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Best Buy Offers Bogus "3D Sync" Service
Token_Internet_Girl writes "Fewer than two weeks after Best Buy offered the first Full 3D HDTVs for sale in the US, its latest Sunday circular (3/21/10) promotes a Samsung 3D TV deal consisting of a 55" 3D TV, 3D capable Blu-ray player, 2 pairs of glasses, a Blu-ray movie and Geek Squad delivery and installation. The ad states the service includes TV and Blu-ray player set-up, connection to your wireless network and 'sync your 3D glasses for an amazing experience.' The package price lists the 'geek' services as a $150 value. The offer's only problem is that there is no such thing as syncing 3D glasses. They sync automatically." Here's Best Buy Corporate's response to this hilarity.
I don't think this was a deliberate attempt to defraud customers as much as it was a poor choice of verb. People use the term "sync" when it has nothing to do with synchronization. When you "sync" your smartphone you're not doing anything that relates to time, you're just copying data to be the same in both places. When you "sync" your Bluetooth headset, you're actually "pairing" it to tell it which phone it belongs to. When you press the "sync" button on your keyboard, you're actually "pairing" it again.
While you don't need to set a clock on the 3D glasses, you do need to ensure that the glasses can see the IR emitter, with a clear path between the emitter and wherever the user will be sitting. That's the actual service they're offering as part of the larger setup package. I'm sure the advertising people will hear this brushback and correct future mentions of the service, but they're only technically wrong, and using words that better communicate to the people who would buy a Best Buy home install than the technically correct ones... even if technically correct is the best kind of correct.
Seems pretty plausible to me. Has the poster read the links the presented in the article?
Clearly hdguru.com needs to sync their database with their httpd.
Best Buy Responds To “3D Glasses Syncing Service”
(March 23, 2010) We asked Best Buy’s media relations department last week why Best Buy’s Geek Squad offers a fictional 3D glasses syncing service? (link to our original story). Below is the corporate response.
“I wanted to address any lingering confusion about the characterization of services support in the Best Buy Samsung 3DTV offer that was advertised in yesterday’s (March 21) insert. We by no means intended to confuse our customers or offer fraudulent services. The offer is new to our stores, and our own employees were trained on it just this past week.
Let me clarify the services that are included with this offer. Geek Squad will:
1. Set up and connect your TV + up to 5 components (Blu Ray, Cable Box, Satellite Box, etc )
2. Add your internet enabled Blu ray/Gaming Console or internet enabled TV to your existing wireless network so you can access online content such as Netflix and Pandora.
3. Make sure your 3D glasses work – some solutions we sell need TV settings adjusted so that 3D glasses are enabled – there are both 3D and non 3D settings for viewing
4. Review and teach you how to use all of your new gear.
We have some customers who aren’t quite sure how the 3D glasses work, or that the glasses automatically sync with their new 3D TVs. So we wanted to convey that they can depend on Geek Squad to answer their questions during installation and set-up. There is no additional charge for this – and the Geek Squad 3D installation and networking services are included in the total price of this offer.
You know we’re as enthusiastic about 3D as you are, and equally committed to help educate consumers about how to get the most from this home entertainment experience.”
The last thing I need is for people to walk into my house and see me sitting on my couch wearing some goofy looking glasses.
You know how like... some things don't look as ridiculous if several people are doing it at the same time (like, dancing, for example)? Well 3D glasses don't change that. A whole theater full of people still look individually absurd in a way that their numbers somehow do not correct for.
...they don't tell you about needing to adjust the framistat (and the additional charge) until they show up for the install.
Chances are someone in the marketing department saw this and added 'syncing' of their own accord. They saw a buzzword, didn't know what they were talking about and made the ad accordingly. I doubt this was intentional fraud, and their answer sets the record straight on that. As one version of the old saying goes, "never attribute to malice that which is simple incompetence". Hopefully best buy will learn and have someone who is technically savvy review things in the future. After all who hasn't occasionally seen something like a dual core 2Ghz chip advertised as 4Ghz or a system advertised as having 1TB of memory?
...talk about a sloooooooooow news day if this is considered newsworthy. Oh noes!! They used the word "sync" instead of "setup". Let's boycott Best Buy and burn down their stores!! Get a grip people...first off that was one of 10 things in the offer what they are offering makes perfect sense.
