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[imported_KuJaX]

Originally posted by: dakata24
is this like taking your car to a shady mechanic.. they'll tell you you'll need this and that...

Shady Mechanic? Was the "SHADY" neccessary? I just thought the meaning and definition of "mechanic" had shady already in it. 🙂

 

[brockj]

Originally posted by: dumpydooby
For those asking about working for Geek Squad, there is no test, per se, to get in. That is, Corp doesn't require anyone to take a test. If they're having you take a test, then it's just part of the interviewing process. But there is no intrinsic requirement to get into Geek Squad. I worked for Geek Squad. I'm quite certain that I could come up with a test that 90% of the techs here couldn't ace (but doing so would be silly as you all have the internet to aid you during the test). 😉

Don't get me wrong; I'm not glorifying Geek Squad, by any means. Most of the techs there weren't all that great. Our store brought a guy from inventory and made him a tech because they were removing his job title. The guy saw "redo" on one of the service orders and thought it meant "reformat" and deleted all of the customer's data.

But don't bust the techs' balls because you know more than them. Geek Squad techs know enough to fix the home user's computers. That's enough for the company and the rate of pay is sufficient for the knowledge the techs have. If you're some super-duper tech, then $12/hr is probably beneith you. Best Buy also has techs that know a thing or two more than the average tech ... guys that have their CCNA and whatnot. In California, BB has 5 of them. They each make $22-25/hr & 40hrs/wk. Average network administrator with a CCNP makes about $90k/yr. After bonuses, these guys are making 50k/yr ... so again, rate of pay is very sufficient and competitive for their knowledge.

Cliffs:
Geek Squad techs are low-level techs, but know enough to fix average user's problem.
Best Buy does not issue a standard test to get into Geek Squad.
I rambled a bit about rate of pay and how it's sufficient for what the guys know.

The test that I took was at the headquarters, not for a best buy tech. I am assuming they are very similar jobs, but perhaps different interview process. The test was not hard at all, and even for the job that I have now I was asked a few tech related questions. Also for my test there was no use of a computer, it was done on paper, at a desk...made me think I was in college again.

 

[dumpydooby]

"Best Buy Technician" and "Geek Squad Agent" are two different things. One works in a retail store, the other works in a service center (same job description, but different titles). You might have applied during the merge of Geek Squad and Best Buy, which MIGHT explain why HQ would issue a standard test. But I know there isn't and hasn't been a test issued by HQ for Geek Squad Agents within the past 18 months. 😉

 

[dew042]

Originally posted by: KuJaX

Originally posted by: dakata24
is this like taking your car to a shady mechanic.. they'll tell you you'll need this and that...

Shady Mechanic? Was the "SHADY" neccessary? I just thought the meaning and definition of "mechanic" had shady already in it. 🙂

Frankly -- I don't think suggesting that a client remove virii and spyware, and get spyware/virus protection software to prevent reinfection in the future is particularly "shady". Nor do I think that suggesting that an Emachine Celeron that came with 128mb of ram and Windows XP could use more memory is particularly "shady" either. Furthermore if someone comes in a with a computer with onboard video who is having trouble playing games, a suggestion of a better video card is certainly in their best interest isn't it?

Granted -- most of the folks around here have a good grasp on managing these issues and making good technology decisions -- BUT MOST people do not. Most people are scared by technically minded folks precisely because of the attitude -- "I'm smarter than you and you are stupid because you doesn't already know the answer." Most folks don't have the skills or knowledge to fix their own computer probelms.

A Geek Squad Diagnosistic will:
Check internal components for issues (bad caps, etc)
Run a HDD diag
Run a memory diag
Run a virus scan
Run a spyware scan
Diagnose any additional issues the client may have in addition to these things

Then the client gets and overview of what the diagnostic found, and what Geek Squad can do to resolve the probelm, and what is recomended to prevent the probelm in the future. If an upgrade is going to improve a client's customer experiece -- like ram -- then that would be recomended. Finally education is key to making sure the client understands the scope of what happened, what was done to fix it and how they can protect themselves in the future.

Are any of those things something you wouldn't recomend to your own family and friends? So in the end -- this can be a great value for a lot of people, perhaps not you.

I know this is a big secret, so shhhhhhhhhhhh: Best Buy and Geek Squad are businesses that are designed to serve their customer's AND make money. Keep that on the down low, okay? I love the prevailing attitude around here that if anybody is making money they are taking advantage of you and are evil. If businesses don't make money, they don't exist. Period. If businesses don't fulfill their customer's needs, they will fail as well.

