – YOU!
YuP – But isn’t it a bit strange that my system stops working right after I take it into get serviced? Why would Office be uninstalled? Why would they tell me that I need Anti-Virus software when I already have it? Why doesn’t my computer even TURN ON anymore?!
RE: LCD display. If you knew about the inverter issue on LCD displays (which apparently you don’t) you’d know that when the inverter needs to be repaired/replaced, the backlight on the display goes out – you can still faintly see the screen. And these problems (corrupt Sys. files, etc.) happened AFTER they fixed the inverter.
As for your car analogy – there are plenty of stories of people taking their car in for an oil change and the mechanics screwing up other things
ps-there’s no “w” in rather.
As for LCD displays – (which obviously you are the one that isnt aware of how it works) you can have a bad inverter and have absolutely no visible picture unless you plug a secondary monitor in. Fact is your complaint is half of the story, as usual. I’ve been working on cars and PC’s for a total of about 20 years, and the only fact that is evident here is that there is what you say was wrong with your PC and what was actually wrong with your PC.
was my grammer to your approval this time…….
You know what? No one cares what you have to say. So move on.
umm…Best Buy told me they replaced the inverter. This same inverter problem is also a known issue with Toshiba laptops and there has been a class action suit against Toshiba for repairs. Oh, and you can also have a bad inverter and have a very poorly lit backlight display.
Do you perchance work at the Best Buy in Madison? Maybe you would know what happened to my computer then…Or why they had to uninstall MS Office to fix the inverter…
You know what?
Well if you dont, you never will. So just shut up….
You seem to be the biggest shit talker on this forum. Mind your manners lil girly…..
YuP – I, for one, do not appreciate your language, so cut it out. Also note that this is NOT a forum. This is a blog, a personal blog, and your posting here is a privilege, not a right. With that said, the word is “grammar,” and Jen wasn’t knocking your “grammer,” but your spelling.
You make me laugh. Mind my manners. What a strong statement from such a small minded person. MOVE ON.
wow shut your trap already and you move on trick…..
Okay, YuP, I’ve had enough of you. Seriously, grow up. You don’t know anything of which you speak, and you are hereby no longer welcome at this site. Any further comments from you will be immediately deleted. Good day.
Idiot can’t even leave a real name. Can we say LOSER??? Bye bye dumbass! :D :D
wow…I’m kind of sorry that I posted to this blog and started the drama up again…
YuP – get a life.
For all interested-my computer is officially dead. It doesn’t even turn on anymore. The GS manager at my Best Buy was actually pretty helpful and offered to send someone out to my house to look at it/take it back to the store. I was shocked. Now let’s hope they can fix it!
Don’t worry about it Jen, the drama will always be here. :-)
I hope you get your computer fixed asap! That really sucks :(
I just have to yell.
Geek Squad sucks!
I was gonna describe everything that happened, our communication, how much they charged and all that stuff. But let me just cut all the talk and tell you this. Geek Squad cannot even backup my data properly. I gave them an external HD to backup my stuff so they can fix the computer. I have Drive C and D. D drive had most of my photos, school work, and even my thesis. The guy only backuped things at C drive to the external HD. What do I have at C drive? Documents and settings, MSN, Skype, all other downloaded games. All my other super important school work…all gone. Now my computer is empty. And the original problem was not even fixed.(they said it’s a hardware problem and they don’t have the parts for Sony Vaio) I mean, I know I’m supposed to backup important stuff on my own..I’ve learned my lesson..But at least people who work for Geek Sqaud should be “professional” enough to know what to backup..Now not only I have a computer that doesn’t work, but I’ve lost all my important data!!
What’s next? I went to a recover tech shop, the guy told me I need to pay $600 to recover my data. What do I do? Geek Squad said I could bring my pc back and they will look at it again. Can I trust them again? Can this problem get worse?
I simply just paid Geek Squad to have them ruin my life.
I’m sorry…didn’t you tell them to backup both of your hard drives? How much would GS charge you to recover the info? If it’s your thesis it might be worth it…
In other news (aka my shitty BB/GS experience) things are getting (a bit) better. I called and complained (multiple times) to the GS and store manager at my BB. I told them I refused to come out to the store bec they screwed up my computer. So, 2 GS guys came to my house, checked out my computer, were shocked at the state it is in, and took it in for service. (Yes, I got a receipt for it.) I also showed them the photo I took of the screen as it was dying, they were shocked and had never ever seen anything like it before. (The photo is posted on my blog.) They copied the picture to their flash drive and plan on showing it to people.
It’s good to know that my GS guys at least seemed to sympathize with me. I hope something good comes out of this!
Oh, man, sorry for all the trouble both of you are having! I hope that you get it figured out and taken care of very soon. :(
Thanks for sharing Val,
This is an awesome blog…
I have had my own experience…having decided to leave construction, I got an A certification, and applied to GeekSquad for the position of technician. I’d had my hands on computers for sometime, and thought this would be a great way to really use what i’d learned and move to higher levels of certification. So I arrived at Bestbuys, (30 miles from home) just to be told, sorry, the person who would be interviewing me had a meeting that day and could not, etc… “OK, no thanks for calling and letting me know. So when can i get an interview?” OK, two days. So two days later, I am waiting for my interview in front of the GeekSquad desk, watching the greasy haired “techs” getting coached by the head tech. In a matter of 5 minutes of watching their customer service, I realized there was no intent of troubleshooting, rather a clear purpose of pushing parts. So when my interviewer showed up, he looked at my resume, and steered me away from the GeekSquad and towards Magnolia home theaters…”No thanks.” I said…”By the way, are your techs certified?” “The head tech is” was the reply. Hmmm.
In this scenario, salesmen were masquerading as technicians. I recognize that there are excellent technicians who may work for Best Buy. However, I fear the percentage is very low.
With a few stark exceptions, those who have spoken here in support of Best Buy’s GeekSquad have displayed both their ignorance, third-world arrogance, and an inability to function among more civilized human beings. Your own contributions to this blog are your own worst enemy here.
But since there will always be this class of people, why not utilize them? I have taken the opportunity to open a real technical support business. Thank you Geek Squad for job security!!!
update! they replaced the MOTHERBOARD. i’m going to pick it up tomorrow.
hopefully it’ll work.
Not to be cynical or uncompassionate, but if you spent the time you devoted on this article to learning about Computing, that may have been time better spent. Then you wouldn’t have to bother Geek Squad. Consumers always blame manufacturers and worse yet retailers for selling computers that aren’t as simple to use as microwaves.
Um… so, by the time I’ve devoted to writing my blog entry, you mean those ten minutes in December? Um, okay. As for bothering Geek Squad? Isn’t that their job to fix the problems brought to them?? And the “funny” thing? I’m not complaining to anyone that the computer is harder to use than a microwave. I’m actually quite knowledegable when it comes to computers – I often fix problems for other people, I just ran into a brick wall for a little bit and the almighty Geek Squad who holds a warranty on my machine was trying to fix the problem. But instead they made things worse. That’s what the whole thing is about. Their people are not trained to handle real problems and apparently think that wiping out hard drives is the way to go to fix anything. But, of course, had you actually read the whole post and the comments here… you’d already know this.
By the way, JonR, I never thanked you for visiting/sharing — thanks :)
In early April I went in to Best Buy and spoke with some of the associates about my office computer needs. I needed a way for specific people to access my server-based programs from remote computers. I was directed to the GEEK SQUAD. They were very enthusiastic and said they would send out a tech to evaluate my system. The tech came out and looked at my system. He told me there were several things I needed to do. I explained my priority was to get the remote access going. When he came in with the quote it was for many different things totaling $5,457.00. I told him I only wanted the VPN installation and Networking part totaling $488.00. He said Ok and went to work. I asked how long it would take and he said 30 min to an hour. The first day he was unable to make it work. The following week he came back with another associate and they worked on it for several hours and it still didn’t work. He came back the next week and worked on it for a few hours and said he had it working. I called my CPA that night and she said she was not able get in. I asked her to call him. That was May 3 2006. Today is May 18, 2006 and none of us have heard from anyone with “Geek Squadâ€.
I’ve been through several Computer tech companies and to be honest they’re all the same. They come in experiment with your system, play with this and that and then go away with nothing accomplished other than racking up hourly charges. I’ll admit, at first I was impressed with Geek Squad because of the flat fee rates. I asked how they could do that and was told “because we are all trained Microsoft technicians and know what we’re doingâ€. It has become brutally obvious that is not the fact.
I sent a letter to the Geek squad HO and, of course, received no response.
I’m sure they’re embarrassed, as they came in touting their microsoft Certs ect… But i think it’s really chicken $#!* to just hide, not come back and not explain that they weren’t qualified to do the work. It’s even more chicken $#!* of Geek Squad HO not to reply in some manner.
A ten year Best Buy Senior Tech. They canned me because I made to much money, am old and a disabled Veteran. Could have been because of all the complaints I logged to HR for our dept using illegal software. Sad to say, they terminated me while I was caring for a terminally ill mother. She passed away only 2 weeks after I was fired. So now I pay 585 a month for cobra for my disabled wife and have a funeral bill, I cant pay. Thanks Best Buy for being uncareing A holes.