The glasses are precisely the reason. Never mind the look, never mind not wanting to wear them. The fundamental problem is that if you are watching in 3D mode, the screen is a blurry mess to anyone without glasses. It can be uncomfortable to look at. This means if you are sitting watching a movie and someone else walks in the room, it is a problem for them. With a normal TV, it doesn't matter. People can watch for a bit, no problem. Seeing it out of the side of your view it looks normal. Not here. It is either 3D with the glasses or jumbled mess without.
Uhh... its not "Full 3D" until I'm not wearing glasses. Regardless of any "sync" bullshit.
Man, if only bullshit was source of income. What a second, I feel a political career beginning!
My work here is dung.
I can understand why most of you think this could be FUD, but here's my argument against that position:
If a company propositions a service, not just any service but an EXPENSIVE one, what legitimacy is there in advertising a feature of that service that the tech doesn't even do and isn't required for them TO do?
Now, in the response, Best buy stated this in relation to the 3D aspect: "3. Make sure your 3D glasses work - some solutions we sell need TV settings adjusted so that 3D glasses are enabled - there are both 3D and non 3D settings for viewing." Making sure the glasses work and syncing them are TWO different exercises. To me, I see an overzealous advertising agent who saw an opportunity to throw out some buzzwords for sales. I don't buy the stupidity excuse, Best Buy knowingly takes advantage of its customers and has done so for years. Just my two cents.
Sure baby, I'll give you my phone number...in Hex
"24K gold-plated connectors help protect the cable's optical lens to ensure consistent signal transfer"
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Rocketfish%26%23153%3B+-+8'+Digital+Optical+Cable/8315147.p?id=1174694191675&skuId=8315147&st=optical
--
Fewer than two minutes after HDGuru criticised Best Buy for their sloppily worded '3d glasses sync offer', its latest webpage (check the bottom of the submission page) claims an invalid copyright date. The webpage states a copyright date of 2008. The website's only problem is that it's now 2010 and there is no such thing as authoring content in 2010 and then claiming a copyright date of 2008.
We await HDGuru's corporate response to this hilarity.
You can get the 46" LED Samsung with the starter kit at Amazon for around $2,200.00. Best of all you don't have to deal with the Dweb Squad.
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-UN46C7000-46-Inch-1080p-Black/dp/B0036WT4EC/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_cart_1
Here's how marketing people work...
They identify the features of a product, translate that into an advantage, then translate that into a benefit.
People buy benefits, they don't buy features (most people anyway).
So, if you have some commercial software package that zips the reports, it might go like this:
Feature: zip tool
Advantage: compress and encrypt
Benefit: Secure and quickly transmit your reports
In this case, they're trying to justify their Geek setup services:
Feature: 3d glasses delivery and setup
Advantage: not worrying about compatibility
Benefit: Sync your 3D glasses to your TV
Sure, it's not accurate, but marketing people don't always know the fine details of what they are talking about. If they did, they would be techies.
As programmers/developers/techies, we hate to deal in Benefits. They are so hard to quantify and define. We like to deal in features, which can be validated (it's there and it works, or it's not there or doesn't work).
Usually there's an "invert" button on the IR emitter to swap left/right eye -- you should press this if things look 3D, but horribly wrong somehow (or if the scene gets better when you turn the 3D glasses upside down and look through them).
All verbal confusion aside, it's good that they are offering a setup service -- while the setup on the devices is not that complicated, it's a bit less trivial than programming a VCR. I could see a lot of inexperienced users (which is 99.999% of the population at this point in history) banging their head against the wall.
For example, on one Samsung model, only one HDMI input supports 3D, the TV has to be specifically switched to 3D mode, the emitter has to be hooked up to the right place, IR interference from other sources must be eliminated, etc.
was in the 50's is today
No matter whether I'm dealing with polarization (some lenses in glasses in same batches are reversed or rotated), or LCD shutters, I've never seen a "3D" setup where the some of the glasses don't require a little tweaking; there is rarely automatic success.
Both these statements can't be true. If the glasses sync automatically, then there is such a thing as syncing 3D glasses.
The real question is, considering that the glasses sync automatically, should they be advertise this as a service they provide.
