IS that Paulie Walnuts from Soprano's crew taking in his rig to Geek Squad for repair?

More ball-busting please.

[www.tian.cc]

You won't give him his name but you'll post his picture? Hey, isn't that the Dell dude?

That pictures is creepy. Since when did Best Buy allow employees to have gaged ears?

@ TIAN:

YOU BEAT ME TOO IT.

I was just Imagining him and Pussy shaking down the geek squad for stealing Meadow's photos...

We should write this stuff...

I love the photo that goes with this story. When put in this context, the man looks excited to learn that his pornography was stolen.

"Thanks Geek Squad, hope you enjoy it as much as I did!"

Huh? I can't imagine a better way for Geek Squad management to make the point that this content is unacceptable than to promptly fire the person who did it.

Amen. Better to have them look at the entire system than simply slap a single tech on the wrist.

@JustAGuy2: When China fired one guy at one factory for the melamine scandal...was that enough to make their point and stop the poison train?

Of course the GS employee should be fired, along with all the other employees who do the same...But giving corporate the name of this particular employee will only give them a scapegoat to sweep the issue under the rug.

C'mon, give the guy a name.
Normally, I'd say that it was very cool of you to not throw some random tech under the bus, but this is just plain ridiculous.
The guy invaded privacy and copied sensitive material for his own use.
This is not just a violation of geek squad policy, but of personal privacy.
Plainly put, he had no business even looking in the folder.
And I disagree with you- it is true that in some cases, systemic issues can be solved more efficiently through other means. In this case, however, someone needs to be made an example of.
Hell, all parties involved should be terminated immediately.
Period.
Allow me to explain my position using my own experience as evidence...
I used to be in the bar biz. I was moved to a new location of a bar/restaurant company I had been working for. I specialized in increasing profitability and efficiency of units without compromising, often increasing, morale. They would move me for a few months from unit to unit, I would clean it up, then they would move me again.
I went to this unit and found that their liquor cost was high because staff was drinking on duty. Talk about systemic, virtually every member of that staff would help themselves to a beer or two during their shifts. It was bleeding money. Food cost was also high because waitstaff would snag a few beers for the kitchen to get free food for dinner, which was especially silly because the employee meal plan got them crazy good food for nothing (a $10 steak sandwich for $3 for example).
I held a meeting and asked the staff to stop. I explained that the costs were too high and the risks too great.
It continued. For 2 weeks.
While working a shift aroudn two weeks after my first meeting, I observed a staff member get a little tipsier every hour. I knew what was up, so I let her spiral out of control. 5 hours into an 8 hour shift, she was wasted.
I pulled her into the office and fired her on the spot.
It sent shockwaves through the staff.
That week I called a meeting and laid down the law - no drinking on the job. Unauthorized trips to the cooler would result in termination. Give a cook a beer and you lose your gig, plus the cook loses theirs.
Within a week our costs had fallen in line and the staff obviously complied.
Words don't mean nearly as much as clear and definitive action.

Well played, Consumerist.

I'd love to do the same to my laptop, take it in and see what they do with my files.

AMEN, BROTHER BEN!

EXCELLENT RESPONSE, Consumerist!

Systemic. No need to isolate the individual here so they can be scapegoated. BRAVO!

I'm struggling to care about this.

@Skiffer:
or it will send a clear message that this type of behavior is unnacceptable and now in the spotlight.
If the techs knew that they were being watched and that the penalty is swift and harsh, they likely won't risk it.
I don't buy your logic - the factories in China put poison on the market because of executives, not low rung employees. The analogy doesn't fit.
It isn't some low level worker adding poison to food - someone high up made a choice that affected the business negatively.
That person is indeed likely fired. And it likely sent the right message - bad behavior is unacceptable.