I will be starting my own computer repair shop, advertising I worked at Best Buy for ten years, Have 22 years exp and will repair for 20 to 80 percent cheaper then they do. I will be putting my business card that states the above on cars in the best buy parking lots in my town. They screwed me and wont even pay unemployment. They lied to get rid of me, so I will get it back my way.. Any best buy employee that was repremanded for an employee purchase infraction and not terminated, please send me a copy of that paperwork. I will pay dearly for it.
Thanks
Karl
Karl: Very sorry to hear of your experiences and I hope that you are able to stick it to ‘em and make your business successful. If you get a website up for your services (or already have one), be sure to drop back by and let us know!
As a pissed off Agent Myself , I have created a website for Geeksquad Employees and Customers to voice how they have been ripped off by the Geeksquad.
http://www.geeksquad-sucks.com
Lmao, so, you bought the cheapest, shittest laptop you could find and it’s Best Buy’s fault? You lose at life.
Dear FrostyWolf. How, pray tell, do you know what kind of laptop I have? Just FYI, it was not the “cheapest, shittest” laptop I could find. (By the way, the word is “shittiest.) It is a good computer. It’s just that the people at Geek Squad have absolutely no clue what they’re doing and can’t find their way from a keyboard to a motherboard, let alone fix any problem without needlessly wiping clean a hard drive.
As for your other comment on one of my posts… You’re just stupid.
Get the facts straight, then get a life.
Lol. You have a Compaq Laptop with 256 MB of ram. That is, the shittiest laptop you could buy. I don’t need to know the model number to now that (tho I’d guess its the 5204, 5207, or something along that line):
1) Compaq makes a POS laptop, on par with E machines desktops and
2) 256 MB ram is the lowest, possible you could get and still have it turn on sometime the same day after hitting the power button.
The fact you spent money on ram shows your own stupidity, considering you could of gotten a better laptop for cheaper then the cost of that one + ram.
On top of it, any idiot with google could have fixed a software problem on a PC.
The fact that you state in your post that:
1) There whiped you OS on your laptop
2) It blue screened when they turned it on
Makes no sense, since Blue Screens are part of the OS, which means you couldn’t have got one if there was no OS.
Also, do you really expect Geek Squad, or any other comerical PC repair squad for that matter, to spend the time looking up your problem? They probably have a ungodly large amount of PC’s every day, so they do the easist, safest thing…a re-format. Geek squad does not get paid by the hour, so there going to do things the quickest way. If you want stuff to be done with out formating, hiring your local PC repair guy out of the paper, and he’ll gladly sit on google for 8 hours researching your problem while he charges you 60 a hour.
So, since my facts seem to be in order, why don’t you try a little google next time before you whine to the world about how incompetent you are?
Frosty, can I call you Frosty? Yes, I can. Ok, wolfie, whether the laptop had 256 mb ram or 2 kb ram, the whole post is about BestBuy/GeekSquad not fixing it correctly. I thought that was clear from the post. Is that not what you gathered from the original post?
You keep talking about spending money on RAM being stupid, though I don’t know any laptop on the market that is cheaper than adding a small amount of RAM to a laptop. Maybe you’re buying from BestBuy/GeekSquad at employee discount; that’s why the RAM is so expensive? I don’t think you work for BestBuy/GeekSquad, yet your entire post defends them, so I’m trying to understand the position you’re standing on and the reason why you’re defending them completely and not asking for any more information from Valerie which might help all of us understand the situation better. Also, I’ve been visiting this site for a while and if I remember correctly, in one of her earlier posts Valerie mentioned that she wanted a higher end system. BestBuy told her that it was in stock in the beginning and then kept her waiting and in the end, after a long wait, told her that it wasn’t in stock. She didn’t have time to complain about it too much, so she bought the closest system BestBuy had in stock, the closest to what she had originally wanted. That’s why she planned to upgrade later on. Would you like me to find you a url to her post that talks about this? I’ll have to dig through the archives.
Your comment on the blue screen being related to the OS is really good, and funny. It’s so funny I’m not even going to comment on that anymore. You say she should’ve googled to find out the solution. Can you google out a solution to the exact problem she had and share a few url’s with us? Because finding out that the blue screen is related to an OS, if it is, doesn’t solve my problem. It doesnt even feed my neighbor’s cat. It does nothing. Do you see why I’m coming to the conclusion that it doesn’t help? If not, please let me know and I can try to explain. Also, you mentioned that your facts are valid. I’m trying to look what you posted that was a fact; all I found was theories and deductions. Can you please copy paste the exact words again that show that? I must be missing something. Also, she paid and had extended warranty, so there was no need to google a hardware problem which would have confused a lot of time and resources for her to fix. She has a life and other things to take care, and that’s why she got warranty to have BestBuy/GeekSquad fix problems if any problems arise.
Also, the whole post is about how BestBuy promised to help, and then gave her the run around. No technical details; just the run around. No OS Blue screen thesis; focus is on the lie and the run around. The focus is on how they lied about the phone number and how they lied that the computer was finished. She trusted BestBuy, that’s why she bought the computer there in the first place. So the focus is not on BestBuy being evil since birth; focus is on BestBuy becoming evil in her view after they lied to her and wasted her time and money. If you work for BestBuy/GeekSquad, wolfie, can we all agree that your post is a bit biased or will be, since your post is all about defending BestBuy/GeekSquad and your post shows that BestBuy/GeekSquad is not even 1% liable for anything that happened in this situation? Can we agree on that? People ask for more information all the time, but you’re determined and confident in saying that she is wrong and BestBuy/GeekSquad and others are right, so I’m trying to see what information or logic you have that might help me in arriving at the same conclusion also.
You hinted that she shouldn’t expect BestBuy/GeekSquad or any other company to spend time on her laptop since they have many orders and they don’t get paid by the hour. My question to you, frosty, is this: does it really matter if the employees are paid by the hour or with peanuts? Real salted peanuts? It doesn’t matter. That’s the responsibility of the managers, the whole payment thing or the number of orders coming in. They should charge more if they are underpaid and that affects their performance. Your sentence means that they advertise less, and then don’t do a good job since they aren’t charging the right amount. Doesn’t that mean that they are advertising lower prices simply to get business without actually fulfilling the promise that they advertise with the prices they advertise?
What do you think, Frosty? Does that make sense as to why your comment is creating this argument not with BestBuy, but between you and people who think that BestBuy didn’t do a good job after they got paid in this situation? Let me know.
Thanks, Bes, you’ve said it better than I think I could have.
As for you, FrostyWolf. You know nothing about me. You know nothing about my computer. Yet you keep coming here, attempting to insult me, and showing your own ignorance. Bes is right,the initial post here was about how I was lied to and had felt used. Geek Squad did nothing to fix my problem like I had essentially already paid for them to do so, no, they just made it worse. Yes, I could have searched on Google, and in fact, that’s what I ended up doing. But at first, by all appearances, I figured it was a hardware issue and I did not have the time or energy to mess with something that should have easily been fixed by someone who was already paid to fix my problems. Sadly, they don’t know what they’re doing and I ended up having to do it myself. No problems since, thank you very much.
RAM really has nothing to do with anything as far as this post is concerned. You know, I happen to have an old 486 laptop sitting around here that my three-year-old plays with, it has 4 MB RAM and yet it still runs Windows 95. There are worse things in the world than 256 RAM. And what Bes says is true. I was going for a higher end model only to be told they didn’t have it after I was told they did. I didn’t have any more time to wait, so I just got the one I have and planned to upgrade either… which was indeed cheaper for me in the long run. I really could care less about your opinions of what computer I have because in the end, it really doesn’t matter. The whole thing is about Geek Squad as a whole and their horrible business practices and NOT my computer. Along this note, however, my in-laws have an E-Machines desktop. NO problems with that whatsoever. So, keep talking out of your butt, since it’s what you apparently do best.
Finally, as far as GS having an ungodly amount of PCs to fix daily – that’s interesting, considering they typically (in this store and the other I’m “close” to) have six or so employees running around at any given time and only one or two of them doing any actual work. The rest like to turn on the radios very loudly to their crappy stations, turn on a DVD that they seem to think everyone will like, or play games on the computers they’re supposed to be fixing.
SO. No, sir, your facts are not in order. You know nothing about me, you know nothing about my computer. You know nothing. If I’m so incompetent… well, then how is it I seem to be ruffling so many feathers with this post from eight months ago?
It’s because they know they suck. That’s why.
Why, its amazing how quick we change subjects when confronted with truth…but thats find, I’ll play along.
What excatly has geek squad done that has so wronged you here? All that happened was that someone checked the “done” box by acident, and you got called early. Yet, even as you stand here telling me that I shouldn’t talk with out the facts, thats all you seem to be doing about geek squad. Its amzaing that someone who claims to hate the store and never goes in, knows what all the employees do all day.
