Geek Squad

Ahh, The Geek Squad has been operating out of Minneapolis since 1994. Best Buy really had nothing to do with their current marketing

Wrong. BBY acquired all rights to Geek Squad over a year ago and is most definitely responsible & driving their current marketing. Guess you haven't been in an actual BBY store for awhile since Geek Squad is also the sole 'tech counter' representation in store as well...

No, I'm pretty sure BS isn't BSing. [http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2002/10/21/daily34.html](http://twincities.bizjournals.com/twincities/stories/2002/10/21/daily34.html) "The Geek Squad was founded in 1994. The company is headquartered in Minneapolis and has offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. "

He is correct about them being founded out of Minneapolis but since being acquired by BBY they no longer run their own Marketing ads -- they have the muscle of the World's largest electronic retailer doing that now.

called them just to find out what they were all about (i own a small pc repair shop) i gave symptoms of a failed hdd, they recommended spyware removal ...iwas surprised at how expensive it was, also their recommendation wouldnt help a failing hdd. their phone support couldnt tell me what would happen if spyware removal didnt solve my problem..."you'd have to bring it in then" its unfortunate that less savvy users are going to spend a lot aof cash with these guys and problems wont be resolved.

Hello all! Yes, Minneapolis start is true and yes Best Buy now owns Geek Squad, but what of this last entry? Agents are not capable or able? The fees are very reasonable based on they are a flat rate and there is a 30-day guarantee for the work done by Geek Squad agents. How about 24-hour in-home tech support? Yeah, you want an agent at 3am because your computer crashed in the middle of your on-line butt-kicking, you got it! Check it out, tech support has never been so easily accessible and fun. If you are looking for any more info just check out our web site: www.geeksquad.com

Actually ... Their "Mission Controllers" are just there to help get a simple diagnosis out to a person -- the real muscle behind the brand is the "Double Agents" that actually go on-site. These guys can find a "needle in a haystack" for problems.

I love how small mom and pop shops tweak out when a big company actually has something good and better then they do. World domination is in progress.

I actually called the Geek Squad out to my house last week after a friend "fixed" my poorly slow Toshiba laptop. The agent who showed up (precisely on time!) was incredibly knowlageble, had a great personality, and had me up and running in less than 15 minutes. To top it all off, he gave me a free Geek Squad t-shirt. I will definately be calling these guys the next time my computer decides to freak out on me!

I'm actually a member of the GeekSquad in Reston VA, about us telling you to just come in, that is because we don't like to diagnose over the phone, it can cause many problems, and when he said you had spyware or something probably its because most users think "oh my computer is slow, i think my hdd is dying" thats why he said "please just come in", the average user diagnosing there own computer = bad. lol anyways, if anyone has any questions feal free to post them and i'll try to respond, good to see most people have had a good encounter with us, I have only had one complaint in my geeksquad history, which has been quite awhile, and the complaint was that we didn't remove a proxy that we used to connect to our lan instore, which of course, we are all still human, and that being the only complaint i've heard, i think we are doing alright, if anyone needs any help, feal free to call 1-800-Geek-Squad :) take care, jeff

Geek Squad is 10% goodness, 90% bullcrap. The "double agents" that go to your home are extremely talented and are worth every penny, generally all 16000 of them (pennies) for an average house call. The in-store "counter intelligence agents" are the worthless part, and NOT by choice or by experience (as this is my job at Best Buy). Most are very knowledgable, but Best Buy's protocol on the fixing of computers is purely sales driven. In-store agents are there to do one of a few things; restore operating systems, install aftermarket hardware, remove malicious programs, install preventative maintenence programs, and if those 4 do not apply, ship it to the service center for repair. They are not "allowed" to use their usually university-learned talents. Best Buy's "standard operating platform" requires software problems be just fixed by restores, and hardware problems fixed by replacement of problematic hardware. The double agents get paid to use their knowledge to do all the fun stuff in-home. Best Buy owns the geek squad trademark, and each "agent" is just someone who's job title changed from "computer technician" to "geek squad agent" overnight once the uniforms were shipped to the store.

Greetings all, Pardon Justin up there, it sounds as if he's had one too many arguments with the some of the talent at best buy, as he sounds a little peev'd at the store, or it's policies.. Being a member of the "Geek Squad" since it's creation at my store about 10 months ago, and being a "computer tech" as he called it, for another 2 years prior at the store, I can first and formost tell you that the first line of defense is NOT "restore now, ask questions later.." Quite the opposite.. Our head agents in MN ship all stores special software programs that they actually have trademarked (check your facts justin) that we use on a daily basis to diag, and fix many OS issues. Being the head agent within our store, I can tell each and every one of you that we use our "university-learned" talents (how do you learn a talent?) on a daily basis. The SOP is there for CIA agents that may not have the 2-3 degrees in computer science/networking/MCSE etc, that some of the more fortunate do have. We train all agents to the same level. Yes, part of the model is business driven, or how would we have the labor dollars next month as to pay our techs?? (They by the way make more than any sales associate in the store) and no one within BestBuy is commision based, no matter what someone might say. We have the mindset of "fit the solution to what the customer needs/wants) If this isn't being done within your store Justin, I suggest you bring this to your Operations Manager, or GM. I'l tell it like it is, but I will not discount the nature of the GeekSquad just because it is included in a retail environment. I suggest you might want to check monster.com for current "computer tech" openings if you can't be a part of a growing tream. Good evening all.. Jake -- North Central MD.

I agree with Agent Jake. People at times scoff at prices charged for repairs. I beg you to shop around and look at competitors, you will see prices are comparable. yes we charge money. It is a business. I work @ Best Buy. I have been with the company nearly three years. I have seen it a hundred times people like disgruntled Justin often get too involved with the "Tech" side and want nothing more than to repair computers. They complain at having to "sell" the service as well. they want to be the geek who fixed it, but doesn't want to do the leg work. It is a team effort. if he is unhappy again go to monster.com....It is an awesome concept. Why wouldn't a customer want end to end solutions? A person to help you pick out your new pc,,,repairs and service all the way to the end of your computers life. Beautiful!!

I have done plenty of research on the Geek Squad and I think those guys and gals are awesome. In fact, I have been trying to become an agent. I have plenty of experience and certifications, but I need a better way to get in than the online application Best Buy provides. If anyone has any ideas, please post it as I am very enthusiastic about the Geek Squad.

Before I got my current job as a web developer I was working at Best Buy to keep my sanity while looking for a regular job. I was almost a Geek Squad person because I applied and I have a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science, but because I could actually talk to people, they stuck me on the sales floor. The point of that little story is that I have no certs, but a Bachelors Degree in CS and I would have been, by far, the most educated Geek Squad member. Also, to get a job at Best Buy, in any department, you have to call up and ask about your application or at least call them.

Hey Mike, Im sure you are quite knowledgeable, however having a BS in Computer Science doesnt mean you know jack about computers. Some of the most incompetant people I have met have a BS in CS. Certifications mean you actually have HANDS ON experience.. not reading out of a book

I've been a Geek-Suad DA for about 5 months now since my store just opened, and I love it. Yes our prices are a little high, but compared to some places that cost $200 an hour?! Thats insane. If I go out on a service call, and it requires virus removal or whatever, it's the same price whether it takes 1/2 hour or 4 hours. I also agree with D Funk about the degree issue. A couple of techs in my store have degrees and certifications, and they don't know shit. They know the basics, but they still can't wipe their ass without calling me about something. I don't have a degree or anything. I'm self taught since I was 11. The biggest complaint I get is when a customer brings in their computer because of virus or spyware problems, and we charge them even thought they have the PSP. We have to go through the whole speil about how it only covers hardware issues, blah blah blah. ...

Thanks, Mike for the info, but I agree with D Funk and Double_Agent. The ultimate would be to have the certs along with the degree. Talk about being ready for upper management.

i agree with Double_Agent : about all the sales bs my mgr. is all ways pushing me to sell and not fix pcs and cust. all ways are complaning about how there PSP dose not cover software(i.e. but the sales guy said that it would), but i mean come on its software when you put incompitant people behind pc bad thing are bound to happen and where not going to fix it fo free the only thing that is coverd is a free diag. and hardware if you have a PSP

When did I ever say anything about people with certs dont know anything? I think you need to look at both sides guys....Someone that has all "certs" and no school may know what keys to press in which order, but they may very well not know why that works, just that is does work. That is not the always the case of course...but just think about that before you all go touting your self-learnin' and condem people that went to school for it. "Certifications mean you actually have HANDS ON experience.. not reading out of a book" Just becuase I have a shelf full of books doesn't mean me, or anyone else that went to college, didn't touch computers or have no "hands on experience". If that is the case, what exactly do you think people do in school? Books are great things, and to be honest you sound like a bit of a back-water hick what that statement, although I'm sure you are very knowlegable as well.

OH sheesh, this looks like a hornets nest. Here's the deal, I'm an MSCE/MSPS, A+, Network+ etc, etc, till you barf, with 20 years experience, I've got the certs AND the hands on experience. Big deal, it's what you can do not what hangs on your wall that matters. I own a Consulting company that specializes in small and medium sized businesses. I don't even look at paper, certs, diplomas, etc. when I hire someone. It takes me about 20 minutes to figure out if they know what they're doing, are capable of learning what they don't know, and will do things the way I tell them to in order to provide my clients with the best possible service. I have TONS of home users that are always bugging the crap out of me, so I was very happy to see the Geek Squad ads on TV. I thought "This is great, I can offload these freakin' home users to the Geek Squad!" Sorry home users, you're a pain in the butt and NOT what I do in my business but I get recommended and I don't like to leave people hang if I can help it. Home users don't want to pay our rates (but pay they do, and that should tell you how good we are), they don't understand things like business clients do, they don't follow recommendations like we tell them to, etc. Mostly a big headache and a MUCH smaller profit margin on time expended. I wish I'd never gotten started with them, enter the possibilty of recommending the Geek Squad, problem solved, Right? Well... How the heck can I recommend anyone when I can't find out anything about them!?!?!?!? I can't find any rates posted anywhere and I've googled the daylights out of the topic. It's not there or if it is I can't find it. I called a local Best Buy that has a Geek Squad Precinct to see if they could mail/email me a schedule of rates. HAH! Might as well try to call POTUS, can't get anyone that knows anything, connections dropped, calls misdirected or timing out on the voicemail system, etc. I only want to know two things, WHAT DOES THE GEEK SQUAD DO AND WHAT DOES IT COST? Sorry geeks but I doubt you do clustered servers, directory and domain services, email server installations & maint., hardware firewall installation and setup, blah blah, etc. and even if you do I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot recommending that to clients, that's what I do. You can have all of the business and inquiries that I get related to what you advertise on TV for home users though, and welcome to it. So answer my two questions. It would really, really help if I could talk to a Geek Squadite and get this all figured out. It would be acceptable if we did the initial contact and configuration and then could shuffle these blasted home users off on the Geek Squad. It would be fine with me if the next time a home user called we could say "We don't do that but have thoroughly evaluated The Geek Squad and heartily recommend them". The thing is, did you see the part above about "provide my clients with the best possible service"? If someone recommends us to a home user or anyone/anything else, WE'RE NOT GOING TO RECOMMEND ANYTHING THAT WE HAVEN'T LOOKED INTO THOROUGHLY! Get me some data, I'll probably send you some business.

CloaknDagr -- Here are the three pricing sheets that the Geek Squad Agents use. These can be found on GeekSquad.com... -- -Telephone Support Prices -- - [http://www.geeksquad.com/_assets/pdf/GS_Phone_Prices.pdf](http://www.geeksquad.com/_assets/pdf/GS_Phone_Prices.pdf) -- -In-Store Prices -- - [http://www.geeksquad.com/_assets/pdf/GS_Store_Prices.pdf](http://www.geeksquad.com/_assets/pdf/GS_Store_Prices.pdf) -- -In-Home Prices -- - [http://www.geeksquad.com/_assets/pdf/GS_Home_Prices.pdf](http://www.geeksquad.com/_assets/pdf/GS_Home_Prices.pdf) -- -Overall Capabilities -- - [http://www.geeksquad.com/_assets/pdf/GS_Capabilities.pdf](http://www.geeksquad.com/_assets/pdf/GS_Capabilities.pdf)

Geek squad rates are posted oon their website www.geeksquad.com. Not a big fan of the site (trying to be too cool and not very usable). The rates are high but I think some people will be willing to pay for relaible service so they can avoid the hassles of being on phone with their tech support vendor for hours. CC

im a Geek Squad Agent. People buy it. It's a good thing in my mind, people who cant set something up because of not having artificial legs in one of my jobs. Also someone who has never used a PC before. It sells... Many other companies have tried to replicated the Geek Squad style.

All of you "Dumble_Assents" are so full of BS. The "geek-squad" is purely a marketing trend developed by yep you guess it dumb ass geeks. Yeah some of these guys may have computer science degrees but.......... Where did they get their education?? "O I got my education from a Second-hand or online (what a joke) university or I'm self taught just like cool zero of the movie hackers. Half of these guys probably only know 1.....no no wait maybe 2 computer languages and both are HL (for all you non-geeks and maybe for some of the geeks at the squad that means HIGH LEVEL such as C+) Ok then these guys want to go around saying "Got a virus we will terminate it bring it to us" yeah you sure will, not that hard to charge the customer 150 bucks for installing some software they could have done themselfs. The bottom line is without your software geeks, you are worthless. I get calls all the time from people that went to see the geeks. Frankly I am REALLY REALLY getting tired of having to uninstall that fucking pop up stopper program. . just think about your computer problems before taking it to geek -bs-dont know squad A simple search for your problem on google can save you hundreds of dollars. O and for all you "wanta be a computer man dream agents" the credentials are stated as BS COMP SC from MIT , Current occupation system security/computer forensics. I have all the right to FLAME. one more thing, businesses never ever ever take your computer to these guys for security reasons you will have problems and your setup will need pen testing if you decide to use these people. #blackware1337

All of the Agents had to take a real life problem test "not a test you can study for".. so they are all pritty damn good at what they do and before long world domination will be a reality!

Well, all I can say Mr. MIT is that I would hate to ever meet you, seems someone with your level of prestige would be a bit more professional. I do use my software alot, and I like it. Software can only be a tool in certain cases. In 90 percent of the cases I am involved in, my experience and certification knowledge comes in very handy, not software. Things like manual removals, security setups, server administration, hardware troubleshooting, domain engineering, etc.. No, I dont know three computer languages and I dont care too. I could have chosen to go that route but I dont like it much. I enjoy fixing things, not creating software. Thats what you are for. Double Agents are great guys and gals. My tech bench is a place for young techs to come and get some good experience while getting there hands into some good stuff. We are cheap actually, and I havent had any unsatisfied customers. -- -- Protecting innocent civilians from the raging epidemic of technological nightmares. -- -

I am a Geek Squad agent at my local Best Buy. Geek Squad's prices are the best you will find anywhere (there is no where else that I have seen that charges flat rates). I thought about certifications but realized you don't really learn about CURRENT real world problems, everything moves too fast. There is no where that teaches what we Agents do on a daily basis. Sure some of our customers could download some of the tools we use and maybe figure out how to use them, but what happens when you get winsock errors after infection by spyware or a virus and you manage to remove them and all of sudden to can't get online to figure out how to fix the connection problem (happens about 8 out of 10 times in my experience). I'm in charge of in-home sales at my Precinct and I love it and people love the in-home service. Many customers I have sold an in-home wireless setup to have spent about 10 hours or so trying to get everything to work without mentioning any kind of security. The Geek Squad provides the best service I have seen before I started working for them and ever since. I am all for independent "mom and pops" shops, but I don't know how much longer they are going to last if they don't start charging flat rates and 24/7 support. There is no where that offers even half of Geek Squad does everyday. As far as agent justin's comments go, I doubt he will be an agent much longer if he thinks that to fix a virus you have to do a system restore. I make fun of Agents who have to resort and a restore. At our precinct we have to restore maybe 1 in 30 computers that come in and half of those are because of failing harddrives. The only places that I know of that recommend or preform a restore for viri or spyware are manufactures and Curcuit City. As for blackware1337 I can't count the number machine we work on that were "fixed" by "My IT guy at work" or by "My friend who has a computer science degree." Like I've said nobody teaches this stuff, yet. Geek Squad is currently working with Microsoft on a Personal Computer Certification test are actually be reviewed for use. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO EMBRACE TECHNOLOGY ON YOUR OWN TERMS

Do your arms hurt from towing the company line so hard?

As far as I'm concerned, certs are great and so is just having a Comp Science degree. Hell, I have a friend with neither, but he can work the shit out of a PC. He happens to be self taught without one book. He does a lot of online research. In fact hours and hours of research and thats the price he pays. As for Mr. MIT, get off your high horse. Either way the IT industry is very demanding of one to know everything. It seems that most companies want both certs and degrees. Lets not forget about the experience too. I think all these MBA big wigs in upper management are so intimidated about technology that they want to make sure a well knowledgeable techie is hired. Well for you big wigs, who knows everything anyways? I guess you could say I have issues. I have several certs and I am a junior at a university studying for a BSIT. I have been studying IT on my own for four years and I have actually officially worked in the industry with a company for 1 and a half years. I still can't find a decent IT job. What the fuck do I have to do? Again, I guess you can say I have issues.

D Funk should be careful before he (or she) spouts off about certs. "Certifications mean you actually have HANDS ON experience.. not reading out of a book" I hate to burst your bubble, bud, but I have known many a folk who could memorize a book and go take a test and get 'certified' and they still don't have a clue about computers and still don't have hands on experience.... Just my two cents...

Hey blackware1337 I see all that great experience of "teaching yourself" you say you have and you still haven't figured out how to use a spell check... hummm... And about that movie Hackers, I haven't seen that movie in forever... and at least I still know that it's zero cool, not cool zero... yikes... Try one of your famous 'google' searches... It just might work...

Man are these guys drinking the Kool-Aid or what? Geek Squad has a lot of potential to educate my customers about Home On Site service. Then when they drop the ball, like all large chains do. The "Mom and Pops" will be there to catch them. In the mean time business is good and will only get better. Sears fixes cars too but they haven't run all the garages out of business have they? I charge $90 an hour and its still less than Geek Squad when you look at their flat rate pricing and how they add up those operations. Flat rate is rarely the cheapest. The good news is, they will make our rates much more paletable, and might even make it so we can charge more. We are already getting calls from customers frustrated with Geek Squad and want an adult to help them, not some kid just learning how to drive and who wants to tell them how cool X Box is. Customers want to feel comnfortable with who they let into their houses. How many of these Agents know how to handle an upset customer? Or can deal with someone who lost their data and needs a little sympathy before sitting down to figure out a plan to recover that data? Not the hit and run super agents thats for sure. Geek Squad started off with the right idea, pre Best Buy...but like most chains it will be all about profits, selling products and numbers soon enough...and then the Kool Aid drinking experts will be gone (cause it won't be much fun then will it?) and only the kids from McDonalds will be left. Geek Squad creates a larger market and then fills a need and only expands the market place for all the real techs to make more. Let them have the low hanging fruit. I wouldn't be caught dead wearing that tie and I wouln't hire an ex-agent.

"Certifications mean you actually have HANDS ON experience.. not reading out of a book" ~ D Funk Please. I've met and interviewed more "Certified" techs that don't know jack about computers. All certification means is that you were able to pass a test. It has NOTHING to do with hands-on experience. I'm not saying that certifications are meaningless, just that having them does not mean that someone knows what they're doing. (Take it from someone who has been involved in creating Professional Certification tests for the industry). I've been in the business for over 20 years and now own an on-site computer service business. The Geek Squad -- prior to Best Buy's aquisition, was a very capable and trustworthy company. However, I believe that since Best Buy aquired them, the overall quality of their "Agents" has greatly diminished. Over the years, I have met a number of Geek Squad Agents (in fact I know a couple agents personally) and I believe that overall, they're mostly inexperienced and some of them have little or no business working on people's computers. But, I also know for fact that they have some Agents who are very knowledgable and good at what they do. My experience tends to make me believe however, they are mostly in the minority as indicated by the amout of business I have been receiving from ex-Geek Squad customers do to failed repairs and/or recommendations. Now, before any of the GS Agents reading this thread start flaming me... understand this -- I don't know any of you -- or your capabilities -- so please, I am not impuning you or your abilites -- these are simply my observations/opinions. I'm sure several of you are quite capable techs. As far as Best Buy's aquisistion of the Geek Sqad -- I believe it has become another channel for Best Buy to push product. Personally, I think this was a very smart business move on Best Buy's part. and has been very successful for them and I'm sure it will continue to work well for them. Regards, Tech Guy

I have been in the industry for a long time and ended up having to change careers because the money wasent there. Im curious how much money do these agents make? Can you afford to pay a mortgage in so california?

haha... funny to read about all of you "consultants" and "mom-and-pop" store owners who claim that they get work when geek squad agents dont fix their problems.... hmm... geek squad does guarantee their own work, but apparently people somehow would rather pay outrageous money to some big-headed computer store owner rather than getting it fixed for free.... right. lol. I feel pity for you fools

i gotta say that I can run circles around all but two of our geeks. the reason im not in the geeks squad is because of the fact that I actualy have a personality that wouldnt drive a customer out of the store as soon as I greeted them. I even went as far as thier little "test" before they decided to put me in sales. It was a freaking joke.

As "ryedog" stated like 3 weeks ago, and no one responded to, I am thinking of becoming a GS agent and am curious of how much they get paid. I've heard different amounts ranging from under 10/hr to close to 20/hr. I know it depends on the area you're in, but could someone let me know?

You wouldn't be working for Geek Squad if you have a degree from a 4 year university. Not to mention the shit I hear from actual geek squad members. Geek squad agents (D.A.) with in-depth knowledge in computer technology -- next to none. How does geek sqaud gets business -- creditability of Best Buy behind it. Reality -- BB nor Geek Squad covers jack when they screw up your computer. They'll just tell you that your computer needs an upgrade, or replacement because it's old.

As far as getting business from ex Geek Squad customers I personally have had 4 customer's this week that have gone to independent computer stores and were unhappy about the service (and it's only Tuesday). So Mr. $90 an hour you're telling me that you can setup a whole house wireless network, secure it, share all needed files and printers, customize the computer for the customer, and walk them through how to add new coputers and access all those shared files in under 2 hours. If it's a really small house sure it might be possible unless of course you have wireless networks all over the place that you're getting interference from. Customer satisfaction for in-home service from Double Agents is 99%. Which means that other 1% is going to go somewhere else and that 1% is going add up to thousands of people every week. I tell a customer to start looking at new computers if the cost of the repair is going to be over $300, considering they can get a new machine for under $500 now. Best Buy would make a lot more money if I just charged them for all the labor I could to fix their old computer. Best Buy makes maybe $100 off a new computer and that's a high end machine. Best Buy acutally loses money on many of the lower end machines. Certs are great, I'm starting classes for my MCSD, but show me the cert that tells you how to remove spyware or discuss upgrade options with a customer. Geek Squad is working with Microsoft right now to make such a certification. Some higher up Geek Squad agents are testing the test right now and if it is any good we should see the cert sometime in the next year or so. As far as getting a job as an Agent as opposed to sales that is mostly luck, just depends on what the store needs at that time. My store has one agent that shouldn't really be there (it happens), but other than that everyone there is a good tech. There are another couple that shouldn't have been let out of their cages, but again other than that everyone knows how to deal with customers. It is only a matter of time before those people are gone, it's just hard to fire someone for not being good at their job anymore. Oh yeah and flat rates are almost always cheaper than hourly charges especially for something like a good spyware or virus removal, just ask the customers that have the really nasty stuff and it takes about 4 hours or so to clean their machine.

" How does geek sqaud gets business -- creditability of Best Buy behind it." Umm, no. GS was wildly successful in several markets since its founding in 1994 before being acquired by Best Buy, I believe in 2002.

As per blackware1337's comment much earlier... Exactly why would I need to be able to program in assembly to fix a spyware problem? Or to get a wireless network set up? Or set up a MS Windows Domain? Yeah, we do use software to fix many problems, and no I didn't write any of it, in fact all I've written to assist in my job are some scripts to make the process a little easier. Programming can be useful knowledge, but why redesign the wheel? We may not have the ability to write an OS, but what good is that to me? I've had a programmer come in with a computer so infected with spyware, he wasn't sure what to do... he had tried everything and couldn't access the internet -- but couldn't afford to restore his computer. I was able to take care of it in a few minutes. My brother can program an operating system -- but still calls me for advice on his wireless network. We all have our specialties. There's no need to get angry. Heck, it would have been cool to go to MIT (and yes, I could have), but I'm really happy just helping people. -Maybe it's just me...

@ Brandon -- Mr. MIT It's very obvious from what you write that you have never done any Technical Support before. May I quote you? Thanks: "Ok then these guys want to go around saying "Got a virus we will terminate it bring it to us" yeah you sure will, not that hard to charge the customer 150 bucks for installing some software they could have done themselves." " My favorite part is "installing some software they could have done themselves." HA HA HA HA!!!! Isn't that the point? These people are not capable of installing and/or using virus removal software themselves. That's why they hire someone to do it. That's like saying, "Why go to the Honda dealership and pay $20,000.00 for a car when you can just build one yourself a lot cheaper?" I'm sure you could, but some people don't have the time or knowledge it would take to do that so they have some one else build it for them. Had you ever done any technical support before, you would know that a majority of home users and new users (Geek Squads main focus really) know very little about computers. If you ask one of these people to go to "www.microsoft.com" where do you think they type that in? Well if their home page is Yahoo or Google they'll type it in to the search bar, not in the "Address" bar. A LOT of customer have no idea what the "Address" bar even is (lets not even get into URL). ALL their surfing is done through Yahoo or Google's search bars. Think before you post next time. Thanks.

Everyone has their own opinions, but when it comes down it it. We are not out to rape the general public as many of you belive. Majoirty of the people now call the geek squad for spyware removal. Most users experienced or not usualy click yes on the box that pops up to install 1080 Solutions or CWS not knowing what they are doing. Personal i've seen some pretty f'ed up computers from spyware in my precinct, and telling people to download Hijack This! to get rid of a browser hijacker is like talking english to a russian. Even if they do know how to go that far, I garuntee you any average user does not know the difference between R0, O16 or O23 and will select everything and delete all objects thinking they are bad for their system. Also contrary to popular belief using firefox is not the answer to all spyware problems. Give it some time spyware coders are going to learn firefox's shell soon enough to infect it. So people don't go posting your anti-geek squad commentary when you actully have no idea where we are coming from and what really goes on in the real world, not your hacked norton and ad-ware world.

People ... chill out! Just drink a beer and be happy!

What is Geek Squad? * Buncha *!@#$ HS Dropouts What do they do? * Fix your average Grandma's Computer problems. (Loging In) Cause anyone who is capable of using google.com don't need to call those retards. For once you buncha twats, RTFM or use Google before you waste your money on those fools. As this Jeff guy says "proxy link instore" Why for gods sake would you Proxy in, in that matter? Security? Or stupidity? It should say "Lamers Squad" not a "Geek Squad".

To MIT Guy. Right on dude... But it's C++ !C+. To the guy who says his Programmer brother can program an OS and comes to you for help. Have some pitty, your brother programs in VBS and he cannot program an OS. For those who blab around with Certificates, these are good for those who don't have BS. To those all IT's Wannabies who are those Geek Squad kiddies. You've been taught which programs to use and for what purpose, some install them all, hoping the problem will get fixed, though you don't have a freakin' clue about Software and Hardware, yet you do a good job helping those more incompetent from you. As for this guy who said that Software is nothing, it's removing Manuals bla bla bla.. whatever this dude is thinking, everything in Digital World is driven by the software, even every piece of hardware is driven by the software. And security? Umm, I would never trust Geek Squad on securing my Wireless Link, or my home network. Security is the never ending story, and they probably install ZoneAlarm (Barf!), security is as strong as the programmers who write the software. Now stop this nonsense, Geek Squad are people who know little, but know enough to fix your average persons PC from Malware, Spyware, KeyLoggers, RATs etc, by using propriatery software. Someone was saying something about learning those so called hard to use Point-And-Click Programs, wait til you read "named" manual, and understand it. Winsock error, prolly a bad rip from BSD's TCP/IP Stack, what else could it be. :P EOF

Wow how worthless have we become. In some peoples quest to have the "cool trendy" job we are becoming cheap and easy. If you have any craft at all it takes a lot of time and education. Ten years for me and I'm still learning, the thought of working crazier hours than I do now scares me. I bill a bunch of hours, work alot of late nights, but 24-7 scares me. Especially as much work as it takes to keep up with it all. Just another MCP, MCDST, MCSE, CCA, Network +, A+, and Published Technical Author.

I worked as a Counter Inteligence Agaent for Geek Squad, the software we used was shareware, freeware. We didn't have a license for anything. Poor freeware peeps like Spybot don't see a dime of that 59 dollar diag or the 30 dollar removal flat rate. Geek squad is a joke, just another BBy salesman in a diffent uniform. They send out all "major" repairs like motherboard replacments. I couldn't handle the fasade (sp?). I quit.