What a crock. If it really happened the way you guys said it happened then the guy deserves to be humiliated and fired. Is the Consumerist about protecting consumers or creeps?

the next letter should read:

Dear Robert,
please note the proof you have requested on our internationally known site, consumerist.com; where you will find ironic video footage, as well as a log file, and high resolution images. Also note, we borrowed your daughters computer to do theses tests with.

Sincerely,
the consumerist.

Although I know this would probably be expensive for BB, I would suggest they do this themselves at all stores and fire anyone who gets caught. I know it's expensive but I figure it's probably better than the person who does decide to sue

The same happended daily at Compoosa (names are changed to protect the guilty) That is until they went out of business. yes i know they still exsist, but barely.

AMEN, BROTHER BEN!!!! You absolutely, positively did the right thing by not identifying the particular tech.

It's profoundly disappointing that Robert Stephens is apparently taking the "it's one guy, let's root him out, and the problem is solved" approach. I view this as shallow thinking.

You get it, many of your readers get it. But the CEO doesn't get it. The world is crazy sometimes.

It's not about "the one guy." It's about the system.

It's not about the guy Vinny Ferrari happened to call.

It's not about the particular Jiffy Lube guys who were subject to a sting that caught them charging for services they didn't perform (to meet a sales "budget" for each customer, imposed by the company).

It's not about the one Home Depot remodeling franchisee who got caught being incredibly sloppy.

What is it about, in this case? I would guess it's about the general vulnerability of customers in taking computers in for repair, and Geek Squad simultaneously lacking a culture that consistently lives by the Golden Rule, where employees would be extremely careful to not exploit customers and their vulnerabilities -- where snooping would be unthinkable. These are systemic matters.

Robert: I hope you'll read some books on basic systems theory (e.g., Churchman). And study Trader Joe's. Their employees are consistently empathic to customers. While it's a highly profitable company with a minimum of gimmicks, no upselling, and essentially no exploitation or either consumers or employees.

You know, if I were a suit at Best Buy, and I was given a single videotaped incident, I'd say the exact same thing: it's an isolated incident... we'll put out a memo... that employee needs to be terminated... blah... blah... blah...

To prove systemic violations you probably should have set the honey pot up at several different stores in several different cities. As it is, all that will happen is there'll be a company-wide crack-down and possibly one teenage geek will lose his relatively low-level job.

Good on you all.

However, there's no systematic way to stop this. Well, there is...constant supervision, or at least the threat there-of. But that may not be economically viable. Actually, a tool, installed by the supervisor before the tech gets it that records everything for quality purposes would probably work.

But what if they forget to remove the tool? Eeek. Lawsuit city.

Couldn't a secret-shopper-like program be used here? If Geek Squad periodically had people come into stores unannounced and incognito and had them do what Consumerist did in this investigation, wouldn't that be incentive for GS employees to keep things on the up-and-up?

What is this hoping to accomplish?

I think you guys have this whole thing entirely confused. It's like going after McDonalds because people are fat. You're making some bigger deal about people being stupid and not keeping private things private, and acting like Geek Squad is doing something amazingly unique in the world.

They're not. Nothing written here is going to change a damn thing, and it's ultimately not up to BestBuy, GeekSquad, Wal-Mart or Home Depot to educate consumers on the idea that nothing on their computer is private information, especially when you put it into the hands of a 3rd party, which in my "not a lawyer" opinion, pretty much invalidates your right to privacy.

I know that we as ignorant consumers with problems want to believe that our computer is a sanctuary for data, and a place where we can just put whatever sensitive information we want in an unencrypted state right on the desktop... but at some point reality has to intercede and say "hey guy, your computer is not a fortress of solitude for your information" and be responsible consumers, rather than blame others for their lack of morals.

So BestBuy fires this guy. And another guy. And another guy after that. Guess what? Moms are pumping out the BestBuy Class of 2027 Geek Squad Employees -right now- and they'll still want to look at your boobs, and they'll still want to copy your porn even after the guy who gets fired tomorrow is 20 years older and has a much better paying job doing something that doesn't make him want to stab himself in the face repeatedly due to customers who know nothing about the $2000 piece of computer hardwware they operate on a daily basis. You're pointing out an endemic moral failure in humanity, not Geek Squad hiring practices.