SO geek squad runs a daig, sees its not hardware, gives you a phone about the reinstall of your OS. I’m assuming you left a cell phone number, but even if you didn’t, any of 42 million problems could of occured with the phone company that made them think you left the wrong number. They note it on the paper, and the next person who pickes it up thinks the call placed to you was to come PICK UP the laptop, not to ask about the reinstall. So he tells you its ready, because he misread, or he was being yelled at by so other customer at the time and wasn’t paying attention, or hell, maybe he had a hang over. Whaterever, he’s human. So you come in, they turn it on, and it blue screens, luckily, showing fruther OS coruption, whether it be to spyware, virsus, or just plain old M$ screwing the average Joe up the wahzoo. Your OS was never whiped out in the first place. Your laptop, was pretty muched never touched after the intial diag because of either one porly written note or one mistake.
Ta-Da! But now, Geek Squad is evil, Best Buy is evil, everyone who works there is stupid, they all do nothing all day, etc, etc.
To Bes,
“I don’t know any laptop on the market that is cheaper than adding a small amount of RAM to a laptop.”
Retail RAM upgrades, including the cost of ram + the cost of install, ALWAYS cost more then just getting a better laptop with the ram allready in it.
“Because finding out that the blue screen is related to an OS, if it is, doesn’t solve my problem. It doesnt even feed my neighbor’s cat. It does nothing. Do you see why I’m coming to the conclusion that it doesn’t help?”
It wasn’t Blue Screening before she turned it in (yet). Meaning, she wouldn’t of had to google anything about the blue screen.
“She has a life and other things to take care, and that’s why she got warranty to have BestBuy/GeekSquad fix problems if any problems arise.”
BestBuy/GeekSquad warrentys only cover Hardware related issues, as mentioned in topic.
“Can we agree on that?”
I can agree that at some point, someone at Geek Squad made a mistake, sure.
“does it really matter if the employees are paid by the hour or with peanuts?”
Hell yes. Hourly = the slow crawl of debugging and taking every possible step before a format. Set price = try a couple of things, then format.
“Your sentence means that they advertise less, and then don’t do a good job since they aren’t charging the right amount. Doesn’t that mean that they are advertising lower prices simply to get business without actually fulfilling the promise that they advertise with the prices they advertise?”
Uhh…what? I don’t know about you, but above 90% of the people on the street think Geek Squad when they here PC repair, whether they love them or hate them, obviously there doing fine advertizing. And they advertize to fix PC’s, not HOW they will fix them.
Hmmm… seems to me you are the one changing subjects and discussing things that have nothing to do with the original post. Well, whatever. This is one last comment from me to you and then that ends it.
As for the facts, you really have no idea what they are to begin with. You were not there, I was. You don’t know what happened, you don’t know the circumstances, so really you have no place to talk.
For you to say that someone “checked the ‘done’ box by accident” is interesting because you really have NO CLUE as to what occurred. So, no, you don’t have the facts.
You try to give them the benefit of the doubt – and really, that’s fine, wonderful – but you really cannot say why I was called early or why they told me the phone number was bad – No, there was no note on the papers saying my number was bad, I saw all the papers, thank you very much. And you assuming that I left a cell phone number just shows what you’re doing with all your posts: assuming. No, I did not leave a cell phone number. I left my landline until I came to pick it up and was hit with all this crap. Then I left my cell so they could call if they finished it while I went to lunch. And even if I had left my cell, there’s a little thing called voicemail. A wonderful little invention.
You don’t know what the blue screen was nor can you say with truth that my OS was not wiped out. FYI: when I finally got the laptop home and worked it out of the stupor it was in thanks to GS’s negligence, it TOLD me there wasn’t an operating system. Yes, I know what that black screen looks like.
Yes, you attempt to give them the benefit of the doubt but all you do is make them look worse by suggesting that the “agents” were not paying attention or were even hung over. You also portray disorganization from within the company by suggesting that everyone and his brother “worked” on my computer, therefore furthering my points that the company is badly managed.
As far as being evil, I never said anyone was evil or that everyone who works with these companies was stupid. You really need to stop trying to put words into my mouth. So I made one post about one bad experience with those people that will keep me from ever using their services again and telling everyone I know to stay away from them. So what? Why do you care so much? Why do you feel the need to keep coming back here? I am just amazed at the offense you seem to take with my single blog post. Well you know what? It’s my blog. I related the facts, my experiences.
And yeah, Best Buy keeps me coming back for minor things like ink and blank cds, at least until my Reward Zone membership expires, so I’m in there more than you seem to think. I’m a very perceptive person and, yes, every time I’m in there, there are lots of employees fooling around – both Geek Squad and Best Buy, at both stores I visit. They have a habit of ignoring customers who are ready to spend money as well. I recall being in there after this laptop incident while we were shopping for a television, simply because I figured I could use my Reward Zone card. But we were routinely ignored by employees who were doing nothing when my husband wanted to ask some questions. When he finally got someone, he asked about the Energy Star, the electrician in him just wanting to see what they would say. He asked how much power they saved. The employee figgited a bit then went to ask his manager and when he came back, do you want to know what his answer was? “He says they save a lot. Like, a lot.” Now if that doesn’t say untrained an unknowledgeable, I don’t know what does.
No, of course not everyone who works there is stupid, I never said that. But my experiences speak for themselves and as people like you continue to visit here and make yourselves look stupid – you also make the companies look stupid. I thank you for that. I’ve had numerous people contact me and say how because of my post and you morons they have decided no longer to spend their money at Best Buy.
In closing, thanks for your uninformed input, FrostyWolf, but you are no longer welcome here.
I love how you all want to get on here and bash Geek Squad because you had a bad experience with one store. My husband works for Geek Squad and I think his skills are very competent. He has 3 associates degrees and a bachelors in Computer science as well as several computer certifications. I in no way do I think he or any of his coworkers are incompetent. So before you go hating on ALL Geek Squad think about the fact that people make mistakes it happens. That includes you. I also agree with everything the “anonymous” person ahead of me said. You want to ban him and keep bashing him because he simply disagrees with you, how lame is that? Why don’t you take your own advice “grow up, move on” and for god sakes quite being so damn winy.
Um, yeah, no. I didn’t ban him simply because he disagrees with me. Lots here do not agree with me and yet he’s the only one banned. He was banned because of his nasty behavior, language, and inability to talk about the issues without insulting anyone and everyone around him, and yet returning time and time again with a new IP and alias after being banned. Etc., etc., etc., blah, blah, blah.
And, no one ever said that all Geek Squad employees are incompetent. The real big point is that the company itself is badlly organized and managed.
Heh. Mr/Miss Anonymous, repeating yourself like that doesn’t forward any point at all. You seem bent on criticizing the author of this site without explaining any logic as to how Best Buy hasn’t/hadn’t done anything wrong.
Regarding people who have their husbands working for Geek Squad, you don’t see Adelphia or Target wives criticizing any complaint from dissatisfied customers simply because their husbands work there, do you? You know why? Because it doesn’t make any sense to do so unless you have something to back up your claim/counter-argument with. At least you’re a good spouse/significant-other; defending your husband even when you have nothing to worry about. Or do you? Hmmmm.
OK its said,,, THE GEEK SQUAD STAFF ARE INCOMPETANT! As is the best buy repair service!
Hows that!
I have a wonderful story about how totally terrible the (I refuse to capitalize their name) best buy computer repair and geek squad staff are.
Making the beginning of this tail short, I bought a Viao at bb, and being an avid gamer I installed a virto video card, in which the fan was junk so I bolted a new fan onto it. I installed the HDD from my old computer 250gig was something I wanted to keep using.
I left the jumpers on the Viao drive to master, which is default, so I set my HDD to slave. Done.
Unqualified would be the word I would use most to describe the Geek Squad and a waste of money is what I would use to describe their extended warranty.
I took my computer in to the geeks simply because I bought the warranty and wanted to get a free check up on it. They put in the report that the cover was removed and it was inspected. After the virus HYPE which I have seen best buy gives all of their customers my wife bought virus and spy blocker programs. Easy right? We took the computer home and as I suspected the spy blocker and Norton conflicted. I removed the Norton and unplugged the computer from the phone line not to be used on the internet, which is now my laptop computers purpose.
The video card started crashing, and anyone like myself with an A+ cert knows that funky colors on the screen is a video crash. I took the computer apart to find that the fan which I had bolted to the video card was removed, and the bolts were gone. The fan was running on the bottom of the case. I was a little tiffed, and then I saw the ribbon cables. Crimped into a knot. Being a licensed Electrician I know the bend radius of cables. These were folded like paper and strands were bulging. Bad sign.
My wife took the computer in to be fixed for hardware problems, because as you can imagine, now it was giving me “Invalid boot or system disk†errors. It was shipped out to the best buy service center in California for 2 weeks. After which we got a message on our answering machine saying our computer was back that will be $23 something for software problems.
