Thank you. I think for the most part, you and I are on the same page now. I'm sure it would be good to attempt to try a new job, but I don't plan on being on the Geek Squad for much longer. Cheers.
First of all, we are REQUIRED to run diagnostic software, whether we already know the issue or not. It's just part of standard operating procedure. Your right, it is easy to diagnose problems (besides HDD scans, which often catch potential problems before they happen), but we are required to use the software for diagnosis. I diagnosed a bad DVD combo drive today without it, and if the service manager knew that I didn't use the GS software, I would have gotten yelled at, and possibly written up. I believe this falls under the "corporate BS" category.
Secondly, we're all human. Dealing with morons is draining. If you are drained and human, you are bound to make mistakes. I'm not trying to excuse incompetence, I'm asking you to remember that none of us are infallible. Like I said, the majority of us are college students, we are not making enough money to be self sufficient, and we get harassed by customers and supervisors alike. It's hard to do you're best when everyone seems to want you to fail, so they can knock you down a couple of more pegs when you do. With that being said, I personally try to do my best, because I have no desire to screw anyone over. But again, I'm imperfect.
Moreover, although I am quite a huge newb and I am relatively new to the tech "scene" (I've been around a couple of years), I am quite aware of the fact that you cannot write inventory software in HTML. It is called a joke. Obviously we left our sense of humor in bed this morning. You ask what the software has to do with service. Well, certain items need to be sent back to the manufacturer for repairs (corporate BS). Often, the "tags" we make in our software have bugs, and we cannot ship them out, we cannot close them, and we cannot create a new tag for the same item without closing the first one. It is how the GS and the service centers communicate, and it is a terrible method of communication (again, corporate BS). I think you fail to understand the procedures that we have to go through to get our job done. Try working there, and maybe you won't feel so bitter towards us.
Lastly, what is with the flaming? Is that completely necessary?
The place you work at is crap, the people you work with are crap, and anyone with the slightest speck of knowledge who is not actively looking for another job is too stupid to run away from the idiots they are being associated with.
I wasn't aware you knew the people I work with. If you did you would understand why I'm still working there. Despite all the crap I have to go through on a daily basis, I have a blast. Like any place of employment, Best Buy has its ups and downs. Besides, switching jobs is not as easy as you make it sound. You do not know me nor my financial status, and I fail to see how you can make such a harsh decision while you lack such vital information. If you feel the desire to attack people over the net, I ask you to not do it in response to my posts. I try to keep my language respectable when I post something, and I would ask that you have the same courtesy for me.
I work on the Geek Squad, and I'm gonna tell you like it is.
1. You don't need any certs to work on the Geek Squad (except for the higher positions such as supervisor or in-home tech)
2. Most "agents" are more than capable of doing (and do) all the things mentioned in the original post. We do OS Restores/Installs, We diagnose CORRECTLY, etc. Any thing that is misdagnosed, speak to the coders of GS's software.
3. We deal with REALLY, REALLY, REALLY stupid people all day long. Many of them barely know how to turn a computer on. So if we mess up, we're sorry.
4. Many "agents" are actually quite bright, contrary to opinions mentioned earlier. You can't base you're opinion of a group of people on your opinions about a few. Besides, opinions are just that: opinions.
5. Most Geek Squad employees are college students, trying to make a buck (close to what they pay us) and learn more about computers at the same time.
6. We are so bogged down by corporate BS that half of the time were not allowed to fix certain problems, even if we know how.
7. And finally, the software that we are allowed to use is CRAP. No, we don't use winternals anymore, we're not allowed to. But the GS "branded" software, is just terrible. I am speaking of the diagnostic software in particular. And as for the software we use to catalouge customer incidences, well, lets just say that I've seen better software written. In HTML. It might be more efficient to use a chisel and stone slab.
But most of all...before you get insulted that we're giving "geeks" a bad name, remember that we work in retail, and we provide services geared to those with IQs of 90 and under. So anyone who associates "geeks" with crappy service is probably an ignorant technophobe. After all, being called a "geek" has never been a compliment out side of teh technologically inclined subculture. Cheers.