To DumbGeek, not all software used is freeware and shareware some has been developed by Geek Squad itself. As far as replacing a mothboard goes that really isn't a major repair it just takes time that we don't have right now and some stores are starting to do more hardware repairs on-site to see if it will work out. Oh yeah, what exactly is a fasade? I would quit working on computers too if I couldn't at least use even google as a spell checker. Poor freeware peeps like Spybot don't see a dime for anything they do, but they love us using their software, more people know about it that way. If a customer wants to know we tell them what software we use, we used to leave it on their machines until the whole license agreement and being sued thing came up. All those certs are great, but is your job fun and can you deal with the average computer user from day to day? You must be so proud to be a Published Technical Author along with how many other million people? Hey sentoid obviously you've never talked to any Geek Squad agent about wireless network security. The most common ways a Double Agent secures a wirelless connection is through MAC filtering, disabling broadcasting of the SSID, setuping an IP range and enabling WEP. Only way to really make it more secure would be to turn off DHCP and use WPA. Turning off DHCP would make it even harder for a home user to add a computer, and WPA is great for businesses that can afford the signal loss that it creates. As far as in-store CIAs go alot of them would love to be higher up IT guys and Geek Squad is starting to train them to be. Geek Squad also has what are called Special Agents that specialize in corporate level networking and can pretty much replace any IT department for less cost to the client. There must be some reason that Linksys has put Geek Squad on their support page. Hey typhoid, I'm so proud you can login to grandma's computer. Most people are there because they can't use google to figure out their problem. I don't how many computers I've seen that "The IT guy at work fixed it". A true IT guy shouldn't have the time to do all the reasearch required to stay on top of all the new spyware and viri being released and how to get rid of them manually if neccesary.

so how much are geek squad agents paid?

Geek Squad Agent payscales will range.... Typical CIA(in-store agents) -- $10 - $15/hr CIA Sr.(in-charge of store) -- $12 - $18/hr DA (in-home) -- $14 - $22/hr Then we also have Special Agents, who are mostly our CCNA/MCP guys, because they will provide support for moderate to larger sized business, and any server-client networks........the sky is really the limit here depending on your area......

As someone who's only worked for GS for a few months, I've seen some interesting things while there. Coming from a background in corporate IT (career changer...I'm a flight instructor now) I would like to think I've seen quite a fair amount of the fence, from both sides. My observations: Geek Squad and BBY were the perfect match for each other, and you will see others begin to emulate the model. As for the quality of service...well, McDonalds is a ridiculously successful fast food leviathan, but what "quality" item ever walked out of their doors? My point: how does a retail environment lure the IT skills it needs with what they can offer as financial compensation? They can't. They're over the barrel with a "take the best we can get and work with it" model. Some of the agents are phenomenal, some really suck. I've seen an agent work with an irate customer on an outdated computer, and by the end the customer had their computer fixed, buying a new desktop and ordering in-home wireless networking and they were EXCITED TO BE DOING IT. (good) I've seen an agents sell a customer 2 gigs of RAM to be installed on a PII 350 win98se and STILL managed to leave the computer in the back room for 5 days. (bad) When I first started, I felt TERRIBLE charging a customer $39.99 to INSTALL RAM. I voiced this to another agent and they responded "When was the last time your mechanic felt bad about the cost of vehicle maintenance and "cut you a break?" It's like this: if I want a doctor's services, I pay for them. If I want to hire an attorney, I have to pay his fee. I do this because he's doing things for me which I cannot do for myself. What makes computer maintenance and Geek Squad any different? A customer could either do like I did: start young, learn networking by throwing LAN parties and reading, learn PC maintenance through intense gaming and constantly upgrading hardware, subscribe to MaxPC, etc and acquire the skills to just fix this stuff themselves, or they could go on with their pathetic, mundane life exploring the visceral underbelly of the internet...the porn, the online casinos, the "click here to win an iPod" banner ads... Google "opportunity cost" I have come to realize this, and I will state it for you here: "There is an onus of responsibility that comes with using the internet. Your computer is not a microwave oven, and its not a television set. It is intelligent hardware that has been programmed to perform many tasks. To believe that no threat exists would be both immature and irresponsible, and it is up to the owner to realize it's potential. For those who choose not to turn when they encounter the learning curve, much like a real automobile accident, prepare to pay the price." I think the fundamental complaint with Geek Squad amongst all of you people, both agent and non-agent alike, is the same as it is for me... "Why didn't "I" think of that!?!?"

You really dont know how it is unless come in to store and ask a question. The only reason that people like "GeekSquad" is that because we are honest about our diags. We dont bull shit our ways into our customers. We offer them a very good and steady resolutions. We dont give tech support over the phone not because we are greedy because we want our customers to feel the full customer service and enjoy the one and one training style interaction. We work hard and we take pride into every computer that we bring in, it almost feels like that every computer is our personal computer and it needs to be fixed. CIA Agen Store Jackson, MI

i work as an in-store geek squad agent. i've worked there about 3 months now, and am currenlty looking for a salary type IT job. I don't suspect to work there too much longer, but not at all because its a bad place to work. most of our agents know their stuff really good. we have one guy that doesn't really know what hes doing, so we just make him do simple stuff and boxing stuff up and things like that. i have a CS degree from a top 10 ranked school for CS and am certifed in A+, Network+, Server+ (which by the way are really easy to get) i've been screwing around on computers for about 10 years now. at home i run a small network of linux and win2k3 servers that do various things. i spend my spare time writing programs and scripts for my website (which is housed in my room). i have experience with c/c++, java, perl, asm, sql, etc etc etc... but you know what? none of this really matters to a GS agent. when i got the job i thought i'd be way more capable than anyone else that worked there because of my extenstive "IT" background. but really, none of that matters. no one else at my store has a CS degree, but they taught me a lot in how to fix computers, remove viruses/spyware, and all that. i pretty much had no experience with viruses and spyware when i started... because i've never had a virus. smart comptuer people don't get viruses because they know what to avoid. sure when the extremely rare customer comes in with a linux question, i'm the guy everyone turns to... but i'm much less valuable to the team than the guys that have been working there for a couple years. and no we don't rip people off. yes, we do try and sell products and services, but we never lie to a customer or reccomend something they don't need. so for all of you that think the geek squad sucks or are dumbasses because they don't have certifcations and degrees you're wrong. we don't need those skills to fix a computer.

I just had an amazing thought.... Maybe some GS Agents can hack it, and maybe some can't. It's always easy to forget that not everything is black and white...except our uniforms.

My advice to the average computer user with a computer problem. Look around first, I am sure you will find a local PC repair company.

I am a computer sales associate in a Best buy store outside of Cincinnati. Here is my two cents about the Geek Squad (or at least my precinct): 9 out of every 10 GS customers have a positive experience, and I see them back in the store for more GS services. About half of the customers whose buddy/relative/co-worker works in IT are back in the store in a couple of days to return whatever networking equipment they purchased because their buddy/relative/co-worker couldn't get it set up. Anyone who complains about our pricing should shop around, and after you realize that GS is among the lowest, with guaranteed work and 24/7/365 technical support, you'll be back. And I'll be waiting for you.

QUOTE: "So Mr. $90 an hour you're telling me that you can setup a whole house wireless network, secure it, share all needed files and printers, customize the computer for the customer, and walk them through how to add new coputers and access all those shared files in under 2 hours. If it's a really small house sure it might be possible unless of course you have wireless networks all over the place that you're getting interference from." Installing a Linksys router, setting up configuration (including port forwarding for applications), setting up a workgroup to share files/printers, "customize the computer" ? , and explaining the basics should take about 45 minutes tops. In two hours, I can setup an Active Directory tree. Please -- don't boast of your skills. You're a student, you should be attempting to learn, not criticizing those who have. Also, I agree that certs mean nothing. I've met some very clueless people with both MCSE and CCNA certs. While I'm sure they are alot more knowledgable than you, they still don't understand alot. Specifically alot seem to have a problem comprehending BGP4, but hey. If you really want to learn -- just check out Amazon.com. There are some amazing books on every subject imaginable. From "Real World Linux Security" to "Professional Assembly Language" to "Windows 2000 Scripting guide". Please.. make an effort. Fixing your mom's corrupted Winsock stacks is comparable to programming a VCR in the '80s. Impressive to mom -- but in the real world it just doesn't cut it.

My parents computer suddenly ran into some major performance issues last week. I looked at it and found that the hard drive was dying a slow death. Since they bought the PC at BestBuy and was still under warranty(sp) I told them to pack it up and take it in the BestBuy/Geek Squad. BB/GS confirmed that the HDD was dying and that it was under warranty. Cool! Free repair. Before they started my mother asked if her genealogy could be restored and was told that the drive had to be sent back to mfgr for the repair for covered under the warranty. That's understandable so mom asked if she could get the old drive back and pay for a new drive. The answer was no. She was told (you'll love this one) "that the process of removing the HDD would destroy it and no data could be recovered". What?! So I called and talked to the tech and called him on the lie. Now, in the past 22yrs I've done hardware and software support, software QA and development. This idiot waffled for 5 mins before confessing that "this is not the way we work". I let him know in no uncertain terms that I was disapointed in his service "skills". Now, if I was told that from the get go, I'd have a lot more respect for the schmuck. Lying to a customer is not acceptable. So, f*** the warranty, I'm buying the new drive and installing it. By the way I was able to recover that data. As an aside to the certification, education, experience question ... I have a BS in electrical engineering, 22 yrs experience and no certifications. Personally, I never saw much use for them. No one I've worked for ever asked if I was certified (certifiable, yes :P ). My 2 cents.

That agent should fired for what he told your mother. We do work like that, but a data recovery is $89. The only warranty I have ever heard of that covers data the Platinum Service Plan that Best Buy has, if we can't recover it in-store or the service center the drive will get sent to Ontrack. We have done some crazy recoveries, linux can do great stuff with dead drives. Of course a smart customer never needs a data recovery because the have their information backed up, especially with the price have external one touch/automatic back up harddrives.

How do i get the protective software for pen drives?

What is the starting pay for a geek squad? I've been asked to apply for the position but didn't ask the pay rate. even if it's different nation wide, I'd still like know the base starting salary, thakns.

You people seem to be an angry lot. Relax life is too short for all this drama. I am an agent that started fresh out of college. From first hand experience I can tell you that number one it is a good starting point in one's career and number two if you like dealing with both computers and people it is a very good intro. level job. As far as prices and knowledge are concerned prices are steep everywhere its called business and knowledge varies across every horizon. Well just had to add my thoughts after reading all of this.

I'd like to know the starting rate as well.

Firstly, Ryan....don't dog anyone's computer 'skills'. your whole post was you boasting what you know. Assembly line language? Scripting? Linux? We are talking home users with home systems in most cases. You are an idiot. What kind of PC technician needs all of that crap? For the last 6 years, I've been a network administrator in the Air Force, which can equate to a large scale enterprise network. I have worked everything from simple end user PC problems, to minor network server/application problems, to complex network problems. I have been through 2 Active Directory migrations. I'm glad you can set up a directory tree in an hour, but that is kind of elementary in itself when we are talking about the level of knowledge you are talking about. With all of my experience, I still learn new things each day. Scripting is something I'm learning now. Just because I can't spout off information from a book concerning any given problem by no means makes me a crappy administrator. So again, before you start rattling off about how you are so much better than a 'student', try to make sure it applies to the current conversation. Oh, I just got out of the Air Force and am working part time at the Geek Squad for some extra cash while I get through college. Don't look down on someone for what they do before you know about the individual. CodeWarrior....the guy you were dealing with was a moron. Unfortunately some do slip through the cracks when it comes to hiring. They don't last long though. He was right about your mother not being able to get her old HDD back, we have to replace and send the original off to get credit for the one we grabbed off of the shelf. Of course, the data backup/recovery, as you found out, was a simple process that should have been offered.

Could anyone tell me how to make a monitor light up? OK, first I turn on th computer and then the monitor. Then I look at the light to see if the monitor will light up, but it never does!

I am a Geek Squad agent and I like to think of myself as very skilled. However I am very disappointed in the unprofessionalism of the job at times. As one user said above it is strictly sales driven. The store is more worried about numbers, there is no reason we should be requiring customers to pay an additional $59 to run windoctor with a spyware removal, because in reality 95% of the time win doctor does not fix much. The other real kicker is with the diagnostic, and such since we are not hourly labor we do the diagnostic run all the scans and stuff and then close it all out and have the work approved then run the scans again to remove the stuff, it would be more efficient to just scan and remove imho. I also am quite disturbed with how members of the precinct and management get enjoyment out of browsing customer backups looking for "interesting content"

Geek Squad. Wow, how incredibly lame. A crappy corporation takes the noble word of geek and represents itself as money-stealing rogues. Isn't that wonderful? I was looking at their website. Wow, their prices are incredibly lame. I do PC repair on the side as a business. I charge under a hundred dollars for the most part for a FULL PC recovery, and not by hour or any of that, unless it takes more than a day, then I might make the price a few dollars more. lol. I wouldn't trust these idiots with ANY computer, not even a Macintosh. If I wanted an idiot from ITT Tech or Devry, I'd call AOL for tech support. What am I saying, they're probably only A+ certified (undereducated). Hey, Geek Squad, you guys are thieves. How much would you charge to transfer data from a corrupt hard drive? $500.00 to run a Windows Scandisk? haha. Lamers. Then what, will you charge the customer for a new hard drive, which is probably a crippled Maxtor drive and charge an extra $200 setup? LOL. Good job. I just copied data from one drive to the other, today. I hooked in the IDE cables (wow, that's hard, we're at level 1), then I booted the computer, went into windows, went into My Computer, and copy+pasted the data to the new drive. ROFL! okay, I'm done. You guys are a joke and a half. Nobody use GeekSquad. Assholes.

hypnetric... You are an idiot. There's not evne Scandisk in XP. and honestly there's a little more to copy and pasting a driveif you want to get the boot sector and stuff. You probably couldn't pass the A+ certification if you tried, and trust me they arn't all just A+. I'm a CS major and a major university and I am Cisco, Novel, and Microsoft certified. So honestly, screw off. I will agree the Geek Squad is a sham, but far from the reasons you are saying.

**Uhm, NO.** There is a Scandisk on XP, it's known as Checkdisk (same difference). My Computer->Drive->Right Click->Properties. Congratulations. I also had XP installed on the other drive before copying the data. All I did after installing it was overwrite the sysroot\WINDOWS\ directory and added the HDD directory tree. And congratulations, you're Microsoft certified. lol. I can use Microsoft Office, too, and load PowerPoint presentations. An idiot? No. I'm not the one who's officially certified to use Winholes XP.

Actually checkdisk isn't the same because it doesn't do a surface scan. Plus I'm a certified system engineer not what ever the shit you are.

Tim your a F!@#$#ng Idiot. I hope your not a Geek Squad® agent cause damn! CHKDSK /R does a surface scan In the Windows XP Recovery Console.

Tim you say your attending a University and you MCSE. What are they just handing these things out to people that know how to use a system recovery disk. CHKDSK /R < -- surface="" scans="" in="" windows="" xp="" recovery="" console="" chkdsk="" f="">< -- no="" surface="">

I tend to disagree with both of you, or all three of you for that matter. I am not msce certified, or don't work for the geek squad and such, but then I think of a real surface scan I think of persay a utility like DFT. In my experience running a PC service business utilities like that have been quite reliable compared to the XP chkdsk /r. It is definately more thorough in its testing.

I used to work at a Geek Squad Counter at a BBY store.... until I got fucked over. I can clear up any questions any of you may have...

We dont need your pathetic input eric you loser. F off! As far as tony goes DFT is great and all but that was not the question. I am most certainly aware that there is other programs that perform surface scans. Were also aware that you can use more than one kind of lubricant to message your sisters ahole with. The point made by chris is that XP IS CAPABLE of doing it whether it does it right or not.

Very few of you know anything at all. Certs mean nothing and MIT is shit. If a user can't even use scandisk or sysconfig or the cmd prompt...maybe they shouldn't be a user at all! Geek Squad is purely marketing, so that BBY can increase market share and continue to fuck the American public like all other companies.

I'm just about to get a job with the geek squad (funny story too, old boss from fry's electronics which, by the way, is an absolute hell hole).... I was imagining they were all nuke and pave types but now it looks like there may be some talented types in the geek squad... what a relief... ohh and I agree on the DFT and such.. I just don't trust windows utilities up against the hardware manufactuer's software, especially when they use it to determine RMA statuses. Anywho too bad the geek squad has such a dumb name and worthless vehicles... they should have a more professional name and drive something decent, honda civics, totyota corrolas, chevy cobalts... anything, just not those damn bugs!

hmm...hypnetric sound like you got a drive that had no partition table issues (I assume you know what that means), and no physical surface problems. Let's see you recover data from a drive that you have put in the freezer to cool it down so that it won't seize then use linux to recover the data because windows can't read the drive at all. As far as a diag goes they are not used all the much in the cause of pure software problems, though they probably should be. Mr. Tim. Have never used to Windoctor before to run a diag. If you really knew how to remove spyware then you would know that a real removal takes a lot more then running the scans that are used during a diag. Having Geek Squad services performed is like changing the oil in your car a lot of times. Anyone can figure out how to do it, but who want's to spend the time and mess doing. The biggest exception is that most average user's are just plain scared about computers and definitly don't want to spend the many hours it takes to learn how to truly clean a comptuer of all spyware and viri. The marketing to for Geek Squad is a HUGE success. There must be a reason it was up to about 80% market share or so in Minneapolis before becoming a part of Best Buy. Customers love the Geek Squad marketing and the cars. Hey AcidicDreams take a look at the cars you listed and compare their least price to the of the VW bugs, then factor all the other costs of having a car, the bug is a lot a cheaper and people notice it much easier than any of those cars. Add in the fact the chassis comes from a higher end volvo and it is not a bad a little car especially for marketing. Dear Ericisanidiot, sound like you need to cheer up probably get a job and move out of your parents house. DFT is by far the best HD testing utility on the market, and oh yeah it is free. Have compared its results with those of any Windows utitility and many 3rd party programs. It is the most accurate and has the best repair rate for corrupt sectors that I have found.

My hard drive isn't damaged. Luckily, I'm smart enough to use Seagate HDDs. But yeah... today when I was going back home, I saw a Geek Squad agent in his little bug, and flipped him off in traffic, calling him an asshole. That's all that matters.

Hey AcidicDreams why dont you go sell a PSP or ring out a customer. Thanks for the redundant info you just gave us, thanks to you were all now dumber. Get a Job? Ha ;} Cmon. Your the type that farts and asks, WHO FARTED? Oh and using Linux is not an option for everyone we do have some timy's among us. The ideal tool is Bart PE with Easy recovery pro. Lastly if you smart enough every peice of software is free! Frekin Idiot Gooah!

I've been a tech at store #226 in Lubbock, Texas. Best Buy's biggest problem is that the individual stores are not factory authorized service centers. I have also been a on-site tech for CompUSA CompUSA is a factory authorized service center, they can take your receipt from a computer that you bought at Best Buy and bill the manufacturer for the repair. This counts towards your "No Lemon" policy on Best Buy's PSP because your computer was fixed at a factory authorized service center. Best Buy is a much better retailer than CompUSA, but they have crippled their tech departments by not letting them perform warranty replacements. I can't count the number of computers we shipped to our Dallas service center for PSP part replacements. The techs in Geek Squad are hit and miss. Some know their shit, others are just computer department prods who got promoted. But you find the same thing anywhere else. Now that I have my CS degree I work as a Programmer for The University of Texas. All of you that have degrees and work for Geek Squad disgust me. Geek Squad is good training while your in college, but if you have a degree and skills you should be able to get a real job.

Can we have a group hug?

I've been a tech for 14 years in Canada. I took the stupid online qualification test today.... (i had to resort to applying for geek squad because of the lack of small shop computer stores up here anymore) and for some reason, the test said i got questions wrong when they weren't wrong. I get the feeling that the questions they use are from books (just to follow the book/hands on theme) heh and don't really go with any new tricks that us nerds learn from google. Either way i'm kinda glad i didn't pass it after reading this board, and the fact that there was NO mention anywhere about MACS.. until i took this test.. never worked on a mac in my life.. never plan to. I figure i can get a good tech support job somewhere for $13+/hour..

HAHAHHAH did i hear that right.... right click copy, right click paste... man... has anyone ever heard of xcopy c:*.* d:\ /h/i/c/k/e/r/y best command i've ever learned :) i wish you could run Firefox in DOS hahaha... oh wait.. that's what *nix is for ;)

Just a few questions? Why are some of you against the Gimick that the Geek Squad uses? It is a basic marketing tactic to use things that stand out more than others. People remember them. Why do you think Geeks on Call try to mimic the Geek Squad. They use PT Cruisers, have taped glasses, and copy all of the commercials the Geek Squad has, and they charge nearly double for services. Also, all of you that claim to have a degree, why are you here? Why would you need the Geek Squad, if you have a degree? Geek Squad never meant for the in store troubleshooters to be techs. The are troubleshooters. There is a difference. That is why they are not factory authorized service centers, heck most of them do not carry an A+. I know the department Seniors are A+, and the DAs are as well, it is mandatory by the store. That is why the company calls them "Technicians" it doesn't matter if they have any other certs or not, as long as they have the A+, they can't have a lawsuit against them for false advertisement. KrS, if your looking for a tech job that starts at $13 an hour, good luck finding one, technicians are a dime a dozen, if you want $13 an hour, and the next person in line wants $12, who are you most likely to choose? Further more, you should come to Southern California, I started at 12, then they increased my pay a $ an hour because i carry my certs. As far as saleing product, How many of you that work for other companies that do not sale products usually get the same customer back within a month? Do you think that maybe the customer went back to the same porn site, or the same freeware site, after you did the work? Best Buy is a RETAIL STORE they carry the software to try to prevent reinfections, etc. If any of you have a problem with the gimik, you really need to keep quiet. The gimik is taking off, they took a multi million Company and turned it into a Billion $ profit. Since I haven't seen much of you comment about that, figured I would throw it out on the table. Don't get me wrong I am not bashing the Geeks Squad, or anyone else I am just trying to apply some knowledge to the bag of snakes.

Well my last job i had a was at $13/hour after 3 years when i left.. (opened my own store) and I started at $9.. i would take $10 to start right now... but there's just no jobs here, that was my point.

I'm applying to get a job at GS in a BBY store opening up here soon. I had half a year of CCNA cert done, when the program closed, and I am now in college for a CS degree. Work at GS is just because I love computers. I know them, built my first PC when I was 12 and been learning ever since. My friends mom wanted to pay me to remove spyware, and the best way I could think of was to just install MAS and SB and run some other programs to get rid of 95% of the probelm Anyone bashing GS needs to first off, get a life. If you don't like it, Don't pay it. If you think you can do better, go ahead and try. Me personally would NEVER go to a Tech but that's because I know what I'm doing. Also, like a previous comment said about going to a mechanic to fix a car, if its an easy fix, like something dealing with the muffler on my car, which idid a mock job of, its not a big deal, but If I got serious problem with my car, I wouldn't know where to start, but I've logged in my hours on a computer and I know what I'm doing. So, when your 50 year old mother brings in her computer, its because she needs help. Deal with it.

Just a couple corrections to some misconceptions. All Best Buy stores are factory authorized repair centers, otherwise every time we opened a computer it would voide the warranty. We can repair machines under MFG warranty. We do send of the more complicaed repairs simply because we do not have the facilities to do them, most of the time we do have the skill avalible. Most motherboard replacment's we do send off, simply because it takes about the same amount of time if we were to order the board from the MFG and replace it ourselves. Everyone behind that GS counter is a technician, you don't have to have any certs to be a tech. For the most part Best Buy only hires people that know what they are doing, though like anywhere else you do have the bad apples. Car analogies are great to help explain charges to customers and even what is going on, we even offer in home training for a lot of the problems we fix, sure a customer has to pay for it. Most techs have either paid for training or put in the hours (which is the same thing) to learn how to do it, I have told the same thing to customers when they ask why we charge so much for what we do. If a customer wants to go home and the god knows how many hours I've spent on the computer to learn how to clean ALL spyware possible from a machine then they can go and do that, but most customers' time is worth more than what they pays, just like any other service that you pay for.

OK. I know what I'm doing, and I'm applying to BB soon. The real reason i came here though... is how much do they make? Right now i'm a manager for a fast food restraunt, and I'm 19... but I really hate that job nowadays.. So.... I am really interested in what the starting salary is for a GS tech? It's got to be close enough to what I'm making now, and I'm assuming its up around $11 or $12 an hour or so, but I could be way off.. Any help?

I wish I was more impressed with Geek Squad. Brought in a notebook computer that stalls on the start up and the DVD player does not work. When the compter does come up (sometimes) it periodically reboots -- not stable. We had done a reinstall at home and still had the same problem so we took the notebook in to Geek Squad. We told them that we did a clean reinstall, but they were insistent that it was a software problem that would be fixed by their reinstall. After a week and 147 dollars it was pronounced fixed. It still had the original problems. My son who has a bad stutter took the notebook back the next day. The GS rep said the DVD software the notebook had was not considered very good (maybe true, but the DVD does not work, it should have been fixed) and that he did not know what was wrong with the notebook and too bad for us. I feel he took advantage of my son because of his stutter he was not capable of arguing that this is unacceptable. Tomorrow I go back with the computer.

For those of you who can't read, >Geek Squad Agent payscales will range.... Typical CIA(in-store agents) -- $10 - $15/hr CIA Sr.(in-charge of store) -- $12 - $18/hr DA (in-home) -- $14 - $22/hr Then we also have Special Agents, who are mostly our CCNA/MCP guys, because they will provide support for moderate to larger sized business, and any server-client networks........the sky is really the limit here depending on your area...... From what I've read, Geek Squad is a pretty good thing for the community. I've seen many flames, and some praise for the Geek Squad. The flames, most if not all, have no facts, just egos to be satisfied. The praise mostly has the facts, so I tend to sway toward the better view of Geek Squad. I know someone who works for Geek Squad -- he has a Computer Science degree and has been in the workforce for about 2 years. I know he know's his stuff, which is even more of a testament to their knowledge base. Having just received my CS degree, I kind of wish I had gotten a job their so I would know better if recommending them is the best choice (obviously it's a good choice), but alas I have found work at a fairly large insurance company as an IS tech. So to those script kiddies and cert toting flamers, do your homework before you start pecking the keyboard. To those Geek Squad members who took the time to divulge the info, thank you very much and happy trails on your quest to geekdom.

Any of these Geek Squad peeps hot chicks? How much for a home visit and a little file swapping betwen the sheets eh?

I LOVE my Geeks in my store.. I am a computer sales associate.. and I would DIE without my guys. They try to help and do as much as they can. While I myself am currently enrolled in a "computer netoworking" program We study A+ Server+ Network+ CCNA (I am a highschool student) I myself am A+ certified and while that doesn't mean much to those who can put more letters after their name as i say. It means alot to me until I get the other certs. I would HATE to be a geek squad agent. People are RUDE and most don't have any idea what they are talking about when they think they do. It is a hard job to change people's minds all day. Ya know? So I just stick to the sales floor matching people with what they need or what they want. BBY is NOT about hooking you up with the most expensive system in the store that isn't what we are trained to do. That's not what we do. We have the customers best intrest at hand. Hell I don't make money off of what I sell you so my mindset it just to get people set up with what they need. other than that, those that crack on the geek squad are just jealous that bby came up with the great idea first. And obvisouly they are doing quite well with it too. So get over it. If people want to pay the money to have a good friendly tech come to their house to help them then they will do it. A HUGE difference between geek squad and "techs" are they we are people people.. we like to talk laugh and have a good time... so put that in your pipe and smoke it..

correction for Agent Taylor If Best Buy stores were factory authorized repair centers they would be able to complete PSP part replacements instore instead of shipping the computer off to a service center. In store tech = upgrade specialist.

We do complete PSP repairs in-store, such has HD replacement on both desktops and laptops. We can replace pretty much anything in a desktop except the processor and mobo and we could do that as well but we would have to order the parts and it is just faster to send to unit off for service.

I LOVE THE GEEK SQUAD!!!! They generate about 80% of my local area data recoveries and through their incompetence, have handed me many new loyal customers. In fact the local BB has hired a tech we fired after 3 weeks. He couldn't format drives, install an OS or repair printers (what we hired him for originally). After he screwed a MLB directly to the case (no standoffs) and fried everything inside we let him go. He is now a double agent. And making a whopping $7.25/hr!

It's good you can make up stories Robo. This employee you mention would not be hired as a Double Agent, and even if he were he would be making a bit more than $7.25/hr, Double Agent's make anywhere from $15-$20 an hour. Even as an in-store tech that starting pay is now $10.30/hr, depending on that part of the country you are located.

wow i found this page while searching for a geek squad technicians salary...i just applied online (in true geek style) for a job with these guys...looks like im in for some fun!

Working in the GS department is cool, I'd say.... But the fact that it belong to fucking BBY really sucks.... I know, I know... why don't you quit? Because I will not give them bitches the satisfaction to think they were able to break me... I cannot believe some fucking customers... Here's what I think: GS is a cool job while you are going to college...After that, if you stay there...well...how do I put this in a way you can all understand...Oh! I've got it! Yeah...you are a damn fucking looser and a giagiantic prick. So my advice is: finish college and get the hell out..There's this DA I work with... I feel sorry for the poor idiot... Yeah sure, he knows a lot...and then WTF are you doing there? WTF, he comes once a week and he thinks he teaches us amazing ways to fix computers and shit...I think to myself, where the hell did this idiot come from??? And somehow I noticed there's a lot of guys commenting here that are just as morons...Come on dude, where's all that fucking pride coming form anyways? Answers are welcome...

AGENT? Agent of what? Give me a fucking break. That's so damn gay... There's is nothing more ridiculous then a moron customer coming into the PRECINT (give me another fucking break) and asking for a GEEK. And then you having to tell them: No sir, we are not GEEKS, but we are AGENTS if you will... Holy crap!!! Isn't it ridiculous enough having to wear a fucking clip on tie and answering stupid questions? So on top you have to define yourself as an AGENT? WTF!!! Answers are welcome....