My wife and I both went to best buy. Here’s where he real fun started. First I was told that it had a virus, bull, that error is from the motherboard bios! I was told by the girl there that she had seen viruses do that before. I tried to explain to her that a virus is a program and if the computer can’t read the boot disk it can’t get to the virus program. She continued on to say she had seen viruses do that. Without telling her that she had obviously mis diagnosed problems in the past I let it go. They continued on to remove the hard drive I had installed after unplugging it to make sure that was not the problem. This as anyone knows was a crock, the second drive was set to Slave, there was NO WAY the motherboard would send it boot test commands, and there is NO WAY the drive would receive them, that drive was irrelevant.
I took the hard drive and (stupid me) asked for an anti static bag, you know the ones peripherals come in. The guy came out with a regular plastic bag. I said “There’s more static in that than there is in my car.†He replied “static doesn’t affect that type of peripheral.†Without getting into a physics lesson on how you can make magnetic filings stand on end using static I let it go.
They sent the computer out again. Got it back last night and a call from my wife telling me that they reinstalled the operating system got me going. I knew this was not going to work. I left it alone last night and did not hook it up. I did this morning to find “Invalid system or boot disk†Well it simply looks as if even though the computer is under warranty I will be fixing it with my own money. This was the very reason I bought their scam of a warranty, so I would not have to deal with fixing it. Since I got my A+ cert, I left the computer field, and got my pilots and electrical license, I simply do not have the time to spend fixing this thing. It will sit and rot in my basement. Thanks to best buy which indeed does SUCK.
Pilot Steve, that indeed is horrible! You should raise legal havoc since you paid for the warranty.
They have it again, sending it out to California for its second redo. This computer has been to california now officially more times than I have.
I just got off the phone from some geek squad agent after sitting on hold for 45 minutes. My video card is jacked . Its integrated with the motherboard so i was told by emachines that its done. I have a 3 year contract with the geeks. This jack ass told me that it would cost me like 250 bucks to fix it. Im like wtf. He said , i dont know why best buy doesnt tell you that stuff. He said that warranty covers mouse keyboard, other stupid stuff, and would only really be covered if the computer turn off and wouldnt turn on again. I yelled and cussed and am still upset. I said what if i had a warranty in store . He goes on to say that they could take a look at it for a hundred bucks at the store. blah blah blah , im going to that store with that pc and if they dont fix it , ill toss it thru the window like that little old lady throwing the tire through the window. Ok that said after i talked to him , i talked to some hindu lady or something that i could hardly understand and she said, i dont know why he said that. I said me either , and im upset. Ok heres the deal, geek squad sucks, theres no way in hell ill let one of those idiots in my home. Dont call for something minor like and integrated mother board video card. Call for something serious like there is lint in ball of your mouse, or your keyboard is sticky. I wouldnt let em touch my pc. Fry your pc if you want best buy to get it and get the info off first or they will charge you to get it back, like thats a big deal.. ok Ive vented know I can breathe.
Ok have a nice day and damn best buy and the geek squad
Yo Capn’ I hear yea. I know EXACTLY what they are going to say when you finally bring it to BB. “Its got a virus.” Since the mindless clone geeks are programmed to say that.
No a virus cannot break your video card. but you will be told that they have seen viruses do that.
I got my computer back after a month of sending it out and having them redo it. I didnt trust them so I used a black marker on my old hard drive and but not a little, but a HUGE black X on the thing. When I got it back they again said that I was going to be charged $29.95 because it was a software issue and they reinstalled the operating system. They plugged it in at the store and it worked. I made them open the case and a brand new 600gig Western Digital Hard drive was in there. Actually my big black X was gone, but the pecular point was that my Sony VIAO came with a SEA GATE hard drive. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
They had to look in the book to see what it came with and there it was, SeaGate. So I did not get charged the 39.95, but stay sharp my friend, they will rip you off any way they can.
Well, first off I work at a Geek Squad precinct and will be the first to admit that mistakes happen. In this case, yeah they screwed up bad, however I can tell you right off the bat what was wrong and how to fix it. This is because, contrary to your belief it seems, not all Geek Squad precincts are created equally. The CD-ROM problem is a known Windows issue, which although it is difficult for people to understand, is NOT covered by ANY warranty. It’s a WINDOWS issue, not a Best Buy issue, not Compaq, and not Geek Squad. All Geek Squad precincts now have a registry fix for this, which we do most of the time for free. So yes, they screwed up, and there was miscommunication, and they used an OEM disc (which they no longer let us use), but I ensure that these things do not happen at my precinct, and for this reason i get pissed when people lump their one computer problem into “holy cow these three companys all suck because a couple people screwed up”. I am AMAZED at how upset people get over their electronic devices being broken. I understand if it’s for a business, but most of the time…it’s not. People absolutely flip out when their comp breaks and then get mad at me when they find out it’s going to cost money to repair it. Let’s not ever lose sight of the fact that’s it a COMPUTER, and not worth getting that upset over. Hell, you wasted more time flaming Best Buy, Geek Squad, and Compaq (which by the sound of your short background info was also software related) and setting up this website than you did resolving the issue itself. Get over it, and learn that 4 people are not the embodiment of the Geek Squad.
Well thanks for the concern, “Teh,” but I am over it. And just FYI to anyone else who thinks that this website was created to bash Geek Squad, news flash: it wasn’t! It’s called a blog and it existed for more than two years before I wrote about GS. So, yeaaaaahhhh.
As for the rest of it: YES, they screwed up – BIG SURPRISE! And for the thousandth time, I thought it was a hardware issue and since I had a warranty, I took it in – afterall, why should I have to deal with it if I have a warranty? All the GS had to do was say, software issue, we suggest you reinstall, and we could have avoided all of this crap. But no, instead they gave me many reasons to post about them and cause their little agents to whine and cry that someone out there -gasp- had issues with them.
I think the other testimonies here from people with more bad experiences with the Geek Squad speak volumes more than I ever could.
Hey,
I realize that this post is long since dead but i’d like to point out to you people that these people are just doing there job, its not some big conspiracy to screw you over, a lot of people are really happy with geek squads services but sometimes mistakes happen and no they usually dont lie to you about it (i realize that their may be the odd store that actually does lie to you) any miscommunication is most likely because your trying to pry more information out of a 15 year old part time employee who know less about computers then yourself most likely. What i mean is the person you speak is not always the person who fixs your computer. Not every employee working for the geek squad is a friggen genious. As for the original article, systems go down, thats not best buys fault best buy relys on another company for that program, if its down they have people who look into it and fix it but again accidents happen, no one has the perfect program. I’m sorry to all of those who had bad experiences, and whatever hate the company if you want but please dont bash the decent, hard working people trying to make a living. Its bad enough they have to work, what is in my opinion, a demeening job, but they have to put up with incompetence both from customers and from the company.
P.S Also, the people who had good experiences with geek squad don’t tend to go searching for articles about other peoples bad experiences.
When you called the 1st time did you tell them you even had an extended warranty? They probably thought you were another moron calling for free tech-support.
You are the imbecile if you cannot see any possibility of failure of the operating system causing the CD rom drive to stop working, do some research before you eat your foot, if you don’t want anyone replying to your belligerent rant then don’t post it in public, maybe post it on your fridge with those cute magnets and your clever arrangement of said magnets.
Its not the Geek Squad’s fault you live so far from the store.
Um, just how do you suppose my post is “belligerent”? Do you even know the meaning of the word? I’m stating facts and posing questions here, not making war.
Now, get it all straight.
I never called support. I took it in. Yes, they knew I had an extended warranty. It came up more than once.
I never said there was no possibility of the operating system causing the drive to stop working. What I said was that it disappeared, I had extended warranty (so why should I have to deal with it?), I took it in and they failed to properly diagnose and fix the problem. What I said was that I know I didn’t have viruses, adware, spyware, etc.
I have not, as you say, “eaten my foot” – I have nothing to regret, nothing I’ve said here has been near the level of “foot in mouth.” You, on the other hand, have absolutely none of the facts straight. That much is obvious.
And whoever said that it was Geek Squad’s fault I live far away from the store? I never “blamed” them for that, I just stated facts. I wanted to take the computer home that day as they had called me and told me it was done (a blatant lie, apparently) and then I had driven a good distance to be there, I didn’t want to have to go home and come back again. That’s all. Blaming Geek Squad, as you say, for my chosen location of living place would be just plain stupid.
As for the post and people replying, I don’t have a problem with replying – obviously I let your comment (and many others) through – but what I’ve said, in a nutshell, is I am sick and tired of the MORONS. You wouldn’t believe the comments I delete on this post.
Ok, I’m Biased, I used to work PC repair at Best Buy before they had a “Geek Squad”
If they Reinstalled an OS w/o your prior WRITTEN approval whoever did it screwed up, it wasn’t best buy, but that individual.
I understand the frustration of having to drive there and it not be ready been there/done that for other things and it sucks. I TELL them to test it and that it is very far out of my way. (I also open the box of anything I buy there before I leave to make sure its actually in the box, another long story) Your experience, although unpleasant is better than the BEST customer service experience you could ever hope for with Dell, All though I generally build my own PC’s I recommend to my friends and family that they NEVER buy one online (I know this wasn’t your problem) but buy them from a store you can take it back to when there IS a problem, its MUCH harder for them to blow you off in person, really easy over the phone from India.
