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What Do Geek Squad Technicians Actually Do?
Zenitram asks: "I am a lead technician at a company that repairs computers for various vendors. Many of our systems are from Best Buy's Geek Squad. Based on the systems Geek Squad sends us, it makes me wonder what, if anything, do they actually do? We get systems that have issues that we simply shouldn't have to work on, like: installing device drivers, OS reloads, and reseting CRUs (Customer Removable Units). Additionally, we get systems that are misdiagnosed such as: bad hard drive when a system has faulty RAM; no POST when it simply won't boot into Windows; or no boot when it won't power on at all. So, what is the scope of technical repair that Geek Squad techs do?"
Really, we do. They bring us soooo much business it's funny.
We have determined that the Geek Squad geeks are people hired off the street the day before, and are instructed to look at the computer, and recommend that they buy a new computer. (from Best Buy, of course!)
Every attempt that we are aware of that they have actually tried to fix something, we see it a week later to fix what was wrong, and to fix what the geek broke while trying to fix it.
Some of the latest episodes:
- geek browsed customer's computer to a nasty web site and got it infected with spyware and viruses (two weeks ago)
- geek took laptop apart and failed to reconnect cardbus slot connector (that one was today)
- geek told customer he needed a new computer when he needed a new power supply (this happens somewhat frequently)
- geek told customer he needed a new computer because this one is slow, was actually rampant with spyware and viruses (happens all the time)
- geek sold customer another copy of XP because this one was showing it was no longer registerd
The list just goes on and on... funny thing too, we are quite expensive for on-site service compared to others in our area, (we're expensive, but we're good) but the Geek Squad actually is more expensive than we are. I don't see how they get any business, they must have a killer marketing campaign.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
Does the name "Geek Squad" kind of offend anyone besides me, even just a little bit?
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You know somebody isn't a repair tech if they're wearing a tie.
If memory serves, IBM field techs used to have a no-real-tie policy. They all wore clip-ons for safety reasons. If your tie gets caught in a printer, do you want to lose your tie or lose your neck?
Of course that was in the days where computer rooms had raised floors and separate air conditioning systems. Dinosaurs may also have been roaming the earth, but I was a child at the time.
-- I Am Not A Terrorist.
First, I agree that many Geek Squad Agents aren't too bright. However, many are. Where do you think some of the future whatever-you-are's work in high school and college? Yeah, these types of jobs.
I'm lucky that I can say at my store I was surrounded by several other smart guys, and some not so smart guys. Now, occasionally a dumb guy would try to fix something, call it fixed, and mess things up. However, that was an exception rather than the norm. Often the dumb guys would leave stuff in the back with notes on them to have someone smarter look at it :)
You have to really understand the situation these guys are in. On the one hand they've got a stream of customers who (rightly) want their computers fixed. On the other hand they've got managers who don't know anything about fixing computers, and would rather have the Geek Squad guys sell more add-on products than fix things. The managers only care about the bottom line. And only in the short-term.
So often they either have to hurry though something because they're not being "productive" (e.g. not selling enough Norton to people), or don't have the tools / replacement parts to fix things that are broken.
The way replacing parts works is this: If the best buy store sells a comparable part, and the repair is covered under warranty or service plan, then the Geek Squad Agent can pull the part off the shelf, install it, and send the customer home. This only works in a very few cases, unfortunately. Anything else has to go to a vendor for repair. The Agent just diagnoses which part is bad, boxes it up, and sends it out. Again, this isn't because the Agent is incompetant, it's because he's not allowed to fix it.
Now, all software-related problems (drivers, spyware, etc.) are done in-store. They don't ship that stuff out to vendors.
Oh, a note about fixing stuff. It's a common joke to say all that they do is just reinstall windows. In my experience, that's just not the case. However, if you really think about it, often it really is the fastest way to do something. If you're on a tight budget for time, would you rather spend a few hours or days carefully researching and repairing some asinine spyware infestation that's so embedded that no spyware cleaners will remove it, or just spend a couple hours backing up, installing windows, and restoring personal data? It just makes good sense in some cases.
In summary: Geek Squad agents, the smart ones, at least, realize the situation they're in, and try to do the best job they can despite the obstacles thrown in their way by Best Buy and their managers. Before I'm flamed by some Geek Squad employees: I admit that my info is a bit dated. I'm sure some things are done differently now. This is my own experience.
Before I'm flamed by some Best Buy haters: I'm not saying Geek Squad is great, or it's the right thing for everybody. In fact, if you're reading /. and actually reading the comments, then Geek Squad is not a product aimed at you. Bitching about Geek Squad (and services like it) on Slashdot is like a Formula 1 pit crew lead telling an 85 year old lady to change her own oil because Jiffy Lube is a rip off. You entirely miss the point.
Actually, before Best Buy sunk its venomous teeth into it, Geek Squad really was. It was started in Minneapolis almost 15 years ago by a guy (Robert Stephens) on a bike. The cars, the image, the attitude of the company was all Robert's ideas. They were doing flat-rate pricing before practically everyone and they had Agents whose technical skills would eat the lunches of everyone on Slashdot. The main Minneapolis newspaper retired the "Best Computer Support" category from their annual "Best Of" issue because Geek Squad destroyed the competition every single year. They were supporting the Rolling Stones, Ice Cube, and scores of Hollywood stars because of the phenomenal service they provided and the general counter-cultural "cool" they oozed (this was before Geeks were vogue). They really were a fine lesson in branding and customer service back then.