I used to be an agent at a store in south carolina. Geek squad is a JOKE. The Agents are well enough with many of the common pc problems (90% spyware related) but the whole geek squad Lingo and act that they are expected to put on. What a bunch of shit. I was at best buy as a computer tech for 4 years, I also was a Lead technician for a local company that supported mostly doctors and hospitals. By far I was ABOVE AND BEYOND anything that the geek squad could have hoped to have. I just could not take putting on "the clown suit" anymore. On several instances, employee's of the company's I supported would see me at Best Buy and let's just say they wern't impressed that I was a member of the geek squad. The point is, The geek squad (before Best Buy) used to be a Truly Elite computer support service, now that Best Buy owns them, They arn't and will never pay there "Double Agent" or any other agent enough money to get someone with my experience and skills. Best Buy wants a piece of the computer repair industry and they will use every marketing ploy and trick they know (includes forcing employees to tell customers false info) to get there greedy hands on MONEY! I could go on and on about Best Buy's terrible management. Save your money! Put some time and effort into your computer and Fix it yourself! Don't be a lazy ass, With the internet Now there's MORE than enough info to help you get just about anything done!

GEEK SQUAD WON'T DO SIMPLE POWER SUPPLY CHECK!!! TECH TELLS ME HE HAS NO WAY TO TEST IT????? BEST BUY STORE -BILLINGS, MT

Bummer to hear that Rick. The store I work in has the ability to test atx power supplies which are the most common. However the location I am at does not have the ability to test AT power supplies. But if you have one of those then it is way past the time to buy a new computer. If the technician was just to lazy to test it then request to speak with a Senior and have him / her test it for you. If you have lost all confidence in the geek squad then purchase a new power supply and install it, if it works then Good Job! If it doesn't then take the new power supply back and get your money back. Keep us informed and let us know how it turns out Happy teching

Me, you have to get over yourself. "why don't you quit? Because I will not give them bitches the satisfaction to think they were able to break me" How lame are you? If you think you can do better then find a new job. Why would you care what the store thinks about you? Are you trying to impress someone, on here or at work? It is the stupidity that you are demonstrating that gives BBY a bad name. I mean come on, name calling? You know that demonstrates a low IQ level right? You know there is help out there for you, ex: anger management, kindergarden. The "give me a fucking break" is kind of generic. Don't you think? I think the DA may need to sit you down and actually teach you something. If you talk like this at your store, I wouln't want you touching a computer at my PRECINCT.

Former Agent, you need to get over yourself to. Your lucky BBY didn't fire your ass for Conflict of interest. If you were at my precinct I would have pressed to get your ass canned a long time ago. "Don't pass go, do not collect $200." Then what would your clients think then? Hmmm fired from Geek Squad. Now doesn't that sound impressive?

Monkeyspank, were your parents' related before they were married?

FUCK YOU CRACKA -- FUCK THA GEEKSQUAD -- SUCK MY DICK PEACE OUT NIGGA

I was in the army for three years and just returned from iraq. i called GS (FROM IRAQ!!!!!!) and they were able to help me out. the thing is time zone is the opposite part of the day, but for the 24 hr service booyah. plus i let him kow my problem of being $9.25 cent a minute and he helped me in like 3 minutes quick talker lol. and in no time soldiers that depended on that one lowly laptop (panasonic toughbook) were able to talk to there familys again booyah again.

Agent Taylor It is not quicker to send the unit off to service. Turn around is close to 3 business days when you complete the repair instore. Factory Authorized means that you can fix a computer that was not bought at Best Buy and doesn't have a PSP, but is still under factory warranty. If I bring Best Buy an HP desktop that I bought at Circuit City that is still under factory warranty you would turn me away, or try to bill me for the repair. If I bring CompUSA an HP desktop that I bought at Circuit City that is still under factory warranty they will complete the repair instore and bill HP. Best Buy would be better off if they practiced the same service model that CompUSA is currently using.

Former Tech If you bought a computer at Circuit City and brought it to Best Buy, as long as you have a receipt we can send the unit off for service without charging you. If you read more closely you would see that I wrote it is faster to send a unit for service if we have to order the part. CompUSA not Circuit City have fully dedicated service the way Best Buy does with the Geek Squad, many of their service people are also sales people. Overall CompUSA is also more expensive than many of the same services provided by the Geek Squad especially considering our level of customer satisfaction. Currently our DA (in-home service) has a 99% satisfaction level and in-store it is over 90%. Hey Me If you don't like the atmosphere that Geek Squad tries to create then don't use the Geek Squad or attempt to work for the Geek Squad. I personally enjoy the whole Geek Squad theme, it is the first job I've had that I actually enjoy. Customers love the Geek Squad marketing, and it works. Former Agent, if any manager or senior told you give false information to a customer then you should have reported them (which you can do anyomously) and they would have eventually been fired. All employees, including sales people, are taught and trained to give the customer the best information avalible. I suggest what the customer needs for a complete solution to their problem. It is true much of what we do is spyware and virus removal, there is nothing wrong with that, find somewhere else that will do a full spyware removal without just suggesting a restore right off the bat. It woud be much easier for us to just do a data backup and restore (it would also make Best Buy more money) to do a spyware and virus removal amd fix any corrupt system files. Sure Best Buy is trying to make money, just like any other retail store. Best Buy knows that services are the future of the retail electronics industry and plans to have the best service avalible. For anyone that says the Geek Squad is a just a job while you are in college or just working on certs (which I am) there is also room for promotion and growth. Obviously many of you who think you can just go and get a job making $30/hr or more without any real experience haven't tried getting a job the current IT market.

Agent Taylor Thanks for the explanation. I worked for Best Buy a long time ago even before they implemented the STARS system. Under the old system, we were a lot more restrained and had to ship everything to service for anything other than instore upgrades. The new setup, as you described, is a lot better and utterly lays waste to other computer retailers. If you have a degree you should go work for Best Buy corporate, an instore job can be had by anyone without any higher education. As expensive as a four year degree is, your money would be wasted by starting at the store level. MECP and A+ do not count as higher education, but trade certs.

Former Tech I am currently studying to take my CCNA and am going start classes for my MCSE. With those I plan on becoming a Special Agent, who specializing in Cisco equipment, obviously, and Server 2003. For anyone who says that I'll still be getting cheated by Best Buy and I could make more doing consulting or working for another company in an IT deparment, I say while you can make more consulting it is not nearly as consitent. Take a good look around and you'll find a lot of former IT guys without jobs, their company downsized or went out of business altogether. With Best Buy and the Geek Squad I'll basically be working for several companies at any given time and Best Buy is doing nothing but expanding, no other retail or IT services company comes close to growth that Best Buy is undergoing or the way they plan to grow.

You should go pick up A+ and Network+ certs from CompTIA. Their agreement with Microsoft allows you to use those certs as electives for the MCSE and MCSA tracks. And the CompTIA exams don't expire or get phased out nearly as much as the MCSE exams do. Network+ is equivalent to the old MCSE exam Networking Essentials 70-058.

I am a CIA Agent at a Bes Buy in Houston,TX. I Love my job but not necessarily the pay. I think we do alot of hard work that we do not get paid fairly for. I travel 1hr and 30min to work every day and I cant even pay for my gas. Geek Squad has some kick ass people working for them. I love the fact that there are Geek Squad stand alone stores so that customer do not have to actually have to go to a Best Buy to get help from the Geek Squad. At my store we do alot more than restores, we actually so work. I only have an associates degree and I have no certifications. If I has the money to get a certification I would. There are some very knowledgable people that work for the Geek Squad. I know that because you actually have to pass a pretty hard test before becoming a Double Agent or even a Cadidate, this test is hardware, software, networking, and MAC based. Enjoyed finding this web site and enjoyed reading ya'lls comments

Hi! I filled out an app on line for the Geek Squad and low and behold they called me in for an interview less than 12 hours later. I went to the first interview (and like always I wish I had said some things I didn't, etc.) Anyhoo, I spent 6 years at Kinkos (worked up from night shift at a small town store to Asst. Mngr. at the Berkely location over 50 coworkers.) I worked as a lab tech. for a few years. I have a few small buisnesses I help on an on call basis (at yes, a beautiful fee). I live for every new tech gadget that comes out and spend free time pricing hardware and media at CC and Best Buy among others (even though I don't need it). To get down to it, I feel I am made for this job and would like any advice for the next interview and any preview I can get of this "Tech Assesment" I've read about. Can anyone help? Thanx!

Hey, I am planning to apply for a job at Geek Squad store. I was wondering how much their salary is per hour.. I WOULD GREATLY APPRECIATE IF SOMEONE CAN TELL ME HOW MUCH THEIR PAY IS PER HOUR. THANKS A LOT GUYS,...

scroll up but here it is below: Geek Squad Agent payscales will range -- * Typical CIA(in-store agents): $10 - $15/hr * CIA Sr.(in-charge of store): $12 - $18/hr * DA (in-home): $14 - $22/hr Then we also have Special Agents, who are mostly our CCNA/MCP guys, because they will provide support for moderate to larger sized business, and any server-client networks..the sky is really the limit here depending on your area.

Geek Squad... Give me a break. Geek Squad has DOUBLED my business. Thank you, keep up the great work.

>"I personally enjoy the whole Geek Squad theme, it is the first job I've had that I actually enjoy. Customers love the Geek Squad marketing, and it works." Agent Taylor, dude, you sound so f_cking gay!! You may wanna talk to your friend Viper: >"I think the DA may need to sit you down and actually teach you something. If you talk like this at your store, I wouldn't want you touching a computer at my PRECINCT." Yo "Viper105", I think you have some kind of gay situation going on with your DA tha you actually enjoy sitting down wit him... or is it "ON him"? F_CKERS

I love my job... free car, free gas, free insurance, free maintenance, free clothes for work (shoes and socks too), chicks love the uniform, and I work sitting down. I am good at what I do in the field. Customer's are honestly satisfied by the job that I do. Most of my client's offer me tips, but we are not allowed to take them, but sometimes they slide through if a client is persistent and shoves it in your shirt pocket and won't take no for an answer ($100 here, $40 there). I get a bi-weekly check that pays my bills and my car payment of the car that I do not drive. I get paid $19 an hour and spend a third of my day driving listening to the mp3 cd player in MY Beetle with the air conditioning blasting. I get to go meet with engineers and founders of companies like Broadcom, Linksys, Intel to discuss future technologies. And yes, these companies love us. Check out Linksys' support page and you will see a big GEEK SQUAD logo and link. Double Agents get cool toys from vendors... like over $1500 in Microsoft products (Office 2003 Pro, XP Pro, Flash Drives, Xbox Games, etc) and free vacations courtesy of vendors. I am sorry that some of you do not think that we are good at what we do, but I really don't care because my job kicks ass. My dad is a SAN manager and systems admin for Disney. He tells me how boring his work get and he sits in a cube most of the day coming up with SAN (Storage Area Network) allocation reports. My dad runs his own side gig fixing computers and has a pretty good list of regular clients that he sees, but he still calls me and asks me for help. He can't stay on top of what I do every day just as I can't stay on top of whatever problems are emerging in his sector. We trade brains whenever we need to. I have been getting a lot of jobs by the beach recently, which is great in Southern Cali. For some reason, I have recently done wifi in 5 resturants recently... each of them give me free food. One client asked me to stay for their barbeque, and I did, it was fun. I LOVE MY JOB! Geek Squad is not going anywhere but foward. They are already trying to implement Server Agents into every market that will be salary starting at around $60,000. Don't flame my job, my title, or my threads... you may be looking for employment some day.

Now that is generic. What's wrong me can't think of anything new? Hmmm Must be your low IQ level.

hey guys check this site out .. the rates are way cheaper than Geek Squad ... only in California though.. [http://www.nerdoncalldb.com/](http://www.nerdoncalldb.com/)

The prices are off: First of all some of the prices quoted are in-home prices and some are in-store prices. The $229 quoted is for an in-home, OS Service no reinstallation and back-up is necessary we fix the problem without reformatting everything most users will pay extra for that. The software install is in-store 4 bucks cheaper, way to go. The hardware install is again an in-home price if that is all we are doing, if we are doing anything else while there the price is $50. The in-store is price is $39. Hardware repair is available at cost of $39, though most of the time if it is just a cable we'll replace that for free. Spyware removal is also an in-home price it is part of the OS Service, in-store the price is $79 for spyware, viri, and the repair windows system files (it takes about 4-6 hours to completely clean a badly infected computer). Not sure what 2 full system scans means, it takes a lot more than that to get rid ALL the spyware on a system, we will also instruct the customer about safe surfing habits, and we can even install (at a price of course) anti-spyware software. Network install is of course an in-home price, though I see the cost for wireless is not mentioned. Tune-up is way off, not sure where the $69 came from, with most in-home services a basic tune-up is included, in-store tune-up is $29. Tutoring is also available for any topic you can to mention, prices are still flat rates. Now that we have that cleared up, many local companies can try to make prices lower, many do not succeed. With a local company there is no guarantee, who are you going to call if there is a problem. I have nothing against local companies, more power to them; I have a problem when they misrepresent pricing and services (which is illegal by the way).

To: Agent Taylor Our business is only for onsite service for businesses. Your comments about your prices being lower for in store services are completely irrelevant. Also, the prices that are shown for Geek Squad are the prices that were given to us by your agents. Any mistakes are of your companies doing. Also, our spyware removal service is not for badly infected computers. Obviously two scans will not get rid of all the spyware on a system, because nothing will. The service is mainly for computers being slowed down by a mild infection. We also install spyware removal software, and it is not at an additional price. It is included in the price of the service. The $69 tune-up is again a price from one of your agents; maybe you should work out your prices before you complain about them to us. Also, tutoring is not mentioned anywhere on the Geek Squad website, and the phone agent we spoke to told us it was not available. Your biggest error was saying that we do not offer any guarantee. ALL OF OUR WORK IS GUARANTEED. Any service that a customer feels is incomplete or unsatisfactory will be redone or repaired. Additionally, we do not charge for any service we can not complete. So please, next time you find that any information is misrepresented, please contact us first. We will fix any problems we see. I would greatly appreciate it if you did not misrepresent our company based on your limited knowledge of the subject.

At my precinct, SOP kills most of our capabilities, I know this because (all you special agents listen up!) BB has taken the core qualities of Geek Squad and turned them from a people freindly "we do your computer service problems" into a lets see how much money we can make off these 60+ year old saps who dont know anything about computers and the only know-how is from us. It kills me to watch Agents call some older people and they get turned down because they couldnt afford it. And this whole we have to go by the book. Use your instincts, if a machine you owned did the same thing what would you do? I do work in MN and Ive spoken to a a few SA's and they agree that BB has totally changed what GS was based off of. I hope the computer Ninjas do become a reality. And then we get the people who pick our brain all the time trying to show us up. Thats always fun because if I'm off the clock I'd do it to them too. Guys SOP really hinders our abilities and face it if your in-store, you see it every day.

I just got hired as a gs agent an will be starting work tomorrow, I'll admit i'm not the best an the brightest but have a pretty good working knowledge of what to do for most problems, as for the things I don't know I'm sure there is another agent on duty to assist me, the other agents I met are very knowledgeable , both the ones with certs an with out, the squad is a team, an we won't leave a customer hanging in the wind, yes we are a business, an it's nothing to be ashamed of, but as you all know a business can't be all things to all people, so you will have some disappointed people, but over all the geeks do a great job.

A Better Site: I was just saying maybe you should do a little more research before you start posting prices and services; especially when you are using a trademarked name without the symbol or credit. Though why you are trying compare business service prices with in-home and in-store prices I'll never know. You should also not compare your spyware removal price with ours, considering you just admitted that your price is not for a complete cleaning. If a customer has enough spyware to start slowing down their system and cause other problems, then a two scan cleaning will probably help them out for a month at most, software or not. It is possible to completly clean a system of spyware and viruses without a restore if you take the time and have the patience. For Agent_Dazdaday: If you don't like it don't like working for the Geek Squad, then don't. Of course things changed, but the fact is that Geek Squad came to Best Buy for the deal, not the other way around. Best Buy is trying to make money, that's what business is about. When it comes to SOP I have seen time and again managers override SOP to do what is best for the customer. People are paying for the knowledge and time that we spend fixing their computers. Not everyone can do what we do to these machines, though most could, it just takes spending hours in front of a computer researching problems and learning how to fix them. Anyone can change their own oil, but most people don't because they don't want to spend the time. If you don't think people should be charged as much for services then go out on your own and try to charge them less and see how far you get. On average our prices are lower than any you will find (especially retail) for the service provided, that is the key is the quality of service. You can't please everyone but I think I am safe in saying that no where else comes close to 99% customer satisfaction.

The car analogies are great. I will say though that something needs to be very wrong with my computer before I will take it in or it has to be something that I am not comfortable doing, at the moment I cant think of anything. As far as the pricing it's not like you're taking a computer to a friend for him to put in a new harddrive you are taking it to a buiness that has a lease and employees(who by all accounts) are paid a decent amount of money. Also most people who can use computers cant fix them. Do a survey of your friends and most probably wont know how to do the simplest installs. I've even known CS majors who could not put a computer together if they tried. Let's also keep in mind that you cannot pinpoint and fix every problem on your own, given the resources that you have at home. I am however not a fan of them charging to install parts that were bought from best buy. Also keep in mind that alot of people do not want to take their computer apart and troubleshoot it out of fear of messing something up. Let's say that you want to install some memory but have never done it before, you open your computer on your carpeted floor and shock the board now you're up the creek if the warranty on your board is over. For those of you who say they charge too much don't use them or better yet try to start your own repair service and if you do get customers see how quickly your rates raise to cover overhead. I also looked around the Charlotte area and most places charged as much as BB and in the case of some of the data recovery services they charged alot more

Agent Taylor, does your store like mine charge 29$ to install ram? Because if you do it takes us what maybe 5 mins? And thats pushing it. Last night I installed some ram in a custys brand new laptop, she came in with her ram because she found a way better deal online and wanted us to install it. I did it when she came to pick it up and when I finished she asked me how long it would be. lol. As for the why dont you go out and try my own biz and see how it goes, why the hell should I? BB's eyes and ears are open at my store because were the flagship for my district. I have Internal Affairs Agents,Managers from other stores, all the GS DA and SA that are available checking us out. When I tell these IA guys my opinon they listen. The whole "World class employer speech" And dont tell me you forgot about BB's one policy that makes sense. 99%? what dream world is it that you work at. We do a great job its just the people here really cant believe how much it is. And telling them well so and so is this much more doesnt help them at all. lol telling them a higher price tag somewhere else is one of the worse things you can do to people that are already pissed. Ive never seen nor heard at any BB that Ive visited (since you posted your comment) where a manager actually over-road SOP! Ive been to 5 stores since then and never did the CIA Senior say "oh well there was this one time." I was gonna ask a manager if they ever did but I had more important things to do.

Oh I forgot the conversation I mustve had so many times. lol really basic but im just trying to prove a point. "You work for the Geek Squad? cool!" - buddy "Yea I do its ok fun but ok." - me "Do you get to drive one of those bugs?" - buddy "Yea i do." - me "Sweet you should give me a ride!" - buddy "Nope they took all the personal rights away at the begining of this year." - me "damn." - buddy How many times has that happend? way to many. Of course this is really watered down and basic as hell. But its just for the people out there that wouldnt understand and ask me the point. The point is BB took alot of things away just because they could and didn't need to. Ok before we could drive the bugs anywhere anytime no qs asked. We loved it that way and besides what company doesn't like free advertising? Then no more lan partys at Washington Ave. That one really got to me and alot of other guys. Same with the stand alones. But they're the last refuge of what the GS used to be like.

They are charging against the rates stated on the site

john in phoenix -- geek squad sucks -- they robbed me for 129.00 and did nothing for my computer i am going to report them to the attorney general of az.

I couldn't get through reading all the posts because the sight of them actually make me sick. I don't doubt that there are a handful of talented intelligent people working at Geeksquad but I do doubt that there are any more that that. Most of the posts I've read here are written by lame fag bitches that I wouldn't wish any of my acquaintances on for tech support. It all comes down to what happens when you try to mass produce any product. Corners are cut... public relations/ propaganda/ expensive advertising is employed. If any of you think that an entity like Geeksquad doesn't denote a major degradation in quality of support, then I'd like you all to know that your epidermis is showing! The world is full of easily impressed users (most of which misplace their trust whilst being dazzled by a quick fix anybody could find on google) and a growing population of self-proclaimed tech-geeks that like to pat each other on the back but are as distant from geniuinely tech-savvy folks as average users are to them. Geeksquad simply provides centralization and convenience in exchange for degraded quality and increased expense to the user. A couple support calls and you may as well have purchased a new computer instead. Perhaps a Best Buy computer! ;)

Ok to all the people who are saying all the lovely things about Geek Squad I bet they belong to that stupid clown squad that is why they are trying to say how good they are. Well to tell you a few things about them. 1-Most of them are not even techs, Most of them are the teen age Cashiers or guys and/or girls from the Media dept who kiss their managers a** to get into the squad so that they can get better pay rate. 2-Thier MCSE's are paper MCSE's who can't recover a server in their full life time lol. 3-Their real mission = Lie, cheat and rip off poor customers who do not have any computer knowledge. Try going into a store one day and listen to all the bullshit they have to offer. If I purchase a brand new computer and someone tells me that if I pay them $50 to clean out my computer and make it run faster I'd laugh at them, think about it does it make sense? It is like buying a new car and your dealer telling you that if I pay them additional $3000 or something like that I can get tires on that car. WTF. 4-I saw them a few times go into houses with wireless equipment to install wireless stuff. Well on my way back I noticed their stupid car leaving so curiously I fired up my laptop just to find out that the genius double agent from clown squad installed the wireless network but did not setup any security so I simply rang their bell and told them that hey guys just want to let you know that your wireless network is not secure and people can easily access your computer. They were pissed, husband asked me if I can take care of it and he will pay me. I said sure so I started working on that in the mean time he called Best Buy back and told them how retarded they are lol. I secured their network and gained a new client and some others. So before you go into best buy or call these clowns from Geek Squad be careful. HIre a real tech. Lot of small computer business owners have much better techs who can provide you better support options.

I own a tech company based in NYC and have techs around the coutry also. You wouldnt believe all the complaints we here about Geek Squad. They can only get well well off clients who dont have a clue . Think about it...who the hell would pay those high prices unless they had the money and didnt have the time to research something better? Most of these "geeks" are under paid college kids(at least here in NY) ho havent been in the field long enough to be experts despite what they think. I prposely leave my compnay name off here to show this post is not to support my techs and to give a true post about a large clueless corporation just like most of them.

3l!t3, everyone at my store is a tech, all with atleast 3 years of tech experience, only one person has an MCSE I believe. You don't need an MSCE to work on personal computers. A tune-up a new computer is $29 which you seem to quoting as $50, if you anything about a new retail machine you would know that they come loaded with all kinds of extraneous garbage (including spyware). As far as you're little in home experience I have a feeling that you are lying about that one, how about you give a few simple steps in securing a wireless network without killing the range. The Tech, of course you hear complaints from the 1% of Geek Squad customers that are not satisfied. Which means the few customers you here from in a week that are not happy with Geek Squad shows that few hundred that have been to the Geek Sqauad. In-store atleast the only customers that end not being happy are usally the ones that have either completely screwed up their computer themselves and don't want to pay to fix or ones with bad motherboards and no serivce plan.

Hey, I am an Agent for Geek Squad. Plain and simple, most of the complaints I am seeing here are from other people who offer the same service as Geek Squad. The bottom line is this, there will always be complaints. I am sure a lot of you guys who run your own repair facilities have gotten complaints. I have been inside computers since I was 7 years old, my father has been in the industry for thirty plus years. Have my certs, I have taken my tests, I know what I am doing. When I make a call I am professional, courtious, and I get the job done right the first time. Now, as someone who has worked in the field a while I will be 100% honest. I don't think Geek Squad should have been bought out by Best Buy, in my personal opinion it has sort of opened up a Pandora's Box. When we began this shindig it was small, and all about satisfying the customer. Not that it isn't now, but with Best buy involved the Agents in the store a a nundred other things to worry about. Not only do they fix machines, but they also have to check product for custoemr service, answer phones, ect. With Best buy involved there is more of a sales aspect involved instore. Drive revenue ect ect. Geek Squad was allowed to aquire Geek Squad because we wanted to expand, and this was the best way to do it. Luckily, in the aquisition contract, Geek Squad still holds rights to mostly everything, so if the Best Buy Beast was ever brought down, Geek Squad would survive. As for Geek Squad being a rip off, not being knowledgeable, ect. Our prices are very comparible to every small consulting firm out there. Do I have my kittens about some changes that have been made? Yes, of course. I won't lie, I think some policies are stupid, and I do everything I can to work around the system to make that customer happy. I will do free labor for them, over look some of the lesser charges and what not. I am sure that there are unqualified techs, people who just do not know what they are doing. Well I am sure you, or someone who you have hired has been unqualified, as has just plain messed up on something before. It happens, don't generalize us. Geek Squad is a great company to work for, and very very fun, and despite what you might think, people love us. If you know your way around a computer fine, don't come to us. You obvisouly don't require our services. But I see people everyday who have o idea what they are doing and are damn thankful to see me at their door.

I just wanted to note it took me 3 days to read this post.

I work in the Precinct no im not a tech just the admin in charge of calling all the people to come get there stuff. I like working at best buy its not abad place to work at it is however a bitch to move from the sales floor up to the geeksquad. Ive been working at BB since november 04 I applied for a tech position passed all their little tests and still was put to the sales floor. i do have a A+ cert and associates degree in computer maitenance with about six years of self teaching thrown in there. I see techs getting hired over me left and right off the street who do not have any experience in customer relations or even computer repair. no certs no schooling and still they are hired over me.... enough about that. Prices are fair alot of our techs are very skilled and our double agent is very good at what he does setting up home networks and doing repair out in the field. no we dont replace motherboards who has that much room to store all the motherboards for all the computers that BB sells with a service plan thats why we send our stuff out to get fixed. some of our repair centers are really good some of the third party ones we use suck ass. some people just do not know stuff about computers and are willing to pay to learn just like some of us did to go to shcool they want to know someone has to teach them. Its not all about knowing every little thing about repair it also takes a very paitient person to deal with some of the people we sell our services too i can completely see some of the people who have commented about their super tallents get really frustrated a person who has never had an internet connection or seen a wireless network. you would probably flip when someone tried something and failed or asked you how to do it over and over again oh well now im just ranting and no i dont care bout spellin or that fancy spell chekn thing kiss my ass

that was my post up there

Wow what a long post, I was interviewed by GS and their online test was somewhat lengthy and was suprise they asked MAC ? Which i never touched, but was able to answer through use of the internet. After the test, i was interviewed a couple days later since i passed their test. This is for a precinct located in san jose, ca expansion. When i met the interviewers they were 3 of them and they were all in their uniforms. At the end they did not hire me for i missed a question relating to the MAC. At , first i thought the concept was pretty kewl and was fun to work for, but now i think they are kind of a joke. I instead will be working for Geeks On Calls which we just wear slacks and polo shirts, which are more comfortable. I must admit GOC test is pretty strict. I had to pass a phone interview w/ 10 questions and must get 8 out of 10 rite. I was kind of nervous cause did not what question will be asked. I passed with a 9/10 score, and was than asked to come in for face to face interview which i was asked more test questions. They tooked all my proof of credentials which include A+, Network+, BS MIS, and MCP certs. Three days later, I had a call for a phone test pertaining to 50 question, short answer test and had a 30 minute limit to answer them all. Yikes! and had to get 40/50 rite to pass, and had to pass a background check on work experience and criminal records. It took 2 months before i received the offer letter. During that time i believe there were many applicants but they were all filtered out with the test and requirements, not only that 3 candidate passed all the test. In the end out of the 3 candidate they choosen the one with the highest passing score. Been in the IT industry for 8 years already, and yes i have college degree and certs. but i tell you it still hard to find work. This job i had to really earn it. The pay is only $20/hr. but there are many benefits which compensate for it, beside i just feel it will fun and enjoyable work. I was told one of the current tech of GOC used to be from GS but quited cause he felt like he was more a sales man and not a tech. Take care to all the true Geeks out there. -- Tanker

i have a problem with my windows xp whenever i exit out of a website an error occurs please explain

Ever notice the strong language people use online? Is the person that the strong language is being directed at supposed to be intimidated? It's amazing how many people online talk like they have an 18 inch dick. To say ALL Geek Squad Agents are morons is really kind of silly. It's like saying all people that graduate from MIT are smart (notice the choice of wording- smart as opposed to educated and/or disciplined). Some Geek Squad Agents will probably go on to have very successful and prestigious IT careers and some will end up working at McDonald's (which you shouldn't look down at- because if nobody worked at McDonalds you would have to make your own burgers and fries); some MIT grads will go on to invent the next greatest technological advancement and some will develop elaborate schemes for counting cards in Vegas. As has been mentioned- Geek Squad services a niche. Some think the service they provide is great, some think it sucks, some think it's a bargain, some think it's a rip off, soapbox, soapbox, soapbox. The point is- if you don't choose to educate yourself on whatever service or product you are buying you risk getting ripped off. Also if these highly educated programmers would quite writing virus, spyware, adware, keylogger programs your grandma wouldn't have to pay Geek Squad $50 bucks to run Hijack This, Spybot, CWS Shredder, etc. For the record I don't work at Geek Squad and would never pay for their service; because I chose to educate myself on computers and have honed the complicated skill sets of doing google searches. However I have not chosen to hone my auto repair skills and get soaked everytime I bring my car into the dealership; I guess that means ALL auto mechanics that work at car dealerships are morons (or I could take the time to interview a few mechanics and find one that I believe to be honest and knowledgable). Also have you ever noticed how when people flame posts their comment is generally about how retarded someone else is and how smart they are- guess what There are always going to be people that are not as smart as you and there are always going to be people that are smarter than you. Oh and feel free to flame my post if it makes you feel better, everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion, as I am merely stating mine.

you guys wanna go ride bikes??

