I would guess this is more for non-tech-savvy parents who want to make sure that parental controls are set up properly. They can't very well have their tech-smart kids setting the parental control passwords for them...can they?

A car dealer will give you an oil change for two or three times the price you would pay at a quick lube place, but you could do it yourself for less than either. Where's the outrage?

What's wrong with charging people for a service?

I redact my earlier statement about Geek Squad's CD ripping-THIS is the biggest scam of the year!

I install my own PS3's at home!

If people are willing to pay them for it, then, well, I guess we can't blame them for offering the "service".

I asked Geek Squad how much it cost to install a wall mount for a flat panel TV and they told me 300.00 then it is another 100.00 or so if you want them to hide the wires in the wall. Add in the cost of the wall mount, 250.00, and that is a very nice racket they have going.

I bough the wall mount online from Tiger Direct for 60.00 and installed it myself. I was only seeing how much Best Buy would charge because I heard they were ridiculous with their pricing.

Alert Governor-wannabe-man! I mean someone should call Andrew Cuomo.

@FormerlyAnonymous: Yeah... but 130 bucks? Thats almost HALF the price of the console itself.

And an oil change does involve some tinkering. This does not. Its not even in the same ballpark as an oil change.

Bad Analogy.

Seriously now? I was able to plug in and set up my computer and consoles when I was still younger than 10.

The problem is that too many people never bother trying and think it's "complicated." Unless you're legitimately color blind, it's pretty damn easy to "plug same shape into same shape."

@Vandelay Import Export: He's busy. Obama's in Albany today.

Hmmm. Maybe I should start a business offering the same for $75. I would need to be a bit cheaper since I don't have the (cough) credibility of the Geek Squad . I will be RICH! RICH! Fabulously RICH!!!!!

Ok, maybe not.

@FormerlyAnonymous: In addition to what MostlyHarmless said, some people, such as myself, simply can't change their own oil. I live in an apartment building, and my lease forbids any sort of service on your car while it's at the building. So I'm fine with paying someone $20 to do it.

@apd09:

The $300 includes the wall mount.

@DaBull: When I was about 15, my parents and I were watching TV and a V-chip commercial came on. My parents (jokingly) talked about implementing it on our TV. I responded that they'd have a tough time doing that without my help because I'd already disabled it and set the PIN several months back so that I wouldn't come home to find that my parents had locked themselves out of every show.

Joking aside, I don't have much of a problem with this service. The price is a bit insane, but if you're willing to pay it, that's fine. I pay to get my oil changed because I don't have a driveway and, frankly, I'd rather pay someone to do it than risk messing it up.

When it comes to computer repairs, there are a few things that are easy enough that I'd even trust Geek Squad to do them. Such as a reformat/reinstall (as long as you don't have any personal data on the computer) or setting up a PS3.

My biggest problems with Geek Squad come with the more complicated repairs. The ones that result in them shipping off your computer for a new DVD drive only to have it come back with a "new" (but broken) motherboard.

I recommend to people considering Geek Squad (or any other computer service) that they (1) back up their data and delete anything personal on there, and (2) never let their computer out of their sight. Since this service doesn't violate either one of those rules, then I don't really have a problem with it.

@DaBull: In this case you are basically paying for someone to drive to your house, spend 15-20 minutes and leave. What's the cost of that for any non-warranty visit? Plumber? Heating?

For an onsite service, as basic (dumb) as it is, $130 is not an outrageous price.

@FormerlyAnonymous: I agree with MostlyHarmless. It's a bad analogy. Oil changes require some higher level of skill and knowhow, and oftentimes, people are constrained by where they live and cannot perform auto maintenance themselves.

I really don't see there being an instance in which someone can't put a plug into a wall and connect the other end to the console, or get someone to do the same. That's really not something that takes more skill - it just takes the motor skills that even a 6 year old has. I would understand that if you were in a wheelchair, or had back problems, that stooping down would be difficult - but it doesn't take a "professional" of any kind to plug in the machine. And it certainly doesn't warrant a $130 fee.

@UCLAri: This goes to show that people are sooo busy that they can't read INSTRUCTIONS that are dumber down to the intellect of monkeys - no offense to the monkeys of course. The above statement does not pertain to IKEA as that is a whole new category of "bet where I will screw up during this process"

Try working in an electronics store for one day and you'll see why this service exists and why people buy it. We field calls every day about people who think their television is broken only to discover the television is not plugged in. Of course, you'd never see the JD Power award Best Buy recently won for the appliance category on the consumerist, because that would be admitting the Best Buy is not made of concentrated evil.

