Over the past year, a number of you have been telling us that, due to “pre-optimization” of computers, it’s difficult — sometimes impossible — to walk into a Best Buy and leave with the advertised deal (in effect, you would be paying a $39.99 surcharge over the computer’s advertised price). We decided to look into your complaints. We sent the Consumer Reports secret shoppers to 18 different Best Buys in 11 states, and one of our shoppers was denied the price advertised for a specific model because only pre-optimized computers were available. When the Consumer Reports engineers compared three “optimized” computers to ones with default factory settings, there was no performance improvement. In one case, an optimized laptop actually performed 32% worse than the factory model.
Optimize This
Would you pay $39.99 to improve your computer’s processor speed by 200%? What about software updates that would take you two days to perform on your own? Or how about services that take an “incomplete” computer and make it more useful? Good deals, right? Just one problem: None of these claims – made by real Best Buy sales clerks about the company’s Geek Squad optimization services – is true.
We wanted to know three things:
- What is optimization? What does the service consist of?
- How is Best Buy marketing the service? How widespread is “pre-optimization,” in which a store sells computers that have already been optimized?
- Is optimization something you should consider? Can you do it yourself? Is it a good deal? Are there any downsides to the service?
To find the answers to these questions, we enlisted the help of the Consumer Reports secret shoppers, the technical experts on CR’s electronics testing team, and of course, Consumerist readers themselves.
Preoptimized computers stacked up in a Best Buy store. (Photo: Mike)
Meet Betty and Nelson
All Betty (not her real name, but a real Consumerist reader) wanted was to go to Best Buy, pick up a laptop she saw advertised in a newspaper circular, pay for it, and leave.
It wasn’t that simple. She was quickly informed that if she wanted the laptop she saw in the ad, she’d need to pay $39.99 for optimization.
“I replied that I really didn’t care about computer optimization, and that I came into the store to purchase the laptop for $649.99, the advertised price,” Betty told us in an email. “[The Best Buy employee] said that there was nothing he could do about the $39.99 optimization charge, since those were the only models left in the store.”
Betty is the stubborn type. She refused to pay for a service she didn’t want, so she was told to go pick up the laptop at another branch. Once Best Buy employees began calling around, they discovered that the pre-optimization issue persisted at other nearby stores.
After another 45 minutes passed, the second manager Betty spoke to agreed to waive the fee.
Reader Nelson, however, wasn’t as lucky. He wasn’t able to walk out of the store with the advertised deal. Despite protesting, he was charged a fee for a service he didn’t want.
“It wasn’t optional,” Nelson told Consumerist, “They said that they sold out of the unoptimized $250 Acer laptops and the only ones left were the optimized versions. The other Best Buys around my area were sold out too.”
Nelson managed to talk Best Buy down 50%, to $20 for optimization, but still feels cheated. He told us he doesn’t think pre-optimization is fair to the people who don’t want the service.
What is optimization?
Getting to the bottom of what exactly the consumer gets for their $39.99 was more difficult a proposition than we initially assumed. Eventually, we had to buy three optimized laptops and enlist the help of CR’s electronics testing experts to tell us what had been done to them, but we started by looking at Geek Squad’s website.
Here’s how they describe the service on the Geek Squad blog:
Our Geek Squad Agents enable up to 100 system tweaks that improve PC performance and functionality, including optimized startup and shutdown, improved menu navigation, quick launch and taskbar cleanup and program shortcut creation.
There are also several different types of “new computer” services being sold to prospective buyers. They include, but are not limited to, anti-virus installation and recovery-disc creation. The services range in price from $29.99 to $219.99, and include offerings for both Windows PCs and Macs.
Services offered by Best Buy include “Netbook Protect,” a $50 plan that includes installation
of anti-virus software and Windows updates — and adds 20% to the price of a $250 netbook.
On our first visit to Best Buy we intended to ask about the optimization services, but the sales staff never seemed to come our way, so we grabbed a Geek Squad folder full of sales information that was being made available to prospective customers.
It included a confusing and intimidating order sheet that seemed inspired by the ones used by auto mechanics, complete with official-looking carbonless copy paper. The menu seemed designed to replicate the experience of having your car serviced.
For example, the folder contained a sheet that touted a six-month anti-virus protection deal, provided for free with all PC purchases. Geek Squad offers something called “Standard Security and Performance” ($69.99), which includes optimization and then the installation and configuration of anti-virus software (plus the cost of the software itself).
If, however, you choose computer optimization alone ($39.99), you could still get anti-virus programs offered with “Standard Security & Performance,” because they’re part of that six-month deal.
We drank coffee and tried our hardest to see why anyone would choose to pay $69.99 for a service that was nearly identical to one that cost $39.99 and were unable to think of anything that sounded reasonable.
Consumerist reader Patrick sent us this picture of an in-store display
designed to “prove” that an optimized computer boots faster than a stock unit.
The Secret Shopping Adventure
According to Nelson, the salesperson told him that ‘optimized was better’ and that Best Buy were sold out of un-optimized laptops. “Yes, I felt it was an attempt to upsell me on the ‘optimization fee,”‘ Nelson told Consumerist. “She knew I wasn’t going to budge on that ridiculous price of $40 extra ’cause I knew what I was talking about.”
