How do YOU feel about Geek Squad? And why do they get so much hate.

[YeOldeStonecat]

Couldn't resist this graphic...since the thread got jacked in a car direction...

 

[angry_geek]

Yuppers...steer with your right foot!
'course you sorta took an extreme version of that taking a tail happy 911 down the Dragon!

I didn't drive it that fast on the Dragon, but you're right. Those things love to go sideways. As light as it is, once it does break loose, it can be an adventure reigning it back in. The best performing car I've driven on the Dragon was the Z car. They glue themselves to the road. It's rare to get above 100 mph out there, so handling is crucial.

For those that don't know about the dragon, google it. It's awesome! I've been out there about 20 times over the years.

 

[Blue]

My truck blew a spark plug out two weeks ago. This is the third one that's blown out. Good thing it's a V10.

Just fixed it today, since I've been sick with pneumonia.

What do I win?

 

[pcmagi1823]

I was picking up some ink and printer paper, and while paying for the merchandise, I decided to ask what the GeekSquad was charging for malware removal; the answer almost caused my wheelchair to short out.

"We don't offer actual malware removal, but for only $200.00, we will wipe any three devices within one year. Oh, and please backup all important data, because anything above nine gigs we will charge an extra $150.00."

I would never work for an organization that takes the fun away from being a computer tech,

 

[TenYardFight]

They taught me to watch the numbers. They taiught me to not think customers can't afford something. They aso taught me to go ask for the sale.

This is good. Lots of great techs in my area have provided great service, but couldnt keep their doors open because they couldn't do these things.

 

[Mr.PCFixer]

I personally love GS, because when i show up to a new clients business after GS demolished something I say a little prayer and a ty to the Computer God's.

 

[imageblur]

I have cleaned up lots of companies after they had Geek Squad in. GS is about the worst entry level techs you can get. They are extremely over priced, and do not have corporate / enterprise experience. Every network I have fixed that has had GS in before me, was a mess.

 

[RegEdit]

I was mostly referring to A+ and how an intro cert some how became the standard. Some how getting an A+ made people a computer repair technician and yet they were not capable of even resolving some of the easiest issues. I understand its gotten much better since back then but still it didn't prepare people for jack.

+ 3
That A+ Certified course teaches a lot of nonsense. Repairing computers is 1% A+ course and 99% learning by doing and hanging out in the forums.

There's a video on YouTube about Geek Squad techs diagnosing an incorrect BIOS boot order as a "fried hard drive". They charged $248. "The hard drive just clicked. That's usually an indicator that the hard drive is bad".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmNrm9vHBHs

 

[ElementalWindX]

Unless your Beetle has a Chevy small block conversion....I'll pass you with either vehicle of mine. My truck has 390 horsepower under the hood. My 0-60 times are sub 7 seconds. Even if you have the Turbo VW Beetle...you'll still see my tail lights. And my Harley...well, dunno of anyone that would attempt to argue a car vs motorcycle race unless they had something solid in the supercar class...like a Cobra 427 or some ultra exotic...it's about power to weight ratio there.

I've never heard of anyone that has gotten convicted of a driving infraction from stories on a public internet forum. I'll publicly state that I have driven over 140mph. There....now I'm biting my fingernails! Oh noze...the police will knock on my door tonight!

What about my garret 4088r on my 2.3L awd eagle talon? Only chevys I've seen beat me on the street were.... well.... I cant remember any haha. On the track that is a different result though

When I was running a 3065, I could keep up or leave most bikes. When I sprayed my automatic on the 3065 I definitely left them.

 

[ElementalWindX]

Way back when I had time, I raced SCCA with my dad and uncle. They drove a '68 Datsun roadster in the GP class. I ran an '85 300 ZX in the showroom stock class. That car was an absolute blast, right up until it rained. Then it was downright scary! I ran 106 octane (mixture of premium and aviation fuel) on race day. My personal record on the track was 162 mph. I reveled in eating up Camaros and Mustangs with 100 more horse power and two more cylinders than me!

The fastest I've driven was in a friends 911a few years back when we went out to Tail of the Dragon. I hit 185 with a bunch of Ferraris and others on the interstate. We got damn lucky that we had to stop for gas. When we got back on the highway, we saw everyone pulled over only a couple of miles from the entrance ramp by about 50 state troopers.

Tail of the dragon became a scary place after it got popular ESPECIALLY with the police. 10 years ago it was heaven. I remember going there one year and seeing a cop posted up at nearly every turn. It was after that biker died.