@MostlyHarmless: As I understand it, this process can easily take well over 15 minutes. Not only do you have to drive yourself out to the customer's house, get behind the TV and sound systems (and who knows how messy their house is, making this hard) but then you have to get it hooked up to their internet access device, get the PS3 patched (probably takes the longest of all steps, even though it's mostly waiting), show the customer how to use the thing, etc.

It's not really fair to compare the cost of a device to the cost of having a human give assistance for it.

@UCLAri: Well, with HDMI, you don't even have to worry about colors. That was with RCA.

As much as I hate Geek Squad, this is not so outrageous.

I fix home PCs for $90/hour, with a one-hour minimum... that means plugging in a keyboard costs ninety bucks (although I don't seek that kind of overpriced work).
$130 is most likely Geek Squad's minimum charge for a house call.

@UCLAri: I'm glad you mentioned the color blind part. My supremely tech savvy dad always has to disconnect and reconnect everything several times because he can't match any of the colored plugs to where they go. Setting up electronics takes quite awhile.

Of course, it would go faster if any of us kids offered to help, instead of giggling on the sidelines.

But, yes, unless you are color blindness or have physical impairments that limit your fine motor skills, setting up these kinds of systems should not be difficult.

@Bioengineered Smoothie: Oh, IKEA. I can take apart motorcycle carburetors and rebuild them. I can set up any home theater system and calibrate it pretty well. I can build you an awesome gaming PC. I can even service my Macbook Pro down to pretty small component levels.

But I'll be damned if I can put together any IKEA furniture without screwing up at least once. It just doesn't happen.

@FormerlyAnonymous: If you're making the decision to buy the thing, presumably you have some idea of what it is, how to use it, and possess the intelligence to do something the rest of humanity calls, "figuring it out" - I really don't see why anyone would need someone to do this for them.

Just because the process may take time, doesn't mean that it's overly complicated and can't be done by a normal person. If you're 80 years old, and you've made the decision to purchase a PS3, I would hope that you know what it is and how to work the basic functions. If not, there's something very handy called a manual, and it comes with the machine.

@Derp: Fair enough, but that still doesn't explain the outrageous cost. Two people who get paid $12 per hour; one hour, MAYBE two; plus travel ... equals $130?

Even if the people got paid, say, $20 an hour. That's $80 at the very most, and a few miles on a van is worth $50?

Yeah, it just doesn't add up.

@sleze69: Not an outrageous price? Are you high? The Geek Squad employee invading your home gets paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $10/hr - that's because they're not a skilled laborer like a plumber or an electrician. Even when you factor in equipment, and travel expense, this service could be profitable at $50, and at that price point, it wouldn't offend my sensibilities either.

@FormerlyAnonymous: The outrage is that offering the service implies to naive customers that it's necessary to get a professional install to use your PS3. This isn't a Cray, it's an overglorified interactive VCR.

@FormerlyAnonymous: Thats a pretty bad rationalization. And I've been on the interwebs for over a decade. So that's saying a lot.

And seriously dude, its just plugging stuff in and clicking a few buttons. As Pecan Pi said, it basically requires the motor skills of a 6 year old.

And I once had a cleaning crew clean out the whole house in an hour for 80 bucks. Try again.

@oldgraygeek: $90/ hr? Where the hell do you work? That's crazy high. The shop around the corner from me does it for $60, and I do it freelance for a flat fee per repair which usually works out cheaper than most local repair shops, considering they don't know how to fix advanced problems, they just reformat the issues away or try and sell their customers new hardware.

@DaBull:

I'm not sure what on the PS3 requires parental controls. If you don't buy the kids M rated games...what else is there to look out for?

@oldgraygeek: Also, yea, this is overpriced - the Geek Squad employee invading your home will be there for a half an hr and most likely makes between $10 - $12 per hour. Factor in travel expenses and this service could still be profitable at $50.

@TCama:
$129 is the minimum cost of any in home service due to vehicle costs. Keep in mind BestBuy owns/maintains/insures the vehicle and pays for gas. Also the in home techs will sometimes drive 45+ minutes to go to an install.

@Derp:
Yeah Consumerist isn't objective and sometimes post outright falsehoods (The BestBuy (HSBC *Cough*) Charges you to pay a bill on time story). I've worked at help desks before and until you guys do you won't realize that YOU'RE NOT the target market of these services. I had someone this week that couldn't install iTunes properly on their PC. People who don't plug in things and then wonder why they won't work. An iPod which the customer said was dead, because he didn't charge it. Anyone in America can offer a service for anything, it's up to you if you want to pay for it.