As you can probably gather - I work for Geek Squad at the flagship Best Buy store in the shadow of the Best Buy corporate offices. I've been a part of Geek Squad since its inception into Best Buy nearly 2 years ago. I know most of the people at the core of the Geek Squad organization and the Geek Squad mission is certainly noble. But as with most large organizations -- success and quality can be very hard to expand and maintain across 700 stores and 7000 agents in the course of a year. Speaking for my store I assure you our standards are extremely high.

dew.

 

[kyparrish]

Originally posted by: dew042
Frankly -- I don't think suggesting that a client remove virii and spyware, and get spyware/virus protection software to prevent reinfection in the future is particularly "shady". Nor do I think that suggesting that an Emachine Celeron that came with 128mb of ram and Windows XP could use more memory is particularly "shady" either. Furthermore if someone comes in a with a computer with onboard video who is having trouble playing games, a suggestion of a better video card is certainly in their best interest isn't it?

Granted -- most of the folks around here have a good grasp on managing these issues and making good technology decisions -- BUT MOST people do not. Most people are scared by technically minded folks precisely because of the attitude -- "I'm smarter than you and you are stupid because you doesn't already know the answer." Most folks don't have the skills or knowledge to fix their own computer probelms.

A Geek Squad Diagnosistic will:
Check internal components for issues (bad caps, etc)
Run a HDD diag
Run a memory diag
Run a virus scan
Run a spyware scan
Diagnose any additional issues the client may have in addition to these things

Then the client gets and overview of what the diagnostic found, and what Geek Squad can do to resolve the probelm, and what is recomended to prevent the probelm in the future. If an upgrade is going to improve a client's customer experiece -- like ram -- then that would be recomended. Finally education is key to making sure the client understands the scope of what happened, what was done to fix it and how they can protect themselves in the future.

Are any of those things something you wouldn't recomend to your own family and friends? So in the end -- this can be a great value for a lot of people, perhaps not you.

I know this is a big secret, so shhhhhhhhhhhh: Best Buy and Geek Squad are businesses that are designed to serve their customer's AND make money. Keep that on the down low, okay? I love the prevailing attitude around here that if anybody is making money they are taking advantage of you and are evil. If businesses don't make money, they don't exist. Period. If businesses don't fulfill their customer's needs, they will fail as well.

As you can probably gather - I work for Geek Squad at the flagship Best Buy store in the shadow of the Best Buy corporate offices. I've been a part of Geek Squad since its inception into Best Buy nearly 2 years ago. I know most of the people at the core of the Geek Squad organization and the Geek Squad mission is certainly noble. But as with most large organizations -- success and quality can be very hard to expand and maintain across 700 stores and 7000 agents in the course of a year. Speaking for my store I assure you our standards are extremely high.

dew.

Good post until that part.

Firemen, teachers, etc. = noble professions

Geek Squad = not a noble profession

 

[Jtrav]

Any establishment that charges $60 to diagnose a problem isn't a a noble establishment. 🙁

 

[sflahavin]

Originally posted by: Jtrav
Any establishment that charges $60 to diagnose a problem isn't a a noble establishment. 🙁

So when a doctor "charges" $150 to diagnose a problem, is that noble, not noble, or a class of its own......

 

[XNice]

hahah you people are hilarious, bring out the soapboxes! Noble is whatever you make it to be. But back on topic..... i asked someone from the geek squad when i was in best buy in philly, pa about the new xreative x-fi cards they had out. I didnt even know they made it to retail and I also didnt know they came out with an audigy 4. So i asked a guy from geek squad if he knew anything about creatives new card and why the pricing was so cheap ($130). At the time i didnt know the diff versions of the new X-Fi chip. That dude just looked at me blankly after every question and just said, i dunno. Not to make sweeping assumptions here, but in my experiences the geek squad is pretty clueless.

 

[Pardus]

They do not service my area and they wanted $70+ to fix a simple config issue and i would have to bring it in to best buy which is like 60 miles away.

 

[Jtrav]

Originally posted by: sflahavin

Originally posted by: Jtrav
Any establishment that charges $60 to diagnose a problem isn't a a noble establishment. 🙁

So when a doctor "charges" $150 to diagnose a problem, is that noble, not noble, or a class of its own......

Apples and oranges. A pc is not a life or death thing. The doctor is fixing your body, the pc is just a piece of plastic and metal. After geeksquad finishes with your pc, you're usually paying more or almost as much as the pc is worth to repair it. Tell me thats not a ripoff.