I had the great fortune of being one of the first Agents hired after Best Buy purchased the company. My badge number gets awed looks from other Agents as the latest hires are in the 3600s and mine is in the mid 100s. We only had about 70 Agents nationwide at that point (Agent badge numbers are never reused) and the 800-number was still staffed by technically compentent people who actually knew computer repair. I had to go through a difficult technical interview and three personal interviews before I got the job. So did everyone else at that time. No one knew who we were and we had to work fucking hard to prove ourselves to the customers. I worked with brilliant and dedicated people and only answered to the higher-ups in Geek Squad.
Fast forward 4 years to the present. Best Buy had done what every soulless corporation does with a great idea. They commodomized the shit out of it, dilluted the quality with shoddy hiring practices, and drove away the best talent by only looking at the bottom line.
They gave all the jag-offs in the store the Geek Squad uniform and made the old Tech Benches into Geek Squad precincts, even though they were staffed with the same underpaid, uneducated, and lazy "techs" that gave Best Buy such a horrible reputation for computer repair. Us old-schoolers screamed bloody murder we they made this decision 2 years ago because we knew what would happen - our great reputation would be pulled into the mud by these knuckle-draggers. Guess what? IT WAS.
I can fix just about anything, set-up any consumer electronic device to work with any computer, and expertly train anyone on about two dozen diffent software titles. Instead of doing that, I spend most of my time fixing other Agent's fuck-ups and soothing angry customers for "Customer Loyalty". Why? Because I can fix shit properly and I'm good with people. Nowadays, Best Buy store managers hire the on-site Agents and generally look for people who will do their bidding, rather than those who know computers or have demonstrable customer service skills. Most of these new guys won't spend the time to improve their skills or learn new technologies. They either restore or have me do the "hard jobs". And God forbid they should download demo software to learn so they can provide trainings.
Best Buy management has had the worst affect on Agent morale and employee retention. They focus only on scorecards, holding Agents responsible for missed budgets even though the in-store sales team is expected to generate 70% of the revenue, rewarding Agents who unnecessarily rape their customers with preposterous upselling, and generally ignore technically skilled Agents or those who provide outstanding customer service. At the corporate level, overhiring has led to hour slashing that has wiped out my last three pay raises. I'
We want some answers and all that we get
Some kind of shit about a terrorist threat
- Ministry
They don't do a damn thing. I had a friend ask me to diagnose his laptop one time. Symptoms included spontaneous powerdowns (mostly during gaming), inordinate amounts of heat, and occasional buzzing noises. Anyone with a little computer expertise would recognize this as a faulty fan and/or heatsink. I told him as such. I was wary of opening the laptop myself, as it was brand new. So he took it back to Best Buy to let their Geek Squad deal with it. When he submitted it for repair, he told them about the symptoms. When he got it back a couple of weeks later, it appeared that they hadn't even bothered to check that their "repairs" had worked. They replaced the damn battery. Of all the stupid things I've ever seen, it took them two weeks to replace a battery that didn't need to be replaced in the first place.
At that point I convinced my friend never to purchase from Best Buy again, at least, nothing that will require tech support. When I finally opened the laptop myself, the processor's heatsink was being held on by 1 screw, and even it was loose.
My diagnosis: the Geek Squad does nothing. It was a publicity stunt to make consumers think that Best Buy employees knowledgable technicians, when in reality these so-called "experts" probably spend all day sitting around thinking they're "1337 h@x0rs" because they downloaded TweakXP.
On another occasion I heard a Geek Squad guy tell an elderly couple that hyperthreading was "like having 2 processors in 1." I nearly flipped my lid, but that's a different story for a different day.
"You will pay for your lack of vision..." - Emperor Palpatine to Ray Charles
Yup.
I think they do that because it's their way of screwing people who buy cheap USB peripherals. Example: those $30 printers they sell in some cases don't come with cables. Oh, it'll come with an AC adapter, but not a USB (or at least the salesperson will insist that it doesn't). Then they hand you the $30 "MonsterCable" USB cable, in the hopes of recouping their profit margin that they didn't get on the printer. I've seen them do this to people over and over, and it's just painful to watch.
The only reason I go into BestBuy is when there's something free, or at a ridiculously low price (their 'loss leaders'). And then I go into the store, get the one item, and leave.
I can go on PriceWatch and get 6' USB cables for around $1-3 a piece, with shipping, from a no-name Mom-n-Pop. I've yet to have one of them fail, but even if they're not the same quality as Monster's, I feel quite comfortable getting one and having nine backups on hand, for the same price.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
I worked in Circuit City's IQ Crew (their answer to Geek Squad) for a while. On our crew, I was the only one there with a tech-support background, having supported machines for the local university for a few years. The others I worked with were the most "tech savy" in the store, i.e. the members of the floor sales staff that could toss the most jargon and confound the customers with the biggest words. My coworkers had all worked selling DVD players and Car stereos and had little to know knowledge of the inner workings of a computer. What's worse is that my supervisor sounded like his only link to information technology was having read PC Installation for Dummies.
Right across the street, and I am quite literal about that, was a Best Buy. Despite the rivalry between the stores, some of my friends worked at the Best Buy so we'd often chat about the day's goings on and swap moronic customer stories. I also got to hear about their Geek Squad. Turns out it was no different there. As we were talking one day, my friend informed me he'd been offered to move up to the Geek Squad from his current job as product specialist in the DVD department. That's right, work there long enough, and they might promote you from floor sales to computer expert!
My advice, never trust either of these places, it drains a mans soul to have to charge $60 to say what's wrong with your computer $10 per gig if you want anything backed up, and then $15-$45 per thing that needs fixing. Working in these teams, promotion has nothing to do with knowledgability and customer satisfaction, it has to do with how much money you can charge a single person to do 20 minutes of work.
I still feel the hole in my essence left from my time there.