Most likely not.
No need to sync the glasses thanks - now knock off a hundred and fifty bucks from your price.
Once I was a four stone apology. Now I am two separate gorillas.
This type of thing has been going on for months, try walking into a best buy and buying an "on sale" notebook that doesnt have a $39 Geek Squad "optimized" sticker on it. I tried a couple months back when an Acer was on sale that I wanted for my son, after arguing with the sales guy who told me they were basically unusable without it I left. Instead of a notebook I walked out with frustration and a determination to never step foot in a best buy again.
Best Buy is the worst of all the computer/tv/tech stores I've purchased from. They charge for ridiculous 'products' and 'services' that are little more than outright scams. They have been indicted for some of them. Their prices are terrible, and they outright lie about matching others prices. This IS NOT your usual non-techy "I bought the wrong part" or techy "I know better than you" complaint. The complaints against Best Buy have to do with their criminal behavior.
http://consumerist.com/2007/05/best-buy-employee-confesses-to-scams-similar-to-ones-outlined-in-racketeering-lawsuit.html
http://bestbuyscam.blogspot.com/
http://digg.com/tech_news/Yet_just_another_Best_Buy_scam
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/11/04/best-buy-scams-hdtv.html
http://gizmodo.com/241220/best-buy-admits-they-scam-in+store-customers-with-secret-website
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicago-bar-tender/2009/10/lawsuit-best-buy-lies.html
http://www.gpsmagazine.com/2007/03/buyer_beware_best_buy_caught_t.php
Seriously, Best Buy is evil. Do not shop at Best Buy.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
Time for new competition.
Wait, wait, you need to paint the room matte black so those photons don't bounce off the wall and enter the wrong lens by mistake! That's why they make the screen border and all your home stereo equipment black, you know!
If the 3D effect isn't working, make sure the cable isn't kinked. (Like a garden hose, it causes data flow problems if the cable is kinked.) If you're using the component cables, they have to be rotated JUST RIGHT or it doesn't work. I know it's a hassle, but spend the time and you'll get the absolute best picture you can get!
*tips hat to parent poster
3D TV = Laser disc. 10 years from now we'll see these things sitting in goodwill and laugh our asses off.
bullshit IS source of income.
Global Climate Change!!!! The CLIMATE CHANGES!!!
I've seen a $2.2bn project add an additional $1.5m worth of solar panels to get an additional Federal grant worth $17m.
My client was making the arrangements to get the Federal funding.
My client charges > $35,000 a month for these services.
When I was 13 I went there to buy RAM for my computer and when i asked the guy to get it out of the case for me he told me I needed to pay to have them install it. I asked him why and he told me they had to configure my system to use more memory. I think it was a 64mb of some pc100 but anyways it didn't sound right so I said nevermind and didn't buy it. Then went and asked a friends motherhow to. thank god i didn't pay that extra $40
Inasmuch as these aren't actual 3d displays such as this or this, but simply stereo displays, very limited single-perspective (same as 2d) "flat-image-per-eye" technology from about 1900 or so, it seems somewhat beside the point to complain about entities marketing installation with the word "sync."
The market has already looked at the jug, poured the koolaid in its mouth, and swallowed it entirely on its own. There's little point in claiming they didn't want any koolaid.
It's 3D if the display offers more than one viewing angle, composite or not. Or to put it in a way that even the most uninformed consumer can grasp, if a one-eyed person (or a person with one eye closed) can view the object in the perspectives we expect from the real world, it's actually there to perceive. That's something worth characterizing as 3D display.
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
Wearing the glasses upside-down or the wrong way round would cause incorrect left/right shutter sync and resultant loss of 3D effect.
Anyone that would buy a TV from Best Buy must have limited intelligence, so Best Buy thoughtfully provide the glasses-sync service where they permanently epoxy the glasses to your head in the comfort of your own home. This value-for-money service prevents later user-error so ensures users will always get the full "amazing experience".
This helpful service is already under attack from other tv manufacturers as they have identified it as anticompetitive due to the implicit vendor lock-in following installation.
I hope this doesn't hurt the Geek Squad's reputation.
Seriously -- you have to be on glue to buy shit from that big box store in the first place.