 

[shoRunner]

if you compare $59 diagnostic to what other large retail stores are charging it is actually below average. Fry's $69, Compusa $99, Microcenter $59

 

[intogamer]

eh I don't need any one want it? before I go to the PO?

 

[Kelemvor]

My wife's parents still have a 486 or something running windows 3.1. I should bring that in if I get one of the catalogs. That'd be hilarious. Of course it'd be hard to keep a straight face and tell them that I never bothered to upgrade because I can do everything I need to on that computer...

 

[Dyre]

My free car, gas, insurance, school, notebook, cell phone, internet, and $45k/yr laughs at all the haters.

That is all.

 

[Pothead]

Originally posted by: Dyre
My free car, gas, insurance, school, notebook, cell phone, internet, and $45k/yr laughs at all the haters.

That is all.

My career laughs at your job.

 

[Xyclone]

Originally posted by: Drakkon
hmmm does the comp to be "checked up" have to be running? clean?
Almost want to take my comp and put a big ol tarantula + a ton of crickets in there and drop it off 😀

Stop giving me ideas! 😀

 

[Dyre]

Originally posted by: Pothead
My career laughs at your job.

If symantics is your defense, then more power to you.

EDIT: And obviously this type of promotion and service is not intended for anyone here, so why are you guys suprised that you find no value in this deal?

Do-it yourselfers and EPS (especially price sensative) bargin hunters aren't exactly the segment BBY is looking to embrace with, or any, of thier promotions.

 

[intogamer]

Originally posted by: Xyclone

Originally posted by: Drakkon
hmmm does the comp to be "checked up" have to be running? clean?
Almost want to take my comp and put a big ol tarantula + a ton of crickets in there and drop it off 😀

Stop giving me ideas! 😀

ju want teh coupon? :evil:

 

[robby69]

The "geek squad" in my town travel around in VW bugs on their "geek squad" runs with "geek squad" plastered
all over it. Need I say more?:roll:

 

[dirtrat]

I wouldn't trust one of those punks at BB with my computer. Most likely they would screw something up and I'd have to fix it. This may be an ok deal for someone who knows nothing about computers and doesn't know anyone who could help them!

 

[intogamer]

Originally posted by: robby69
The "geek squad" in my town travel around in VW bugs on their "geek squad" runs with "geek squad" plastered
all over it. Need I say more?:roll:

Punch Buggie Geek Squad😀

 

[js186]

Actually I make a decent living fixing Geek Squad screw-ups

Oh thank heaven for A+ certified retards!®

 

[dew042]

Originally posted by: kyparrish

Originally posted by: dew042
Frankly -- I don't think suggesting that a client remove virii and spyware, and get spyware/virus protection software to prevent reinfection in the future is particularly "shady". Nor do I think that suggesting that an Emachine Celeron that came with 128mb of ram and Windows XP could use more memory is particularly "shady" either. Furthermore if someone comes in a with a computer with onboard video who is having trouble playing games, a suggestion of a better video card is certainly in their best interest isn't it?

Granted -- most of the folks around here have a good grasp on managing these issues and making good technology decisions -- BUT MOST people do not. Most people are scared by technically minded folks precisely because of the attitude -- "I'm smarter than you and you are stupid because you doesn't already know the answer." Most folks don't have the skills or knowledge to fix their own computer probelms.

A Geek Squad Diagnosistic will:
Check internal components for issues (bad caps, etc)
Run a HDD diag
Run a memory diag
Run a virus scan
Run a spyware scan
Diagnose any additional issues the client may have in addition to these things

Then the client gets and overview of what the diagnostic found, and what Geek Squad can do to resolve the probelm, and what is recomended to prevent the probelm in the future. If an upgrade is going to improve a client's customer experiece -- like ram -- then that would be recomended. Finally education is key to making sure the client understands the scope of what happened, what was done to fix it and how they can protect themselves in the future.

Are any of those things something you wouldn't recomend to your own family and friends? So in the end -- this can be a great value for a lot of people, perhaps not you.

I know this is a big secret, so shhhhhhhhhhhh: Best Buy and Geek Squad are businesses that are designed to serve their customer's AND make money. Keep that on the down low, okay? I love the prevailing attitude around here that if anybody is making money they are taking advantage of you and are evil. If businesses don't make money, they don't exist. Period. If businesses don't fulfill their customer's needs, they will fail as well.

