Comments on: Got computer trouble? Call in the Geek Squad!

By: iphone blog

iphone blog — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:58:02 +0000

ohh thats very expensive! how much is it for turning on a computer??

By: Submit your questions to Geek Squad management

Submit your questions to Geek Squad management — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 18:43:59 +0000

[...] the UK about the possibility of an interview for GAS to address some of the negative comments that my last story received and about some of the negative issues about Geek Squad in [...]

By: Shane

Shane — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 03:44:41 +0000

Jack,

You find $120 a bit high. I agree that $120 is high for me. However, my parents (who live too far away for me to do it for them) would probably pay it because then they don’t have to worry about it - it’s installed, it works and while that was being done they could be doing other things around the home.

Having said that, my thoughts on being prepared to pay $x for a service is based upon the idea that the service is being provided by a competent and credible service provider. It would appear from the comments here that Geek Squad are neither. I can’t comment on Geek Squad as that particular company doesn’t operate in Australia.

By: Kiltak

Kiltak — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 03:39:43 +0000

Fascinating thread up to now. Here is my impression concerning Geek Squad.

1- Considering the salary they pay, most competent computer tech, meaning those with 5 - 10 years of experience in the corporate world, would never send their resume to widely known companies that offer service to Mr. and Mrs. Everybody. Having an MSCE doesn’t really mean anything anymore.

2- Let’s say GeekSquad pay an MSCE $20 per hour, or about 40k per year. a Good tech will earn at least 60K. At that price, the only people who will work for them are newbies.

3- An excerpt from the article: “The tasks were installing Skype, creating a home wireless network, making the router secure and transferring the iTunes library from an old laptop. The bill? $260″

$260? That is *completely insane*, especially since the task listed up here takes less than an hour to accomplish on a healthy system. I usually charge $65 to $85 an hour to my client + travel time. So something like this would cost around $100 to $120.

As a last point, I would suggest to everyone to head on to youtube and search for geek squad. You’ll find multiple reports from U.S. journalists who tested their service in comparison to other computer repair shop, and in almost all cases, they got ripped off with an inflated bill, and often, a wrong diagnostic.

I’m sure there’s someone out there who reads [GAS] and who work for the Geek Squad…. Your input would be appreciated.

Please note that I’m not bashing the company just out of pleasure…. I’m sure there are a few competent tech working for them… Everything that I said is based of my observations…. I’ve been working as a system admin for 12 years.

By: Jon

Jon — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 23:40:33 +0000

i agreed with her because, after all, “I” was not a “squad” yet….

By: Jon

Jon — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 23:39:27 +0000

as an aside, i actually have an old wirebound notebook from 1996 where my niece and I were brainstorming a name for a company I was creating .. on this one page is a crude pencil-drawn vw bug, black and white with a shield on the door and the words “geek squad” scribbled beneath it. My niece (14 at the time)thought it was too reminiscient of Andy Griffith’s Mayberry (we’re from NC) and that it wouldn’t portray the “high tech, turn of the century” persona we were aiming at….
does that qualify as “prior art? I wonder….

By: Jon

Jon — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 23:31:22 +0000

Another ANTI squad geek reporting in…
I run a great business locally and am in direct competition with these guys… nearly all my work is onsite and my customers say they would NEVER call “the other guys”, even when I get a bit backed up. I’ve had new referrals tell me that they would wait for 2 weeks for me to get to them, just so they wouldn’t have to use a “known ripoff” like geksquad (their words, not mine).
I could add to the horror stories but what’s the point, we all know who and what these guys are…

By: jack

jack — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 23:15:28 +0000

very cool!

By: Mark O'Neill

Mark O'Neill — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:13:43 +0000

I just phoned the Geek Squad offices in the UK to ask for a phone interview with senior management to address some of the comments that you guys have been making. I figured Geek Squad had the right to respond. The guy who took my number and a message laughed when I told him I wrote for GAS. His response “I know that blog! We love reading it here in the office!”. It seems they have been reading this post too and have been amused by the comments you’ve been leaving.

I’ll keep you updated on the interview possibility. Someone’s giving me a callback on Monday.

By: doug m

doug m — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 18:50:49 +0000

i totally agree, some people didn’t belong working at that store, and i never got a good enough answer as to why they where working for geek squad instead of a big company doing networking and such

By: Jim

Jim — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 16:18:57 +0000

If your an mcse, doing the firedog thingey, and making $20 hour, you need to have your head examined :|(

By: MikiP

MikiP — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 15:11:29 +0000

Wow, all this stuff is what I do for free for my friends!!