Oh Also, Pre-HP buyout I hated Compaq with a PASSION, IMHO, their computers are now 10X better, though I still build my own (wish I could build my own laptop)
New geek news from me!
Bought flight sim X, it wont run on XP unless you have service pack 2
I happened to be in the mall where BB is, and asked “Do you have or can I buy the SP2 for windows XP?” The looser said “No we dont have that and you cant buy it.”
NEXT DAY – my wife called and the SAME FRIGGIN GUY! MIKE! said “Oh yea we will put it on a cd, we do that all the time.”
NEXT DAY – My wife went to get it and the SAME GUY, “We usually charge 24 bucks for this”
I hate to say it AGAIN, but CLUELESS!!!! No procedures, and good luck getting the same answer out of the same looser twice.
Actually, Biased – I’ve had wonderful tech support from Dell, even in home service. In fact, just this month I bought a new desktop that’s a replacement to my older, outdated one.
Pilot Steve – that’s just crazy! What did you end up doing? For my last computer I downloaded it but I had to get a cd from the Windows site for my in-laws as they’re stuck on dialup. I think we had to pay shipping, which, if I remember correctly, was less than $4, and it didn’t take 4-6 weeks like they said it could. In fact, I think I have two of those things lying around here for some reason, if you still need one and are interested…
Geek Squad is made up of salesmen….used to be all technicians but oh no it didn’t make much profit…. you are better off going to frys or circut city if there is one near. Technicians now are earning a bad rep because of salesmen who don’t have a clue about computers….gotta love today’s standards. As a previous geek squad employee….it’s not techs who don’t know what they are talking about its salesmen who managers try to pass off as techs.
Katie you have it, you have GOT to be right, its the only thing that explains it. They have no clue and all they ever do is try to make you buy virus crap. But as far as tecnicians go I got my A+ cert in 1994, and ran into computer business owners who Bull S their way into large companies like the one I worked for. Many who still have no clue what they are doing still try to say they “Build computers” when in fact that now adays is like building a car from parts.
Thank you Val for letting me in on Dell’s service, for sure thats the computer I buy. I am far too busy running multi million dollar jobe like Coca Cola in Northampton Mass, and helping student pilots to deal with fixing a computer that breaks so often if it were an aircraft it would be grounded.
Oh, I got the cd for 4 buck from Microsoft, who I also reported Best buy to at he same time, they said they would check into that.
My daughter had purchased he i pod approx 12 mos ago along with the extended warranty ( very smart move ) within 6 months the battery went $$$$( thank god for warranty). 3 mos latter something else went . Now quickly approching the thee times
new one policy of best buy. Voila it happens again she brings it to the geek squad
their initial screening confirms a problem it does’nt work, So they send it out. We get a phone call sat 1/27.06 its back. sunday my wife and daughter go to pick it up.
Best buy/ geek squad tries to charge her $ 24 + they say the repair techs could not find anything wrong. My wife argues the case and wins but guess what $ 75.00 0f
i tunes have been wiped clean ( which had not happened the two previous times )
I think Best Buy is trying to avoid a replacement device. Sound familiar to anyone out there
Well, they do have pre-made registry patches for this kind of problem. You’d figure with enough “Techs” and the fact those .REG files are free it’d be the first things they’d try.
I wouldn’t be mad about a fresh install of XP being the solution – I’d be mad that they didn’t try the registry trick first.
This, however, takes time and most people think computer repair is magic.
Bopha, I might agree with you on that third line except that in reality it took longer to reformat the dang thing than to fix the registry. I’m half-and-half on your second line, as well. I wasn’t so much mad that it was a fresh install except for the fact that I’d only had the computer a month and a half at this point and that reformatting should not be the only solution, it should only be the ultimate solution (ie done only if nothing else works)… and again, there was the whole being lied to and things like that.
Thanks for your comments. :)
i had a appointment with geek squad yesterday 2/7 -called to confirm 24 hrs before-everything ok-agent never showed-the reason – its his day off- appointment was made 30 days prior-lost a vacation day and will lose another one for the reappointemnt day-geek sqaud offically joins the rest of companies with the lack of accountability- no one cares =richard brooklyn ny
Ought to call em the GREED SQUAD. I tried to get some phone support for a problem that could be easily solved with some advice on the phone and they told me that I would have to have a $249 service call.
I used to get phone support from Gateway and even AOL for free and even though I paid extra for an extended warranty which I thought included phone support from Best Buy, the GREED SQUAD gal would not budge and told me thatI would have to pay them for a $249 service call!
If yuo called your auto mechanic to help you truobleshoot your car issues, what kind of response do you think you’d get?
So why would you think all tech support should be free. Not to mention {if you bothered to read your PSP} it ONLY covers hardware issues for rthe life of the PSP.
What you do with the software (what you downlaod to the PC, what websites you go visit, what gaming sites you use, what games you install on it, etc.) can not be controlled by the manufacturer or Best Buy.
If you bought a new caddilac and went 4 wheeling in the corn field, should it be the manufacturer that tows you out, and gives you a new car for you mis using the car?
If you install a good antivirus and anti spyware program and keep up with them that will help matters as well.
I’ve been a PC technician for 17 years, and the only troubkles I’ve had are the ones I created myself!
I hope that wasn’t directed at me. I’m glad in the 17 years you’ve been a tech you haven’t had any not-you-caused problems. I know I certainly have, on both my PCs and others’ that I work on. Sometimes hardware just does fail for no reason.
As far as the Cadillac illustration – that does not apply to me whatsoever. I don’t visit corn field websites.
And along those same lines, the recent work on our vehicle has been free, due to *gasp* warranties.
So there you have it.
I’ll just remain anonymous. Excuse any of my typos/mispellings it’s early. I agree with you on some points about geeksquad. I have friends that work there…and they admit they were not trained at all. Most shade tree pc techs. What’s funny is they reward the people that sell..more than the people that are good with customers/know how to fix computers. Why? Because it is a retail store. I’m 50/50 on your issue. I am 50% with you, and 50% with geeksquad on this. There is no way for you or geeksquad to prove for a fact..there was or was not a virus. I fix computers for friends , and 75% of the time…The friends I help with, have anti-virus software…but just simply do not update. That or it expires…they don’t renew…and think they r still fully protected. As far as the cadillac/cornfield thing….yes cars have warranties. In certain small print, the warranty explains what is not covered. Just like the PSP = A warranty, software is not covered, it is in writing. If you had the funds/means to take this incident to court, you would indeed lose. Simply because you had signed off on all the disclaimers/waivers/paper work.
Good luck on future purchases, just seems like you ran into a string of bad look my friend. Happens to the best of us.
This is getting too heavy for me…
Sent my ipod in for a easy repair of the headphone jack and a change of battery…all that I could have done myself in a matter of 5-10 min, but parts are too expensive and I had a extended 3 year warranty with Best Buy who ships off their items to some unknown warehouse outside the state to Geek Squad…I was told 7-10 day waiting period, next thing you know the pod has been gone for a month, called Best Buy numerous times never to get a full explanation and even told I was going to be called back the same day and it never happened. Every time I check the status all its doing is sitting in the warehouse, repair hasn’t even started. I mean a monthhhhhhhh comeeeeeee on get it done already or ship the parts to me and I’ll do it myself.
Geek Squad is definitly not a competant and professional company.
Robert – First off, the ipod went to a service center that is not owned by Geeksquad or run by them. It went to a service center in Minnesota that specializes in ipod repairs. Second, you are not capable of repairing it in 5 minutes, even if you had the parts readily available. I happen to know how long it takes to just open an ipod, then pull out what needs to come out to replace the battery, let alone repair your headphone issue, if it could even be repaired without replacing the main board. Simple fact is, to open an ipod, remove all the insides, replace all the insides, and seal it back up properly and in working conditions takes a few hours. It’s really not your fault you are not capable of the repair, but it is your fault you make such moronic claims, as do most that come here to cry and complain. The day you can do anything without ever making a mistake is the day you should all open your mouths – until then, SHUT THEM!
Quick note: from here on out, comments on this post will not be accepted from people who leave no name, leave Anonymous for their name, or leave an obviously fake name. If you don’t want to leave a real name, at least make it look real. It’s too confusing otherwise and it fakes out some parts of my site. Thanks.
Lets make a site http://www.geeksquadsucks.com
lol, someone’s already registered it
Geek squad diagnosed my stuck computer key as a “virus” – wiped, then partioned my drive, discovered, ah, key board program — SOLD me my files back and the machine goes off to Best Buy
Machine returns with a partiton on the C drive I don’t want, half my original softwear stripped out (when the problem was a stuck key) brought it back and the Geek said, “THEY” set it up that way I can’t change it. Who are THEY? Obviously twit Geek number one. I said, do not just start typing diagnostics into my computer tell me first. He was already typing away. Would have had to physically wrestle machine away.
Where is the accountability with this company? These children are morons and they do not fix anything, just create more problems. My computer has never been returned to its virgin state.