Thanks for the laughs everyone! I was one of the handful of Geeks that helped start up the original company and watched it go from a novel, pop-culture phenomenon to the twisted main stream steaming pile it is today. The funniest thing about the current Geek Squad is that almost none of the original Geeks stayed with the company and went to work for Best Buy. In fact, there was a kind of mass exodus that I believe was the driving force behind the sale of the company. I'll never forget how cool it was to pull up in one of our fleet of 60's era vintage Geek-Mobiles before the boss decided it would be cool to invest in those stupid bugs. Or how great it was to be part of the raw talent that made up the original team and how close knit everyone was (all drinkers too!) It's a shame really. I can't decide whether BB is doing me a favor or not. I am gainfully employed but the Geek Squad is still displayed prominently on my resume. On one hand, the exposure they are getting is huge but on the other hand, every story I hear is about the latest broken computer / misdiagnosis / unhappy customer they have left in their wake ...

I remember trying to get into Best Buy a few years ago as a computer tech...I got paid more throwing packages at UPS, along with actual health insurance! The stuff they wanted me to know was absurd for the pay.

Ya i wanna go ride bikes

interesting posts... wow, took so long to even skim over most of these posts... (of which werent worth reading, due to some ignorant people flaming because they have nothing better to do). I am a memeber of the current rapid growing GeekSquad. Very sorry to hear about all of the bad stories you all have heard about the GeekSquad. I have been around since best buy first moved the GeekSquad into the select few lab stores as a test. I love this job, and yah, there are alot of agents that are not quite as compitant as some, but all of us work as a team, if one can't fix it, within a few days that same agent or some one else will be back to complete the service call at no extra charge until the service is complete, at least that is the way I work. Im sure there are a whole lot of private companies that do the "in home" thing... why is it we have to flame eachother because some of us work for a huge corp. and where a specific uniform, and some don't, we are all technicians, can't we all just get along, and maybe go ride bikes as someone else said? ;/

PC Load Letter? What the fuck does that mean?

Agent Taylor, I never said that you need to have an MCSE to work on personal computers, I just said that most of GS MCSE's are only paper MCSE's. The guy around here who is the DA doesn't even know how to open up computer cases from Dell, Gateway etc. He does not know how to work on Windows 2000 and XP, he does not know how to remove spyware and virii from the registry, I asked him once what does WPA and TKIP stands for and he did not know that. About me lying about it, I don't need to lie about it for one thing and secondly I do not need to prove you morons any thing. We get customers from your mistakes so that is my proof that you are simply clowns. Here check out the real meaning of the word Geek. [http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Geek](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Geek) We call ourselves Professionals not clowns, retards or Geeks lol.

3l!t3, If you are as professional as you say you are, compared to geek squad, why do you insist on choosing a 16 year olds spelling job for your name? Man, I know I won't be coming to you for business. Dick.

Ah here is another cashier from Best Buy who became a GS agent recently coming to their rescue. And you call using profanity professional? Plus I do not need any business from ignorant people like you. I simply tell rude and ignorant people like you to go else where, like Best Buy lol. Grow up.

Thank you for the posts, whether they are thoughtful or otherwise. I think most of you look at GS at too low a level. Even the most knowledgable and thoughtful commentators still miss this point: Flat rate pricing is the kiss of death in this industry. Right now, as mentioned above, the BB executives love the idea of adding and extra service and having another channel for their products. However, when the excitement dissipates, what they will find is a big, money losing operation. Why? Because with flat rate pricing, either the customer wins or the provider wins, but never both. Think about it. Software installation by GS is a flat $30. How long does it take? Say about half an hour including all the greetings, asking about backups, locating the software and the updates. $30/ half hour, you would think, right? Well, think again. How about AT LEAST 15 minutes it takes to go to and from any client (it personally takes me about 20 minutes to the nearest BB and longer if I figure in the time to get dressed and to get out the door). So, we have just added 30 minutes of travel time (15 to + 15 from). The rate now drops from $30/ half an hour to $30/hour. Now let's continue with the economics of this business. The posts indicated that agents get between $14 and $22 per hour. Are you aware that every employer is responsible for employer taxes on top of any salary or wage it pays to employees. Yes, uncle sam screws you and your employer. In NY state, for example, all the employer taxes (worker's comp, their half of the unemployment tax, etc) is ~31%. So, let's say a decent tech gets, oh, $19/hour, as one agent above had described. If you multiply this number by 1.31, you see that the ACTUAL amount of money that BB pays for this employee is about $25/hour. So, BB just made $5 on this call. Is this a lot of money. Well, it depends. If BB could count on this income every month or so, then the cost of acquiring this customer, might be worth it. But in this business, residential service calls are generally non-recurring to any meaningful degree. Now, what does it cost BB to advertise GS on TV and to acquire this customer? It's hard to tell, but generally speaking, $100 per customer acquisition fee is what I read about during the ISP growth era of the 90's and I believe it should be quite similar for this field as well. So, from this logic, this $5 profit per service call is not worth it to BB given the lack of recurring revenue and high customer acquisition cost. So, customer wins, BB loses. Now for the other scenario. In-Home Operating System service: $229. If the computer is somewhat recent, it could very easily take only an hour or two for somebody with knowledge to perform this service. This leaves the customer paying $115 per hour for TWO hours! That's a crapload of money and my experience is that users hate to pay this kind of money for computer service. Do you enjoy paying this kind of money for anything??? This is where BB wins big and the customer loses. To me this is the nature of flat pricing. If the firm execs know what they are doing, they would offer their prices based on the calculated averages just so that in the long run (like the casinos) they are slightly more likely to benefit than the customer. We have no way of knowing whether they have done it or not. But in any case, it's highly unlikely that they be highly on-target. They will either screw the customer or get screwed themselves. Think about it. PCs have been out since about 1980. It's 2005 and there is no big company providing computer service and repair to residences and small businesses. Most every has tried to grow in this business and ALL failed to expand to any significant size during this 25 years. There must be a reason. There must be a reason that nobody, not even the independents (who supposedly often do not return initial customer calls) want to go after the home market. This is a hard business to make money in and BB will learn this hard lesson soon enough. It's interesting to see a company with potential get acquired and lose all its values. Values seemed to have been the only thing that allowed GS to grow when it was on its own. Just read this god-knows-how-old interview (08/1999?) with the founder and notice his care for the employees, for customers, for keeping and retaining the best people, and the extremely low turnover rate. Please challenge me and tell me that not all of this ideology is gone right now. [http://www.fastcompany.com/articles/1999/08/stephens.html](http://www.fastcompany.com/articles/1999/08/stephens.html)

I have been fixing and working on family and friends computers for a very long time. I am currently attended some college classes to learn new stuff. I don't have any certifications yet, because of cost. What are my chances for employment. I don't have any experience, Job wise, just what I do for friends and family

Whatever any other comments have been made, this is the truth that I was faced with recently: In LA CA, SBC/Yahoo uses Geek Squad to do their on-site tech support to DSL subscribers. The company in question, a small credit union with 4 PCs, had DSL on only 1 of those PCs. The "boss" there wanted to share the DSL from one on all 4. SBC/Yahoo, after a zillion questions, was unable to help. The Geek Squad was dispatched. They never showed up. Building is not hard to find -- almost smack dab in the center of downtown LA. A friend recommended me -- I'm not university-trained, super geek, with my brain cracking though my skull. I'm just a guy with a regular job, who happens to enjoy computer stuff. I took a crack at it, knowing nothing about ICS or proxies. I set up the PC with the DSL capability as a proxy and configured the other 3 Internet Explorers to use a proxy based on the 1st machine's IP address. Why couldn't SBC/Yahoo help for 49.95? Why didn't Geek Squad show up for $125/hr? Don't know, don't much care. Those are the facts. I get a little pocket money for doing a favor.

As someone mentioned before, I too was one of the original Geek Squad agents that left shortly after the Big Yellow Tag bought us out. I gave it my best and continued to work for the company as a trainer, and was given the opportunity to run one of the Stand Alone stores once I completed my obligation. Once things got started, it was all about taking advantage of the clients and getting the most out of the people that walked in the door. Think I'm wrong "Agent Tyler"? What's ASP? ASP in GSSA (Geek Squad Stand Alone) lingo is Average Selling Price. Much like the scorecards that Best Buy has emposed on their workforce (scorecards mean sell more customers more accessories, service plans, MSN subscriptions, NetFlix subscriptions, Rhapsody subscriptions, mags, Direct TV signups, etc... What, you say the old lady buying a fridge didn't need those things? That's an excuse, you should have tried harder. If you still have a soul, you didn't try hard enough.), GSSAs are getting more heavily scorecarded. Soon, you will have the chance to use your Best Buy credit card at a GSSA. Guess what? Best Buy makes a fistfull of money on that, so you're soon going to be bombarded to sign up WHEN YOU JUST WANT YOUR COMPUTER FIXED. If the stores can't get people to sign up, the Chief (aka Manager) will get replaced until they find someone that does like to take advantage of people. Best Buy can't leave a good thing alone, and they will beat the dead horse until they've ruined the name if it means a few extra bucks out of your pocket. Not that I mind making money, we use to make great money before they took over. There's just a threshold on how much you take in compared to how much you get back. I understand that it's in Best Buy's best interest to pay their people as little as they can, but let's be realistic here. Drop the rate to a lower price if you are going to drop our wages in return. Just because they upped your pay to $11/hr and told you to wear this white shirt and tie doesn't mean you're an Agent. If the Agent at your house has a badge with anything over #50 on it, he's not a real Agent, he's a fake. He's an old black-shirt tech from Best Buy using our hard earned reputation and name.

^Nice. It's interesting to hear from one of us who actually made the transition rather than jump ship before the sale. I wonder if clarifying "pre-Best Buy" on my resume will negate the negative image Best Buy has imposed upon us? Should I ever feel the need to go job hopping again, that is.

I wouln't say working for GS is that bad guys if it was you wouldb't have worked there at all. I work at a Geeksquad in Connecticut and its not that bad... We have good guys working there and in order to work for us you have to have some training or certification you just can't come in from no where...Honestly though what screw's up our image is Store managers and as said before "score cards" and all its no longer HELPING a customer its more like "give me all your money" thats the way its being portraid by best buy....Also what sucks big time know is Segmented store.... We are going segmented and we have a new segmented manager that really sucks and thinks that we are # 1 in the distric t because of him.... But honestly we could do with out him..... He's the most cookiest manager that we have now...All managers talk about humilidy and respect and he's one that has non... But Honestly if it worn't for that everything would be fine.... Agent_out

Saying that you worked for the Geek Squad now is actually saying that you worked as a Best Buy tech. Think things didn't change once the Best Buy buyout happened? Totally wrong buddy, everything went from "how can I take care of this person" to "how can I rip off this person to keep corp off by ass so I can keep my job". Agents these days are not Geek Squad, they are Best Buy techs hiding behind a badge that we created. If you want to say that working for the Geek Squad is not bad, great, that's wonderful. Just realize you're really saing working for Best Buy as a tech is not bad. Don't ever get that confused with the REAL Geek Squad, becasue it has changed completely, and not for the better. Get screwed, get Best Buy. They got us, and now they're after your wallet next. Average income while with the Geek Squad = $65,000/yr Average income after Best Buy bought us = $35,000/yr I made more with the Geek Squad while taking care of customers in a good way. Now I'm asked to give it to them from behind and make less. Thanks Best Buy! I'm now free.......

"Hey Mike, Im sure you are quite knowledgeable, however having a BS in Computer Science doesnt mean you know jack about computers. Some of the most incompetant people I have met have a BS in CS. Certifications mean you actually have HANDS ON experience.. not reading out of a book" Just to comment on that.... I have both plus 7 years hands on. Does that mean I hit the trifecta and am superior to both? Absolutely NOT. Certs without experience are the same as a Degree without experience.... both can be worthless. Just like others have mentioned in some posts: at GS it is a team effort. There is a certain set of duties that can be performed in store and CIA's shouldn't go beyond there responsibilities. I used to be a rate-buster and go above and beyond before i bought into the GS program. Trust me, in-store we do not have the right environment to strip down a laptop for instance. But we are the front lines, and we have the ability to communicate (sell) to customers that it will take longer than expected to fix their "stuff." The only thing I ask of GS is to somehow communicate our chain of command and operating structure to our customers. Because ALL customers expect all of us to be Double Agents and think that we can just jump over the counter and hop in to our beetles and follow them home.... P.S. The reason the Geek Squad theme works is because most of our customers believe in what they see in movies.... it's the hollywood effect pretty much. I am kinda sick seeing people chuckle at the sight of us working in our short-sleeve shirts and clip-on ties, but oh well, the job is rewarding most of the time.

My experience with Geek Squad has not been a good one. I had a trojan, that I couldn't remove(Only way I could get into the computer was through safe mode, and when I did that, I was at 100% usage.). So I brought it in to have it reformated(Lost the windows disk =P). I was told "2 days, 3 at the most." 2 days later, it isn't done. 3 days later, it isn't done. I go in to see what the problem is. "It will be about another day." Ok, I wait. Next day I go in and they say "On more day. We're really backed up right now."

**Best Buy Geek Squad or Joke Squad?** I had a very bad customer service experience with Best Buy's Geek Squad (Best Buy's computer and electronic repairs department) for a simple data backup service. My experience in *no way or form* appears to be a one-off unlucky, fluke incident. It seems to be just the way Best Buy Geek Squad operates. I am writing this in the interest of other customers who may want to avoid a bad experience. Who knows, this may even be informative to some Best Buy manager who does not know what is happening in his stores and things might get a little better there. (If he already knows what is happening and is allowing it to happen, he is an idiot and should be fired!). Following is the list of problems I encountered in my experience dealing with the Geek Squad: 1. Did not get accurate, consistent, honest price quote for the service I needed. At the Best Buy store on Camelback Road in Phoenix, AZ, the Geek Squad guys behaved like a bunch of hustlers. 2. Never got proper estimate of when my work would be completed. The people who answered my calls were vague and clueless. Often they were inconsistent and contradicted each other. 3. In both the Best Buy stores I went to, they did not stick to the original date they had given me. The first store told me they would complete in 3-4 days, but at the end of the 4th day, they had not even started working on my computer. I took it from there to the second store, where they initial told me 1-2 days. When the work was finally done, it was on the *sixth* day! 4. It was an olympian effort to get hold of the Geek Squad guys on the phone. I had to try several times, be transferred several times, wait for a really long time, and at the end of all that, there was the chance that I would not get anyone on the line and would hang up in disgust. This was a consistent experience in trying to call the Geek Squad. 5. The Geek Squad guys did not give the impression that they placed value on my hardware, my data, my time. They seemed to have a lackadaisical attitude. 6. The Geek Squad operation is not professional nor well-organized nor smoothly run. It is a joke! I spoke to other smaller computer service guys in the city who seemed to have a much better operation and gave much better customer service. I spoke to one guy Rico (rico@palmtreepcs.com), who deserves special mention. I found him on the [Phoenix Computer Services Craigslist page](http://phoenix.craigslist.com/cps/). Although I was a total stranger calling him out of the blue on a Saturday afternoon, he spent one hour on the phone talking to me about my problem, trying to diagnose it, trying to help me resolve it. He sent me emails with information (real information, not a sales pitch). He expressed interest in hearing back from me after my problem was resolved to know how it went. And most important, he was honest and forthright in advising me not to seek his service, although he offered it for lesser cost than the Best Buy price, because that would void my in-store warranty with Best Buy. He did that although it meant losing business. He voluntarily lost my business rather than have me lose my warranty, after having spent one hour on the phone with me, trying to help solve my problem. Thanks, Rico. I hope your business ([Palmtreepcs.com](http://palmtreepcs.com/)) grows big and rich. With that kind of helpful attitude and honesty, I know you will do well in life, bro. If any of you are still interested in reading the full story, with all the boring details, continue reading [here](http://libranlover.blogspot.com/2005/08/best-buy-geek-squad-or-joke-squad.html#GSquadFullStory). For the rest, thanks for reading so far and beware of Best Buy's Joke Squad.

Libran Lover, You are absolutely right! I worked for Geek Squad at a Best Buy and had a pretty good time doing it. But, it is a sales driven department and I HATE sales.... Besides two guys, the people I worked with are all morons. They did not poses any technical skills at all. They sold solutions based on generic pricing for services, and when they figured that a particular customer they were currently dealing with was a potential "sucker" they would tend to quote higher service prices because on the receipt the customer would not know the real difference between an Operating System Service ($79) or an Operating System Install ($59). So PEOPLE, PLEASE BEWARE. ALWAYS ASK FOR A DETAILED SERVICE PRICE LIST, and have them explain what each service covers (watch them sweat!). As to turn times... the ticketing system that GS inherited is the dreded STAR system that is prettymuch useless. In-store tech cannot make use of its advanced features that would be more customer centric. Even in the notes section the techs can't type more than 5 lines of details!!!!! And whatever the tech writes the the customer cannot see.... It is just rediculous. They even got us to right out computers so we can be a secondary barage of useless services, basically turning us into "glorified" cashiers. We'll I don't want to sound too negative.... This could actually work.... Geek Squad that is.... But Best Buy has seriously F@#$ it up and alot of people got screwed and this will trickle down to each customer they serve. I'm so happy to have moved on to a much better job in a corporate environment, but I am staying PT for the sweet discount until I buy my plasmas.... ;-)

Agent Orange what store did you work in???????????????????????

Seeing as I am still a PT member for my own benefit until that has been fulfilled I shall only say that I worked in a store in Illinois.

Who the crap would have a MCSE and work at Best Buy? What a waste of education. Best Buy Sucks! Come together and support your local small business, Diversity in business is what keeps this nation great! I worked at Best Buy when I was in high school, and I was an in store tech way before Geek Squad 6 or so years ago. Now I own my own profitable small business, I won't even buy blank CD's/DVD's from Best Buy let alone have them work on a PC. That's how I started my own business taking the customers Best Buy made me turn away. It was GREAT! Down with the evil commercial conglomerates! Ignorantia supremus tyrannus!

I don't like how Best Buy wants to take business away from a market that is generally freelance techs/small businesses. I know they can do whatever they want but that doesn't mean I have to like them. I don't want to work for some faceless company, I enjoy having my own hours and setting my own rules, and the money I make goes to me, not some billionare. Thankfully Geek Squad is far far away from "world domination".

I think everyone here needs to chill. ** ALL ** people make mistakes. And the Geek Squad is no diffrent. Just because I have a computer programming degree does not mean I can program. Just because I have been around computers for as long as I can remember means I know jack about them. Just because my family and friends are all **Professional** networkers and programmers for large companies (and make tons of $$$ by the way) dos'nt mean I can do it. Just because I can make a web site in full flash animation dos'nt mean I should. What I'm trying to say is... you have to look at each person alone. You cant look at the company I work for (or one like Geek Squad) and say "That company sucks" or even "That company is awsome". I was in Best Buy the other day and was asking a sales rep. about a Sony VAIO. I asked him who the manuf. of the HDD was. His response was "Sony". (If you dont get it now... it will come to you) A few months later, at the same Best Buy, I found a rep. who was very helpful and we had a long debate over ATI/Nvidia and AMD chipsets and procs. Point? You cant base an entire store/company anywhere/anyhow on one experience/person. ** It's all about experience** And that experience can come from school (if it's a good school) or in field (which takes more mistakes but is just as good)! Oh, and a quick question for all you Best Buy / Geek Squad people... What is your deal w/ ATI? EVERYONE I asked at any Best Buy about video cards said I should get an ATI and stated that Nvidia was no good because there all "overclocked". Is this some huge memo that all the tech guys got? I'd change it if I were you :(

I have an interview to work at a Geek Squad location in Best Buy .. could anyone tell me the type of questions they will ask? Specific hardware/troubleshooting ones?

Just a little bit of info, for anybody wgo wants to know. Up until a few days ago, I was training to work in the Geek Squad phone support center (Mission Control). Their phone support isn't run by Best Buy, it's outsourced to a company based in Florida. The people at this place don't even need to be high school graduates to work here. And believe me, for the most part, they aren't. Basically, the people who answer the phones don't even have to know how to turn on a computer. All they do is get as much information as possible, and try to sell you the most expensive service they can. If you opt for the phone suport, you are transfered to a "Covert Ops" agent. Now these people ARE more technical, but that isn't saying much. They basically promote those who aren't complete morons and who kiss the most ass. I trainded for a week and then quit, because I was just so disgusted. I'm not saying anything bad about the on-site technicians, they could very well be great, but the phone support is a total joke.

When is your interview? I'm going into work tommorow and I'll print out the interview questionare that the manager uses and post it here for you. Most of the hiring managers and Dept. Seniors are morons and can only read off of a sheet of prefabricated questions... they are all the same company wide. I do remember one stupid hardware question: "How many IDE chanels are there on a standard PC motherboard?"

I just got hired at BB for Geeksquad. I am still in college and just need "experience" in the tech field. I hope working with the GS will be at the least tolerable. I am reading these horror stories from prev customers and am quite disappointed that GS seems to focus mainly on sales. I was hoping for the more technical side. I am also reading posts from more experienced techs, especially the one talking about us "teens" fixing computers. Umm weren't you a teen once tryin to fix SOMEBODY'S computer? We all have to start somewhere baby. Well whatever. I havn't started working there yet, but when I do I will post my experiences (be they praise or complaints) on this site. I wish ignorant people wouldn't post with all their cursing and negativity, but what can you do right? It's a free country.

Agent Orange -- you would be a LIFESAVER if you could do that! Not that I am trying to cheat, but I get nervous sometimes and don't want to blow my chances of being a great Geek Squad Agent because I can't remember the answer to a question! Is it true that in the beginning, newbie GS Agents just work on viruses and spyware, and then slowly move up to *real* hardware repairs? I worked for 2 years as a Network Intern doing troubleshooting and now work as a Net Admin Asst. so I definitely know how to deal with virus/spyware (and hardware also .. many of my interning days were swapping out floppy, hard drive, RAM .. motherboards, building Admin's current PC..)

Trust me Marisa, you'll be fine... What they are looking for is character and attitude. Becasue according to their books, Geek Squad is suppose to be and "experience" for the customer. As to what they will make you work on first is really up to you. If I were you I would tackle anything you think you can do right off the bat. For me there was no break-in period because (I don't want to brag, but what the heck...) I already knew more and had an average of 5 years more experience than all of the other techs put together. Going on a tangent here: Last week I had to show a new hire how to copy and paste in Windows.... Yea, copy/paste... you heard me right. Oh, one more pointer, make sure you post again if you get to your second interview. If it happens on the same day then here you go.... Your starting pay is negotiable. Best Buy has salary caps, but those are up to the store GM if he/she wants to break them. So don't let them low-ball you. At the minimun request $12 an hour, and tell them that thats a national average for computer techs. I am making $17 an hour now.

Agent Orange -- I *think* I'd be able to tackle almost any problem that comes into Geek Squad. I can install software, hardware, troubleshoot, etc. Like I said, I'm just worried one question will throw me off and maybe ruin it. COPY and PASTE?! Reminds me of the days when I taught elderly people how to use computers.. They could never get the hang of copy and paste ... or how to save. They should just ask me if I know how to copy and paste.. I'll show 'em how to with a mouse and keyboard controls! :) What do you think the hardest question from that question sheet is? And thanks for the advice on pay, I wasn't sure WHAT to ask for, if they asked me.

I'm gonna scan the six page document and post a link to it for you in a few minutes.....

actually.... could I just email it to you somehow?

EMAIL: degener8girl4lif@aol.com Feel free to use it to communicate with me from now on! Thanks

Also -- post here when you do email it so I will know to check it.

Hey Orange, I don't want to start a whole distribution list of beggars but if you wouldn't mind ... As an ex-senior member I'm curious as to what is on the new test. We had a test at the pre-best buy GS as well but it took more of the Microsoft approach with regards to a handful of non-technical critical thinking questions thrown in the mix. duckx3@gmail.com

Ok, I sent you guys the interview information. Have fun with it. You will laugh your asses off.

I can't believe I was worried! I have a question though -- would it be wrong if I brought a notebook and pen with me? I'd like to keep the questions that I'd like to ask written down so I remember to ask them and can write down the answers among with other things throughout the interview (such as if I have the next interview, when it is scheduled for.. I have only had one job interview prior to this, and I did bring a notebook with -- with no problem.

Agent Orange if you don't mind could you please email it to me too? I have my interview on Thursday. defiant_penguin@cox.net I would be eternally grateful... thanks

Agent Orange, what's up. I just had my first interview with Geek Squad and think it went pretty good. Could you also email me some of the interview info? I'd really appreciate it if you don't mind. Thanx alot.

could you email it to me also Agent Orange? bahtpc@yahoo.com

You guys definately do not need to worry about being hired to geek squad based upon your technical skills. As long as you have a "sales" personality you will be easily, especially since nearly every store's allotment for agents has just about doubled recently. The "genius" senior at my store said and I quote, "My first question of the interview is gonna be can you hold a screwdriver?" and he was serious. Much like Agent Orange, I had to show a new hire how to drag and drop items. This came as a complete shock to me, he then proceeded to tell me that he took a course in A+ certification and they did not teach him much more than turning on the computer...oh and he has only owned a computer for about hmmm a year or so. And to top it off our store has placed one of our fantastic "salesmen" in the position of Double Agent....this salesman has no idea how to brush his teeth let alone how to properly diagnose computer problems. Help is on the way, unfortunately you probably know more about computers than the agent.

Yes, so cross your fingers when an agent arrives at your home to sell......oh I mean.... fix your problems.... Because I can almost guarantee you that if he has his hands in his pockets then he's crossing his fingers too!!! Poor, poor Geek Squad....

Agent White, Speaking of drag-n-drop.... I think your senior should be dragged outside then dropped infront of a speeding bus.... and run over his testicles (whatever is left of them)

Does Best Buy hire for the Geek Squad for part time for either in store or field work?? I would be willing to start in store but really would like to do home/business repair work or installing networks, wireless networks, setting up VPNs, etc.

How many Double Agents are out there now? Are any more being hired?

hey if you get an interview with the general manager GM does that mean you have the job?

If you don't know any thing and know how to rip off people and kiss ass, you can easily get hired at Best Buy doing Clown Squad I mean Geek Squad work.

What to say, to all the flaming... Here my little RANT: "I have cert's", woohoo as far as I'm concerned certs are just another piece of paper and I have 3 of them. Oh and big bad degrees, wow I have 2 and they just another piece of paper as far as I'm concerned. Anyone can know something but true knowledge is admitting when you dont. As far as Geek Squad, been a DA & Senior for 2 years now. Pays good, enjoy getting to meet people, but love fixing pc's. I'm not gonna lie, some CIA's I have seen are total retards, others are software engineers that can't find better jobs at the moment because of the economy. I won't hire anyone that is a total idoit, or for that fact of the matter doesn't know what they are doing. However, everyone specializes in certain areas. One person may not know it, someone else will. It will come down to experence in whatever feild. Sure some people can install Nav or Pc.cillin, some will do it right other will mess it up somehow. Geek Squad, Byte Above, Pc Club and other computer tech stores are just options for people that don't know how to take care of there computer problems. No one is holding a gun to people's heads telling them they need to do this or buy that, still a free country. ***As for Pay for all who have the questions: CIA range 10$ -16 p/hour DA 14$-22 p/hour SA (special agents) 20$- Unknown...(depend on area)*** ***Final Note:*** Geek Squad IS NOT here to rip people off, if we can't do a service in my precinct, were not gonna charge them. Diags (59$) are to find out what is wrong with the computer just like a plumer charging 80$ trip charge just to find out what wrong with your pipes. Sure he doesnt fix it right off the bat, but by finding out what the problem is, it makes it easier to justify and RECOMMEND a solution to fix the problem. ***"Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it." -- Samuel Johnson*** ***"One should guard against preaching to young people success in the customary form as the main aim in life. The most important motive for work in school and in life is pleasure in work, pleasure in its result, and the knowledge of the value of the result to the community." -- Albert Einstein***

As a side note my thread above grammer and spelling is gonna suck, I can't write very well at 1 am =)

I'm sorry, but I'm missing the point....

agent orange, could you email me that interview as well?? wildwonderful@hotmail.com that would be awesome

How much did Best Buy pay for Geek Squad? Thank you, Securities and Exchange Commission for requiring BB to disclose this information: Effective October 14, 2002, we acquired all of the common stock of Geek Squad, Inc. (Geek Squad) for approximately $3 million, net of cash acquired, including transaction costs. Geek Squad provides residential consumer computer support. We acquired Geek Squad to further our plans of providing technology support services to customers. The acquisition was accounted for using the purchase method in accordance with SFAS No. 141. Accordingly, we recorded the net assets at their estimated fair values and included operating results in our financial statements from the date of acquisition. Substantially all of the purchase price was allocated to goodwill, which is nondeductible for tax purposes. Under SFAS No.142, goodwill is not amortized. The pro forma results of operations for this acquisition have not been presented, as the impact on reported results is not significant.

Anyone ever heard of counter admin woo hoo thats what i am have and assoc degree in computer maitenance and BB hires highschool kids over me as techs no A+ or anything. So all i really do is call people and get bitched out over service plans not covering shit its fun underpaying and i dont have to sell stuff all the time wich is nice, all geeksquad stands for is sell sell sell. it sucks oh i passed all interviews with flying colors except one question about a monitor being discolored. Because if you look at the question on the A+ its all about a pin being bent on the cable but the answer at best buy was a magnet both are possible answer but they still counted it wrong i dont care about grammer or spelling leave me alone

"I'm bringing my dufflebag to work soon... 'Why' you ask? Because I am the angel of death, and the time for purification has come.... " -- -This is what most of you will be saying after 6 months of working for Best Buy / Geek Squad P.S. Agent White: Thanks for the candy.