So, you've proven that 1 in 10 random people of a small sample happens to be a person who doesn't agree with your morals and privacy standards when you pass off the computer to a 3rd party. Congrats. You're making yourselves look bad in the process. It seems like you just want some excuse to rail against bestbuy and stir up some trouble on this issue, because you're twisting things around almost like Michael Moore when you push the angle.

Shouldn't be too hard to find out the tech who dunnit.
1. Collect all the GeekSquad flash drives.
2. Scan for similar folders/file structures.
3. If no matches, run various repair softwares to pull out deleted files/folders until you get folders like "Secret Weapon" or "Propaganda" etc and nail the dude.

But I hope they dont do that. Would hate to be the one dude who took the Consumerist-bait. Probably developing a fever at the moment.

i think there's a really easy way to stop this. it's called an event log & it could load as a script with the diagnostic tools. tie in a utility that reports the data to a section of the thumbdrive that is hidden & only accessible with a manager's password. reuire all techs to download the thumbdrives to a central server after diagnosis is complete.

theoretically, the only way to bypass the logging would be to stop the process in task manager, but i believe you could key the log to report a stop also.

A few years ago, I was hired as a manager of a new Gold's Gym. One of the things I was hired to do was figure out where all the money was going, to cut costs where appropriate, increase sales, and trim staffing bloat. The first thing I noticed while on the job was how little the staff cared about inventory or company policies, and it didn't take long to figure out. One of the owners, a young kid of only 29, would waltz in, late and hung over, open the cash drawer, take out a few twenties and go next door to buy himself lunch - leaving the front desk clerk to figure out the till and come up with the shortage! After a week of watching this behavior, I knew there would be nothing I could do about it until the kid was confronted by his partner. I set up a meeting, just the 3 of us. Of course the kid denied it and I was out of a job that same day. When shit like this happens, I say walk away. Unless the top dog is willing to deal, nothing will happen.

I completely agree with Consumerist. While I know that Geek Squad wants to make an example of this employee, it was made apparent by plenty of 'insiders' or former GS employees that this is a common practice by MOST of their workers.

I agree with the idea that Ben isn't giving up the name of the tech. However, I disagree with his reasoning and attitude in doing it. What business is it of a [supposed] journalist to be telling this guy how to run his business?

One out of 12 does not necessarily show a systemic problem, but Ben's email shows Consumerist's lack of journalistic ethics...

@Skiffer: Umm... China EXECUTED the guy. Results may be a little skewed comparing firing vs killing.

The way to get this across to Bestbuy would be to sting em twice more. Three different techs from three different stores all doing the same crime, might make em look harder at the problem

Oh and CONGRATS to Sir Dumbfuk of rTardsville from Geeksquad. Isolated incident? Any PR monkey with half a brain would make every assurance that they would examine the problem companywide (even if they truely weren't going to). The Isolated Incident route is for stuff like a McJobbie selling hash through the drivethru.

I find this entire thread hilarious and at the same time quite sad. It's fairly typical of the comments here to throw their fairly worthless two cents in on the subject. The entire attitude of "well, it's a systemic problem and firing one person won't help" is fine, if you can suggest alternatives into solving the problem.

What response did you expect from Best Buy?

"Well Ben, obviously we know that the general public places great faith in the tech industry when they hand over their computers to us, and we know that it's been a long standing problem inside computer repair that the technicians tend to look places that people think they shouldn't and even copy files they shouldn't. We're trying to stop it, but we feel there's nothing that can be done."

Yea.. right. The answer is, was, and always will be, I need the name of the agent and we need to address it. There is no other response. Are you expecting him to say that because 1 in 10 (and some me too's from comments) have admitted to performing this act that he is going to shut down Geek Squad?