Just sounding off — between Microslop downloads tonight taking 5 hours and trying to clean out the partion so things will work constantly — I’m ready to toss my very expensive Sony Vaio out the window and go buy a Mac but wait — my company’s softwear only works with Microslop. Trapped.
I am currently employed at Circuit City and I like my job in the PC hardware department. But I will tell you all right now, Circuit City is not all good and grand like some people have made it sound. Look at all the jobs they just cut, people that had worked for them faithfully for years they fired and then as a slap in the face offered them their jobs back at entry level pay. I love my job but do not love the store or the employees. I work at a store in Mississippi and the the associates are horrible. I try and greet everyone that walks into the department and ask them if they need any help. If you decline my help I will not pester you again, if you need me just get my attention and I will gladly help you. The other associates will not lift a finger to even greet you unless you are waving a tag and saying you want to buy the $2k sony laptop with installs and protection plan (installs and protection plan being pure profit for the store). And to all the folks with a Sony laptop, those things are crap, crap wrapped in shiny paper. If you ever take one apart to repair it you will see, the hard drive is impossible to take out without taking apart the whole laptop and when you go to get it out it is TAPED in… along with several other parts… yes TAPE… from the factory! I am a computer tech by heart and owned my own business for several years repairing and building custom gaming machines. Circuit City will not move me to a tech position because I make them too much money selling PCs. I have not been there very long, only 1 month and they are telling me I might not get paid for another month because corporate doesn’t have my computer login numbers straight. Circuit City in this area is horrible, unorganized, the store director is an ass and will fire you in a heart beat should you not sell for profit and if you don’t do what he says and lie to customers. I have seen associates tell people that we didn’t have a computer in stock even if we did because the person did not want to buy the protection plan and program installs. Both companies are out for profit. The only thing I will say is that Best Buy has an awesome store in this area where when I walk in I am greeted, smiled at, asked if I can be helped or have had a problem. I have gone in just to talk to the techs and see what they know and they actually know their stuff with computers. Best Buy is currently trying to recruit me into their store even though I have put in no application and is offering me a raise, better hours with my school, a tech position, benefits, and advancement. Circuit City is offering none of this, and after working for them for a month and being told “Hey, we might not be able to cut you that $1300 check we owe you because… ummm.. we can’t… you might have to wait another month and not pay your bills for a month.” All these stores are out for the same thing, money… There are good stores and bad stores, good techs and bad techs. I saw a guy at Circuit City yesterday sell a woman a wireless broadband router even though the woman didn’t have the internet, so the router was useless to her and would help her in no way. He did it just to get his sales up. Atleast the Best Buy here doesn’t do such things, the GS and comp sales people would smack that router out of your hand as soon as you said you didn’t have the internet.
Ooo, how do I get these little magnets if I want some? I saw a set somewhere and I have been looking for them… Thanks!
@ Anna – I have no idea other than taking your computer in to GS. They came in my “case file.” Maybe if you ask them, they’ll give you some, or sell some…
I am glad to hear someone is letting people know about some of the best buy tactics. These geek squad agents don’t know jack about computers. Im sure there is probably 2 agents in any best buy at any time that actually know what they are talking about, and they probably work in appliances.. I have gotten in various arguments with these kids. The commercials show some knowledgeable adult but when you go into the store its some kid fresh out of high school with an arguing complex. I had one of these guys trying to correct me about what a wireless expander is called, and I had another one tell my friends that PCI Express has been in computers since windows 98.. ? Hello, Is he retarded?
I always see these guys trying to talk people into these crumby products, mostly their crappy virus scans you have to pay $90/year for that only seem to slow up your pc.. I use Avira, get it at http://www.free-av.com It’s Free!!
I always hear about people getting screwed by best buy, I usually get called afterwards to come fix their mess..
How do you become the top rated Geek Squad agent in the country?? SALES!! Ask them, maybe you will get an honest one that will tell you that is true..
I work at a Geek Squad competitor, HiWired, albeit a much smaller competitor. I find myself reading a lot of negative comments about their Geeks, most often related to their “sales” mentality as opposed to their “tech” ability. It’s interesting, because this type of feedback has ended up driving a lot of our internal focus on having techs that are techs and not sales people. As much as we would love to have our techs upselling and delivering additional services (when needed) to our customers, it’s just not worth it in the long run.
I have tried Geek Squad myself, before coming on board at HiWired, and didn’t have a great experience. I had a slow computer that turned off automatically multiple times during use. I brought it in to BB three separate times and got three different answers/reasons/solutions each time. I ended up paying hundreds and never saw an improvement on my computer. There are always going to be those types of situations where a problem can not be solved, but it is frustrating to constantly be sold something that just doesn’t work.
As a geek squad agent Im ashamed sometimes on what goes on at the store. Our managers and sups constantly ram sales down our throats. We recent got a new DCI, the precient supervisor. Normally you think this guy would be a solid tech but doesn’t know shit about repairing a computer but is rather good at pushing sells. I personally like fixing computers and hate being pressured to sell services or products a client doesn’t need. All our techs are quite good and we all feel the same way. Damn the man and best buy corporate BS. The GS was founded on good customer service and quick repairs. I even sat down with the guy and complained about the high pressure sales and the dick pulled me out of the shop and on thr floor to push inhome networking sales all while we had 2 other guys there and 40 broken PCs in the back. I do like my job and get great satisfaction when a client is happy when I can fix something for them in 5 minutes and I do allot of pro bono work like that just to go over on the man.But sometimes repairs take time and what really pisses me off is when people call constantly complaining its taking too long, you are wasteing time that we could be using to fix your comp! Althougj we have incompetent management, our techs are good and we all care about fixing your PC. But as a previous poster said the most common reason for a comp problem sits between the chair and keyboard, so dont come into the store bitching when its not our fault! Thats all I gotta say about that.
Hmmm… I never did tell everyone about all the problems we had with an HP Workstation that we used as an Avid editing machine. None of it was a “problem between the keyboard and chair” and we ended up getting to call “lemon law” and getting a whole new (and higher end) system for free after their techs were out to “fix” it five times. Nope, none of the times I’ve ever had to talk to Best Buy, HP, Compaq, or Dell tech support have been MY FAULT. Never. It has all been hardware or in the case of my first Compaq, turned out to be my original restore CDs were defective (and part hardware). And many of the times I have had to talk to support, I’ve known what the issue was already and was just calling to get parts sent to me on warranty (with the one exception being the original issue for this post, of course, that time I just plain didn’t bother with figuring it out until Geek Squad screwed it up further, as we all already know).
Furthermore, I am now completely and utterly finished with Best Buy and Geek Squad. Finally. My Reward Zone card has expired from now, I paid off my BB credit card and canceled it, I have not set foot in a store in many moons except once with a friend who was desperately looking for something she needed… didn’t find it in BB, big surprise. AND, the laptop that sparked this post? Still running, of course, a good computer, but no longer mine – I sold it and got myself a new DELL. I love Dell. ♥ Despite all of this, however, BB continues to waste their money sending me all sorts of mailings and strangely enough, statements for a closed credit card account with a $0 balance.
Reading some of the complaints made me feel mine was justified too. August 2006, I purchased my first notebook from Best Buy. I bought the extended 3yr warrenty. Also they installed the Norton spywear, and virus protection for three years.
This June my cursor froze up. I took it in, & of course they had several geeks come over & couldn’t figure it out.
They would check it out & no charge for diagnostic check.
Couple of days later I got a call & they said there were viruses & it would cost $139 to remove them. They said my warranty for Norton was due to run out in couple of months
& suggested I buy another software for $249.
I said if the first software did’nt protect me, then the new one wouldn’t.
Beside being s senior citizen, I am not a computer literate. I’ve asked for the handbook for my computer, but they said everything I need to know is in my computer.
Well, good luck finding anything out about my computer when it isn’t working. No alternative but to take it to geek squad. Thats really messed up!!!
a
Man, u seem like u have problems no matter what store your in. First Bestbuy then Cingular. Now as a Former Bestbuy Employee, I know that never has bestbuy come to your house for a 3year Performance Service Plan. This was never included in the plan. It covers hardware only and not software corruption. That usually comes from user error. And you are not the only customer shopping either. Obviously if yout had to wait in line they were “busy”. Dont blame them for being “busy”. AQnd how do you know the info “Steve” gave you was even correct. Get with the program. I really dont care if you post this or not, just want you and all the other miserable shoppers out there to get the point.
lmao – get the point? Get what point? The only point I can gather from your post is that Best Buy employees apparently can’t spell, user grammar properly, or form cognitive thought, let alone read a blog post and get all the info straight.
First of all, what does Cingular have to do with anything? That’s not the issue here but if you want to drag that in, yeah I had to wait in line in Cingular for a while… big deal? The woman wasn’t busy, she was just incompetent. There was another time later when I got the same woman and had to stand there for a friggin’ hour before being helped. Not a month ago I was in another store and waited for 45 minutes before my presence was even acknowledged. That seems to happen at every Cingular store I’ve ever been in besides one which is now my preferred store. I never said I had to wait in line at BB/GS, you seem to have assumed that. They were not busy, I did not wait in line, there were several employees standing around doing nothing and others playing on computers or at other areas in the store.