Hello! And welcome to the ignorance capitol of the world! I am your Geek Squad gamer. I know I dont specialize in all aspects of computing technologies, nor do I care to. I find that powerful computers that are used for professional applications (CAD, Modeling, Imaging and Video) are quite interesting. Also the other end of a "high end" computer, being the gaming segment. Thats where my genuine interests lie. Yea, I dont have any certifications, have very little linux experience (enough to mess something up) and no Mac experience either! Yet I am still asked about various products, comparisons, and suggestions from other employees and even customers. When speaking with a customer, I know I cannot answer every question, and many will find I gladly ask one of the other guys that I work with for a possible solution to the issue. Call me dumb.. Call me arrogant... Some of you work for businesses, others work for the everyday masses. Simply put. Specialization is a wonderful thing, and go back to your own cubby hole. Funny how Einstein flunked algebra, Bill Gates was a dropout, and Babe Ruth had some of the most strikeouts for his time. Do what you need to do to be happy, and if it is looking at this post and think I am defending GS, oh well, cause mistakes happen, customers will be upset. And then we have Dell. Moved their support to India.. and.. went to hell. Thank you, and have a craptacular day. All this complaining and yet no productivity. Welcome to the world of "E-PENIS"

Dude, you are sooo brainwashed... Have fun retiring from Best Buy.

ok as a "geek" I want to say a few things. For one thing gs is around so people who dont know jack about computers can have work done on them. second at my store 223 we get lots of machines from people who dont have the time to do it on there own. I never had any trouble with fixing anything. yes for the most part we do send laptops machines with bad mobos or things geeks cant touch do to best buy policy. Double agents are great because the owner wont have to leave home. lan setups wireless setups all that. not every user has the skills to do things on there own right. not every one knows how to do a FFR or soft installs. so thats why geek squad is here and to make some money. speaking of money I think its rather cheap ask an it pro how mutch they would charge up the fucking ass. I am a "GEEK" and I am happy to be one

Took my HP laptop to geeksuaud to remove spyware and adware after screen notice of INFECTION...they are to clean off the bad stuff..install antivirus and Spy Sweeper...after three days I call to see if its done and am told.."sorry not yet...we can not get Windows to boot up unless we run a tape start up....so they still have it and apparently screwed up my XP op system....more after I find out more or..sue the GEEKS

Alright... this is where I go all "John Kerry" on people and switch my opinion by defending these Best Buy Geeks. If you want to vent about them not sticking to what they said would happen, such as Clean OS of Virii and Spyware and then Install an Anti-virus application, you have to be considerate. This is not a predictable situation. It happens. Sometime removal and cleanup tools will remove too much and cause the system not boot properly or even at all. That is why I almost always recomend an OS restore. Almost all of the time it is a waste of labor and your waiting time to clean a Windows system. There is soo much crap out there infecting the Windows Kernel virtualy making it impossible for techs to even keep up with patches and fix methods. Heck... when a virus comes out, right after it, a crap load of variants will follow (virus.a , virus.b , virus.c , virus1.a and etc.) the same applies to spyware/adware. There is nothing we can do about that. This is when, if you don't know how to do it yourself, you just walk in with your computer, place it on the counter and say: I want a backup and restore (plus new antivirus software if you already don't have one).... total should only cost you: $59+$89 (up to 4.7GB) and optional NAV2K5 ($59 installed) ..... If you go the painful and prolonged route it will cost you: $59 (Diag) + $79 (OS Service) + $59 (NAV2K5 Installed). Cleaning up the system with the crappy 3rd party tools is NEVER guaranteed, whereas performing a backup and a FFR (Full Format Restore) all "bad" stuff will be wiped. In addition to bad stuff being wiped, your computer will seem faster and you can rest assured that you won't have to bring it back for a long time. Yea, its $10 bucks more for a Backup and Restore, but the work is done alot quicker and you get a fresh backup of your files. So there is alot more value added to this route. You actually walk away with something tangeble besides your computer. Both, the "Geek" and the customer walk awaye happy becasue they have a confident feeling that they won't have to deal with eachother anymore. Oh yea, I work in a corporate environment and Imaging (very similar to FFR's) is all we do. It is a rediculous waste of time to dick around trying to figure out why the computer is slow or why you get popups. By the way, it is the USER'S FAULT IN THE FIRST PLACE THAT HIS/HER COMPUTER IS INFESTED WITH CRAP AFTER GOING TO NAUGHTY WEBSITES AND GULLABLY CLICKING ON POPUP ADVERTISEMENTS !!!!!!!!!!!! So pay up, sucka....

Well I agree Geek Squad does suck. They make us everyday tech support or field technician look like idiot. I guess what do you expect when you pay some almost nothing but turn around and charge out of this world in service and support. Well in light I have created a website forum so that people can express their dislike or story towards Geek Squad. Website is called Geek Squad Sucks, [http://www.geeksquadsucks.us.](http://www.geeksquadsucks.us.)

Does it occur to you "con" people that the ones who work for Geek Squad aren't the ones who are ripping you off.. it is the company in itself. If you are a cashier at Albertson's and an item is overpriced -- should I come yell at you when you ring it up and complain about the price? The Geeks just perform the services requested of them -- we don't make commission off of the work we do. Granted, some do not know what they are doing and I understand frustration towards them -- but there are some who work simply because we enjoy repairing computers and Best Buy-Geek Squad really isn't that bad of a place to work.

Well, Agent Orange, if you are still checking this board, I'd like to become one more beggar asking for a copy of that interviewing document, if you don't mind. I don't think I'll have any trouble with the questions, but any chance to review is worthwhile. zephyrNS@gmail.com Once again, only if you don't mind helping out one more beggar. Thanks, Mike

I happen to be a Geek Squad agent and I can sure say that our prices are not competitive, our managers only care about the bottom dollar, and quite frankly, most people who buy PC's from us can't afford the services or can get it elsewhere for less. As far as being ripped off goes, well I think we do rip people off quite a bit but that's because of the company atmosphere and managers being of low moral quality. Many of the products we push are either wrong because they are not suitable or simply don't work well to begin with. We sell Spy Sweeper for crying out loud and that's the WORST anti-spyware program I've ever seen and it can't be registered if we install it because the latest version of the program is pure crap. $159 to come out and network two PC's is pretty sorry too. Heck most of the agents I work with didn't know that multi-function printers don't work with print servers unless the software is designed for it. A+ Certification being "mandatory" isn't enforced either no matter what the company tells you. Anyone with certs in northern VA goes to work for CompUSA or works for the government after they take additional certs. We have lost more techs to headhunters than simple attrition and a few have simply abandoned the job to go work for competitors who pay better. Once I get more certs, I'm leaving the company and not looking back. The whole 24-hour thing is a myth too. We don't have agents on call 24-hours nor could the company ever afford such a luxury. You can however call the GS 1-800 number and make an appointment at any time but there will be no agents coming to your door at 1:59 in the morning.

Examples of incompetence by GS described here are anecdotal, and don't represent the typical customer experience as is obvious by GS's phenomenal growth. Most US households now have at least one computer and the mass market muscle of Best Buy is rapidly tapping into the needs of this expanding group, which wants a computer / internet connection that works but doesn't have any interest in learning how to fix one. That readers of computer tech boards and blogs would find the services offered by GS trivial and overpriced is not surprising, they are not the target customer anymore than readers of car tech sites would be the target for Jiffy Lube. Whether a service is overpriced is determined by the market, and the market seems to be validating GS's model, especially with respect to in-home service. This model is starting to be copied by other retailers (the sincerest form of flattery), and is a very good thing for IT jobs since in-home service work can't be exported to another county. That GS Double Agent you see running around in his cute VW bug is already making $35-$45k/yr. with a full benefits package, and the market for this work has a lot of upside. High-income computer owners don't want to take the time to disassemble a sick computer, lug it to a computer repair shop or send it off, be without it for several days, go pick it up and then reassemble it if they can pay a GS Double Agent to come to their house at an appointed time and just get it done. These people see their time as valuable and if they can spare themselves the hassle for a couple of hundred bucks then that is money well spent.

AWL, For the average customer, Spysweeper is the BEST spyware program out there, it has the largest database of spyware and the most efficient real-time protection in terms of CPU and memory usage, it is also the highest rated spyware product in the industry (try some research before you spout off). IN-Home service is 24/7, an agent can come to your door at 1:59, it will cost extra but what to expect for a service call at 2:00 in the morning, and oh yeah no one else offers the service. Geek Squad pricing is very competitive. Many of the services we provide (especially diagnostics) cost twice as much at many places, including CompUSA and Circuit City. Geek Squad is very very successful, in light of the fact that service at any other retail store and my local shops have shrunk. Not sure where you are getting the low-moral quality on the part of management. Of course managers are worried about the bottom dollar, just like any business that wants to be successful and grow. The bottom dollar however is not their only concern (at least not in my store); I have seen time and again managers sacrifice revenue to make a customer happy. If we screw something up that customer gets pretty much whatever they want, up and including a new computer if the situation warrants it. If the problem is not our fault, which is usually the case, if the customer does not want to pay for the service we are more than happy to tell them to go somewhere else. Currently for my precinct our In-Home satisfaction rating is 99% and In-store is around 95%, we must be doing something right. I don't know where any of you get that we rip people off. Time is money, if I may coin a cliché. Would the average customer who does not know the difference between a router and cable modem want to spend hours attempting to set up their wireless network or pay us? Wonderful case in point, one of our DA's just setup wireless network for client that is a Unix admin and Oracle specialist (a very successful one at that), he simply did not have the time to research what is needed in setting up a wireless network securely. SalesPro makes a very good point in that the people posting to this board will not need Geek Squad service, any many of them have never had direct experience getting service from the Geek Squad, don't knock it until you have tried it.

I just took my drug test 3 days ago and am awaiting a call back. I have already signed the paper waiver. I have my A+, been building computers since 1996 and installing components as far back as the 486 days. I have a BA in communication/PR and have prior consulting experience. There is a DA position available and the store manager at BB is considering me for the position. I have a clean driving record as well. Any idea if I am really a strong candidate for the DA position? I also have 2 years experience being the head service manager at a smaller retail computer store. I suppose I'm happy starting out as a CIA at $14, but I like to get out of the tech area sometimes.

This has been an interesting thread so far, so I thought I would post. Since my post is mainly negative I will be using the name anonymous :-) I have been with Best Buy for just over two years. My first year was spent as a sales associate in Home Office. It was alright at first...but I began to dread going to work after a while. Not sure how everyone elses Best Buy works...but our leadership was terrible. We don't work on commision, this is true...however you probably wouldn't be able to tell it. We were pushed and forced every way possible to sell shit. I am not making this up, they would actually threaten employee's jobs for not doing CARE+ properly. Instead of being a leader and actually teaching employees we were written up. "Didn't sell PSP on that computer package? Well you must not have used CARE + and didn't do it right.... here's a PCR for ya!" This was retarded...it got old fast. This is not how to treat an employee. I wonder why our numbers were so terrible? Luckily there was an opening up at the bench. This happend right after the tech bench turned to Geek Squad. It was Great! I get paid more, I am finally more useful with my skills. It was awesome! However...this slowly went to shit. Again with leadership. Let me first state that in order to become an in-store CIA agent at our precinct you have to have ZERO certifications! Our senior created a 20 question test...if you score 50% or better you're an agent! Currently...we have 8 full time CIA agents. 3 of us either have certifications or if not, we know what in the hell we are doing. The rest do not know a thing! To be quite honest with you...I would NEVER want to bring my computer to our precinct! Nobody knows what in the hell their doing! And nobody will even train them with the basics! Also heres the other thing. Home office calls code red ATLEAST twice an hour...if not more. If you are unfamiliar with this, it basically means "Hey we are busy, get back here and help us!". When you have to call code red THAT many times EVERYDAY then you need to schedule more people. Our home office department NEVER has more than 3 people scheduled to be back there at any given time. This is a joke...instead of scheduling more people this they pull all of our agents back there leaving only one at the counter. Oddly enough...they don't know anything! What a shock. This means that the customer's buying new computers are more important than the ones spending a SHITLOAD of money to get their's fixed. Now...I'm sure someone will respond and say that we are a team...and blah blah blah, whatever. Yes, we ARE a team! However we need our damn people to work too! The CIA agents should not be disposable bitches to distribute wherever they need coverage! We have our own customer's and our own work that needs to be done! Which is very hard to do when you're lucky to even have one agent on the clock who knows anything. We can't call code red at the precinct when we're busy! And if we are pulled back there non-stop all day, then we are there until midnight just trying to get computers done from the previous day! Also, managment's response to this is that "Well the more you sell, the more labor you get". No shit? How many fucking people WALK OUT not helped!!???? WAY TOO MANY! If you had people there to actually help them then you would make enough money to pay for it!! Surely don't have to worry about business, home office is always insanely busy! Also, we ring up all packages. Not just the ones that home office couldn't rip off the customer enough so they send them to us to try and get more money from them, BUT ALL PACKAGES!!!! So now the Geek Squad's actual customer's have to wait in a long ass line just to pick up their computer...which they will soon bring back for many many redos. I really hope that all Geek Squad precincts are not like this. From what I've read, a lot of people have enjoyed their experience with them! This is Great! However its a precinct like ours that gives Geek Squad a bad name. It also gives our agents, who actually know what their doing, a bad name as well. I believe that our whole service department went to shit when they changed over to Geek Squad. All of our good agents either transfered or became DA's. And then, BBY advertised the hell out of Geek Squad boosting the amount of customers we get greatly! So....more customers, less knowledgable agents. Not a good combo. And this is why our Geek Squad precinct sucks.

Dear Anonymous, You are right. Your store is almost an exact copy of mine. The fake promise of "the more you sell, the more labor you'll get" is also a lame cop out. Primarly because, in retail, labor and the amount of work will never reach an equilibrium. That motto is a friggin lie, and a way for them to by time by pushing you even harder, durring which time you will eventually forget about it. Every day/week/month/quarter/season/drive-time/year there is a new goal, and Best Buy pushes employees by rasing the bar a notch higher. So forget about it. Change jobs as soon as you can, and never let them make you feel regretful for leaving. Screw them, becasue by staying there, they are screwing you every day.

Some of you from the sound of it haven't been in the IT world for very long. There are MCSE or CCNA folks who couldn't tell you what TCP/IP was. Same goes with degreed folks. Not all of them. I worked with some awesome MCSEs and Cisco folks but your actions speak for themselves. Having only been employed by Best Buy for only a short time I can tell you that for the most part our agents do a good job of making the customer happy. Really folks that is what it is all about. If you work in or own a computer repair store that is a competitor be mad at yourself not at the success of the Geek Squad. Healthy competition helps the economy so by all means call the Geek Squad and ask why they are successful. I have taken it upon myself to make sure all of the agents in our precinct get some training and basic troubleshooting know how. ALL of them. My precinct will be the best in the company. My job description doesn't say anything about being a trainer but you can be sure that I will help anybody who wants or needs it. I would highly recommend anyone to use the Geek Squad. As for what we can do. I have designed, implemented, supported clustered server solutions including some blade solutions using VMWare. GSX server rocks! Yes I actually know what the cluster administrator can do and can customize pretty much any application to run on a cluster with successful failover and fall back. I have done many Active Directory designs and implementations for both small and large forests. I do know Unix and Linux and have implemented MYSQL and Apache servers. Used many different flavors of Linux for customized solutions for a plethora of businesses including Firewall/Email gateways. Done too many Exchange implementations. Had a MS white paper released for a clustered Exchange solution that I fixed. Installed way too many PCI cards, RAM, hard drives, RAID controllers into desktops. OS installs would be in the thousands. That is just me. The other agents in my precinct have a wide variety of talents and experiences as well. Every company in the world has had some kind of negative publicity or screwed up at some point. I ask that you don't judge the Geek Squad by one or two experiences or stores. Know that there are precincts that care and are knowledgeable.

Agent Pain, You're just a passive-agressive bitch. P.S. Grow some balls, stop hiding behind Geek Squad.

Not even Bill Gates can fix everything... take the spyware/virus infestation attacking his operating systems. Not one person knows everything. So, stop acting like it. Without a TEAM of people by your side, your nothing. NADA.

Not even Bill Gates can fix everything... take the spyware/virus infestation attacking his operating systems. Not one person knows everything. So, stop acting like it. Without a TEAM of people by your side, your nothing. NADA. ((This is not to say that you should'nt be proud of what you bring to the table.))

hehe... i'm way way late here... but ... i just read blackware1337's post. i'm gonna stop reading this thread right now bc it lacks the info i'm looking for... so i'm sure someone's enlightened you already. however, in case they haven't, it's 'themselves', not 'themselfs'. go back to MIT keke thx. =p ferriciean~

Agent Taylor said: (it takes about 4-6 hours to completely clean a badly infected computer). You are kidding me... discualified... I don't know the service.. but do the at-home service go with bare hands? only with CD's of software?

AGENT ORANGE, ARE YOU STILL THERE? If so could you please, please send me the interview questionaire? I have an interview tomorow (well, technically TODAY), and I'm frantically surfing the net, trying to get an idea of what to expect. My e-mail is eugene81@gmail.com (I trust the members of this board are not complete assholes and will not sign me up for gay porn or something). I've been working with computers since the old XT days, I've worked for my university as a Desktop Support Consultant for almost 3 years, and I probably spend a good 14 hours a day on a computer (lol I really am a "geek") so I'm pretty confident in my abilities. But since I haven't had a job that required me to keep up to date with the latest technologies for the last 2 years, and reading about somebody being denied a position for not knowing ONE MAC QUESTION is making me a bit nervous (and yet there are other posts that are so sharply contrasting, e.g. can't copy/paste?!?!). Even though I am the go-to-guy for everyone's tech problem around me, there are things like details about POST errors and IRQ/DMA channels that I wouldn't be able to answer on the A+ (these things are pretty much useless in practical terms IMO). As far as customer service and personality go, I don't think I have a problem =). I really hope you read this and respond, because I really need a job right now. Thanks!

Oh man, I'm sorry for responding so late... I don't get any notification of new posts that might be directed at me so I just periodically check manually. Don't worry about the interview questions. If you still need them I'll send them to you as soon as I'm home. Right now I'm at my other job. All they care about are customer service skills.

Oh man, I'm sorry for responding so late... I don't get any notification of new posts that might be directed at me so I just periodically check manually. Don't worry about the interview questions. If you still need them I'll send them to you as soon as I'm home. Right now I'm at my other job. All they care about are customer service skills.

No worries. I just got home from the first interview. It totally wasn't what I expected. It was just a first round general, panel-style, interview for all prospective BB employees -- all customer service related, and I nailed it, =). So on to round 2, with the GM. I'm skeptical about how technical it's going to be, since he is the GM, and probably doesn't really need to know jack shit about computers and troubleshooting. They gave us a little lesson about things to know for that interview, and it was all CS and SOP. When does the online test come in? Anyway, I'd really appreciate it if you could send me those Qs. Again, my e-mail addy is eugene81@gmail.com Thanks!

can someone email me the Geek Squad interview questions at moon69shdw@aol.com? I have not applied yet just contemplating. If Agent Orange has sent them to someone could you foward if he doesnt read this himself? Thanks all.

I wouldnt worry too much about the questions, just depends out what position you are looking for. CIA and Cadet do not have to be A+ certified, DA and CIA senior are "usually" required. No matter what position you are looking for, if you have good sales experience and are good with people and can at least build your own computer and can problem solve computer software and hardware, your acceptable...least in my opinion. A+ is a bunch of crap anyway now since a lot of the information is invalid for newer computers, so dont stress it, the worst that can happen is they dont call back.

Ok, here's my 2 cents on Geek Squad I run the Geek Squad department in a new Best Buy store. Our guys don't care about making money, or hitting budgets. They care about getting the customer what they need. They also care about getting it done as quickly as possible so the customer isn't without their computer. We do ring up computers as well. What does this mean? It means.... If a customer is buying a new computer and they decide they want to get a celeron computer because of the price, and think it's going to do the video editing they want to do, we tell them they're full of it. If a customer comes in w/ a computer that has tons of spyware and they want us to remove it, we will do so for a charge and will also recommend a spyware blocker like spysweeper or something. we will also recommend to install it while we are removing their spyware so they don't have to deal with it when they get home. We recommend to a customer that they back up their files THEMSELVES on their computer once we're done fixing it so they have something to fall back on if they're computer has a problem in the future. If they don't feel comfortable doing that (and many people don't), then we will do it for them. Now, are there stupid people in the world? Yes. If there wasn't, we wouldn't have this thread going. But, unfortunately, there are stupid people who work for Best Buy, too. It's my job as a leader to find these people in Geek Squad and weed them out. I either train them in their position better, move them to a position that more fits their talents, or promote them to Customer. Doing this means that my team is always there for the customer, and knows what they're doing with customer's computers. I would go into more detail, but it's a quarter till 6 am, and I'm tired. World of Warcraft really drains my energy.....

So, from all this I assume the Geek Squad is not the place to call for Mac issues. Why oh why aren't there more independent mac support technicians out there!?! Sigh.

What the hell are people thinking. Your being raped of your inteligence. Installing your own version of XP for $295.00 and $69.00 to install memory card upgrades! Dam Geek Squad Is amussingly making a killing off the willingness of vunerable people who need just help. Not to be raped. Help here it is!!!! Push Alt F2 at the same time. Set start up drive or master drive to cd rom drive. Now install your version of XP and turn of the computer. Turn it back on and walla your fresh copy of windows installed virus free. Make sure to hit alt F2 and set drives back to default settings. And stop looking at porn or your going to catch something you cant get rid of like C.I.V. highly contagious thats a Computer virus. Get It. Next use Grisoft.com as Well As webroot.com and you should be good to go till the next time you go in unprotected. Keep your PC covered! Carl F. Hendershot III

The Geek Squad sucks...these pencil neck geeks dont know their @ss from a hole in the ground...they will charge you $80 for a format c:...

"i have a CS degree from a top 10 ranked school for CS and am certifed in A+, Network+, Server+ (which by the way are really easy to get) i've been screwing around on computers for about 10 years now. at home i run a small network of linux and win2k3 servers that do various things. i spend my spare time writing programs and scripts for my website (which is housed in my room). i have experience with c/c++, java, perl, asm, sql, etc etc etc... but you know what? none of this really matters to a GS agent. when i got the job i thought i'd be way more capable than anyone else that worked there because of my extenstive "IT" background. but really, none of that matters. no one else at my store has a CS degree, but they taught me a lot in how to fix computers, remove viruses/spyware, and all that. i pretty much had no experience with viruses and spyware when i started... because i've never had a virus. smart comptuer people don't get viruses because they know what to avoid. sure when the extremely rare customer comes in with a linux question, i'm the guy everyone turns to... but i'm much less valuable to the team than the guys that have been working there for a couple years." Why the hell are you working at Best Buy with all those credentials ??

What do you need to know in order to become a geeksquad agent

Hey do you know why that doesn't matter to geeks squad? BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT TRAINED TO DO ANY OF THAT! What you know is FAR MORE VALUABLE AND HELPFUL that what they JUST know. They are only trained to deal with COMPUTER PROBLEMS. Your FAR MORE valuable in general to computers and everything that have to do with them with the knowledge you possess than what they just know. Its always good to learn from other people but you know a lot more than they do. By the way its really easy to aviod viruses, spyware, and adware when you know how to do it. Your smart, they're just a bunch of newbie kids who are just learning. Don't sell yourself short.

I can see the intelligence here is low.. $69 to install memory? It's actually either $29-$39... and to install XP it's $59, don't know where you get $295 for, unless the person has to PURCHASE XP also, then it would only be $195 because XP Home is $100. Come to MY precinct and tell everyone working there that they are just newbie kids who are just learning ... what a jackass statement you made.

Hello. If Agent Orange is still around I would like to ask for the GS questions also. email mrblunden @ hotmail dot com Thank you for your help.

All comments were good in their own right. However, I am surprised by the fact that people actually tell you they have a college degree, but they can't write in the English language. Perhaps that is the reason Microsoft is having so many problems with their software. Certification is great for anyone who fixes computers. I do think that education is also required. Otherwise, how did that individual get certified? If they just bought one of those test programs and went and tested, they still don't know anything except how to take that test. Knowledge comes from experience, education and training.

gs is gay

Geek Squad sucks big time. They managed to really f.u.c.kup my machine and charged me for f.u.c.k.i.n.g it up. Idiots! Geek Squad sucks big time. Some don't even know where the START icon is. um... well I'm not certified he said. Geek Squad idiots!!

If you suggest a link idiot make sure it's valid!! Dumbass shaped.

Ok, lets just get this out and over with, the geek squad is a great marketing ploy that best buy decided to employ to make even more money in the computer fix/repair sector. The problem is that it is no better or worse than their pc support was before. The only difference is that now they come to your house. The problem with geek squad is that Best Buy employs a lot of unqualified people to do their pc work. They charge you like they sent over the electrical engineer that designed your computer. These no talent ass clown have at best, a cert from a community college that they got just from reading a book and taking a test. They put anyone into sales that can speak in complete sentences and let the mongloids do the work. They prey on the technoligically challenged, convincing them they have a serious problem. Charging them an assload and hopefully it works. I live in SE michigan and am an IT proffesional with a IS degree from a major university. I have seen many of my companies clients get ripped off by these guys. I don't deal with hardware on a regular basis anymore, but I see time and time again missed diagnoises. It is just crap, that they have made so much money ripping people off. The worst part about it is that most people are too ignorant to understand they are getting ripped off. They praise them like wizards because they can make their spyware machines work for a little while.

Some of this bickering is silly, we are dealing with a nation wide company that maintains the same name for its tech department in every store. I have been involved with the computer industry for the last fifteen years, and have dealt with areas from programming and software engineering to network administration and computer maintenance. Currently, I work as manager and teacher at the local VUE center. I have had numerous people come to take classes and their certification exams from a number of companies. I have met several people from the Geek Squad at the local Best Buy and from what I have learned is that the Geek Squad is no different than any other company, some of its agents are better and more knowledgable than others. In addition, many people get mixed up with the truth behind how the department works. There is a kid that comes into the center atleast once every other week to find ways to further her knowledge and credibility; I have had chances to talk to her and learned that many of the people that are hired as agents are not their techs, they offer jobs to people with a general understanding of computers to work at the window and answer general questions. In truth, many of these "window" workers are limited in their knowledge, but the techs behind the scenes are often quite good. This is one of the biggest conflicts that comes into play when judging the Geek Squad, consider the "window" workers to be secretaries and the techs behind the scenes to be the executives. When you go into a business, you may speak to a secretary, but you also understand that you are speaking to the secretary and not the executive. Understand this analogy; by doing this, Best Buy is able to have people work with the customers and allow the executives to work on the actual details behind the scenes. It is a team effort and as such the "window" workers and the techs are both considered part of the Geek Squad, however, your interpretation of the Geek Squad will be based on the person that you speak to. Furthermore, it is dependant upon the area and the store. Just because some stores are inefficient and inexperienced doesnt mean that all stores are, The girl I wrote about earlier is determined to be the best tech possible and because of this drive she has more knowledge and better skills than many veteran techs I know. I have a question for everyone reading this, are all IT businesses and companies perfect? The answer that I can easily give you is no. I have friends who have told me that they have gone to the small ma and pop shops to have their computers fixed only to spend a lot of money to know gain. One of my friends once told me that they had a laptop displaying a white screen whenever they tried to boot it up. They took it to a store that told them they could fix it, the store replaced the flex cable ran virus checks and system restores to know gain charging my friend for each survice then ultimately ended up suggesting a new laptop. Since I am sure everyone reading this is a knowledgable tech, you have easily figured out that the problem was the RAM. Please understand that some stores inside of the Best Buy chain may have Geek Squads as bad as the shop my friend went to. However, nothing is created equal, and some Geek Squad departments are better than others. Now I have been reading this discussion and found people bickering back and forth between the dominance of a degree or certifications. The truth in the matter is that no one in the world knows everything there is to know about computers. I have a master's in csci from the GTech,, and an associate's in Networking, as well as my CompTIA certs, MCSE, and MCT. I say this as a reference for my background. The truth in the matter is that most of my knowledge comes from the industry and neither my education nor my certifications have been more beneficial to my life. Any truly knowledgable tech in the field will tell you that the certifications and degree will help you get your foot through the door but after that you are playing an entirely new ball game. Different people have different capacities for learning and some can read and memorize a book to get a certification while others can read the same materials and be ready to work. The point is that in the industry nothing will help you more than your abilities in critical thinking and problem solving. Therefore it is purely arrogance or ignorance that drives a person to say one is better than the other or that one makes a person more qualified than another. There is one final point I would like to address. I see people saying that because the Geek Squad uses software to diagnose and troubleshoot problems, that they are weak when it comes to actual troubleshooting. Anyone who has made this statement has embarrassed themselves. There is more than one side to every problem. Microsoft recognizes the truth of this; think about how many different software tools they have built into their operating system to help troubleshoot system problems. I used many of these tools when I was working as a tech, and I also carried many software programs with me that went into even more detail than the current tools on Windows. My use of software does not make me any less of a tech. In fact, the true signs of an inexperienced tech are theyre inability to use every available resource. That being said a good tech should be able to work with both software and hardware and be able to troubleshoot both sides of a problem. I hope everyone will read this and take it for what it is. A view on the difference between a good or bad tech, and the understanding that it is not the company they work for that makes a tech or department good or bad, but instead it is the ability of the individuals making up that team. With this being said, experiences with the Geek Squad can vary with each store. Educated people will hopefully read this and understand it, if anyone disagrees with me or has any comments please go ahead and post. However, those who read this and care to rant, understand that you show your immaturity and nothing you say will be taken seriously.