@oldgraygeek:
Ding ding we've got a winner! $129 is the minimum cost of an in home service call.

@TCama: Best Buy also needs to make a profit, and while I agree with most people here that 130 is high, if people are not savvy enough to set up their PS3, then more power to BBY. And since they are offering the service there are people that want it.

Also, when you factor in the cost of an employee, do not forget unemployment tax (or whatever it is called), insurance, and any other cost above and beyond the employees salary.

I find it funny they feel the need to offer a service that is well documented in the instruction, with pictures even!!

Seriously, people back in the 70's and 80's could figure out how to hook up Atari's and such, which you had to , gasp, actually use a screwdriver to attach the RF adapter to your TV. What kind of person can't follow PICTURES to plug color coded (rca, component)/size proprietary (hdmi, wall outlet) plugs into thier wall or tv?

@DaBull: i doubt a non tech savy person would even know what parental controls are or know that they are available on the ps3. also most parents dont even care about what games thier kids play. i can just imagine a parent paying for this service and a few weeks later buyin thier kid a m-rated game and having to call geek sqaud out to come "fix" the ps3 cus it cant play the new game.

Charging for a service? What an outrage.

This website strikes a healthy balance between interesting and stupid.

@r0bVious:
Yeah it just depends on 2 things:
1) How slow is the news day.
2) Do we have a vendetta against the company we're going to post a pointless article about?

@r0bVious: It's not charging for a service that is ludicrous, that much we all mostly agree on. It's that BB is charging a very high fee for a service that does not require professional knowhow.

@r0bVious: I'd almost agree with you, except for the fact that this service will take about 20 minutes (tops) and the Geek Squad employee performing it makes between $10 - $12 / hr. It's not just the time though, it's the fact that everything included in this service is well documented on Sony's web site, and in the instruction manual. This service crosses the line from "offering a service" to "taking advantage of the customer".

@Saboth: Maybe it's for the parents who buy M rated games for themselves but don't want their kids to be able to play them when they're not around.

@What The Geek:
Actually the in home techs make quite a bit more than $12 an hr. So your first argument is out of ignorance. Secondly, the tech might only be there 20 minutes but might have to drive 45+ minutes to get to the location. Oh and third, some people don't/can't read and follow directions. How is that BestBuy's problem?

@Saboth: They may have kids to varying ages, allowing the older kids to play more mature games, and restricting it for the younger kids.

@UCLAri: I had aloft bed from ikea when I was in college. It was like a fucking jigsaw puzzle to put together and take apart.

@FDCPAGuy: Okay then enlighten me - what do they make? Is it somewhere in the $40 / hr area? or closer to what I guestimated? Service calls are scheduled ahead of time so that a route can be planned in order to keep travel expenses at a minimum. The tech may be going 45 min out from the store, but he also might be hitting two other stops while in that neighborhood. I'm not saying travel expenses shouldn't factor in, I'm just saying that those costs are streamlined far more than you're making them out to be.

@pecan 3.14159265: Agreed. And most importantly, the PS3 is a GRAPHICAL INTERFACE. It has visual menus that tell you how to do things. Like set up online accounts. This isn't DOS, people, it's not like the technician knows the magic command to make it work. They're just capitalizing on people who don't think they're very tech-savvy, who maybe bought the thing for their son/daughter and want someone else to set it up. $130 is a LOT of money for the measly service they're providing.

@madanthony: I MAKE my own PS3's at home.

@FormerlyAnonymous: I actually defended the CD ripping service and I have to call shenanigans on this.

a) This service costs nearly as much as the original purchase.

b) The skills to set up the PS3 are very similar to the skills you need to use it. If you can't set up user accounts and download firmware you won't be able to play most games.

c) The very act of offering it will deceive some customers into thinking it's necessary.

@Derp: I PS3 is not a TV, though. The vast majority of people have a need (OK, so it's a desire, not a need) to own a TV, and they do own a TV. People who aren't tech-savvy don't generally play video games or care about BluRay, so they have no need to own a PS3. And they generally don't.

@What The Geek:

What the Geek is right.

The in home agents make +$15 an hour. And you have to pay for their car, for the time they drive to get there, insurance, etc. Which like he said, there is no charge if they live an hour away.

Basically, an in home service is priced like this:
in store service price + $100