I worked for a call center recently and worked for Geek Squad specifically.. When you call the 800 # you got connected to us, "Mission control" It was hard to talk to these people and try and sell them on these services for so much $ I still have the training manual that has all sorts of sh*t in it about the services, methods, etc.. Many of the services offered like, Virus & Spyware removal, which is like $150 I believe, you can do at THEIR website for free! They have virus & spyware scanners and stuff you can use.. it's crazy.

By far this is the best line:

"There should be at LEAST one paragraph of notes for each hundread dollars spent."

This is from the handbook on how to take notes that the customer sees, on each case. So more money buys you more bullshit from the agent's pen.

Anyone else concerned that on page 29 of "Double Agent Manual" the GS employees are instructed to make notes of the clients' "usernames, passwords, wep keys or other vital information"?

I'm paranoid, so I'd probably change my password if someone had been in my house messing with my computer, but still ... this just seems creepy to me.

@mccxxiii: if its stuff they need to log back into the computer I wouldn't see an issue with that. Seeing how they need that stuff to fix your computer

My sister-in-law took her laptop that she purchased at Best Buy (with extended warranty) in for service - the connector to the power supply was semi-broken, and you had to fiddle with it to get it to connect and charge.

After having the computer for a week (I don't know if they sent it out to Geek Squad Central or not), they told her it was not covered under her extended warranty, because she must have "abused" it. This is patently false, and she takes better care of her laptop than anyone else I'd ever seen.

Being the non-confrontational type, she didn't make a fuss, but didn't let them charge her $150 for the repair.

She (and I) would NEVER take an extended warranty from Best Buy ever again (to the point of laughing in the salesperson's face), and NEVER allow Geek Squad to touch the machine.

I appreciate that GS is now slave to the dollar since Best Buy's buyout, and perhaps the new head of operations there intends to actually make things right. But these tactics have driven me off completely.

I have posted my problems with GS in the past but I'll post something in their favor recently. After the post earlier this week about Mr. Stephens trying to make things right, I emailed him about my situation (essentially, I was told my old computer wasn't worth fixing so I bought a new one, at BB of course).

I received a prompt reply stating GS would give me some free support in the future. Not much needed as I have only used external techs twice in ten years, but at least Mr. Stephens appears to be trying to make things right with customers. Now that just needs to work its way down the ladder.

They claim to support Macs if you call them. Yet there's no mention of Macs at all in any of these guides. That explains so much...

@Ben
These documents are quite old, they've been revised several times. You should email Robert and ask for the current ones. Seriously.

@ldnyc
There are a lot of things not mentioned in these guides, Geek Squad has always supported Macs, from day one. I'm quite sure that if we read only a select few of any companies outdated internal documents, we might be able to take jabs at them...

@ ldnyc

I think that its only at certain precincts that are in best buys with the full mac lineup and a have at least a least one tech that does mac....I some areas only have one mac tech that goes around to the different locations

kenposen:

I worked for best buy in the summer of 2005. I sold
a ton of Toshiba A75-S206's to people and eventually bought one myself.

Then it had the same problem you described.
I found this website:
http://www.a70m30xsettlement.com/

Also to fix it yourself:
http://www.irisvista.com/tech/laptops/ToshibaA75/satA75_1....

Hope this ends your plight.

Sorry for selling bad products, everyone.

I never, ever sold a single Geek Squad add-on...I swear.

I love how the "day in a life of an agent" uses PC anywhere on a kitchen PC to vnc to living room computer to check basement email server.

Not even close!

Real geeks use their laptop -- once they get to work -- to VPN to their home network, then VNC (using free and secure TightVNC, not expensive crap PC anywhere) to their desktop. On their desktop they load their email client, which connects to the IMAP server they're hosting out of Equinix Chicago. Of course, they can't just check this from work, because their server has strict filtering allowing only a few IPs from the C block their ISP assigned to them when they got the T1 wired to their house.

Some of these manuals are WAY outdated...so take them with a grain of salt..

And about the Mac's, only certain Agents are able to handle them. Instead of just giving basic training they would rather only send DA's that are familiar with them.