I'm an agent in the Chicago area and let me set some of you guys striaght about what we do. First of all, all you people with many degrees and certifications, get off your high horses. It does not take 4 years of a comp sci degree and 5 million certs to swap out a hard drive that crashed, remove some spyware, and install RAM. Geek Squad Agents are qualified for what they do, that is troubleshoot and repair basic computer problems. There is rarely a machine we can't fix. 75% of the machines we get are for spyware/virus problems, 24% are for hardware issues where we replace hard ware (usually Hard Drives), and 1% are for misc. issues like setting up a RAID or something like that. We have a few full time agents and mostly part timers. Some of our agents have degrees in computers, some don't. I myself am self-taught. I have no certifications and I am currently a college student majoring in Management, not computers. I am capable of fixing many problems with computers, upgrading hardware, removing viruses, etc. Basically what I'm saying is don't hate on us just cause some of our guys can't set up an Active Directory. That's not what we do at Geek Squad, especially in store. We have Special Agents for that who I am sure are qualified for those positions. **I don't know whats with this whole penis envy about who knows more about computers, but its completely irrelevant to the discussion of Geek Squad services**. No one is saying we're better than you "pro IT guys" guys, and you guys have no reason to belittle us just cause you spent years of your life studying computers. We offer services, and we do them well. They are targetted at novice users who need quick solutions or effective solutions to their (usually) simple problems. I don't know where this whole "argument" started, but it really has no point. Its kind of like a professional chef whose made meals for the President talking down a McDonalds employee. True, you're both working with food, but its hardly the same service you're providing. The chef (Corporate IT Guys) provides high quality and customized services to people who need more than just a quick meal (quick fix). The McDonalds employee (Geek Squad Agent) provides low quality, quick, solutions to people who just wanna eat some lunch and be on their way (the average consumer) and don't care much for the finer things in dining (the advanced programming, active directory, etc.). So you see we're in totally different businesses. Just cause you work there and we work here doesn't make you better than us. Comparing a Geek Squad Agent to an IT guy is like apples to oranges, its not really a fair comparison. Now to address you Geek Squad employees who complain about the way Best Buy manages Geek Squad, you have to understand a few things about your own job.

I know that most people who tend to study computers and learn about technology aren't the greatest people persons but know a whole lot about what they do. The problem is when you try to be a hermit in the store avoiding all human contact and all you wanna do is fix PCs.

If that's what you want, go learn some more about computers and go work in some company's IT department. At Geek Squad you are hired to provide a service experience for novice customers who don't know about computers. Thats why the whole theme was developed. Its a silly theme intended to put customers at ease with technology.

Another vital aspect of your job is sales. This is the retail industry, we need to make money to pay your salary. There are quite a few Agents at my store who are hermits and just stay in the back fixing computers, and while yes that is helpful, we sometimes do get busy at the counter and need people to be able to talk to customers in a way that ultimatley helps us make revenue for the day, week, and month.

I would say that the Geek Squad Agent job for in-store Agents breaks down to 51% Sales, 49% Technical. Afterall those computer in the back that need to be fixed wouldn't be there if an Agent didn't ask the customer to buy a diagnostic ($59), OS Service ($79) and a memory install ($29).

The only way to sell services effectivley is to be good with people and great in sales techniques. You have to find out what the customers situation is (thats what the Tactical Analysis forms are for!) and then match that customer with the best solution, more importantly the COMPLETE solution. Sure you can charge them for virus removal if they have viruses, that's obvious, but a tune-up ($29) would also help them get the most out of their computer and maybe they could use more memory also.

So yes, while Geek Squad Agents are technically supposed to be technicians who fix PCs, that is not the sole scope of the job, so for those of you looking to be an Agent because you're real good at fixing PCs, evaluate your own willingness to deal with customers and people in general before you sign up because the job will require you to talk to people and sell them stuff as well.

So just to reiterate: Fixing computers isn't your sole responsibility!!! The last thing I need in my Precinct is more arrogant computer technicians with many degrees and certifications who feel they are above going up to a customer and recommending the latest Antivirus program or a memory upgrade. Or worse, a computer nerd whose spent all his life infront of a monitor who doesn't know how to say "Hi, how can I help you?" to a customer.

Geek Squad Agents who know a good deal about fixing computer issues like spyware, viruses, hardware upgrades, etc. who ALSO HAVE the ability to sell and are enthusiastic about dealing with people and have no problem recommending our solutions, expensive as they may be, to customers do the best and get the most recognition.

I would also agree with those who said that being an Agent isnt for those with degrees, unless you're promoted. I might be up for a promotion to Senior soon, which pays around $30,000 a year full time, which isn't bad for still being in college finishing up my management degree.

Advancement opportunities are avilable in both management and technical tracks. Double Agents get decent pay, and then from there you can get promoted to Special Agent once you have more extensive experience and knowledge, which pays even more. As far as management track, Senior is the first promotion you could get, then Deputy which is kind of like a supervisor (higher than senior but lower than an area manager), and eventually Precinct Chief (manager of a stand alone store). Not to mention since its all in Best Buy you could concievably go from Geek Squad Senior to PC Area Manager or any other management position at Best Buy.

So yeah, its a good job with good advancement opportunities if you want them, otherwise if you arent planning on moving up (and you can move up quickly, my manager have started discussing promoting me after just 3 months on the job), it makes a neat part time or full time job for the short term, perhaps until you wrap your degrees and move up to the corporate IT world.

has anyone here taken the DA test to go from CIA to DA? If so, any advice? Thanks...

Geeksquad is overpriced and damn close to lying to people saying that their experienced techs will arrive and fix any problem right away. God knows that these morons they are sending out are basicly clicking the next button a few times, or taking it to an A+ tech at the store... then charging an extremely high ammount of money for it. What makes people so mad is that crapsquad thinks its okay to charge stupid ammounts of money for a no-nothing to run some easy-go software. I know the software myself, i got a release of it. It is basicly made up of spysweeper and windowwasher along with a startup program utility and uninstaller utility. (crap). Their 'Agent Tweaks' for registry speed up the start menu delay times and other cheap tricks that falsely-advertize geeksquad skill. Geeksquad is a farce and only stays in business with 4% return customers and new idiots seeing their jetpackin' commercials every day, soon out of business.

that last comment is ridiculous- have you done any research whatsoever? Or are you just ignorantly blabbing to have a word in this discussion? I won't disclose my position in the company- but i can tell you that the Geek Squad is a huge part of Best Buys success and will not be out of business soon so...don't hold your breath about that. And they are very competant, knowledgable and a wonderful service. Have you looked at prices of in-home for any of these services. they are out of control. Don't just post for attention or becuase you're angry- check the facts otherwise you look ridicoulous.

Yeah, Geek Squad is definitley not going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, just recently (even before holidays) they doubled the allotment of counter intelligence agents in every store and quadrupled the number of double agents, this is all because of market demand.

I would like to add my two cents to all of this. I am a DA for the Geek Squad. When I first started I had a very poor impression of the GS. Yes, most of them are kids working their way through school, kids who typically have more "book smarts" than actual "tech skills". That in and of itself can make them do more harm than good. With that said, your computer is definetly in better hands with them, than your cousin's brother's aunt's sister's friend. I have no certs, would like to get my A+, but don't really see a need to. There are guys there with networking certs, programming degrees, etc.... I know more than they do about some things, they know more than me about others, but together we can fix any problem. A good tech knows what he can and can't fix, then tries to learn how to fix the problem. Would I trust one of our techs to fix my computer, no. Would I trust them as a team to fix it, yes. Our team succeeds because as a group, there is nothing we can't fix. Most precincts are that way from what I've seen. Sure there are a few idiots that slip through the cracks, but GS is not a hoax. Are we out to make money....that question is redundant...this is a capitalistic society right? If you think the GS sucks, bring me your computer (the guy with no certs...formal training..etc). I'll get it fixed no problem. Just see me at store 490. GS rules, and if you have a cert...don't brag about it, train others on what you know; but realize you don't know everything.

hey Agent Greg -- well written. I am actually trying to figure out if i should keep my double agent job. i just started, there are good benes like the car -- except at our store the GM doesnt let you keep it -- has to be return to the store before they close. i also have lots computer experience.. but have been unemployed for 4 months -- IT jobs here are stiff to get.. yah i have 3 certs i recently got and a BS degree -- you are right about the target market. there is also geeks-on-call which i accepted a job as well. oh -- i only make 14.40/hr -- that doesnt seem like enough, even the other DA and my senior agent think so. dont know what to do -- maybe just stay long enough to use my discount??? a suggestions?? email me at richr410@yahoo.com

hey -- forgot to say yo -- that dont get wrong idea -- i feel little uncomfortable workin with the other guys, they dont know i have college dont want them to think less of me since i work there and not corpaorate IT -- at least for now. We all have different skills and different experience -- that much is certain.

Well, this is all very interesting. (?). Let me break down the GS process from my own personal experience. I'm going to try to keep this brief because I don't want to bore you- I simply want to relate my experiences. I am a network analyst with NO certifications but many years in IT. I'm fluent in Cisco routers, VPN concentrators/HW clients, network design and all Windows OS, Linux/Unix, etc. My company deals with terabytes of data that must be routed/archived (via PACS) on a daily basis. I don't have my cock out constantly comparing myself to other IT professionals because I've dealt with the most knowledgable and the least knowledgable and there is always something to learn. For whatever reason, IT often leans towards snobbish, insecure, incredibly immature people that take a bizarre satisfaction of 'knowing something you don't'. If you're one of them, you're a dick. Hey congratulations- you read something or were taught something I didn't know yet. You're stalking someone in Marketing. You're reading their mail off the Exchange Server. You brag all the time, never share knowledge and are usually full of shit. We wish we could help you but it's not our fault you've never kissed a girl. OK!- let's talk about Geek Squad. :) I think Best Buy has an incredible marketing campaign. They try to make it 'fun' to contact GS. Let's be honest- You don't call a service like GS when you're in the best of moods. From the initial call to the phone menu system, they try to keep things amusing for the customer. Good for you, Best Buy. Unfortunately, that's often where the amusement ends. The agents that triage your initial call are painfully inept. I think much of this has to do with the success of GS and the rush to get people to handle the influx of calls. My company works in 4 time zones and I use GS to send to a client's location when I need a tech onsite to walk through the basics. To set up an appointment, well- it's almost always painful and very time consuming. I am well aware that GS caters to a home-based market and the triage agents work from a script and do the best they can and that's fine- however it is frustrating to spend 30 minutes on the phone to simply schedule an appointment, only to get transferred to multiple departments repeating the same information. I try to be very patient. I always ask for someone with networking experience, preferably a CCNA. I'm usually assured that a capable tech will be sent out but when I have to walk someone through IPCONFIG switches I know I'm in for a long call. By the time a situation gets to me, it's an emergency and I end up spending upwards to $500+ for a '911' call. Sadly, I often come away with no resolution due to the experience level of the tech and it's rather frustrating because GS is often the only game in town. I guess I'm just bitching out of frustration. It would be nice if GS had different levels of service rather than just a body and a roll of the dice. I give GS a tremendous amount of business. Out of the 20 or so times I've used them I would say that only 4 times I dealt with a capable tech that understood the issues. Just tonight I scheduled a GS tech to be at a doctor's house at 7:30 Seattle time. It was a 911 call. I waited up until midnight (EST) and finally called the doctor who informed me he waited patiently through 3 dispatchers calling him promising the tech and then finally contacting him to say the tech could not make it. Now I have a client down until Friday when (hopefully) a GS tech with a level of experience I need will be there. What kind of recourse do I have in this situation? I have never been able to speak with a supervisor to state my grievance. This is completely unacceptable. However, GS is the only game in town in my client's area. Sorry- I guess I haven't been able to keep this brief. My feeling with GS is that they will be a great resource once they get their shit together which hopefully will be soon. They need to streamline their system, train their staff and focus on different levels of service. Right now they are a source of very expensive frustration. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Keep Well, Chris

heh.... call me stupid but that 'double agent' or whatever up there has a YAHOO EMAIL ADDRESS. more and more people are saying they have huge bills from geeksquad and no resolution, face it kids.. you suck at fixing computers.... matter of fact, i would have to say that 80% of the people who 'fix' computers think they know so much but in reality know nothing... good tech support IS HARD TO FIND... www.GravitysEdge.com

Ok integrii, a Yahoo email address is so uncool in your circle. I think most people that give Yahoo/Hotmail adresses do so because it's their 'junk' address. If you gave your real address to a public forum on the internet, you're an idiot! I'm defending GS, nor am I advocating it. I already put my opinion in about that. Where did you get your 80% stat from? Your own personal analysis? Prove to me how smart you are. We can talk in depth about all things Cisco. I can't wait to hear your theories. There are ALOT of qualified techs out there. There are even more techs that might not know the answer but have the 'right stuff' to figure it out properly. I guess I'm calling you stupid, dumbfuck. Have a great day, Chris

Geek Squad had come to my house 3 times and in their final and most pathetic action in the 15 days I've been working with them has successfully erased my hard drive, pictures of my deceased grandmother and other 100 member of my family, erased logos I developed, websites I created for my company, treasury information for my subdivision for which I am the Treasurer and every program I ever loaded onto the computer. They are Geeks with a capital DUMM (yes, dee, uuu, double m). Oh, and how dumb am I? I paid them $550 to do this.

I feel your pain, LM. My advice is to MAKE them restore your data! This is possible. One company I've used in the past is DriveSavers (www.drivesavers.com). They basically go over your hard drive sector by sector in a clean room and recover blocks that haven't been written over. Just so you know- when a hard drive is formatted (not low-level formatted), but formatted in the traditional sense, the data is still there unless it's been written over. You can't see it- but it's there (hopefully). MAKE BEST BUY AND GS AWARE OF THIS. Companies such as DriveSavers are very expensive, but they brok it- they fix it. Let me know if there is any advice I can give you. Best of Luck- Chris

Oh- and another thing, DriveSavers may even be able to recover data that's been written over. They're wizards at this shit. And I would definitely cancel payment or request a full refund + extra for the pain they have caused.

LM, I am sorry to hear that you have lost your data. It is unfortunate that this happened during a tech call. My only question is did you backup your data? Most people fail to make backups of their data and when they need access their data after a catastrophic event they are unable to recover their data. With all due respect, you bear some responsibility for your loss of data.

I think the Geek Squad needs to be given credit for more than their super-smart computer skills. I work a Best Buy in Michigan, and my boyfriend is on the Geek Squad. Those guys and gals put up with more crap from customers than we on the sales floor do. There have been many instances where customers who can't seem to figure out what they're doing wrong, get in the faces of our Geeks and basically blame them for the problems. They have more issues and deal with more problems than anyone (excluding maybe the GM's) else in the store. They pretty much walk into problems as soon as they clock in. These folks work harder than most and they're always on the go. Give them credit where credit is due. And to those who work for Best Buy or are on Geek Squad and have negative feelings about it, maybe you should consider another profession. If you can't lend a helping hand or a good word, maybe you should think before you speak (or type).

Let me get this straight- because your boyfriend and the rest of the GS work hard, I'm supposed to give them a break? NO. Hey- I work really hard and have tremendous demands put on me at my job, do I deserve special treatment? Sorry K- but my experience with GS has been 90% negative. Out of the multiple times I've used them, they sent a base level tech for a '911' call out to a client's house and for something like $450-500 I ask a bit more. ONE time in Seattle I had a GS agent on the phone that was great...had good networking/communication skills. I have no sympathy for people that take crap and are on the go. Who doesn't/isn't?

It depends on where you are. Here, geek squad is a huge hit. Some people know their shit, some dont. thats life and you find it everywhere. Next time, back up your data, YOU signed something that said we do NOT backup data without getting paid for it. next time, read what you sign and stop bitching.

Im interested in a geek squad position, but Im wondering just exactly what it takes to get the job. I've been working as freelance tech support for about 6 years now, and while the pay has been good (I charge $25 to $45 an hour, depending on the client's needs) it just hasnt been reliable enough to support me lately. The problem is that I never really bothered to get certified for any of the work I do. Granted, most of what I wind up doing these days IS spyware removal, but I've been at desktop support for a while now, can tear down or build a machine fairly easily, handle most home LAN issues with little dificulty, and I can say with some confidence that my customer relation skills are a cut above most anyone's standards. Do I have a realistic chance, or are certifications a neccity for employment with best buy / geeksquad? -Orochi

You don't need any certifications. The qualifications you have sound fine. You could probably even do better than Geek Squad with your qualifications as geek squad would likely pay you $10.50-$11.50 or so an hour to start which is far below what you are used to getting.

Agent Greg: Yeah, 10.00 -- 12.00 would be a little tough to support yourself on. Id have expected that they might pay at least a little bit better than your average retail type position, but I suppose if they are owned by best buy that isnt entirely unpredictable. At this point I just really need experience in a corperate enviroment of some sort, and a way to put food on the table. I would look else where, but most big companies are pretty my sticklers for a degree and certs. -Orochi

I'm a geek squad agent here in Arkansas. I've done the whole double agent deal and i've drivin the bug. It's a great jig for a college student. I mean they pay for me a car, the gas and i have a cell phone they pay for. I love my job and most of the people i encounter are very friendly. Most of what i do is home networking at the present and i enjoy it!

Hey JediCode dumbass, if you have a BS and know SOOO much, what the hell are you taking your computer to Geek Squad in the first place!!!!!!! I work as an instore agent and I've had so many dumbasses take their computer to us stating they're Techs for IBM, Systems Admins for so and so company but still take their computers to US because they don't know shit. .................................You really are a dumbass for not letting the warranty pay for the HD. Agent..metal

Hi, I am 20 years old and I am a certified Geek Squad Agent. Geek squad is now requiring its agents to have a+ certification. Also, most people that work in geek squad are young, but most of them do know what they are doing. HEY, they fixed your PC didn't they? I know every once in a while you get a bad one or one that is inexperienced, but you have to start somewhere and geek squad is a greaet place to start.

well i was just checking their prices out (my #@%^ neighbor want me to fix comp. lol.) They are VERY high. And as DA said he was taught since he was 11. =D im 12. i built my first computer at the age of 9. i make more cash fixing comps. for the kids at my school and for the dumb techs at my school i cover their asses. proudly at LMS in berwyn,ill =)

All i can say to those of us reading this that all experiences are on a store to store basis, you may hate the people who work at a grocery store chain but does that mean youll never shop at one again? I hate the people who worked at a local Wal-Mart but when i moved i still go into the new one and have excellent experiences (for as little as wal-mart tries to help) So just like you can have a bad experience with something doesnt mean the whole company is bad. I apologise you have an issue where you are located but its not the same everywhere.

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 they don't know how to fix them themselves- Go figure) 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. To agent metal you must have been the fool I talked to, like a classic Geek Squad agent, doesn't know jack and every moron like you, your comments show how stupid you really are, which isn't hard.

Some of these comments are so ridiculous I don't even know what to say other than I love working for the GS and I love these intelligent guys that actually work for the Geeksquad posting, and sticking up for our work.

Just thought I'd add a "normal person" comment. We just had the Geek Squad at our house last night. I really thought they were just taking advantage of my very technically challenged mom, but after seeing the work, I'm a convert! She just bought a laptop, and they were supposed to come out to install the wireless router, but ended up staying over 8 hours and fixing lots of stuff on the PC downstairs. I saw the $600 bill and was thinking about gutting the agent downstairs for taking advantage of mom and dad, then I realized that the slow Dell Dimension 2400 that I was ready to recycle and replace was faster than it was out of the box, not to mention faster than the PC I was getting ready to drop over $1000 on! The agent was friendly as well as knowledgable and really went through maintanence steps with my mom in language she could understand. He also talked with me about the good fixes that I did as well as the mistakes and did some more advanced training with me. Also installed new memory in both computers. I finished my homework in half the time, and start-up is practically instant, rather than the15 min. I had to wait before. In short, it was pricey but well worth it, I really feel like I have a brand new computer, and, essentially, I do! For a year, I was applying my limited and "just enough to be dangerous" knowledge to a slow, doomed computer, and in one (long) day I have (in his words) a "smokin' fast beast!" Thanks Geek Squad!

Geez Molly, keep it in your pants for 5 minutes, would ya?

I am considering a job with geek squad. What should i be conserned with when considering the position?

There has been a new website formed that is dedicated to those who wish to do their own computer diagnostics and repair. Offering How To computer information and a Blog for those to post their own articles. You'll find it here: [http://www.antigeeksquad.com](http://www.antigeeksquad.com) enjoy!

Hey guys, I believe very much in the Geek Squad, and the only question one should ask yourself is: Would someone guarantee their work if they couldn,t fix it? I know I wouldn't. However to better help your people(customers) there should be a list of tell-tale signs that your computer needs to see the doctor.I do have a question though: When I go under task manager, after initial startup, it shows about 2% usage, and under processes it shows 99 in cpu column for system idle. After I say shortcut to google, or pogo etc. all of a sudden a new image name appears that wasn't a prior running process. This image name is: CONNEC~1.EXE labeled owner under user name running 88-98 in th cpu column non-stop, even as I write this. now when I close everything in my lower right hand corner, and exit everything and go back to my desktop, it continues. The question is: Why is that, and what does it mean? who can better answer this question, the certifications guy, or the degree guy? and Do I need to take my computer in?

Thanks Molly, "normal person", in so many words you've described what I think about Geek Squad's in-home services: pricy, but worth it. And, Kellix, fyi: Best Buy still calls you guys, IBM to fix the registers, because they have a contract with IBM ever since they bought those registers, not because, as you might want to think to amuse your self esteem, Geek Squad Agents cannot fix it themselves.

I refuse to use the Geek Squad again or as I call them the THEIF SQUAD I brought my computer in to them to be fixed. I was charged $167.00 and they not only did $64 worth of work, but the computer is now worse than it was before they got their hands on it...also I was promised to have the computer back in 5 days...I had to physically go into Best Buys to ask them why they had the computer for over 2 weeks...apparently they don't know how to add.

I've been a Geek Squad agent since October 2005. I graduated highschool in June of that year. I also went to a two-year technical prep school and am currently a full time college student. My majors include programming and networking. Enough about that. Geek Squad has been the best job i've had thus far. I agree that our fixes aren't always what could be the best solution, BUT: Think of Geek Squad services like Nascar -- Nascar forces restrictor plates on all cars -- - Best Buy forces us to use the SOP and there isn't anything we can do about it. Sure we can do what we can to remove malware/grayware/spyware/viruses etc, **BUT** we can only do so much before our store's policy says "ship it to service, they can do the rest". Believe me, I dislike calling people to tell them that we couldn't fix it in the store and it has to be sent to our service center. Service Centers can be frustrating as sometimes they need to order parts, they can't get the work done becuase they're swamped (around christmas especially), and often ends with a customer being frustrated. I just want everyone who happens to read this board to know:: Geek Squad is limited much like a Nascar car, we can do what we're allowed to do for a flat fee (which isn't too far off from the normal hourly rate at many computer shops), We (most of us) pride ourselves on being computer knowledgable and we all have the same "Customer satisfaction is key" attitude. Best Buy is an awesome environment, but our job is rather tasking becuase we have to get right down to the nitty gritty with customers to diagnose their problem, remedy that problem, and then make sure each customer is satisfied with the work done. ~~Agent Irish~~

My experience with GS is a bad one, and I won't recommend them to anyone. My mother's computer in NJ went into a constant reboot cycle, so I paid $229 for an OS restore. The "tech" comes out, and five minutes later proclaims the hard drive is bad; plus, this will be so expensive to replace she'd be better off going to Best Buy and buying a brand new computer! Sounded so outrageous she called and had me speak to the "tech". He told me the same thing. This is a just out of warranty (1 yr) Pentium 4. Ok. So comes the next weekend. Six hours and thirty minutes later, the computer is back in business. It's a six hour round trip drive between our houses, fixing the boot record took thirty minutes if you count the time spent between reboots, scandisk, defrag and virus check. I've been doing this as a tech and manager since 1980. Naturally, I'm livid when I call the store. They say they'll refund $100, but still have to charge $129 as a diagnostic fee. I'm going in this evening to have the refund processed. I hope they have potential customers waiting.

geek squad sucks, and they are thieves. i took my laptop to them just for spyware removal and for 27 days they gave me the run around. every time i talked to them they had their heads up their asses and none of them knew when my computer would be done. somewhere in between i realized i'd left my memory card in the computer so i called to ask them to make a note of it so it wouldn't get lost. they assured me they would. on one of the countless trips i made to the store to retrieve my computer, i saw it sitting on a shelf and asked if i could have my memory card, the kid said no since it was my boyfriend's name on the invoice. finally, the computer was ready for pick-up and when i showed up this time the memory card was missing. those little punks acted like i was lying and said if it was there in the first place they would have written down in the accessories list section of the invoice. well they didn't. memory cards can't just fall out of a drive...they are secured in place until someone removes them by hand. so one of those chumps stole my memory card. and the whole story of not being able to give me anything 'cause my name wasn't on the invoice didn't seem to matter when it came to me handing over a hundred bucks. to top it off, my computer still isn't completely cured. if you want to pay way too much for the slowest possible service, just to get stolen from in the end, then go ahead and use the geek squad. if you're not into that, use somebody else -- anybody else. f**k the geek squad

So what your goofy ass is saying is that the geek squad techs should have given a memory card to some random a$$hole off of the street who came in and claimed that "a-bloo-bloo it's my Boyfriend's computer!" How in the F-CK are they supposed to know it's really your boyfriend's computer, and that you aren't some random punk coming in to steal it? Here's a helpful hint -- if it's in your BOYFRIEND'S computer, and they need your BOYFRIEND there to retrieve something from HIS computer, have HIM go in there and spend 2 minutes of his time getting it back! How the F-CK are they supposed to prove that you are who you say you are? Ghetto whore.

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 Squad?. 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 doing?. It has become brutally obvious that is not the fact. I sent a letter to the Geek Squad H.O. and , of course, never heard a word.

What is the minimum age requirement to work at Geek Squad?

A person must be 16 years of age to apply for employment with Best Buy. However, in order to be a part of the Geek Squad a person must be 18 years of age. I have read several pages of this post. I have this to say in reply: I work for Best Buy and my title with the company is ["Double Agent"](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geek_Squad). What Best Buy asks of me, as a company, is to make a profit for the market share holders and assure customer satisfaction. Thus our motto, "Have fun while being the best!" They do not ask me to cut corners, steal intellectual property, nor cheat our customers. On a corporate level the company asks of me to focus on **customer satisfaction in aim for customer loyalty**. My weekly, semi-annual, and annual reviews are focused around: punctuality, attendance, and customer satisfaction. On a local level, the company asks of me to uphold myself like a respectful member of society, assist our customers to the best of my abilities, and provide a positive experience for the customer along with aiding their technical needs. I would like to say that Best Buy doesn't promote negative behavior. No company would because it is not profitable. We are a "For-Profit" organization. We charge for product and services. Customers that want the products/services that we provide are willing to pay the **set** amount that we have listed. Otherwise they shop elsewhere. Retail sales and technology support are both competitive markets. As a consumer you should "shop around." Every company attempts to hire and recruit talented people. There is always a need for more talented people. Please understand that this is the case with all companies. Some people will not live up to the expectations that are set. In a decisive manner most employers will attempt to discover these people and train and coach appropriately. My Opinions: Q: Does Best Buy rip people off? A: No, it would not be profitable for the company?s long-term goals. Q: Are all Geek Squad Agents/Best Buy employees able to fix and diagnose every problem appropriately? A: No. Best Buy employs ["128,000 full-time, part-time and seasonal employees"](http://money.cnn.com/quote/sec/sec.html?symb=BBY&sequenceid=1&guid=4407580) and there are bound to be some people that are not properly trained or do not take pride in their work. Personal Statement: I do my best to take care of our customers. I focus on the experience I help create when I am in their home or when they are in our store. I do all that I can, in result, we bring profit to our share holders. This is possible through customer loyalty, which can only be achieved through great customer service. Small Business Technology Support companies are awesome! They provide people with choice and innovation. Just like some people like fast food, and some do not; some people like big retail stores and some do not. Independent businesses are the backbone of this country. Best Buy was a small business once. I am sorry for writing a book. I felt that moderation was needed and some people are just curious. I love my career with Best Buy and I love my customers who share their time with me. ...:::End Transmission:::...

Last year I found myself facing a defective motherboard that failed to POST. I took it to the geeksquad to see if they could do some on-board POST testing, and not only did the guy (non geek-squad) break the locking mechanism on my computer, he pawned it off as having never happened. Needless to say I walked out with no problems fixed, and my computer case now broken. This year however, in my attempts to find a job, I went again for a Geek Squad position (I was interviewed and rejected 2 years ago since I lacked A+), and was again required to have A+, but have now been given 30 days. I was tag-team interviewed my first time by an agent, and the GS manager. The agent asked me technical questions such as "what do you do if you're simply given the HAL.DLL FILE CORRUPT message", and other such questions dealing with both component, and system problems. They were not your every day "google for the answer" questions. The manager asked me about customer service. I was then interviewed by the store's general manager, who interviewed me on my personality, delved into my technical background (and imposed the 30 day A+ probation). I was also offered (for those curious) 11$/hr (I was offered 15$/hr to work for the state government office). While I have no opinions yet aside from the non GS agent breaking my computer, my hopes were improved when I was quizzed by the GS agent on hand. They're specs were pushing well over 100 tagged computers in-store on weekends, and slowing to 10-20 on wednesdays. It's a hit and miss with any tech shop. You'll get the geniouses who realize you're a dick who unplugged your IDE cable for shits and giggles within seconds (while you're heading for the door), and you'll have others that hand it back having replaced damn near every component and give it back as "working". Everyones opinions of the GS will be different depending on their experience. Bitch and moan and depreciate them all you want, regardless, there's those that live by the GS, and loathe it. Either way, bitching just makes you feel better, and 10/1, a good 90% of those agents could give a flying fuck what you say about them. They're getting paid to work for a brand name that's becoming increasingly appreciated among the public, and to some companies, they'd hire a GS agent over you in a heartbeat because they come from the Geek Squad, not from "Tom's PC Basement Repairs." Tomato, ToMAto.

Does the Squad deal with Trojans? Apperantly AOL wont!