If the spelling in this post is inccorect or the english doesn't flow, my apologies. I just spent 10hrs at best buy, and I'm not feeling overly intelligent right now.
I agree. So very few of us who work there actually at least TRY to learn stuff about what we're selling. And the service plan depends on what you're buying. If your buying a laptop (especially toshiba), you should almost always get the service plan. The amount of times that the HDD craps out on those things is...ridiculous...plus if your an eTard and know nothing about computer maintinence or repair, then you probably should get the PSP. Or else your gonna be paying alot for support. But as for a comp-savy consumer such as yourself, no, don't buy the PSP.
Well this is all well and good, but you must understand that bestbuy hires college and high-school students. It isn't exactly easy to fill a store with 50+ people, all of whom know about what they need to be selling. Besides that, their rate of pay and their ridiculous scheduling techniques turn off many people to working there. It's easier (not to mention cheaper) for them to just grab students who need jobs, whether or not they know about what they are doing.
Hehe...I work there...and what's even funnier...Is that I work on the geek squad, and I am the biggest noob in this forum:)
Wanna know why some of the employees aren't helpful?
Best Buy is a shit place to work. Pay is crap, the rules that we have to abide by: crap.
And the customers? Well I assume that most people in this forum would be some of the better customers, seeing as how your all tech-savvy, but you try explaining to a stay-at-home mom with 8 kids why you can't back up her HDD b/c it is fried. The ignorant people ruin it for the rest. There is no energy or desire to be helpful after you get yelled at for an hour b/c someone screwed up their own computer and we were unable to fix it.
And as for the guys in the blue shirts...
well usually those same push, ignorant people reach them before they even reach us...
with that being said, I personally am never impolite, and I always try to help people because I've shopped there before I worked there, and I know how frustrating it can be.
So I apoligze to all of you who had bad experiences there, but it isn't going to change until the corporation changes.
Unfortunately...we can't do anyting about the ignorant.
How do I get a job like that? Damn and all this time I thought I actually had to LEAVE my house to make money. I can't believe the guidance councilors lied to me.
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Thank you. I think for the most part, you and I are on the same page now. I'm sure it would be good to attempt to try a new job, but I don't plan on being on the Geek Squad for much longer. Cheers.
First of all, we are REQUIRED to run diagnostic software, whether we already know the issue or not. It's just part of standard operating procedure. Your right, it is easy to diagnose problems (besides HDD scans, which often catch potential problems before they happen), but we are required to use the software for diagnosis. I diagnosed a bad DVD combo drive today without it, and if the service manager knew that I didn't use the GS software, I would have gotten yelled at, and possibly written up. I believe this falls under the "corporate BS" category.
Secondly, we're all human. Dealing with morons is draining. If you are drained and human, you are bound to make mistakes. I'm not trying to excuse incompetence, I'm asking you to remember that none of us are infallible. Like I said, the majority of us are college students, we are not making enough money to be self sufficient, and we get harassed by customers and supervisors alike. It's hard to do you're best when everyone seems to want you to fail, so they can knock you down a couple of more pegs when you do. With that being said, I personally try to do my best, because I have no desire to screw anyone over. But again, I'm imperfect.
Moreover, although I am quite a huge newb and I am relatively new to the tech "scene" (I've been around a couple of years), I am quite aware of the fact that you cannot write inventory software in HTML. It is called a joke. Obviously we left our sense of humor in bed this morning. You ask what the software has to do with service. Well, certain items need to be sent back to the manufacturer for repairs (corporate BS). Often, the "tags" we make in our software have bugs, and we cannot ship them out, we cannot close them, and we cannot create a new tag for the same item without closing the first one. It is how the GS and the service centers communicate, and it is a terrible method of communication (again, corporate BS). I think you fail to understand the procedures that we have to go through to get our job done. Try working there, and maybe you won't feel so bitter towards us. Lastly, what is with the flaming? Is that completely necessary?
I wasn't aware you knew the people I work with. If you did you would understand why I'm still working there. Despite all the crap I have to go through on a daily basis, I have a blast. Like any place of employment, Best Buy has its ups and downs. Besides, switching jobs is not as easy as you make it sound. You do not know me nor my financial status, and I fail to see how you can make such a harsh decision while you lack such vital information. If you feel the desire to attack people over the net, I ask you to not do it in response to my posts. I try to keep my language respectable when I post something, and I would ask that you have the same courtesy for me.
