Confessions of a Best Buy Geek Squad Employee

[dr150]

Caveat Emptor.

http://consumerist.com/2011/06/9-confessions-of-a-former-geek-squad-geek.html

9 Confessions Of A Former Geek Squad Geek


Consumerist reader K. recently ended his 4.5 year tenure as a Geek Squad member at Best Buy. And while he says that he considers his time there to be "generally a positive experience," K. did feel that there is some backstage info the public might want to know.


K. writes:
1. A high percentage of Geek Squad employees lack basic troubleshooting skills such as correctly identifying malfunctioning components. This stems from inadequate and outdated training materials, such as the Best Buy Learning Lounge.


2. People are hired or promoted from other departments to Geek Squad simply to sell services. Specifically, individuals who have no experience working on computers are given the appearance of being a technician.


3. Selling services and warranties are pushed more than actually completing repairs. I remember one instance where my GM said that selling a new computer with services was more important than completing a customer's unit that they had already paid for.


4. Employees are taught situational tactics to extract as much money as possible from a potential customer. If an individual had a small software issue that could simply be resolved, then we were taught to charge $200.


5. Although this changed shortly before I left, Geek Squad employees at the store I worked at were required to track each individual sale. Before the end of your shift, you were required to get a manager to look at your sales sheet and sign it. If you weren't doing so well, then the manager "coached" you on how to sell more services.


6. Best Buy Credit Cards were pushed to customers at every available opportunity. More than once, I witnessed Best Buy employees talking to people about signing up for a credit card, only to find out they were not old enough. Also, we were taught in Geek Squad to push the credit card even if the customer was already paying with another form of tender.


7. There is no chance for advancement within the Geek Squad department. The only position an employee could move up to is the Manager.


8. Best Buy does not encourage Geek Squad employees to get certifications or reimburse or pay for part of taking a certification. I specifically remember inquiring about this, and apparently there exists such a program for the GS Auto Techs in which they also get paid more for each certification passed, but not for GS Computer Techs.


9. Geek Squad City, the repair center for repairs we could not do in-store (any repair that was not a hard drive, memory, or power supply replacement), routinely completed unsatisfactory repair work. There were times I would send off a computer 3 times for a verified issue and the unit would come back with the same issue un-repaired. The worst example I can remember was a laptop that had its screen replaced and where the webcam was supposed to be on the screen bezel was instead a screw that held the LCD together.

 

[illusion88]

lol Geeksquad

 

[BudAshes]

Time to change the name to 'tard squad.

 

[Drako]

Shocking :biggrin:

 

[BudAshes]

Also, they make you drive around in a Volkswagen beatle.

 

[BoomerD]

I can't imagine anyone here being the least bit surprised at this...

Maybe the general public...the kinds of people who would even consider their services...but not anyone who's the least bit "tech-savvy."

 

[BoomerD]

Also, they make you drive around in a Volkswagen beatle.

 

[DrPizza]

What Boomer said.

The general public may think otherwise, but I think the majority of the forum members here had a pretty good idea what geek squad really is.

 

[nageov3t]

I actually thought about joining up... I've got weekday afternoons free and it seemed like a decent way to make a couple extra bucks and get an employee discount, but once I started looking into it, I discovered that the job is like 90% sales.

 

[MovingTarget]

I can confirm most of this stuff from when I worked there. This list reads like a list of reasons why I quit. I sympathized too much with the customers.

 

[zzuupp]

also, not particularly surprised.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

BB has a 300% annual employee turnover. Why would you ever listen to or take advice from OR use them for tech support of any kind?

 

[deadlyapp]

how is most of this stuff any different than all retail establishments? It's how they make money. Whether or not you value some of the services or the card is up to the consumer, it's dumb to make it sound so evil for the general public.

 

[Cogman]

Pretty much everything I expected. There is a reason computer savvy people shop on the internet.

I just feel bad for people that don't know better. Having a computer malfunction and not being able to diagnose/repair it yourself can be pretty expensive.

BTW, old, but still relevant.
http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2007/10/03/geeks/

 

[AlienCraft]

This illustrates why Big Pharma will never reveal the existance, if any, of curative agents they discover. Far more profit in tending to chronic, non-fatal conditions.

 

[slayer202]

how stupid are the people getting manipulated by best buy employees....*shudder*

 

[KeithP]

Time to change the name to 'tard squad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T549VoLca_Q

how stupid are the people getting manipulated by best buy employees....*shudder*

At least they are probably smarter then someone that would say this....

This illustrates why Big Pharma will never reveal the existance, if any, of curative agents they discover. Far more profit in tending to chronic, non-fatal conditions.

-KeithP

 

[slayer202]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T549VoLca_Q

-KeithP

What scumbags to compare the word retard to racial slurs like ******.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

how stupid are the people getting manipulated by best buy employees....*shudder*

Think of how stupid the average person is, then realize, half of them are even dumber than that.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

At least they are probably smarter than someone that would say this....

I lol'd at that tinfoil tomfoolery too.

 

[Xecuter]

Yeah, pretty much spot on

<--former GS employee

 

[TheVrolok]

This illustrates why Big Pharma will never reveal the existance, if any, of curative agents they discover. Far more profit in tending to chronic, non-fatal conditions.

Have a spare tin foil hat?

 

[CPA]

how stupid are the people getting manipulated by best buy employees....*shudder*

That's like asking how stupid are the people getting manipulated by auto repairmen. C'mon people, this happens across many service industries. it's not exclusive to BB and it certainly doesn't make people stupid. Unaware, sure, but not stupid.

 

[0roo0roo]

incompetence is lucrative, so what do you expect lol.

 

[shortylickens]

I'm sorry, was this supposed to be news?