Does GS have a policy of not using the Microsoft tool called Files and Settings Transfer Wizard, which is built into XP? I have called requesting data migration for one of my remote locations (6 month old XP desktop to new laptop), and was told that GS does the migration "manually". Further, they would not migrate a desktop to a laptop without us bringing us into the precinct at BBY. Can anyone explain the logic? Thanks

Hey, I work for a very large local computer shop as a technician, and am currently in Year 2 of my Computer Degree. I have had 2 years prior experience to workin at the shop I am in now. I now have A+, and Network+, as well as am the top of my class, and will be MCP in the next month, MCSA in the next three months, and will aquire my CCNA/CCNP/CCIE before completing my program. The last two positions I had were both phone oriented, as well as service-call, and "bring it in" labour. I am in Canada, and am wondering if anyone has had experience with the Canadian Geek Squad... How much they pay an hour, and what certifications they require, should I apply at a Best Buy store, or contact them via e-mail? I realize with some experience and certifications, Geek Squad isn't the best spot to work for, and I could get a better paying job, but I'm just looking for experience in the field, and to say that "I worked my way up in the geek squad". I am still completing school, and just need some more experience, and they are very well known. Any answers to these questions would be great! Thanks!

you guys are soo funny...

Agent Roscoe from Precinct 772 here (salisbury, md). Being that Geek Squad #'s are nos in the thousands there is no way that you are guranteeded the perfect most intelgent good smelling and knolodgble geek each time you come in. We all have bad days. Yet at my precinct we do a good job ont he computers we wwork on. We only do about 2-3 restores a week.We excell in fixing the problem not just nuking it away.

I agree with BLACK MAN, and what's so bad about ITT or DEVRY, Mr. hypnetric???

I have never had a positive experience with Geek Squad... in fact, I've had to repeatedly fix messes they couldn't solve. But.. the best part is reading through these years of posts hearing you guys ramble on about precincts and double agents and all that nonsense. I'm sure some of you who work for GS are mighty intelligent and do your homework and know how to tackle problems, unfortunately, I have yet to see that... all I've seen is post after post on forum after forum.. about how you're Agent so-and-so and are hellbent at the number of people who think you are completely incompetent. To be honest, I got over my true disgust for Geek Squad a few months ago, until I saw an ad today...that said "Highly Caffeinated Agents" and I stared at it for a minute, shook my head, and replied to the screen, "How 'bout we start with highly certified?" However, it appears Best Buy would rather highlight their employees' ability to ingest Coke instead of the months and years of learning needed to go far in the business. Thankfully, as seen above in Agent X 3283's beautiful eulogy.. I don't have to worry about being hired over you, because I'm not even a computer tech, I'm just the guy that likes to solve shit that needs to be solved. As for caring about you... it's not the staff that I dislike.. it's the brand in general... the ridiculous charges that emerge, the fact that I've never seen a problem actually solved by GS, and then the fact that you all are pretending to work for the damn CIA. Why don't we equip you all with squad automatic weapons and get you painted helicopters you can dive out of when you go out on a mission to save the average computer user? That would be fun as hell, but fixing a computer is not a soap opera. Maybe Geek Squad is becoming increasingly popular, but I've always been taught it's quality over quantity that matters and if I was in your shoes I'd much rather be impressing a competent computer user with an issue than overcharging someone who is completely clueless. Case in point.. my last computer related "hire"... GS charges: 714 dollars... problem... not solved.... My charges: None; Problem: Annihilated. May not be the best way to make money, but hey... least I can sleep at night.

I worked for the GS about 1 year and while i did enjoy it mainly because of the people i worked with the majority of the bench was incompitent and whenever a problem would take over an hour to fix or figure out the majority of them would say "Oh well it needs a restore" in numerous cases i would say no and spend teh rest of my shift soley on that computer and 9/10 i was able to figure out the issue isolate it and fix it without a restore Now why are agents so quick to offer restores NUMBERS thats right the all mighty dollar that the presinct is "Score carded" on so how does restoring lead to better numbers well a restore comes along with the need to BACK-UP the hard drive at a additional cost of 89 dollars to the customer and if you were at my store $89 dollars for the 1st disk and $59 dollars for each disk after that Not only that but majority of the time a restore + back up lead to Spyware and Virus programs + Installs I dont dislike the company or the brand i dislike the managment that pushed numbers and would be on your back the second your store wasnt #1 in the district / Region Overall my experiance with the GS wasnt bad and the majority of the customers that i dealt with soley by myself went away happy as i would always do little things for free or do a small back up without charge was i supposed to NO would i have gotten writen up if my manager found out YES but i didnt give a shit customer satisfaction was #1 for me One time i saw an agent accidently reformat the wrong hard drive then called the customer and said the HD crashed the customer had every single picture she had ever taken of her 2 year old son on there and now it was gone because of agent that didnt have a fucking clue what he was doing im sure this has happend at far more than my store alone...When you have 15 monkey's fixing one computer somebody is going to fuck up and in that is the problem GS doesnt hire 4 full time agents for the Bench they hire 2 Full-time agents and 6 Part-times to cut down on costs of running the bench and most of the time the 6 part-time monkeys are horribly bad and only work 4 hours a day... Just my 84 cents ~Steve

Oh just FYI as a agent i was making $13.50 USD i started at $12 and worked in a $1.50 in raises in less than a year as a CIA (Counter Int. Agent) i heard that my DA made somewhere in teh 20-25 range but never confirmed what a DA actually makes. The perk of DA is the car and the Gas card although the car can no longer be used outside of work hours like it used to be able too.....

I manage a hotel and work at Geek Squad just for fun...I ran an IT Dept some years back and don't need the BS stress from all the dumbass users...I like helping regular people with their problems and get paid very well for my efforts by the way....The general public are very glad to be helped and educated, while the IT dept has you working on phones most the time, I guess you would have the time to rag online about the Geek Squad...lol

When the fuck did we get icecream?

You were gonna suck my dick....

If you slip the "agent" a $50 they will go down...Made my day...Thanks GeeksSqad!

Who peed in you cheerios everyone? Lick my butt and suck my balls Kevin!

Yeah, I just wanted to say that one of the agents went to my condo and told mr how hot he thougth I was and he went down on me. Needless to say, I din't have to pay for nothing. Geek Squad sucks! (My vagina at least...)

well let me tell you all something. I had a very very bad experience with the so called GEEK SQUAD. they could not do anything with my computer. It need to be restored and they had no idea how to do that. Told me I would have my computer back in 2 days and they had it for 4 and still not fixed. I even took out BEST BUYS so called warranty. DONT DO IT it is not worth the money and they WILL NOT REFUND IT if there is a service ticket already made up. I would not recommend these so called Computer techinicians for anything. They don't know what they are talking about and talk in circles to make you think you are stupid when in fact they do not much more than you do. Needless to say I will not be buying another computer from them or their service warranty. Was not treated well at all with my GEEK SQUAD. Good luck to anyone who wants to trust these people

Yep, I keep seeing more and more GS cars around town.

The-Geek-Squad is the most awesome idea in the world. I love the The-Geek-Squad so very much. GeekSquad.com or is it The-Geek-Squad.com, whatever. I love these gals and Guys, cause they fixed my PC, storage system, re-installed my "Operating System" on my "Server" , fixed a "Hard Drive" problem, Installed new: "IDECables", "ScsiCables", "Monitor", "Keyboard", "Mouse", "Router", "Modem", "Cable Modem", "PC Speakers", Motherboard" , "Hard-Drive", "Optical-Drives", and more because they said I needed it.

Did I need a NEW storage system, a re-installed of my ?Operating System? on my ?Server? , and fixed a ?Hard Drive? problem by replacing my HDD, Installed New: ?IDECables?, ?ScsiCables?, ?Monitor?, ?Keyboard?, ?Mouse?, ?Router?, ?Modem?, ?Cable Modem?, ?PC Speakers?, Motherboard? , ?Hard-Drive?, ?Optical-Drives?, and more because they said I needed it.

I LOVE GEEK SQUAD!!!!! I'm totally gonna work in the Geek Squad when I'm older!

Geeksquad epitomizes impotence.

WOW...I PAID $370 TO HAVE A HOME WIRELESS INSTALLED...SILLY ME..I THOUGH BUYING THROUGH BEST BUY WOULD BE THE BEST WAY TO GO... THE TECH WHO CAME OUT DIDN'T KNOW A LOT...AFTER HE LEFT ONE OF THE TERMINALS DIDN'T WORK... WOW...WHAT BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE... IF I WANTED TO BE IRRITATED...I COULD HAVE DONE IT MYSELF...LOL... UNHAPPY IN CALIF...

I was writing programs in COBOL and RPGII as well as building PCs before most, if not all, Geek Squad Agents were even born. So, I am an authority in the IT field! Here are my personal observations: (1) Geek Squad Agents are not trained by Best Buy and they should be before they are allowed to service any PC. Best Buy should have their own testing criteria which should include, among other things, how to effectiviely communicate with customers. (2) Their adverstising is far keener than their agents abilities to fix PCs. I have been into my local Best Buy store and listened to them talk to customers and work on PCs. It has proven to be fairly entertaining and I often go there after eating a quick lunch just to see them in action. I always find it funny to watch them struggle to open a PC case or stare blankly at one hoping it will maybe fix itself! (3) I generally have heard much the same response from people I have talked to about their Geek experience and it goes something like this. Whatever your problem is money can fix it! Yep! They always seem to have something for you to buy that will solve the problem even if it is a new computer! (4) In their defense I must say that no one really knows "everything" and the Geek Squad is no different than any other repair shop in that respect! I have been in the IT field since 1983 and I still learn something new just about every day. (5) This one is for all potential Geek Squad customers. It is your responsibility to keep your data backed up on a regular basis! If you are stupid enough to fill a 300+GB hard drive with precious memories and not back it up then I have no sympathy for you. Computers do not last forever, but people tend to belive so. (6) Most adware/spyware problems can be easily resolved with free tools such as Adaware, Spybot Search and Destroy and HiJack This. They are all free to download from the Internet. As far as virus protection goes I have had great success with AVGFree by Grisoft which is also available for free. If you have an XP box then simply restoring the PC to a time prior to the problem often solves the problem. Most all problems are user created in one way or another! My personal advice that I give to all those who ask: 1. Never store anything on your computer you wouldn't share with the rest of the world. 2. Make regular backups of your data. There are many ways to accomplish this task. (i.e. software, external drives, DVDRW Media, USB Drives etc...) 3. Keep the kids off the PC unless you make sure they have limited access privilages or they use the Guest account. 4. Use virus protection software like AVGFree and do not use Norton system works or McAfee. 5. Make sure to use a good UPS that has AVR technology. Clean regulated power will make a world of difference in the life of a PC! 6. Don't sweat the small stuff! Windows XP has a built-in firewall so there is no need to purchase another one. They will often counter one another and keep you from surfing the Internet! 7. Make sure you buy a PC that fits your needs! If all you do is surf the Internet you won't need much of a PC and those $500 or less boxes will do just fine. If you want to play a newer RPG or FPS game then you better plan on spending 3 to 4 times that amount for starters! Most people that complain about a crapy PC they have is because they failed to buy the PC that they needed! A $399 Dell PC isn't going to play games! But it will surf the Internet just like PCs costing thousands of dollars! Get clear on your needs!!!!! 8. When you do have a problem with a PC, don't take drastic measures! Try small changes after creating backups of all your data first! Then if it doesn't resolve the problem you can move on to the next try. Too many times people go overboard and waste money on software that doesn't even fix the problem! Well, that's all for now from this tired old IT Vetran! Hoping all of your problems are simple ones to reolve!

there is a question on gold rush a game i'm playing with everyone else in the usa you can find it on aol.com/goldrush, the question is what a the geek squad password

I found it very interesting to follow this thread.... Geeksquad is overpriced. I think the ebst service you could recieve is form ma and pop shops, they actually do use thier extensive knowledge and experience for solving your computer problems. These large corporations have strict protocol which they follow to optimize profits -- i'm talking about system restores, hardware upgrades blah blah blah. They dont always have real solutions to real problems. I'd like to comment on the a note someone made earlier about using university learned skills to fix computers: I am a strong believer and supporter of higher education, and i think that everyday is a learning process (in fact i DO learn something new everyday it seems, specially in computers). But the truth is that the best techs are trained from experience. I know handfulls of ppl who have dozens of certs (mcse, a+ ....etc) and quite honestly I would not trust any of them to give me the best solution to my problems. The best tech is the one who has years of experience and has been fooling with these wierd PC machines since thier inception. In short, stay away from these horrible companies like Geek Squad, Nerd On Site, and similar big corporate giants. Thier bottom line is profits. Thier techs may not always be the best, some of them are outsourced or independant contractors. Try to find a local 'ma and pop shop' that has proven itself to be knowledgeable and trustworthy. Or try some smaller online tech support firms like the one I work at ;) Jason T. Live Tech Online * Get Help FAST! Live Online Tech Support [http://www.livetechonline.com](http://www.livetechonline.com)

I have taken my computer in Best Buy/ Geeksquad a couple of times, but nearly every time I dont bother getting the problem fixed because they take one look at it and say "yup it will have to be sent to our service center in california, it will take 5-6 weeks"... Now I understand that computer repair is not an easy task, but the fact of the matter is as a student 5-6 weeks is almost half of my semester so not having a computer is not an option. As far as the how helpfull these people are, yes 90% of the time they are great. The problem I think is with the sales people and the damn PSP's, because they always tell you "oh yeh just bring it in and you'll get a new one... or..."yeh it covers cleanings and everything" and the other one is "if you get the service plan you go to the front of the line, no waiting and its fixed in shop". So you can see why customers like me are pissed when I spent $350 only to be told yup it will be 5-6 weeks. Also I went in to buy an external hard drive before I sent my computer off to be fixed, and a sales rep told me that I needed at least a 200gb hard drive, when the one on my laptop is only 100gb...BS!!! he also told me it would be impossible for me to back up my own data unless I spent $100 on a special program...more BS!! props to geek squad! Best Buy managers should crack down on sales people who have no damn clue about what they are selling....also a word of warning, If you lose you PSP contract check the new one best buy gives you, as I found my old one and compared them....the new one is different and leaves out things from the old one...but if you purchased the old one thats the one they are obligated to uphold!

Geek Squad! what a joke...I dropped my computer off at Geek Squad in Best Buy Surrey, BC. My computer kept crashing and I brought it in to see why. I told them the problem, and was told to call back 2 hours later. So I did, then I was told to call again in another 2 hours, and I did. Then I was told don't call us we'll call you. So then I get a call next day, "you have spyware on your computer" "OK" I said, so that is why my computer is crashing? o your computer crashes? we'll do some more tests and call you back. They called me the next day and said it was because I need to install a new Windows on my system. So I paid the $40 for the diagnosis, and then wen't and paid $200.00 for a new Windows Operating System. Immediately after I formatted my hard drive and intalled windows, my computer crashed!! Does that sound very professional to you? I DO NOT RECOMMEND GEEK SQUAD!!

Geek Squad! what a joke...I dropped my computer off at Geek Squad in Best Buy Surrey, BC. My computer kept crashing and I brought it in to see why. I told them the problem, and was told to call back 2 hours later. So I did, then I was told to call again in another 2 hours, and I did. Then I was told don't call us we'll call you. So then I get a call next day, "you have spyware on your computer" "OK" I said, so that is why my computer is crashing? o your computer crashes? we'll do some more tests and call you back. They called me the next day and said it was because I need to install a new Windows on my system. So I paid the $40 for the diagnosis, and then wen't and paid $200.00 for a new Windows Operating System. Immediately after I formatted my hard drive and intalled windows, my computer crashed!! Does that sound very professional to you? I DO NOT RECOMMEND GEEK SQUAD!!

Who was the founder of the "Geek Squad"?

I work for Geek Squad Mission Control in a super secret location. The reason you would be asked to bring in your tower if you stated your harddrive crashed is that the Double Agents do not repair hardware in the home.

SO... I came to this site looking for rate info, and I stumbled upon drama. But gotta say it was some good reading. In the midst of all of this passionate text, I was able to see that there are better options available than tha Geeks. In the chance that you are given a Geek fresh out tha box, you may get a bad experience that the Geek will learn from and become better for ever mistake he makes. But leaving you with a lack of faith in the company, which drives you to an independent-geek which may reverse your issues, or yet again screw things up. Certification is a load of credit for TIME and ENERGY spent while maintaining focus on a main goal or subject of interest. Experience is what makes us a wise sponge, you can learn from your own experiences 10x better than anyone else's. Customer service and hospitality are legendarily essential when embracing a visit to a customers home. You can be blessed with the best manners from birth, but being able to handle complex confrontations and emotional consumers in an element you're not used to (their home) can only be truly grasped with experience. No GeekSquad agent would badmouth their own employer, so I wasn't surprised with the answers given by them ... they were pretty confident in themselves though (why not). As for the ones who brought on the questions. They were great and thank you for asking them, it saved me from an experience I may have regretted... But which service did I go with, you ask?! Because everyone has to start SOMEWHERE & technology is constantly evolving, this service will never be perfect. Nor will it's competitors. Much like the machines we build, and the world we create, eh? Mattamus! ;)

Uhm........ I was with Best Buy before their aquisition of the Geek Squad brand and was a double agent for about a year before I found a better job. I'm not really going to read too many of the responses aside from to say that I agree a bit with what Justin said earlier in his post. Best Buy instore agents along with the stand-a-alone stores are SALES DRIVEN. PERIOD. I cant tell you how many early morning "meetings" we had hammering this point in. I can tell you FOR A FACT -- A LOT of instore agents are kids who walk in from the street, answer a few "tech related" questions, are able to jump thru some "knowledge based" hoops and suddenly theyre "experts" or "agents". People walk into the store and they cant discern from one agent to another regardless if one has 10 certs and the other doesnt. Best Buy's main objective is money. Thru and thru. Is there anything wrong with that? No. They see the future, and understand where they stand to make that almighty dollar. People continously lambast Best Buy's prices as extortionate and there is always a cheaper alternative. Thats may be true but that can fall or pertain to just about anything. Sure if you were a mechanic you could probably fix your car for pennis on the dollar but not everyone out there is a mechanic. Do a lot of people own cars? Yes. Enter -- Pep Boys, Walmart, and any other conglomerate ready to charge you 80 dollars for an oil change. Again I can tell you Best Buy is sales driven. Just a quick bite of where I'm comming from: Our meetings talked a lot about various things. One of those being our "face time". We were told to keep face time to a minimum. Granted time is money but they were really pushing us to run spyware/virus scans or "the geek" diagnostic tool in order to check in the machine. Anyone worth their salt when it comes to computer knowledge has the ability to check something out and determine roughly wether or not the symptom is hardware or software related. Again not everyone instore was tech saavy. In my store alone we had a girl who was made an "agent" simply because she used to hang out in the back and do our paperwork. I spotted her one day wearing the tie and white shirt, checking in machines and admitting to us in the back she didnt know what the hell she was doing. LOL Again my point, Best Buy is pushing for the dollar here. Nothing wrong there being that Best Buy is one of the many folks out there in their infinate wisdom wanting to put a computer in every man, woman and child's hands.

Geek Squad service is going downhill. I used Geek Squad a couple years ago and they were responsive and solved my computer problem. I had the tech come to the house. I called Nov. 05 to get phone support because my computer was running slow. All the tech did was have me load two more programs on my computer to clean the registry and 'C' drive, but ultimately the real problem was not solved. A guy from our cable company who came out to fix some internet problems actually found the real reason my computer was running slow. It was pretty basic stuff the Geek Squad tech should have spotted. I tried to call back Geek Squad but could not get through during the entire month of December! Same incideous recording playing over and over while I was on hold at least a half hour. They refused to revisit the problem since it had been over 5 days from my original contact. The so-called supervisor just didn't get it that I could not get through to them. So I am hiring another local computer tech company to help with the problem. I won't do business with Geek Squad again. Their customer service has really gone downhill in the past couple years and the first level phone support techs obviously read a fromula from some manual. Don't waste your money on these guys.

I have no experience with Geek Squad, but from what I gather it's like McDonaldization of the IT support industry. Also, do they support Linux whatsoever? I'm shocked to hear that story about the Geek Squad employee dishonestly telling your parents they couldn't have their dead drive back and that there was no way to recover the data. My own mother's hard drive crashed completely on her almost new Dell computer, which of course came with Windows XP installed on it. When she called Dell, some guy in India cried with her over the phone and when told that Windows wouldn't boot and what the Blue Screen of Death error message that appeared said, insisted to her that she had lost all of her data and that there was absolutely no possible way anything could be recovered and all she could do was send back the old drive and have Dell replace it with a new one containing none of her data. She thought she had lost several gigabytes of family photos, all her business and tax records and dozens of personal documents and a lot of music forever. Dell tech support had her believe this nonsense. When she told me the problem, I was sure I could fix it. So I visited her, watched her show me the problem, popped a Knoppix Live Linux CD into her cd-rom, booted the machine from the CD and used the legal free software DVD/CD burning program k3b by launching it from the menu in KDE in the Live Linux system (not really very different from a Windows 98 environment), navigated to her not yet erased Windows directories on her hard drive, which Knoppix mounted automatically, and simply dragged everything into k3b and burned all of her stuff onto blank DVDs. The whole thing took me only a few hours. When I told her Dell was wrong and that I could recover her stuff, my Mom didn't believe me. It turns out that the hard drive was truly defective, but not dead. It was sick enough that Windows wouldn't read it any more but Linux still could, until it totally died about a week after Linux had successfully rescued all of her files. She now has a new Linux machine that I bought for her, and all of her personal files that I burned onto the DVD are now both on her Linux machine's hard drive and also on my stepfather's Windows machine's hard drive, fully intact and readable by either operating system. If I went to work for Geek Squad or a similar operation, would they allow me to use such knowledge and expertise to help their customers? Or would they insist that I only use their proprietary and probably questionably licensed shareware and promote the Microsoft Windows mentality and force me to pretend that I've never heard of Linux and know nothing about it? Would they allow me to tell a customer that their data is not gone forever if I were sure that I could use something like a Linux live CD to rescue it all? Or would they teach me in training that I have to tell grandma whose Windows hard drive crashed a fib so Geek Squad can make their money by lying and overcharging the less tech-savy victims it calls "customers"? Would the people "training" me if I went to work for them be less knowledgeable than me and force me to do things the Best Buy way? I wonder how many people who work for Geek Squad wish they could really do what they know how to do to actually help people instead of having to follow the rules imposed by ignorant supervisors at a Walmart-style corporation. I'd be curious to hear from some Geek Squad people whether my guesses about what it must be like working for Geek Squad are at all close to reality. Is my criticism too harsh and unjustified, or are my assumptions accurate? You tell me.

Come to think of it, they'd probably fire me for knowing too much about what I'm doing. That's the way these big corporations work these days in this new America that cares neither about quality and customer satisfaction nor the people who work for these companies. It could be a good thing. If only it weren't owned by Best Buy.

Ha Ha Ha! I can't stop laughing! It just gets worse. I clicked on the job application link on the Geek Squad web site, just for the fun of it. Mind you, I'm running Firefox on OpenSuse 10.2 Linux, which means I don't and will never have any spyware or viruses. I'm using an HP laptop with a built-in Broadcom wireless card that I configured under Linux on my own. Mind you, the laptop came with a version of Windows XP that included a ton of adware and junk that HP put on it in the factory, like "AOL Free Trial" and so on. I didn't want Windows, but buying this machine was cheaper than buying a laptop preloaded and pre-configured with Linux, since it was on sale for the holidays. So I click on the job application link on Geek Squad's website, and get a page that says I'm "not allowed" to use the online application process unless I use "an unsupported operating system". It claims I must use Internet Explorer, not firefox, and that I must be running a Windows version, not Linux or even Mac. The site intentionally blocks Linux users from applying, even though the site claims to support "Netscape". (No mention of the existence of Firefox on the site.) So I close Firefox, on which the latest version of Netscape is based, and launch the MS Internet Explorer 6 that I installed on OpenSuse 10.2 Linux using the ies4Linux script (totally legal for me to run on my machine, since it came with Windows on it from the factory, and the MS license says you have to have a Windows license for the machine to use IE but doesn't say you must run IE under Windows) just in case I ran into such bullshit. (This is rare, since until now I haven't encountered a website other than MSNBC video complaining about Firefox or even Linux for over a year. I do all my banking and everything else online.) Since the MS IE on my Linux box runs in a Wine bottle, I'm finally able to get into the Geek Squad online application process, since the site thinks I'm running Internet Explorer on Windows 98 and has no idea I don't use Windows. But after encountering all this bullshit, no I won't apply. Instead I'll finish the last part of the Red Hat Linux training I'm taking and then take the RHCE exam so I can get a job making six figures. Then I can start my own local computer repair company and charge a tiny fraction of what the Geek Squad robs from unsuspecting senior citizens. Have you seen the posts from employee whistleblowers at [http://bestbuysux.org/comments.html](http://bestbuysux.org/comments.html) about working conditions and corruption at Best Buy? One post from January 2007, for example, details how a sales manager ordered a Geek not to fix an old woman's laptop that she brought in for service, so Best Buy can give her an identical model laptop that someone returned, pass it off as new and make the Geeks tell her they fixed her old one and charge her for it. This chain should be investigated by the FTC. What a joke.

correction: in my above post, read "a supported operating system" instead of "unsupported..." It's 11 p.m. and I'm a little drowsy.

I don't know about other areas, but in Los Angeles, Geek Squad isn't the best for the price. I own a small pc repair service and I get a lot of calls from people that no longer take it to best buy. The reason being, they don't want to pay more than what the computer is worth to get it serviced. Tony www.connectionzpcrepair.com

Well as I am getting a little late into this one...way to late...I'd just like to ask what Geek Squad can do besides Microsoft products? Is it possible for them to help out a low level Linux Junkie with *.tar installs? Just curious.

I don't think they have a clue about Linux. They're all about pretending to know how to fix Microsoft problems, but just cause more problems and then charge outrageous fees. If they keep up this act, eventually its going to backfire and have consequences for Best Buy. Like the saying goes, You can fool some people sometimes, but you can't fool all the people all the time.

Brandon ? Mr. MIT if i could find you i would beat the ever livin @#$@ out of you for being so incompitent. Geek Squad does suck and not because of how unbelievably expensive their so called "services" are but because they are not techs, they are employees of big buisness that have no real knowledge about individual problems. They default things into retarded generalizations using out dated methods for solveing complicated and simplistic problems. They also are shady and fraudulent. AND WTF couldnt they just say put the cd in and press next a couple a times, they are bullshit and you sir are an incompetent dick.

Avoid the Geek Squad! I had them set up a wireless network for my home which, during its short life, never did work correctly and now, three months later, doesn't work at all. And, according to the Geek Squad phone person, I'm supposed to pay an additional $100 just for a one-time telephone consultation that comes complete with a 5 day guarantee. Yahoo! I'm not the most computer literate, but I know that my laptop works everywhere but at my house. Don't make the same error I made!

I think all you guys need to realize the tech stuff really is easy to learn (it's really all how geeky you want to be!). Being a full-blown IT security manager...well that's another story. Knowing the business side as well as the tech stuff is really hard. I'm sure some of you nerds don't know when some hot HR lady manager is hinting how hot and sexy a geek really is to her. In fact, you'll be dumb enough to ask, "What? Do I look funny to you?" .....

I had serious problems with the Geek Squad. My hard drive failed and before they could look at it, they wanted $318.00 as a deposit. When I went to pick it up, the invoice had a charge for their work and a charge for a removable hard drive that was used to back up my data from the failed hard drive. I asked them why I was being charged 2 to 3 times the retail price for an external hard drive. The supervisor told me I must pay the price or I would not get my computer back. I showed him the same hard drive from the store's floor -- it was exactly 1/2 the price they charged me. The supervisor told me they can charge anything they want. I asked him for my deposit back. He said "No!". Bottom line -- I got most of my money back and I no longer hang around geeks.

Ok i have been working for geeksquad for awhile and have flipped through the last couple pages of this board, we have prices where they are to cover overhead. Also you show me a comp. shop that has a 90 day warrenty on SERVICES things a client can screw up. IE THE WIRELESS network ... why didnt you contact a manager if you wifi didnt work? hmmm that would be to easy.... we cant baby sit and walk people through everything if you think prices are high now imagine what they would be if we charged for every little things, also walking into my precinct if we fix in on the counter in about 10 minutes WE CHARGE NOTHING.... and we have some of the best agents that work for best buy .....

" I DONT LIKE YOU " You are a complete idiot, we have tools designed by agents for agents of course were are not going to spend 25 hours of time on one pc we dont generalize we make sure we cover the PC 100% also all agents are tested before they become agents. I would love for you to visit the local bestbuy and ask to take the test to see how bad you fail.

Im A+ Certified and had to read a book, over 1000 page book and another 1000 page book and now another 1000 page book but only had to read about 1500+ pages to get that certification. Now that Iv read all this and prior to that had about 9+ years self learned hands on experience being a gamer and all those different oses that been out since.

Now that Ive done all the work and read most of my Network + book, remember most of everything Iv read and am now reading on to be Net+ book which because of all the A+ work I do understand most of the Net+ book it makes it alot easier for me to understand the MCSE Exam Cram book which covers alot of the topologies and other Net+ stuff I learn and the 7 layer OSI model. I hope to be and /Security+/and MCSE Certified less then 5 years from now if I can only do a Low Level Defrag on my brain and maybe apply some miraclegrow that may help. I love Computers Period. Thats why Im good at what Im good At. I am going to Apply for Geek Squad now that Im certified I shoud be worth about $12 - $15 per hour starting off If I can prove what I know. I may be able to afford my own all bills payed apartment would be nice to look forward to! Theres so much shit to learn about computers its not even funny and to understand the terminology, topology, and logical/physical differences of whats going on takes a number of years to learn to be very proficient as there are books on everything computers, most of which a really long I went to school with this one guy who wanted to learn and know everything there is to know for just the A+ Certification itself in just 3 months.... Yea... Goood Luck! I challenge anyone who thinks they know didly squad about computers to take the 200 Question test and see how they do. Its NOT Easy...though for me it wasn't all that hard either. I can look at a computer and tell you whats wrong with it in alot of cases without even needing to look at its internals or software configs/ parameters and/or by how the OS is behaving. Now thats Computer talent!