What is your ultimate goal here? Do you have a goal are is it merely to add to malcontents who do nothing more than bellyache about what is wrong with this world but would rather sit back, rip through a six pack and smoke up while watching reruns of Adult Swim?

As far as solving the problem... educate consumers. Stupid people have been taken advantage of throughout history, it's not going to change. From used cars, to mechanics, to tech support, and so on down the line, if you don't know any better then prepare to be screwed.

Give him the name, let the guy get fired, and then post about it so all the other loser Geek Squad kiddies can realize that there are people who might perform this same action on their computer and catch them up to no good as well. The only thing that keeps people from performing an unwanted action is the fear of retribution should they be caught.

Would the name be turned over if they had taken bank statements? Or fake kiddie porn? (Two examples everyone keeps bringing up.) I think they would, and SHOULD be turned over. The fact that you think this is a widespread issue doesn't have any bearing on the fact that this tech wronged, the company is asking for you help in their investigations, and you are not. What purpose does this serve? What other penalty should the tech receive?

He should be fired, so help Best Buy accomplish this. I assume it wont be too hard to piece the various evidence together and slowly narrow down the tech, but still, you're sitting on the evidence for no apparent reason.

Techs need to know what will happen, so let him be made an example of. At the same time, Best Buy, if they felt like actually correcting the problem, could also investigate the frequency of these events in other stores. I don't see what protecting this tech is serving, so you can childishly hold it over their head? It's obviously something Best Buy needs to confront, but it's also NOT a company policy, and while they might have turned a blind eye, they will also be in a reactionary position with matters like these. The individuals are the problem, show them the consequences, and work toward actual improvement.

I really think nothing will be done. Without a name, at most you will see some type of internal email but are they going to use their resources to investigate every employee? I think not, that would be way too costly.

Perhaps it will scare the person(s) who did it as their belly will flip with guilt, this stopping them from doing it again. I doubt it though.......

Anyway, good job on catching them in the first place.

This may, in fact, be the stupidest post I've ever seen on the Consumerist. Let us know when you've progressed further than an initial response from Best Buy. Why is this worth posting at this point, other than the obvious goal of generating traffic with a catchy, self-righteous headline???

"Systemic": affecting an entire system

Not 1 out of 12, possibly even lower of a percentage if they would have spent another 3 months on this wild goose chase.

Regardless, this blog is using the big name of Geek Squad to try and drum up some hits when really, all they discovered is that 1 out of 12 men like to look at porn, even if it isn't theirs. Bravo, great journalism there...

Why not make another 3 month expose on how 1 out of 12 auto mechanics looked at your personal pictures that you left on the passenger's seat.

I'm sorry, but I fail to see the logic behind not giving them the name. This guy obviously was not following Geek Squad procedure by copying files from your machine.

You are right that a system needs to be put in place to address the issue at large, but there is no reason that part of that should not be making an example out of someone breaking company policy.

I fail to see what will be gained by hiding his identity. He cannot be a scapegoat because his action was wrong. He can, however, be fired and hopefully with enough noise to perhaps help to change that "systematic" problem.

Guys btw the Flash Drives are NOT issued by Best Buy, the techs purchase them themselves.

And the whole porno stealing thing happens at EVERY computer repair. From HP/IBM/SONY/ALIENWARE/Geek Squad to smaller shops as well. Honestly it will probably never change. There is no way to stop it. Truth is bad, but nothing can be done.

That's a very good move. Scapegoating a single agent might seem good for Geek Squad, but nothing will change.

This points out more a general warning to all of you to check your computer and make sure you're okay with a tech finding and potentially keeping anything they find on your computer. You're trusting them to work on your computer and their level of respect they levy towards not prying into your computer is a fine line you can't even know if you walk.