Second of all, how can I believe you? Forget what Steve says, what makes you so credible? I doubt that you were a BB employee or maybe you were just one after policy changed or something but I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that the 3 year service plan I bought in 2001 DID have in-home service, I’ll bet I still have the documents in file somewhere in my basement, in fact. No, I never got the in-home service, as both BB and Compaq sat around on their butts pushing the problem onto one another. And for that matter, how would you know what my problem was that time around? I don’t think I’ve really discussed it here, so how would you know whether or not it was hardware or software? And either way, it doesn’t matter because they were not able to diagnose it over the phone so they should have sent someone out which they refused to, they didn’t know if it was hardware or software either. No, the only ones to give me in-home service like they were supposed to was Dell in 2004 and then HP late last year and early this year where I work to direct and edit video… “lemon law” on that one, by the way.
So, once again, read the actual post before you go making assumptions.
U said the CD ROM didnt work. Thats a oftware problem. THE WORLD DOESNT REVOLVE AROUND U. I read the whole post the first time.
Get. A. Clue.
The phrase, “the CD Rom does not work” in itself tells you absolutely nothing other than the Rom is not functioning. You cannot assume that that means it is always a software issue. And frankly, who cares? Who cares if it is software or hardware? As stated before, all they had to do was say, “This is a software issue, software is not covered under your extended warranty. You can do this, this, and this to fix it, or we can do it for you for $x.” But they didn’t, did they? C’mon, seriously.
Furthermore, no I do not believe you read the whole post, let alone all the comments. In your last comment you were obviously mixing up two different computers and two different situations, I think you still are.
I never said the world revolves around me, but my blog does, so kthanks, move along.
I have lately been searching the internet for blogs of Geek Squad clients who have been ripped off, cheated or otherwise screwed over. I in no way, shape of form represent the entirety of my company, but i feel the need to tell the truth about the situation. your original problem was, and i quote, “I go to use the cd rom and it’s gone. Not listed in My Computer, the device manager says there’s a problem with it, and I can’t reinstall the driver, a system roll back did nothing”. I have multiple industry certifications, but in addition, i have real world experience; something some of my fellow agents may lack. your problem is fully software related. it is something i have seen and repaired many times. it happens primarily when printer software is installed or uninistalled, but can be attributed to improper shutdown as well. basically the registry keys concerning the cd-rom are removed, thus allowing the driver and hardware to remain fully intact, but their communication channel is severed. tho this is a simple fix, it is software based and as such not covered under any type of warranty. but, that simple fix is contained in geek squad’s proprietary repair disk, and will repair the issue in milliseconds. I have personally done this repair for free for multiple clients, but would be fully justified in charging, if for anything, a software install fee. you have had the misfortune of dealing with Geek Squad Agents who lack training and knowledge. personally, I use the word knowledgeable twice in my resume. as i do not represent the company i cannot apologize for their behavior. I can, however, offer you an answer and an explanation. all this hatred of Geek Squad boils down to the few making the many look bad, just like anything it ALL depends on the individual. I look forward to reading your response to my post. sincerely, AgentP
in response to Post 130. THE PSP (Performance Service plan) is for 3 years not ur antivirus. The antivirus and spyware protection is only good for one year. Also Bestbuy/ Geek Squad now have a rapid exchange policy for ipods. 3 day turn around time. Its a refurbished unit but its in like new condition.
Yeh right If they told u ““This is a software issue, software is not covered under your extended warranty. You can do this, this, and this to fix it, or we can do it for you for $x.” . judging but the way u talk on this post. U wouldnt have settled for that and paid out money. U would have bitched how ur such a good customer and u spend 5000 dollars here a year and how u have to be taken care of. I can hear it now. GET OVER IT
@ Agent P – yes, it was software, that has been established over and over and over again as you can see by the comments here. That’s really not the point, never was. The problem was not, however caused by anything you mention, I’m not sure what exactly caused it, but I know it wasn’t any of that. The main points were that no research was done on my problem, I was lied to about my phone number and the job being finished, reformatting is apparently a standard “solution” to all software problems, etc. Yes, it does depend on the individual and yes, these guys did lack training and knowledge (either that or they were just plain lazy). That’s the way it goes and a year and a half later? I don’t even have that laptop anymore, sold it.
@ Thom – you really have no idea what you’re talking about, you assume you know my character and the way I act when you just simply do not. Plain and simple. If they had told me it was a software issue I would not have acted like you assume. On the contrary, I am a quite pleasant person, as has been discussed on here before, and I would have thanked them profusely and gone home to fix it myself. (I never even “bitched” the first time and I didn’t “bitch” when they screwed up my RAM upgrade by giving me 256MB instead of another 512MB, I state my concerns calmly, thanks.) Even had they only suggested to reformat, that would have been much better than being lied to and the problem being made worse, etc. I’d have either gone home and reformatted straight-away or I’d have searched for another answer. Ooops, wait, that is what I ended up doing, first reformatting then looking for an answer (and finding it) when it popped up again less than a week later.
To judge by the way I talk on this post, you should also make note of the comments – I started out polite enough but it gets quite tiring when idiots like you continue to come and be ignorant, full of themselves and full of assumptions. Oh, yes, how about I make judgments on your character, by the way you “talk on this post”? By the way you talk, you’re someone who just cannot stand to be wrong, is intollerant of other people’s beliefs, is pushy and rude, and apparently didn’t do well in English Composition classes. Someone who tries to hide behind a computer screen with a most-likely fake name.
I’m not sure what there is to “get over,” as you say. Again, I don’t even have this laptop anymore, and it’s not like my motherboard died and I can’t get them to replace it, or something. No, I think the ones who need to “get over it” are the people like you who apparently just can’t stand the fact that not everyone on the Geek Squad knows what they’re doing and there’s actually people out there that have problems with the company as a whole in addition to actual “agents.”
Why am I getting the feeling that you’re that same troll who keeps coming back here to make an idiot of himself defending a company that gives him nothing? Or maybe you’re the CEO of Geek Squad. Who knows? Who cares? Really, move on now. We’re done here.
First thing i have to say is I HATE BESTBUY/GEEKSQUAD!!They fried my laptops IDE drive then i got a new lap top and they Fried its mother board and they wont do anything about it.THEY SUCK
wow… best buy or any retail store does not make the computers. you act as if its best buys fault for giving u a bad computer. perhaps you shouldnt be so cheap as to get a compaq. and going to a dell?? lol go read up on them on there quality. dell sucks just as bad. dell had problems in the past that they were claiming to use new parts, but they were not new parts they were refurbished parts…
and why would u go to geeksquad to get your computer repaired if you knew how to install ram and fix the registry.. and with the burnt copy of windows… im sure geeksquad has an agreement with M$FT to do so.
and yes… i agree they should not have formatted your computer without permission. i myself do not like geeksquad, and best buy.
but do homework before you shop end of story.
think of it like a car. but then again you probably dont do research on a car lol
@ Newbs –
Boy, you’re funny, you’re not even worth my time… but I’m a bit bored right now. Very quickly: it doesn’t matter which kind of computer it was that was under warranty by Geek Squad, they should have been able to take care of it without screwing it up. And secondly, your opinion about Dell is just that, an opinion. In my experience, Dell has been the best brand and the best company to work with. I do do my homework, thanks. So… yeah…
Look, I know some of the “Agents” of the Geek Squad are really big dumb dumbs, but I work for the geek squad, and the issue you had with your CDROM not being seen in windows is a simple registry fix, the fix I will post resets the upper and lower filters in the registry having to do with the CDROM, if it ever happens again, voila, you have the fix for it.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}]
“UpperFilters”=-
“LowerFilters”=-
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}]
“UpperFilters”=-
“LowerFilters”=-
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet003\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}]
“UpperFilters”=-
“LowerFilters”=-
Now see, we’re not ALL incompetent.
Sorry about that, forgot to add.
Open Notepad
Copy the text I have posted.
Paste it in the notepad.
Save the document naming it whatever you want, eg. CDROM Reg fix.reg.
Make sure the last extension is .reg or it will not function correctly.
Now, double click on the file, and it will run the commands in the .reg file.
Thanks, Edward. I know not all are incompetent…
Also, just fyi, after the reformat, it happened a week later again and I did fix it…
The laptops that they fried, one of them was a refurbished ibm But the other one was a compaq that was only like a year old.
Wow – that’s horrible. I gave up on buying/asking for help with anything technical at those stores. Basically I scour google for all the pros/cons and caveats with each model and I either buy online or target a single purchase. and I never EVER buy a service plan.
I think they train those guys to say anything technical to sound authoritative to make the customers feel they know what they’re doing – and perhaps to back their way into extra work.
Thank god for the internet tho – the great equalizer that forces greedy companies to fix their shoddy customer service and quality assurance. I remember 5 years ago, when I did a search for Tiger Direct I came up with 1 BBB report and more than a few “F&#* TIGER” pages – dedicated pages, not just comments within! Now their service is much better.