And thats all just on the Hardware and the OS. Programming is a whole nother ball game and having an A+ Defintely helps those into programming understand what there programming on will take them alot more forward then just having an A+ as each Certification builds onto higher Certifications I figured out!

And when that guy who wanted to learn everything in 3 months realized it wasnt going to be possible, quit because it was to much reading for him he says. Its alot of reading, but having hands on experience is still a necessity and 50% of what what it takes to become truely proficient.

That guys now an accountant. And as much as you think you know abouty computers youll never know everything unless you spend the rest of your life with it as theres alot to know and new technology/OS's and Languages are comming out all the time. Particularly Windows VISTA which wasnt covered in my courses because it was so new and buggy. Learn Vista Learn Alot! My Books also cover UNIX and LINIX so I can put that on my Application aswell!

btw, I did my 9 months at Career Point Institute on Fredericksburg Road in San Antonio TX.

what should I do if I lose my password?

I work for Geek Squad as an onsite Agent (mostly to log job experience to supplement my certifications) and while they do provide a valuable service for the community they can be pricy and the level of expertise for Agents runs from poor to excellent with the average being fair in my opinion. Very few agents are certified and they mainly take others in the store who have proven to be good at selling and them make them an Agent and teach them how to follow the cheat sheet to clean malware using the Holy MRI disk and too many some supervisors are more concerned about add ons that agents sell than the quality of work. My beef is how they entice someone to get the Advanced Diagnostics and Repair but get the bill (with customer approval so no law is broken) up to around $400 after they tack on data backup and security software installs and then generally return the computer to the customer free of detected malware but still running poorly. With today's malware Geek Squad should be more aggressive about convincing customers to be doing clean installs of the OS (which is what I do onsite and what Microsoft recommends) and returing the computer to the client running like new and properly secured but that is more work/attention to detail and takes more expertise than running automated malware scans. It kills me when I bring in $700 labor in a days work for easy stuff "if I could only do that on my own" but Best Buy has tremendous name recognition and marketing clout that the little guy/shop just can not match evidenced by the perpetual line of people standing in line with their computer for repairs.

Contacted Geek Squad with a computer problem, the rep told me they would do a scan of my computer and compare my operating system with their proprietary software that would instantly show if my operating system was missing any files or anything was incorrect. To say the least this was a complete lie. They connected with my computer and ran a check to see if I had anti-virus, firewall, or any malware installed. The report showed 6 entries of malware, the Geek Squad tech quickly showed the entries in the report and immediately closed the software. I began to complain that this scan was not comparing operating systems, it was a Spyware and Adware scan and you guys won't even remove what you have identified as Spyware and Adware by your scan. They then informed me they would need to charge my credit card for another $50.00 to continue. I canceled my appointment with the tech for the next day. I felt that the $160.00 I agreed to would grow to $500.00 in a matter of minutes of him being here. Moral of the story is support you local computer repair techs, leave the Geek Squad alone unless your rich and can afford 5 to 10 up sales a minute.

They use Webroot System Analyzer -- hardly anything prorietary and you can do it online yourself at. [http://webrootdisp.net/analyzer/](http://webrootdisp.net/analyzer/)

Not that I aspire to flaming individuals who (like some customers of mine) are out there looking to be offended, taken advantage of, robbed, screwed over or lied to (or anyone else for that matter, I think if you have to flame someone you're merely hiding behind a facade of sheepish/impish/bullshitish (oft jealous) and infantile refute of malicious intent) but there are some people here who have just missed the boat. Let's talk about a couple of real issues here and set some things straight. In order to access GS, you have to do one of two things... 1. As we are not simply an idle entity floating around in space waiting to piss someone off, you have to actually engage us in one form or another. If you haven't actually done this and have only surmised a preconceived notion of who we are or what we do from someone else's (miss-)experience(s) [ wait a minute, didn't we all learn something in elementary school (probably the playground) about not making judgments about people but accepting their worth based on their own individual merits? If not school, every single religion in the world contains some contextual message of brotherly love and/or proceeding through life in a non-judgmental way] If you have done this and have received bad service or were not happy with the services you received there are a couple of things that (like all problems computer related) happen/should have happened. Manufacturers fuck stuff up.....A LOT. Especially after something has been sent from our service center, then forwarded to the manufacturer, then sent back to the store only to be sent back to the manufacturer (this in programming is referred to as an infinite loop) and is COMPLETELY OUT OF THE CONTROL OF THE GEEK SQUAD. Guess who becomes the fall guy though? Every customer is different, every customer's needs, complaints, products, tolerance levels, budget and even time frame (and what the customers idea of what the time frame should be) ARE ALL INDIVIDUAL. Guess what happens when that one particularly techniphoebic customer who has had something explained in 40 different re-phrasings by three different techs and a manager who all go out of their way in a patient and reassuring way (i.e. can remove the geek speak and talk in language the rest of the human race understands), goes home and does something to whatever it may be (lets say a camera in this case) and still goes against what they were told....they go to every person they know insisting they did precisely what geek squad told them to do and (said camera) is now fucked up worse then it was (when they themselves fucked it up to begin with). 1. B2B does exist...It's called Best Buy for Business (BB4B)First of all, if your looking at acquisition of equipment, we have one of the best selections in the industry for most (non-specialized) equipment (and even then we do offer some solutions, or the very least can make referrals) . Second, we do also offer tech support (in-office even, and including training). Thirdly, if you are looking into purchasing high-end, specialized hubs, routers, switches, rack mounts, blades, firewalls, phone systems yadda yadda yadda and its on a large or corporate scale you wouldn't go to BB to begin with.....you'd go to an enterprise level vendor who can tailor customize your installation and/or support. No, BB4B will not customize your Cisco Unity system.....but Cisco will....if they don't and your company is large enough to begin with you really have no reason to bitch (or at least you shouldn't) because in all reality you probably have an entire IT department already dedicated to this and the only reason your here is to flame to begin with. A lot of people are scared by technology (black whatever your name is) and the way they vent that is through anger (at whom they aim at the people who do understand technology). Many people before me (and some my institutional co-workers and fellow geeks) have taken a stab at others (and I don't blame you btw) because of these lash outs (which as George Carlin once said "You're just gonna have to figure that shit out on your own time...") I merely mean to point out what I've said and this: Some people just need to get paid. I have a 4 year degree from an ACCREDITED college (In New England I might add), I will begin my MBA in October through an ACCREDITED online university, (which let me just clarify, they are NOT all a joke, in fact some online Universities carry more and often better accreditation then "Brick and Mortar" universities so quite frankly thats an old myth used by people who either a bit full of themselves (as only someone from MIT (supposedly) could/would be) or they just aren't up on how much online uni's have progressed) There are people who graphics people, there are people who are coders or programmers. I am personally a graphics person and I unemployable at the moment (even with a 4 year degree) thanks to two things: Education inflation (when a company requires candidates to have a master's degree and/or 10-15 years experience to even get an interview or be taken seriously for the same job someone with a BA or BS or BFA is in reality VERY capable of doing), and second something I call "Onshore outsourcing", (when a company looks for someone who has graphic skills AND coding skills so that rather then paying the coder 60k and graphic artist 40K, they can pay one person 65k and save 35K a year (or higher an extra janitor and reduce their margin loss to employee payouts). Both of these things make for a daunting and almost impossible job market.....(and we wonder why we have so many damn foreclosures and one of the fastest declining markets in the world?) So, even with my qualifications (which I understand are more the exception then the rule) the concept that the snot nosed kid who gets dropped off at BB to work a part time shift in his mom's minivan after his dermatologist appointment and then goes home to play Halo 3, jack off to porn on his laptop and smoke butts with his other underage buddies is way out of wack. In reality, you cant even work for GS under 18 and in reality for the one or two hack jobs of techs (hey, as I said...everyone's gotta get paid) there are at least 7 to 10 perfectly to overly qualified and professional techs (who often work more then one job, which most of the time the second job is even more prestigious (like college IT support specialists etc who use GS as a way of supplimenting their skill experience and their wallet). I was an EMT for 7 years and there is an aweful lot in common with GS and EMS. For one, you NEVER NEVER NEVER know what's gonna roll in, or who is gonna call in. Secondly, we are reviewed.....EXTENSIVELY and some may even say that every day you go to work for GS your being reviewed....supervisors to keep mental notes on who is doing what. The point is, if you cant hold your own, you never advance (i.e. your never trusted with really very much of anything if you cant prove yourself) and secondly, if you can't advance or can't prove yourself you are more or less pushed out. Maybe not administratively, but certainly culturally. (Think of that one guy in your IT dept. who has a little "too much personality" or who has been exposed to more then 4 hours of real sunlight a week, stands out alittle doesn't he....guess what, he realizes he doesn't fit in, gets uncomfortable and soon looks for something a little more his flavor...natural weeding out process). You know the old adage your father, or grandfather, used to say "Use the right tool for the right job". Applies here too! Don't call GS to come set up your enterprise level proxy settings for your ldap, use the black....whats-his-face dude who knows more programming then God to do that (your on an enterprise or large business level, he needs a job and your personalities are like something we'd expect to see on a match.com commercial. Plus, thats what you pay him a ridiculous unearned salary for anyone, after all, he DID go to MIT). Just because YOU may not have a reason to utilize GS, doesn't mean that nobody does, broaden your world view a little. You think Grandma Thortchie who just got an ipod for her birthday at 87 years old is gonna go through Apple care hotline nonsense (let alone know where to look for kind of information)? NO....she's gonna go where people who know what they're doing are so that she doesn't have to worry about it. BB GS works for a lot of people, otherwise I would still be unemployed at the moment. I agree that qualified people ARE difficult to find which makes it that much more rewarding when an opportunity like this arises....WE ACTUALLY GET TO USE OUR SKILLS without having to compete with arrogant assholes like the MIT brat who is used to having everything handed to him and doesn't have to worry about competition because he can hide behind the name of the school on his diploma. There is a place for you, just as their is a place for me and just because you don't feel that my place isn't worth your money or attention, their are plenty of people lining up at my window every day that would tend to disagree with a lot of the statements on this little rant URL...even to the point of asking why anyone would even say half the shit said here. It's a lot different when your in person. I work at store number 160 in Durham NC (just off 15/501), come talk to me in person instead of hiding behind your screen and facade of taunting debate. There are few bad apples, that doesn't make us all guilty by association. Some people need a little nurturing to progress in life and may not have the 60k a semester bank roll that other people have. People in this world make me sick when comes to compassion and understanding. Think of a time when someone has had to help you out because you'd have either lost something or failed at something detrimental to your continuance or health or wealth or whatever. You're thankful for what they've done for you (unless you've never needed that in which cause your truly blessed, a very special person and should be sharing your blessings with those around you; or you have and you truly just don't care in which cause your a heartless spineless bastard to which will come back to bite you in the ass......HARD...someday. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but you'll earn every ounce of what hits you. Just because someone is associated with an organization, store, club, group etc doesn't mean their worthless. You can't evaluate skill based on association and if you do or would, no one would (or should for that matter) work for you...I mean, what else are you narrow mindedly judging? What makes you such a great lofty and imperfection-free individual to make such judgments about individuals? People do have lives and sometime people do just need to do what they can do to get by...I hope you never have to experience that as it is truly frightening to go through...which is only made worse by assholes that aren't willing to look at the fact that certain people may just need that break to help them along the way. Oh...by the way...did you walk to school when you were a kid? Did you drive to your first job, or pay your ENTIRE way through college? How about landing that first wonderful career job? Have ya been there for your entire career? Ever seen a councilor for anything, I mean ANYTHING? Do you fix your own health problems or do all your own taxes....EVERY YEAR? Probably not to at least one of those things, we are human beings....we live because we cohabitate. We are able to succeed because other people HELP us so why not help other people in return? Why chastise people who are trying to make a living and just help other people? I have honestly never read so many hate filled, anger/jealousy inspired misguided rants in my life. I've never seen so many people wrapped up in their own worlds they can't possibly understand that not everyone in the world has it as easily as they do and GOD forbid we mention anything about people actually struggling....I mean after all they must just be losers right? Get out of the damn stereotypes and look at what's actually going on.....from a human/family/wife and kids/college grad who's broke and needs to pay back more then mortgage in loans perspective and then...MAYBE THEN we can begin to have a conversation on the same level. If your intent is malice, please rejoin the human race. Tech's are human beings as well, and not a single damn person who made an entry here is impervious to pain, suffering, hard times etc. I just hope the ones here so hellbent on hurting other HUMAN BEINGS realize the errors in their ways and begin treating eating, living, sleeping, needing people with a little more dignity. Maybe the same dignity and respect you feel that you somehow magically just deserve. That (as Paul Harvey used to say)...Is the REST of the story. -M

THE MOTHERLOAD OF ALL ISSUES WITH GEEK SQUAD........ REGARDING THE STORE IN CHESAPEAKE,VA I have had a hell of a time getting my laptop serviced from geek squad. First of all we live an hour and a half a way from the nearest best buy store. I work two jobs and my wife just had a baby so the only way that we could get our laptop shipped off for service was to have her drive up to the store in chesapeake with our new now four month old baby to get the laptop sent away for service. We had to service it because it was not getting adequate power and shutting down all of a sudden. Plus it drained the battery. The first time my wife got up there and the "bright" technician basically looked at it and said, "well I don't know what is going on with it so we will have to ship it off." Basically wasting my wife's time as well as having a screaming baby in the car. Doesn't make for a fun day. We get a call saying it was fixed so she drove back up there to pick it up the next week. They said that they replaced the motherboard. We get it back and it still isn't working right because it is overheating causing the keystrokes to lag then to the point of being unsuable because it locked up. So my wife had to drive up there again to drop it off. They shipped it off and their response was "well the hardware passed all of our "stress test" so you will have to reload it". They also told us that it was there in the store already. So my wife drove up there on Monday to go to pick it up to find out that it was not there yet. She asked them "well when we get it back and while we try to reload it and it locks up then what...?" The techs response was to call HP. Why would we call hp when our computer system is still in warranty with best buy and have to call hp when it is clearly a hardware issue..? At this point I started emailing the Geek squad corporate basically saying that it is a joke that they can not make exceptions and arrange for a ups pickup label to be mailed to our house and then for it to be ship back to our house from the service center. I was also asking for a replacement at this point because it has been serviced multiple times. I first get a response from someone that said he was in the corporate office and said that they had a strict laptop replacement policy and it required a three time hardware replacement in order for there to be any kind of laptop replacement. I didn't like his response so I emailed the corporate headquarters again so they got me someone else. They arranged for it to be shipped to our house from the service center. I do have all of my industry certs and work in the IT field for one of my jobs so I know a thing or two. The technician that said he was a "senior tech" basically said that this was an issue with software and it needed to be reloaded. I told him that he was wrong and said that it was hardware but he was like well someone with industry certs would know to try to reload it. I wanted to say back to him at that point, well I WOULD IF IT WOULD STOP LOCKING UP EVEN ON REBOOT AT THE XP LOGO!! We get the laptop back and find out that the problem was still there. However I did discover at this time that if you pressed against the memory area that the computer would not locked anymore and allowed you to use it for a bit before it locked up again. So I called the person that emailed me the second time back from corporate. He sent out a 100 dollar gift card and said to call back for a replacement next week if it continues. Which it did and so I tried to call him all the following week however he did not respond to any of my calls or emails. I then get a call from the original person who sent the first email to me, after I left a couple of messages politely about what was going on to robert stephens about how I felt I was being blown off. This guy has the nerve to tell me that they have a one for one policy where only one corporate person could help out on an issue. So I was like why didn't the second person tell me that to begin with instead of making me act like an idiot trying to get in touch with him everyday like he said to. Anyways, I told this original guy what I discovered and he said that we would need to send it off again to service. So my wife and I get up there again and drop off the laptop to be serviced. We ship it off and they replace the motherboard again and something on the bottom of the chassis. The original corporate guy said that he would have it arranged to be shipped from the service center directly to our house. So we wait for it yet we find out from the tracking that it was shipped to the store so we get a call from the store late friday afternoon. The corporate guy even called the store when he found out that it was being shipped to them and told them to ship it off to our house when they get it. He checked on Monday or Tuesday to see if it was shipped and he said that the store had told him that it was shipped but the person who had the tracking number information was not in. So we wait and wait and wait for it till Friday came around. Saw the ups truck drive by and did not stop. The corporate best buy guy calls on Thursday when I was at work at night to see if we got it. My wife told him we did not and that he said he would email me and would check back in on Saturday when he was in again. I wrote to him friday night telling him that we saw the ups truck drive by. He emailed me back the next day saying that they had it shipped out the day before on friday the 28th. He was pissed off about that part of it because the workers in the store lied to both him and to me. He did say that they did do a two day shipment on it this time so I guess we will see what happens with all of this. He did say he was going to ship out another 100 dollar gift card. I sent another email back saying that since they basically lied to the both of us that my wife and I should get more for our troubles..Have not heard back from him so we will see what happens on Monday or Tuesday of next week. So pas it along, AVOID THE CHESAPEAKE, VA GEEK SQUAD COMPONENT OF BEST BUY AT ALL COST!!!! They are basically throwing their money away keeping those idiots employed!!!

I find it extremely amusing that Mr. CloakNdagr who has this "Incredible" amount of knowledge can't find the pricelist. It's plain as day on the website. I found it in about 20 seconds. Get a clue CloakNdagr

Geek Squad came to my home -2 of the Geeks and they couldn't even get the printer to print! What do you have to say about that?

i have a dvd stuck inside of my hp Pavilion a131On how do i get it out

Geek Squads are dummies! They know crap! Brought in my computer 3 times in a matter of ONE MONTH only because they gave it back to me WORSE than when I brought it in. They play guessing-games! They charge way TOO MUCH! Not worth it! Better off asking your 6 years old kid to fix your computer, they will probably do a much better job!

Some interesting comments here about the ability, or lack of abilities. Frankly, as a tech who has to repair the "results" of geeksquad fiascos on a DAILY basis (the local best buy is four blocks from my store) I feel more than qualified to give an honest, objective opinion here. Talent, knowdlegde and experience are not quailities that best buy (notice the lack of caps) is concerned with. The primary "skill" any geek is required to have is simply salesmanship. Repairs are sometimes done well, other times not so well. Ask some customers and they will sing, others will groan. This is NOT an indicator of good or bad. However, one very strong indicator is SALES. Start asking the right questions to every person who has dealt with these folks. You will find one common denomonator. Norton Virus, Mcafee Virus, Spysweeper, and a host of other overpriced malware that best buy loves to infest customer systems with. They are not really there to repair as such, but to sell.

I think 150 bucks is a lot. I personaly charge 40 bucks. I don't have a "squad" I am alone and self taught. I build and fix more than 30 desktops and laptops a month. Once a while I fix servers...its more fun to me. I also do static and dynamic websites w/ java scripting. My best customers are hardcore gamers with all their water cooling gear and offices. What I mean by all this is that you don't really need a degree to do computers...or software...you just need to like it a lot like I do. I am a mortgage specialist...I rather fix and build laptops and desktop than cold-calling.

i just wanted to make a note about the "take the software away, blah blah blah" comment. I know this thread is long over and this comment wont make a lick of difference, but imagine you take your car to a mechanic. then you take that mechanics tools away and say "fix it" He'll laugh in your face. Same thing with our "software". These are our tools, we use them to make our job easier and faster. Some of us very well may be able to rewrite Windows from scratch to fix an issue, but why spend the time when we can run a program that can do it. This gives us the ability to tend to customers and focus on other matters. Just my two cents worth.

I second that post by INSOMNIA. After reading page after page of the complaining I was going to comment about GS being like an automobile mechanic. To the comments saying that you could just google it or learn it yourself, the same is true about your car. You could try to learn how to diagnose, source parts, find tools, and replace things on your own car. Most people would rather pay a mechanic $65 plus/hr to do those things for them and go about their own lives. It seems to me like that's sorta like how GS operates too. Also an automobile mechanic doesn't always get the problem fixed right the 1st time either. I don't have any personal experience with GS myself since I am knowledgeable about computer stuff and take care of my own (same is true for my cars), so I can't speak from experience about the competency of some of their employees. I'm sure it's like any other job though, theres the ones who know what they're doing, and those who are complete dumba$$es. Just my 2 cents too. (I also think these comments are going to be a little one sided as the people who require GS services are probably not ept enough to use this site to help defend them. The only counter opinions are probably coming from GS employees)

How about techie stories? Fixed a lady's computer, and sure enough, 2 weeks later, she calls me back because of more porn. The virus is xpantivirus.com and takes a lot of time to remove because of all the viruses it brings along.... Anyhow, she was drinking beer at noon, celebrating winning a divorce settlement against her previous husband. I ignored the drinking, and most of the comments. But then I said 'see this' and pointed to her computer. She tried to sit on my lap! (That should have told me something, but, I didn't understand it at the time). Anyhow, I finish removing all the viruses, present her with a bill and she said "get out". I said, but you haven't paid me yet. She repeated 'get out', and I said, 'well I best remove the programs I left on your computer'. I then removed the anti-virus program (she didn't pay for it anyway). I was tempted to put back the viruses, but stupidly, I have some pride. She did call the next day to apologize and promise the cheque is in the mail. It still is in the mail, right? Too bad we are not allowed to post her email address? s_stefnjack@yahoo.com

Wow Robo, it sounds like you are the one who is supremely incompetent. Why would you let one of your employees work on so many things if he didn't know how to do anything correctly? The blame falls directly on your shoulders for not giving him the proper training.

GEEK SQUAD MISSION BRIEF BURN OR EAT THIS COMMUNIQUÉ AFTER READING GEEK SQUAD MISSION BRIEF GEEK SQUAD HISTORY THE EARLY YEARS As with any organization, our journey from inception to our current state says a lot about who we are, and what we value. The Geek Squad is no different. We have been around for over 12 years, and over that time we have evolved drastically. We have gone from small business to national powerhouse. We have changed the way that computer service is provided. We have provided service to clients of all kinds, and have our fair share of run-ins with the law, strange problems, and interesting people. This is our story. The Geek Squad was founded by Chief Inspector Robert Stephens in 1994. A native of Chicago, Robert had been a student on scholarship at the Art Institute of Chicago until he realized that art was not his true passion. Robert then decided to leave the Art Institute of Chicago, and transferred to the University of Minnesota to pursue a degree in Computer Science. While at the University of Minnesota, Robert began repairing computers as a way to help pay his bills. Originally, Robert wanted to form a "research lab" or "think tank" for hire, which he envisioned being a sort of "refuge for all the computer geeks" that he had been discovering in the research labs. According to one of his early customers, Robert was taking something that was normally very boring and mundane, and turning it into a "fun affair." Robert was providing a new approach to the way that service was performed. Most of his clients Robert was servicing came to him because most of the competition in the area was: • Impatient • Talked down to customers • Didn't show up on time • Provided a bland experience • Smelled Bad Robert took the stance that if he could focus on these simple concepts, that his business would do nothing but flourish. And flourish, it did. Over time, Robert began to build his list of clients, and decided that he would take his business to the next level. So, in 1994 the Geek Squad was incorporated. Robert started his new business with $200 in his pocket and a bicycle for transportation. From these humble beginnings, the sky was the limit. THE GEEKMOBILE Soon after the Geek Squad's inception (a few short weeks, in fact), Robert began having some difficulty riding a bicycle to his service calls (plus, riding a bike in a Minnesota winter is no easy task) so Robert went on a search for his first company vehicle -- a 1958 Simca Aronde Elysee. The Simca Aronde was a lime green French import that had all the characteristics that Robert was seeking. The Simca was perfect vehicle for the Geek Squad; it was humble, fuel efficient, and most importantly, unique. This vehicle gave Robert an icon that would be easily recognized as a Geekmobile when seen on the roads. As would be expected of an organization based on mobility, as the company grew, so did the fleet of vehicles. Geekmobiles #2 and #3 were converted 1970 AMC ice cream delivery trucks. Robert attained these vehicles through providing a service to a client who ultimately could not afford to pay the bill. The client offered the ice cream trucks as payment for the service provided, and naturally Robert accepted. The trucks were then painted "SWAT Black" and had been dubbed the "SWAT Trucks". Geekmobiles #2 and #3 were the only Geekmobiles to ever feature the company phone number on the side. After aquiring the SWAT Trucks, Robert continued to choose classic vehicles as his fleet of Geekmobiles increased, but he began to realize that classic cars were not only hard to find, but also costly to maintain. Some of the Geekmobiles had heat, some had air conditioning, very few had both. Chief Inspector Stephens began looking at ways to cut some of his inefficient practices, and found that his vintage fleet of Geekmobiles was his biggest opportunity. One day, Robert had an epiphany. He had noticed that the local police departments seemed to be using the "traditional" police paint scheme on their cruisers less, and since we had "borrowed" some of our uniform fashion from the U.S. government, why not the vehicle appearance? So upon his next vehicle acquisition, a 1964 Ford Falcon, the Chief Inspector decided that he would use the paint scheme to unite his fleet of Geekmobiles. If you are a "T.V. buff," you may recognize the name and the look of the Ford Falcon (pictured -- left). That's because the Falcon was the exact same make and model vehicle that was driven by Sergeant Joe Friday on the popular television series "Dragnet." The last classic vehicle attained by the Geek Squad was a Morris Minor 4-door, which also featured the black-white-black paint scheme. Just as he noticed before, Robert realized his classic fleet of Geekmobiles was costly and unreliable. So in 1998, Robert decided to turn to a car that had classic roots, but was able to function under modern conditions. 1998 saw the introduction of the first Volkswagon New Beetle as the Geek Squad vehicle du jour. This modern, two-tone transportation device allowed us to expand our realm of influence, making house calls, and making history.

As with any company, especially a large one, there are always going to be negative stories. I've worked on my own fixing and building computers and worked for GS. Biggest reason I ended up with GS was an unplanned move I made, I still wanted to work on computers but the need for income vs building new client base was a little more important when two salaries are needed to sustain a household. Long and short of situations leaving most people upset when they come in are: 1. upset with an experience at another store (yes...there are unfortunately some people that are not quite tech qualified for the position) 2. angry with how the service plan works (though 10 minutes of reading through how it works saves a headache in the end) 3. don't want to spend $129-200 to fix an OS issue, then more upset that plans don't cover software problems. please...show me one company that will fix OS problems free of charge, primarily when most of those issues are the people that download viruses rather than the mp3s and movies they were after Majority of the people that leave my store are happy when they leave, hell some of them give me a hug or a man apologizes for assuming a woman wouldn't be capable of fixing his issue. I couldn't even begin to count the number of random issues I took 20-30 mins to fix free of charge because it was a simple issue, now please accuse me of being a corporate money grubbing shark. We don't hire people who can't do the work at our store. Yes, a big part of what is beat into our heads by corporate is sales. Really when you have an endless supply of common users surfing for porn and "free" music and movies who don't think they need any sort of virus or spyware protection..well...the need for sales falls right out the window. We've seen machines come in from other local shops, and I'm sure local shops have seen stuff come from GS. Simple fact is that it goes both ways. The location I'm at is one of the rare ones from what I hear. We have a crew that would rather work constant overtime and holidays than hire on one person that would not know what they're doing! Units many other places in general would have restored we've sifted through to find a solution...my favorite is viruses that replace some tiny detail in a reg key that will give you that dreaded BSOD after the problem is removed...we like being able to find and fix the issue rather than have a customer pay for a backup and just restore it. Doesn't always work for those in a time crunch but we always do our best work I've been to a bar or restaurant and had a shitty time, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna rule it out entirely. No not just some little $30 meal to be compared to a $200 pc service. I've ended up with either shite food or service when taking either several friends or lots of family members out on my dime, but a single bad experience should never turn someone away from a business on a limited experience. To each their own and develop your own opinions, but please don't try to form one general overview based on an experience with a person who simply didn't have the knowledge level you wanted or customer service you expected. Sorry for the long rant, I just prefer to look at both sides of the issue. I also prefer not to be judged as an individual, professional, and person because you had a poor experience at another store.

Hey Buddy, Go fuck yourself

So i asked a geek squad agent a simple question like how to partition my hard drive without downloading any software. Guess what he tell me? "Use partition magic its great for that" WTF?

they have completely ruined one weekend and one workday. the agents never show up, or they dont ring the bell, and when you want to complain they hang up on you. this is a total bullshit. they reschedule without you even knowing it. the outsourcing of agent is bullshit. We are ready and will sue for wasting my valuable time and money and mentally tormenting experience, the phone call is painful. i do NOT recommend this to ANYONE!!!

they have completely ruined one weekend and one workday. the agents never show up, or they dont ring the bell, and when you want to complain they hang up on you. this is a total bullshit. they reschedule without you even knowing it. the outsourcing of agent is bullshit. We are ready and will sue for wasting my valuable time and money and mentally tormenting experience, the phone call is painful. i do NOT recommend this to ANYONE!!!

um how do i get an internal battery for my pc

I love geek squad and I want a geek squad logo T-shirt. Does anyone know how i can get one?

Looking at most of the posts over the years one thing has been proven once a corporation gets there hands on a good thing it is riped apart and cherry picked for the talent that the store needs to keep on going. I have been a counter ops for about six mounts now and have had to prove my self every step of the way not only can I fix a computer but I can sell the fix as well. If you go to a auto store you look and say how much is a quote and you get any where from 50 to 100 bucks then the fix after the 50-100 you shell out more money for the fix and I have been to a lot of ma and pop computer stores that do the same thing. Geek squad was smart and put a package together that is call GSTS this covers the whole deal from when you first bring it in to all of the software fixes you need. Welcome to marketing 101. So the next comment I read that says it's a rip off go on to a ma and pop shop and see what it will cost. Also on the other note Hardware we sell insurance that states if you drop it or any hardware goes bat crap we will send it out to get fixed I don't know of another computer retailer doing that. So for all of you that would love to put Geek Squad down take a look at what it takes to be an Agent or even a Counter OPS.