There's no way in hell I'd trust them to work on my computers when they clearly don't know how to deal with spell and grammar check. Some of my favorite errors from the "Double Agent Handbook":

"Clenliness", p. 7 (a topic heading!)
"The Geek Squad message boards are a good place to communicate other agents..." p. 33
"Return clients phone calls in a timely manner." p. 34 (it should be client's or client)

on the VoIP manual (last page):
"Complete Solution:
* Anti-Spyware Installation
* Anti-Virus Installation"

WTF does this have to do with VoIP (in terms of the Vonage/Callvantage setups they're doing)?

I have been an Agent for about a year now, and just because these manuals are leaked out to the public 3-4 years after they are made, people on here can still make judgement calls.

Come on here people just because there are manuals on basica rules and guidelines doesn't mean we are freakin' robots. Be realistic.

If everyone did everythign by the manual then I wouldn't drive anymore because I would hate getting pulled over for going 2 MPH over in a 55.

1. With the Mac issue only the geek squad stand alone stores work on mac. And since best buy just announced thay are closing 5 of the 14 its a dieing breed of Agent

2 The reason anti-spyware and anti-virus programs are listed for voip is becasue bets are if the person has voip they have the internet. and most of the time no internet + no protection = viri and spyware infections.

3. The manuals as stated in previous comments are 2 years out of date and new ones are in the process of being made. in regards to the DA manual mentioning the forums. Geek Squad has a private forum that is used for agents around thte country to communicate news and such with each other

Anyone else see this?

When calling Guidance you should call 1-877-433-5773.
THIS IS FOR AGENT USE ONLY!
If customer needs assistance,
they should call 1-800-GEEK-SQUAD
for help. This number should not
be given out under any circumstances.

I think we should have someone call that number...

I love the word "Communiqué"

It sounds so tactical!

There is no reason to call Guidance (877 number listed above.) Guidance is only for scheduling deliveries so they would not be any help, that is why it is not for customers.

Ooooh, I'm so bored and have such an important life and I am so much smarter than someone who's passion in life is computers. I will never need geek squad to fix my computer. However, many of you or someone you know will. So what. Thousands of cunsumers use Geek Squad every day. How many horror stories have you heard? 50? how about 100? Better yet, 1,000? That's still less than 1/10th of a percent of the people they help out annually. That's like saying they had a bad day once every 2 years. Big deal. Tell me you have never had a bad day at work? I am not and was never a Geek Squad employee, but come on people. Do you have nothing better to do with what little free time you have? Go ride a bike, read a book, go to the park. ENJOY your day....don't spend it complaining about something this retarded. This David and Goliath mentality is destroying american life. How big are is the consumerist following? Let's say a million people. Hello...there's almost 300 million people in america!! Stop wasting time complaining and do something positive with your life. consumerist=communist for sure.

I worked there. They dont teach you anything and i dont think there is any value in them.

There was a new employee who didnt know that the boot menu was... he got the hang of it after i taught him what the BIOS were.

I posted a copy of their sacred mri cd (a runined version of bart pe) on demonoid.com

"Thousands of cunsumers use Geek Squad every day. How many horror stories have you heard? 50? how about 100? Better yet, 1,000? That's still less than 1/10th of a percent of the people they help out annually. That's like saying they had a bad day once every 2 years. "

You could also read it as "less than 1/10th of a percent of the people they help out anually know enough to recognize what a poor job they do."

Consider it.

Here are some laptop service manuals for HP, IBM, Dell, Acer and Toshiba. Very helpful for all DIYers.

I used to work for geek squad over 6 months ago. I never read any of that crap in those manuals that they were supposed to have each agent know and understand. I have repaired and built pc's since the early 90's and I know for a fact that most agents are not even certified or have college degrees in computer sciences, however, if you have a pc and don't know how to fix it, that's your own fault. I personally have the education and experience to fix pc problems on all platforms and can charge whatever I want to correct it. So if people want to complain about problems that 99% are user error, get a clue. Capitalism works that is why americans take their pc's in to geek squad, because they look good in their uniforms and they are too fat and lazy to do it themselves. That's why I got paid alot more money than most non certified so called techs because they didn't know anything. I personally feel they could raise their rates as high as they want and people will still pay for it just like gas because they are too stupid to take time out and learn how to use and repair their own pc's
Go Geek Squad..