Cheers.
On the nose.
Apoligies that it is not formatted the way I wanted. Didn't realize /. wasn't standard BB format.
I work on the Geek Squad, and I'm gonna tell you like it is. 1. You don't need any certs to work on the Geek Squad (except for the higher positions such as supervisor or in-home tech) 2. Most "agents" are more than capable of doing (and do) all the things mentioned in the original post. We do OS Restores/Installs, We diagnose CORRECTLY, etc. Any thing that is misdagnosed, speak to the coders of GS's software. 3. We deal with REALLY, REALLY, REALLY stupid people all day long. Many of them barely know how to turn a computer on. So if we mess up, we're sorry. 4. Many "agents" are actually quite bright, contrary to opinions mentioned earlier. You can't base you're opinion of a group of people on your opinions about a few. Besides, opinions are just that: opinions. 5. Most Geek Squad employees are college students, trying to make a buck (close to what they pay us) and learn more about computers at the same time. 6. We are so bogged down by corporate BS that half of the time were not allowed to fix certain problems, even if we know how. 7. And finally, the software that we are allowed to use is CRAP. No, we don't use winternals anymore, we're not allowed to. But the GS "branded" software, is just terrible. I am speaking of the diagnostic software in particular. And as for the software we use to catalouge customer incidences, well, lets just say that I've seen better software written. In HTML. It might be more efficient to use a chisel and stone slab. But most of all...before you get insulted that we're giving "geeks" a bad name, remember that we work in retail, and we provide services geared to those with IQs of 90 and under. So anyone who associates "geeks" with crappy service is probably an ignorant technophobe. After all, being called a "geek" has never been a compliment out side of teh technologically inclined subculture. Cheers. If the spelling in this post is inccorect or the english doesn't flow, my apologies. I just spent 10hrs at best buy, and I'm not feeling overly intelligent right now.
I agree. So very few of us who work there actually at least TRY to learn stuff about what we're selling. And the service plan depends on what you're buying. If your buying a laptop (especially toshiba), you should almost always get the service plan. The amount of times that the HDD craps out on those things is...ridiculous...plus if your an eTard and know nothing about computer maintinence or repair, then you probably should get the PSP. Or else your gonna be paying alot for support. But as for a comp-savy consumer such as yourself, no, don't buy the PSP.
Well this is all well and good, but you must understand that bestbuy hires college and high-school students. It isn't exactly easy to fill a store with 50+ people, all of whom know about what they need to be selling. Besides that, their rate of pay and their ridiculous scheduling techniques turn off many people to working there. It's easier (not to mention cheaper) for them to just grab students who need jobs, whether or not they know about what they are doing.
Hehe...I work there...and what's even funnier...Is that I work on the geek squad, and I am the biggest noob in this forum :)
Wanna know why some of the employees aren't helpful?
Best Buy is a shit place to work. Pay is crap, the rules that we have to abide by: crap.
And the customers? Well I assume that most people in this forum would be some of the better customers, seeing as how your all tech-savvy, but you try explaining to a stay-at-home mom with 8 kids why you can't back up her HDD b/c it is fried. The ignorant people ruin it for the rest. There is no energy or desire to be helpful after you get yelled at for an hour b/c someone screwed up their own computer and we were unable to fix it.
And as for the guys in the blue shirts...
well usually those same push, ignorant people reach them before they even reach us...
with that being said, I personally am never impolite, and I always try to help people because I've shopped there before I worked there, and I know how frustrating it can be.
So I apoligze to all of you who had bad experiences there, but it isn't going to change until the corporation changes.
Unfortunately...we can't do anyting about the ignorant.
Wow. On a related note, would you mind being my new hero?
How do I get a job like that? Damn and all this time I thought I actually had to LEAVE my house to make money. I can't believe the guidance councilors lied to me.
Dude. If you hide ANYTHING inside of a hustler you have serious problems. Geek or not.