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Tech Support Businesses on the Rise

prostoalex writes "People are relying on more technology that ever before, and tech support geek squads are on the rise, media reports. The USA Today article says Best Buy has hired 1,500 more technicians for its Geek Squad and CompUSA currently keeps its tech support ranks at 12,000. The article from Digital Connect magazine talks about Geeks On Call, a nationwide tech support franchise, which has more than 300 shops in 20 states. The USA Today article states the profit margins for the tech support teams generally run within 30%, while the Digital Connect magazine gives an estimate on prices charged to achieve the margins: "An initial diagnostics call, for example, could run $99. Cleanup jobs usually run one to two hours, and some franchisees say they charge between $149 and $165 for one hour and $265 to $275 for two hours.""

3 of 375 comments (clear)

  1. Yet another reason... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    why Steve Jobs is the Devil. Macs are so perfect, if everyone used them then tech support would be non-existent, putting hundreds of thousands of geeks out of work. Die Jobs Die!

  2. Re:Big fallacy! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Strictly from the content of your post, I deduce that:

    - You're too expensive (since your customers try to bargain with you)

    - You rely on software vulnerabilities and, more importantly, on malware that abuse it to get business

    - Your occupation is mainly that of a high-tech janitor, not really worth what you charge

    Let me introduce you to the word "leech"...

  3. Re:3 hours of tech support = new computer by ScentCone · · Score: 0, Troll

    The total righteousness of your comment is, like, totally righteous. Just this morning I was sitting out in the woods with my laptop, and a bear tried to kill me. I was like, "WTF?" And then I was like, "u r the r0xx0r! That bear saw that I was like, about to open some luser corporate file attachment from The Man that could have totally sucked, and he was like, dude, I'll show you what happens when you are stoopid."

    OMG that bear was like a totally 1334 h@xx0r ursine.

    --
    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.