"24K Gold plating offers better corrosion resistance and enhanced signal transfer."
http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/rocketfish-4-1-2m-fibre-optic-digital-audio-cable-rf-g1118/10075024.aspx?path=d5374e02b265182cb54d79c46ce83898en02
How to synchronize both eyes. Even after a few shots of Stoli.
By offering a service that does not exist, Best Buy attempts to confuse people who may well be perfectly capable of setting up their home theater system into believing that they don't know enough to do it. Imagine if you will a fairly smart person who has a basic knowledge of home A/V systems. They read this ad and see that Best Buy will 'sync their 3d glasses.' They are pretty sure they can do everything else, after all, they have for every other home A/V system they've owned. But there's that 'sync the glasses' bit. Maybe they even try to look up the procedure... but there isn't one. So they go, "what the hell, might as well pay Best Buy the $150, I just want to watch 3D movies."
And I'm sorry, but $150 for delivery and installation? That in and of itself is a scam. In any case, the advantage of "not worrying about compatibility" should come free whenever you buy your components from a reputable, knowledgeable, and professional retail establishment. If you want to pay less and you can educate yourself about compatibility, you can always order online. The only real benefit of brick and mortar stores these days is immediate gratification and/or professional advice.
Oh! And clearance sale items, haha, he writes on the computer he put together out of a discount Compaq tower he found at... Best Buy, for $300. If you don't let their idiotic sales force steer you off a cliff, you can, occasionally, find good bargains there.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
but I miss Circuit City. At least there was competition to provide unsatisfactory service, now it's a dissatisfaction monopoly.
Yes I know their online corpse lives on, but it's just a frontend for tigerdirect I think.
If you're using the component cables, they have to be rotated JUST RIGHT or it doesn't work. I know it's a hassle, but spend the time and you'll get the absolute best picture you can get!
You can't use component cable! You need a specially calibrated Monster HDMI cable now on sale for $99.95!!! Anything less will provide a sub-optimal viewing experience and void your warranty.
Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
you dont know how many times they try sell me shit i dont want/need. I dont even want help and they keep talking. I have also been lied to when i ask questions. Best buy is the worst place to buy anything, i wish they go out of business, only thing if that happens they there is no other big electronic store in my state. Only get Sears (which i trust more). I several times went to buy a part for a customer and the store was slow, i ask someone where the part is as I am in a rush and they just say "over there" pointing in some general area and no help at all.
I was just out shopping for a utilitarian laptop. I just need something with a screen big enough to see, and a keyboard that I could touch type on.
CompUSA, Best Buy, Staples, Office Depot, WalMart, Target. Best Buy happened to have the best deal. Of course, they first pushed me to accept an upsell. "No, I want this one." Next, they pushed me for the "optimized" version. The only ones on the floor were optimized. They pushed again, and I told them, "As soon as I get home, I'm backing up the install partition, wiping the drive, and putting on Linux." The guy wasn't totally confused, but he pushed for me to accept the wonders of Windows, so I would appreciate my experience more. {sigh} Grudgingly, he went, got the ladder, and got one of the non-optimized ones from a secured cage where a customer couldn't possibly accidentally take one to checkout. It wasn't for security. There were several "optimized" versions sitting right under the display where a customer could just pick it up and go unmolested.
No, I don't want to get a carrying case too. I don't want the laptop starter kit with wireless mouse and other crap I don't need.
From there, I had to go to the tech counter where they checked me out. "So, you want 6 months of free anti-virus, right?". Nope. "I already have that taken care of I told him, just to avoid the longer conversation. Two more prompts, and he realized I wasn't going to accept the upsell.
If I didn't need it fast, I would have ordered it online instead, and not had to refuse the plethora of upsells attempts.
In the end, I got the laptop, at the listed price, without anything extra, and as soon as I got home, I made the restore disks, and installed Slackware. It's working great. :)
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
You meant there is no pairing between the TV and the 3D glasses? What happens if I am watching 3D porn while my prude neighbor is watching Glen Beck in 3D, and all of a sudden the signals on our 3D glasses get crossed?
That would be *entirely* unacceptable -- having Glen Beck invade my private moment, that is.
Your first response should be "Any attempt at upselling will automatically cancel any interest I have in purchasing from your store."