As you can probably gather - I work for Geek Squad at the flagship Best Buy store in the shadow of the Best Buy corporate offices. I've been a part of Geek Squad since its inception into Best Buy nearly 2 years ago. I know most of the people at the core of the Geek Squad organization and the Geek Squad mission is certainly noble. But as with most large organizations -- success and quality can be very hard to expand and maintain across 700 stores and 7000 agents in the course of a year. Speaking for my store I assure you our standards are extremely high.

dew.

Good post until that part.

Firemen, teachers, etc. = noble professions

Geek Squad = not a noble profession

I didn't call it a noble profession, I said mission. You put words in my mouth. Somehow I doubt the idea of helping to solve people's technolgy issues is a kin to ambulance chasing. But really -- when you can take a client who is on the verge of crying because they deleted their entire masters thesis and thirty minutes later they have the document back on disk and the knowledge to better backup their information in the future, how is that not good for everyone involved? I deal with people everyday who by the end of our interaction are extremely greatful for the assistance I provide. They remember me by name for years. Many times they don't even buy anything. It seems that people around here believe that the average person who does't have the knowledge or friends who are technologically saavy should just sit on their hands and deal with it. That's a sad viewpoint.

Geek Squad provides a service. You don't have to use it, nobody does, but I will tell you this - lots of people do and more and more are using Geek Squad. Who else is there in the marketplace? If Geek Squad is so horrible, where are the competitor's to take over the woefully underserviced market? Somehow doubling the size of Geek Squad in the next year doesn't say to me that the organization is failing their clients as a whole does it? In the next year the Geek Squad will become the largest department in the Best Buy store I work out of -- that shows a real commitment on the part of Best Buy and a realization that accessible, quality service for our clients is vital to the future of this company. The market is changing and Geek Squad in on the pioneering lines of those changes -- its not perfect, but it will get better and stronger.

On a more personal note - I think most of you would be surprized by the quality of Geek Squad in Minnnesota since it is the home base. As a team I would put our diagnosis/repair skills up against anybody. We are extremely good at what we do and the services we offer.

Anyway - I've said my piece.
dew.

 

[Dyre]

Originally posted by: dew042

I didn't call it a noble profession, I said mission. You put words in my mouth. Somehow I doubt the idea of helping to solve people's technolgy issues is a kin to ambulance chasing. But really -- when you can take a client who is on the verge of crying because they deleted their entire masters thesis and thirty minutes later they have the document back on disk and the knowledge to better backup their information in the future, how is that not good for everyone involved? I deal with people everyday who by the end of our interaction are extremely greatful for the assistance I provide. They remember me by name for years. Many times they don't even buy anything. It seems that people around here believe that the average person who does't have the knowledge or friends who are technologically saavy should just sit on their hands and deal with it. That's a sad viewpoint.

Geek Squad provides a service. You don't have to use it, nobody does, but I will tell you this - lots of people do and more and more are using Geek Squad. Who else is there in the marketplace? If Geek Squad is so horrible, where are the competitor's to take over the woefully underserviced market? Somehow doubling the size of Geek Squad in the next year doesn't say to me that the organization is failing their clients as a whole does it? In the next year the Geek Squad will become the largest department in the Best Buy store I work out of -- that shows a real commitment on the part of Best Buy and a realization that accessible, quality service for our clients is vital to the future of this company. The market is changing and Geek Squad in on the pioneering lines of those changes -- its not perfect, but it will get better and stronger.

On a more personal note - I think most of you would be surprized by the quality of Geek Squad in Minnnesota since it is the home base. As a team I would put our diagnosis/repair skills up against anybody. We are extremely good at what we do and the services we offer.

Anyway - I've said my piece.
dew.

Like I said, this deal was never inttented for anyone on this forum, why are you guys so supprissed that you find no value in this deal?

 

[Chebago]

Originally posted by: XNice
hahah you people are hilarious, bring out the soapboxes! Noble is whatever you make it to be. But back on topic..... i asked someone from the geek squad when i was in best buy in philly, pa about the new xreative x-fi cards they had out. I didnt even know they made it to retail and I also didnt know they came out with an audigy 4. So i asked a guy from geek squad if he knew anything about creatives new card and why the pricing was so cheap ($130). At the time i didnt know the diff versions of the new X-Fi chip. That dude just looked at me blankly after every question and just said, i dunno. Not to make sweeping assumptions here, but in my experiences the geek squad is pretty clueless.

Not knocking your post, but I would consider myself above average about fixing and diagnosing computer problems, and I know absolutely nothing about creative cards either, so you can't deem the guy completely clueless simply because he is not well versed in creative's new line of cards...