 

[Rob_NNCC]

I don't really have too much exposure here from Geeksquad, nearist one is about an hour away. All I get are "we took it to geeksquad, they charged us XXX and could not fix it."

Fast food of IT ++


Ok, I stayed on topic, now I can...

I sold all 3 of my z cars to start this business
1. 1973 240z all stock silver
2. 1978 that I did a frame up restomod on, including a 90s chevy LT1 with coilpacks and FI. That thing MOVED. http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3850338/1978-datsun-280z/
3. My 300ZX 2+2 as daily. I took that upto about 130 in washDC, talk about cops!

 

[Freedom PC Solutions]

I was told by a GS guy that they can train a monkey to do computer repair. What they need is salesmen. I did not apply for the position consequently.

The techs may be A+ certs but there is a difference between book smarts and real world smarts. Some of them don't have the common sense and are cocky beyond belief.

I must say one thing though, I do get work repairing GS screwups so it is not all bad.

 

[RegEdit]

That A + Certification course teaches so much useless knowledge. Obscure stuff you're never going to need to know or stuff that you can just look up in 2 seconds if you ever happen to need to know. Repairing computers is 1% classroom and 99% learning by doing. That's the problem with hiring kids fresh out of the A+ class. When a computer won't boot because of a wrong bios boot order the big box store techs are gonna tell you that the hard drive is fried.

 

[ElementalWindX]

That A + Certification course teaches so much useless knowledge. Obscure stuff you're never going to need to know or stuff that you can just look up in 2 seconds if you ever happen to need to know. Repairing computers is 1% classroom and 99% learning by doing. That's the problem with hiring kids fresh out of the A+ class. When a computer won't boot because of a wrong bios boot order the big box store techs are gonna tell you that the hard drive is fried.

^ TRUE STORY LOL. Had someone tell me they did that to them.


I actually just had a customer I had to build a new computer for that showed me where he paid for a Vista upgrade, and they gave him someone elses Vista disk with no license key. X_X Guess they are making people pay for stolen Vista licenses now?

 

[RegEdit]

^ TRUE STORY LOL. Had someone tell me they did that to them.
I actually just had a customer I had to build a new computer for that showed me where he paid for a Vista upgrade, and they gave him someone elses Vista disk with no license key. X_X Guess they are making people pay for stolen Vista licenses now?

One very good reason to avoid GS is if a Windows reinstall is necessary they will make you buy a new Windows CD if you didn't back up your OS or have a recovery partition. Freelance techs and most indie shops will use their own Windows CD. Technically it's "copyright infringement" but when you have a valid product key it's not right to charge people again.

 

[kwest]

Desktop came it today that geek squad told the customer it had a bad motherboard. Took me 5 minutes to put a new power supply in and presto it works. Noobs

 

[brock029]

Desktop came it today that geek squad told the customer it had a bad motherboard. Took me 5 minutes to put a new power supply in and presto it works. Noobs

I have fixed a few with the same gs answer when it was just the power supply.

 

[HawkinsPC]

I have fixed a few with the same gs answer when it was just the power supply.

Yep. The term "fried" gets tossed around the GS here apparently. If it doesn't boot, it's "fried" for a price of $400. If Windows doesn't start, $300 for data recovery or whatever. How can somebody charge $300+ when running start up repair takes care of it? It makes me sad and sick at the same time.

 

[HawkinsPC]

One very good reason to avoid GS is if a Windows reinstall is necessary they will make you buy a new Windows CD if you didn't back up your OS or have a recovery partition. Freelance techs and most indie shops will use their own Windows CD. Technically it's "copyright infringement" but when you have a valid product key it's not right to charge people again.

I got an e-mail about this an hour ago. A gentleman was quoted $120 for Win7 from GS since the key rubbed off on his COA.

 

[Rosco]

I got an e-mail about this an hour ago. A gentleman was quoted $120 for Win7 from GS since the key rubbed off on his COA.

I was just on geeksquad site they charge 129 instore for installs with cds and coa and 229 for inhome. wow

$200 bucks for a instore virus removal

There prices are not cheap.

and with the 199 support for the years its actually 298 because of the 99 setup fee.

I think they are good for people like us. I get tons of business from people that bring it to geeksquad and realized it is to costly.

just last week a people brought me a laptop. Geeksquad said it needed a new hard drive. It was the ram that was bad.