If he persists you say "You are now harassing me and I will call the police if you do not stop."
After that, they pretty much will leave you alone and do exactly what you say.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
How is what Best Buy does routinely any different than the guy on the street corner selling genuine Onega (not mis-spelled) watches? And why doesn't anyone at Best Buy go to jail or at least get routinely discouraged by the cops but the street corner guy does?
I'd just like to throw in my two cents as per the bestbuyscam blog linked in the previous post.
I work at the store mentioned in that post, and I'm appalled at what took place. Thankfully, since that incident, things have been done to rectify behavior like that.
I will admit that some things do happen, but I've also seen managers bend over backwards in a contortionist fashion, sometimes losing several thousand dollars worth of merchandise, just because a customer was respectful of the mistake. Attitude means everything, and with my store, we have PRIDE in that we SOLVE for the customer, regardless of the immediate hit. In our minds, the relationship is worth it. The associate's primary goal is to make money, yes, but the same can be said of any retail store. What's different about this store is that the management learns from the mistakes of customer loss and WILL strive to make it right.
I can attest that most of the time, and this is from my own personal experience, and how policy has been since I started there in October, that the ASSOCIATE can now solve for the customer, and the manager's only job is to ensure that the solution is right for both the customer AND the store.
I'm legally not permitted to speak for the company, since I am just an associate, so this isn't an official representation, this is just what I'm seeing, what I've experienced, and hopefully what I've influenced. I have pride in my store and the people I work with... most of them. There are a few people that are still so worried about the money that they won't solve for the customer every time, but that's why, as an associate, I contact the managers I know will do the RIGHT thing, not the PROFITABLE thing. I just want to throw it out there that the customer experience is almost entirely based upon how the customer reacts.
Instead of demanding to speak with another manager, ask if you can get a second opinion for your peace of mind. It works the other way, too, I know, which is why in many situations when dealing with a customer, I too try to be as courteous and polite as I can.
I hope my post can make an impact on the opinions of my store in particular.
Threats don't generally work as well as you'd think. A threat to call the police may invite you a quick exit from the store.
I'm just satisfied that I bought their loss leader without any upsells, which means they lost money on the sale. :)
The one I got didn't come with Bluetooth, and they wanted something like $60 for a USB bluetooth receiver. I went over to CompUSA when I was done, and spent $20 on one. :) (and yes, I'm in one of the markets where CompUSA still has stores)
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
"Threats don't generally work as well as you'd think."
The trick is tact, a firm tone, and a voice of authority at all times. Especially useful is whipping out certification cards and employee ID badges to the corporations whose product they are trying to hawk.
Whip out the Solectron HP Repair Team Lead badge, BB employees shut up when I tell them to quit taking nonsense to me.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
Thinking about it, when I've stopped by in the past when leaving one of the many datacenters I've worked in, they tend not to sell me on stuff if I forget to take my badges off. :) I guess when you have a dozen proxcards with some notable companies on the ones facing out, that's a clue that I know exactly what I'm shopping for and to just let me buy it. :)
Since I don't work the DC's any more, I just have cards and it'd be silly to carry them around. Maybe I'll doctor myself up a CIA or NSA ID card, and "accidentally" let it show when I'm looking for something else in my pockets. :) Nah, that's probably the best idea. I don't like jail all that much. :)
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
What is this, the assburgers guide to annoying retail workers? I expect you people to be dorks but holy shit, at least pretend you've heard of society when you choose to enter into it.
Just last weekend, I stopped in my local BB and asked one of their droids about the 3D capabilities of their merch. The blue shirt showed me to a Panasonic setup, and I tried on the glasses. I have a Samsung DLP TV that has a 3D port on the side of it for connecting an IR transmitter for some glasses, and I asked him if they have any transmitters for it. In the process of talking with him, I can tell you that he had no grasp of the technology involved. He couldn't tell me for sure if the glasses receive the signal from the bluray player or the TV. When I prodded him for a more detailed answer, he couldn't even say that the glasses were controlled by infrared. He just said that they were "wireless". Well, DUH! I can see that they're wireless because there is no wire connecting them to the equipment. The term "Wireless" describes way too many different types of transmission: Infrared, Wireless Cell phone, Bluetooth, WiFi, etc. When I asked him where he got this information, he said that he read some training info about it.