Anyways – good luck on your machines.
Listen, I’m sorry you had a horrible experience. I just began working for GeekSquad / BestBuy in Jersey and I can tell you so far that some techs know exactly what they’re doing and all the others have no idea. It’s sad that almost anyone who thinks they’re know-it-alls can get hired. All they do is exaggerate their skills, which in my opinion are intermediate at most. My suggestion is that you ask to speak with someone who is certified. I understand that the A+ Cert. (new and old) is just a basic certification, but you’d have a better chance at getting your computer done right and honest. Again, I’m sorry that you had to deal with such idiots.. haha
I know how you feel. I have put a complaint into complaints.com and yeah I have had problems with my compaq laptop all 2 years I have had it. I have had it for almost 3 years and almost everything has been replaced in it and on it. Right now the keyboard is really messed up.
http://www.complaints.com/2007/august/4/Compaq_v2000_notebook_148041.htm Read my complaint here.
I’m only a 17 yearold girl (16 at the time of most of the stuff) and they DO NOT LISTEN TO ME AT ALL. I have had gone there 9 times for computer repair, and they only have 2 on record for my hardware warrenty to replace it. I think my wake up call was the fact my hard drive died and they couldn’t even tell it was dead! WHAT THE HECK?
I’m sorry for all of the people that have gone there, for thos of you in MN come to us and we’ll never make you sorry you did thats a guarentee.
I am very sorry to hear that you had such a bad experience. Always remember that with a large company such as Best Buy, the experience will always vary from store to store. I have worked for Best Buy for about three years now. I am not going to say that all stores are great. They aren’t. We have one about 15-20 minutes up the road that we get many complaints about. It depends soley on the management of each store to make sure that the staff in that store will meet their customers’ expectations. I love working at my store. I love the fact that my coworkers actually care and do their best. I do wish that you didn’t have to deal with the people that you did. I love making sure that my customers leave the building happy and content. If there is an issue, I try my very best to resolve it timely and effectively. I would just like to make a friendly suggestion to you: before buying any extended service plans that would require you to deal with a certain store for an extended period of time, maybe scope it out first. Talk with the people there. Get a better idea of the people that you could potentially have to interact with for something very important. This way, if you find that the employees in that location seem to be inept, don’t buy the plan. Of course, this is just a suggestion. I just hate to see people go through frustrating circumstances. I hope that if you are ever in Lancaster, Oh, that you would still consider stopping by and doing business with us. Thanks for your time.
….I don’t understand why you brought it to bestbuy in the first place…If you had a hardware issue…talk to hp online and they would have fixed your drivers..I honestly hate it when people like you bad mouth any company just because you were to lazy to contact the company who made the hardware and you blame the middleman. READ THE 3 YEAR SERVICE PLAN BEFORE YOU BUY IT!
Sorry, I’m in a bad mood today, I don’t feel like being nice. Did you not read the post or are you just stupid? I took it to BB because I assumed it was a hardware issue and they held my 3 year warranty that included, *gasp,* hardware! Of course, that turned out not to be the case but that’s not the issue here. The issue is that they screwed up! It’s so simple, I can’t believe people just can’t get it. Furthermore, why should I contact HP for something that they would probably just end up making me mail it off, whereas I’d hoped that by going to BB it could’ve been fixed faster? Get a clue.
…reading Dominics Statement ought to put any reasonable person in a bad mood, esp. when BB tries so hard to get you to but that extended warranty…one week ago the salesman (Chicago) wouldnt accept my simple ‘no’ and was all but frothing at the mouth…
Here’s a funny truth. PPL living in the dark have no idea they are living in the dark until they have experienced the light in some way. So to all you who think Best Buy warranty/repair policies are customer friendly, carry, on youre doing fine, be happy! We dont want to pop ur bubble.
But I do commend all you Best Buys employees who do your best to offer professional, ethical service to your customers. I wish I knew more of you.
For the rest of us, we are just aware of a problem, we are just hoping we have a local Fry’s someday, (they have always been good with me on warranties, hassle free.)
Sure, I buy laptops from best buys, but i never get their extended warranty crap cuz its not worth the headache of a hit and miss warranty in a smoke cloud of fine print.
Exactly.
I’m pretty sure its your Best Buy that sucks because I work at the one in Appleton WI and we have not had 1 complaint about Geek Squad working on a computer. So just because you had a couple bad experiences at your Best Buy does not mean that the entire company sucks
lol.
Val, all the BB-GS n00bs nust be trying to verify that they got a legitimate job, hence the high number of hits from BB employees…
@ Travis:
1.) You been working @ BB since 2001?
2.) Have you worked at any other BB’s?
3.) Have you read any reviews here from non-BB employees saying they have had good Geek Squad experience?
4.) Were all the other BB complaints here originating from the first store that started this topic?
Hey, I’m not saying that BB sucks, but really theres something to be said about the half-baked support and warranty services. BB really should stick to sales, and leave the tech work, service and warranty promises to the manufacturers and professionals. Its a popular motto, havent you heard it? “don’t call a geek, call a professional.”
Doesn’t really matter how you feel about Best Buy. What other choice do you really have, but to shop there.
As far as your computer goes, STOP DOWNLOADING PORN AND MUSIC AND IT WON’T **** UP!!
ROFL
I do have a choice to not buy from there and I haven’t bought from there in several years now.
Secondly, what a typical Geek Squad type response! That’s not true anyway, I don’t download porn or music and yet things still can happen to my computer.
Thanks for the intelligent response. (And by “intelligent” I mean not so much.)
Interesting. This just happened to me again on a different computer than I had when I wrote the post (over 3 years ago now, dang). Head to device manager, find the error code, Google out an article telling you where to find the registry entries to delete, restart, it works again. So yes, it was a Windows issue. This has been established time and time again. So not technically covered by my warranty, yes. BUT it is still beyond me how all those people at Geek Squad couldn’t just look up the same error code, Google it, fix it, and be done with it in 3 minutes. No, instead, let’s wipe the operating system clean! That’s what all of this really boils down to. There was no knowledge or know-how or even common sense whatsoever.
Well the problem with us just going in and starting to delete stuff is that stuff found on google isn’t always reliable. If we go and just start deleting lines in the registry then OOPS all of a sudden the computer crashes, then we get in trouble for not taking the proper steps. If it’s something corrupt in the operating system beyond basic device manager or something that simple that we know will work, we have to do an OS restore.
I would agree with you that the agents you spoke with did sound like they were BSing you in part, but some best buys just, as you said, hire anyone wanting a job. However most luckily will only hire you as an agent if you have proven tech skills.
Dudes all computers crash and get ruined for strange odd reasons so you shouldnt be blaming best buy because you baught a crappy *** computer if you don’t like best buy WHO CARES! some people do and best buy tries there hardest to help the costumers there not perfect so they can’t do everything for you to make you happy so you need to shut the **** up and leave them alone because you guys are the ones who is being pathetic and unreasonable. I have been buying from best buy for 15 years now and they are the best electronic store ever and i should know so back up and chill god people are so stupid at times.
ROFL @ “Jello”!
Thanks so much for the laugh, dude.
Geeksquad Agent:
“Well the problem with us just going in and starting to delete stuff is that stuff found on google isn’t always reliable. If we go and just start deleting lines in the registry then OOPS all of a sudden the computer crashes, then we get in trouble for not taking the proper steps. If it’s something corrupt in the operating system beyond basic device manager or something that simple that we know will work, we have to do an OS restore.”
I’m sorry but you really don’t make sense. I’ll agree with you that “just anything” found on Google isn’t necessarily reliable but there’s also resources like Microsoft’s website, etc., that are, as a rule, reliable.
Secondly, you state that if the OS crashes because you did some of these possible fixes then you’re in trouble. But that doesn’t really make sense because if you don’t know what else to do, and then you find a possible solution, isn’t it worth it to try that solution and take the risk of crashing/corrupting when you’re just going to reformat anyway? Then nothing is lost, ok, it didn’t work, big deal, continue with the reformat.
Also, if it’s “something simple,” why would you “have” to do an OS restore? That honestly doesn’t make any sense either. If it’s simple, just fix it. If it’s not, then restore. A reformat on someone else’s computer should only be a last resort, not a fix-all.
And, again, for the record. With my system, the OS wasn’t really corrupt, it was a simple fix, and I believe you can find the fix on Microsoft’s website.
But yeah, I don’t get the mentality of, let’s just reformat because we don’t want to try to fix the problem, then let’s lie to the customer and say this was corrupted or that was corrupted and you had viruses and adware, etc. Not good business imo.
Hey Val, can’t you add a spell checker to ur blog site for illiterate ‘dudes’ like Jello?
Anyway, just thought I have to be honest really and let you know how much i would enjoy walking into a bestbuy right now, having spent the last two years in Athens, Greece, where best buy customer service would shine in contrast to the norm… I suppose its all relative… What i’m saying does not necessarily detract from ur issues with best buy, its just that in the US there is a far superior customer service standard than elsewhere…BB or not.
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