I can do most of my own computer troubleshooting and used to work in tech support and I can tell you there were multiple times where it was just impossible to avoid your porn cache. You may think you have it well hidden, but likely you don't.

I had a customer who stored his porn in multiple locations on his second installed Hard Drive. We'd run a defrag analysis on his HDD and see that it was full. When our systems had full HDD's they performed poorly and then content had to be deleted or moved. It was up to US to ID the large files to recommend to move. So AVI's and large caches of MP3's and JPG's stay hidden for about as long as it takes to hit the search key.

You want that stuff out of prying eyes? Keep it on an external drive, and on a drive you never let into anyone else's hands.

That and get to know your local techs, or make friends with techs in the family. Tech friends and family will be less tempted to dig around.

No one wants to see their aunt or grandmother in compromising positions. Ever since I saw what weird shit my Dad downloaded off of Usenet one time, I never ever poke around on his system anymore.

One other thought. Ben, if you'd done a similar sting, but had somehow used compromising photos of minors, in a photo lab situation, they are obligated, usually by company policy to collect copies of those photos to submit to the local district attorney's office. We had this case arise one time when I worked in a photo lab during college.

Consumerist shouldn't be keeping anything it unconvers in an investigation private. It's not the name of a source, it's the name of a criminal. I can understand not posting the tech's name here, but it should definitely be turned over to BestBuy after they asked. Please reconsider.

How can this be an isolated incident? We've heard for months about rumors (backed by former "agents") that this type of "service" was going on. Is it merely a coincidence that an undercover sting revealed this type of perverted action? I think not.

"Stealing" porn? Wow, some slanted language there. It's not like they're a mechanics literally taking and carrying off the ancient copies of Hustler you left in your car. They're _copying_ your hard-won jerk fodder. And let's look on the positive side - we had a few cases in England of pedophiles being busted thanks to nosey techs snooping for porn. If anyone doesn't want their porn to be seen and/or copied they should either have a porn-free system or encrypt a directory. End of story.

I love porn and my computer is filled with it. That's why I service my own computer.

Good for you for not giving up his name.

OK, but I doubt the problem is EVERY agent, probably just a select few. I would 'name and shame' in this situation. If this really is a widespread problem, it would do the system well for this unlucky schmuck to be made an example of.

One person in twelve nipping private files off of a hard drive doesn't really seem like much at first... But then I stopped to consider how many Best Buys are out there. Just how many service techs does Geek Squad employ? Suddenly it's not just one in twelve but tens in hundreds, hundreds in thousands, maybe more growing exponentially.

I say give up the name. Even if there's suddenly a corporate mandate of "Stop copying customer's nudie pics and MP3s" I can guarantee you that most of the employees are going to laugh it off unless there are obvious consequences. Making it known that people are getting canned for behavior like that is going to show them that.

Would they all stop? Doubtful. I'm sure it would scare at least a few of them straight, though.

So this guy was 1 in 12 that actually did it? How is that a system wide problem. When does it not become system wide, then it is 1 in 50?

How do we really know that they "all" do it? They should be given the guys name. Or at least you should go in a few more times to see if it is really a system wide issue.

Even if there's suddenly a corporate mandate of "Stop copying customer's nudie pics and MP3s" I can guarantee you that most of the employees are going to laugh it off unless there are obvious consequences

@bluemeep: Robert Stephens made it clear that there will be no corporate mandate if he gets the name. He sees it as an isolated problem. If Consumerist gives them the name that person gets fired and nothing else will happen. Making Geek Squad do the investigation themselves from square one may be the only way to get them to look at all of their employees.

On the other hand, since they feel it's an isolated incident maybe they won't do anything at all.

Can't you just see the caption to that pic?
Customer(with sh*t face grin): "Hey, I need this fixed. Please try to save my pron"

Geek Squad Member(with sh*t face grin): "Pron, you say? No problemo. I'll just back it up to my trusty thumb drive. "