Wouldn't you think that training material would explain the technology involved?
Honestly, I don't. To me its funny because I know better. It reminds me of the "egress" trick PT Barnum played on customers, granted in his circumstance it was more to get people to leave an overcrowded museum. Honestly what ever happened to caveat emptor? Its an optional service. Do some damn research and for god sake don't pay for it. If you've done the research to get such high end equipment go the extra mile to see what is necessary to configure it. What ever happened to informed decision making? If I'm laying out that kind of cash you can be damn well sure that I'm going to know every single piece of equipment down to whether or not the individual ports are gold plated. Bravo Best Buy, while its scheister-iffic, I applaud your idiot tax.
You're using an awfully narrow definition of "synchronize". While yes, its origin is probably in terms of time (hence the "-chron-"), the modern use is more like "to make two (or more) objects contain the same information", as in synchronization between a computer and mobile device. You are copying the data either from the one to the other to make them homogeneous.
As with Bluetooth pairings: you are copying identifying information from one device to the other (I'm not very familiar with the details of Bluetooth, though, so I don't know exactly how it works), to essentially make them one and the same. As you did in the information example.
Go on, then, and when the police arrive tell them what lead to you calling. You'll be lucky if YOU aren't charged with wasting police time. "Officer, I entered these private premises to buy a product for them, but they attempted to sell me more than I was looking for. Rather than leaving the store, I called 911."
Sounds like a Social Adjustment Disorder...
"there is no such thing as syncing 3D glasses. They sync automatically."
So they don't sync, but they sync? /dnrtfa
All this is wasted effort unless you check the manufacture date on your 3D glasses and determine which astrology sign they are. Capricorn glasses sitting on the face of an Aries person simply won't work and may give you eye cancer. This is because of the influence of these combined signs collapse the photons into waves of radiation that penetrate your eyes at the speed of light. The manufactures don't want you to know this because it will upset their profits.
However, if you are Gemini it'll just be the most smoothest visual experience of your life, as the photons actually aline with your guiding planets, thus removing all their sharp edges at a sub-atomic level. The manufacturers also don't want you to know this, but customers we have advised on the purchase of 3D glasses have reported such an astounding difference that they may actually experience 4D. All without the expense of buying the higher spec of glasses!!
Phone my Professional Appliances astrology phone-line iAppAstro(TM) for more fancy sounding talk that sounds like it'll make a difference, but is really total BS.
"Any attempt at upselling will automatically cancel any interest I have in purchasing from your store."
If he persists you say "You are now harassing me and I will call the police if you do not stop."
Captain Asperger saves the world once again!
simon
Most stores mark down big ticket items and mark up the incidentals, but cables have gotten completely out of control. This is why there is so much marketing bullshit slapped on them.
For example, here is a link to an optical audio cable from Monoprice. 1.5 feet instead of 8 inches, less the gold plating, and it goes for 3.86 + shipping.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10229&cs_id=1022901&p_id=3396&seq=1&format=2
Because I wore glasses. "Four eyes" they called me.
Now those jocks come home, and to watch their 3-D football game *put on glasses*? The same guys that made fun of me for wearing glasses?
What kind of upside-down, bizzarro world are we now living in?
And tell me what kind of fashion-conscious woman is going to wear those dorky glasses? Who really thinks this stupid fad is going to catch on?
What about people that already wear glasses? Or spent a fortune on laser surgery or contacts, only to have to put on glasses *again*, now to watch TV? And when friends come over, do they have to bring their own glasses? How's that Superbowl party going to work out?
I'm already on the fence about throwing out my TV... I believe this is pushing me closer to just giving up on broadcast media entirely.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
This doesn't surprise me at all. This is what Geek Squad does. They convince you that you are unable to install anything yourself because you are not a "geek". Then they charge you out the wazoo for a service a child could figure out. See: http://ruleroftheinterwebs.blogspot.com/2009/09/geek-squad-up-to-their-usual.html
Yeah, I'm sure the police will be really keen to come out to a store and arrest the shop assistant for talking to you. If you walk away and they chase you it might be harassment, but probably that would still only count if it was over a protracted period of time. By the way, if you reply to this post then you're harassing me ;).