With that in mind, we set out to see if Betty and Nelson’s experience could be replicated. Did Best Buy make inflated claims about the value of these services, and in some cases, even try to sell pre-optimized computers to customers who didn’t want them, citing a lack of unopened computers?
To help us find out, we dispatched the Consumer Reports secret shoppers to 18 Best Buy branches in 11 states.
The shoppers are scattered throughout the U.S. and are responsible for researching and sometimes purchasing the products that Consumer Reports tests. For our mission, each shopper was to go to a Best Buy location and inquire about an advertised laptop, then report back about the optimization options that were offered – and how they were characterized by the sales staff.
The first shopper reported back within a few hours. She had indeed been denied the advertised deal because all available units had been pre-optimized.
Here is her account of the conversation:
Salesperson: Best Buy has this model, but it’s $369.99 instead of $329.99.
CR Shopper: Why?
S: Because it was already optimized.
CRS: What does this mean?
S: The model is quicker, the user can “sign on” and it won’t have to be configured.
CRS: Why is it quicker?S: Because they removed the trial version of products like Norton.
CRS: Does that mean that I will not have anti-virus protection?
S: They can install a 6-month antivirus program.
CRS: Is the optimization optional?
S: It’s not optional because we don’t have any of this model without the optimization, but we have other laptops that are not optimized.
CRS: Can you waive the fee?
S: The fee can’t be waived because it’s already installed.
We also learned a few other interesting things about Best Buy’s optimization sales pitch. One shopper was told that optimization made the computer’s processor “200% faster.” The same shopper was told that he could try to optimize the computer on his own, but without assistance he would not be able to increase the processor speed.
When the shoppers asked if they could duplicate the optimization themselves, they got a variety of estimates of the time they would save if Best Buy did it for them. One shopper was told she would save “an hour and a half,” while another was told that downloading Windows updates alone would take 6 hours. One shopper was even told that optimizing a computer at home would take about two days!
Another shopper was warned that the laptop was “incomplete” without optimization.
When she asked what the salesperson meant by “incomplete,” he told her that it didn’t come with anti-virus software or Microsoft Office. The salesperson went on to tell her that optimization was her choice, but that Best Buy didn’t “recommend getting online” without it.
He explained, “You’ll get online, get a virus, and end up spending $200 to clean it up.”
When she asked if she could install anti-virus software herself instead of paying Geek Squad to do it, she was told installing software yourself, “negates the vendor’s warranty.”
During this same conversation, our secret shopper says the salesperson also told her that the manufacturer’s warranty was “obsolete” and had been “replaced” with Best Buy service contracts (which she would need to pay for, of course, and that were not included in the optimization price).
Not all salespeople touted optimization, and many branches did have unoptimized units of advertised laptops in stock, and were willing to sell them without pushing optimization. One sales rep even told our shopper not to buy a laptop during that visit, because some “truly amazing sales” were coming up soon.
Dean Gallea of Consumer Reports, in the lab with two laptops purchased
from Best Buy (see video here).
In Which There Is Science
Though we did learn a few interesting things about Best Buy’s sales practices, we found ourselves no closer to being able to tell if optimization was a good deal – or even precisely what it was.
So, we asked Consumer Reports’ electronics testing experts to help us out. They purchased three optimized laptops from a local Best Buy: An Asus U50A-RBBML05, a Gateway NV5207U, and a Toshiba Satellite A505-S6980. They then compared each optimized laptop to regular factory setups to see what kind of improvements optimization might offer.
Here’s what they found:
When we received our test models, the initial impression was of a rushed service: Some samples were left in standby mode, and two had not finished installing Windows updates. A quick start guide for one laptop had been mixed in with the papers in another laptop’s box, and a power cable for one sample was missing.
Upon comparing the optimized changes, the first noticeable change was a cleaner desktop. Most of the removed shortcuts were for trials, promotions and software added by the manufacturer. The programs themselves were still installed and available for later access. Updates had been downloaded on all three models, but differences in the factory default setup can affect how the system is optimized. On one laptop, for example, because Windows Defender was deactivated by default, its definitions had not been updated.
Some optimization changes seemed intended to make the laptop easier to use, such as adding the status bar to the file explorer, or displaying the file menu bar in Internet Explorer. Including a link to the Downloads folder in the Start menu, for example, can save you a few clicks. Security settings were adjusted to allow for automatic Windows updates, and in Internet Explorer, privacy settings were eased up to allow websites you visit to save info you provide on your PC.
Because optimization was being pitched to some of our shoppers on the basis of improving the computer’s performance, we asked the tech team to compare the performance of optimized computers to ones with factory settings.
Here are the results of the tests:
We ran the 3DMark 2003 graphics benchmark on each laptop, comparing optimized and non-optimized settings. For two of our samples, the Gateway and Toshiba, performance changes were negligible. On the Asus laptop, however, optimized tests actually scored about 32% worse than the non-optimized setup. We have been unable to isolate the source of this performance change. On none of the three tested laptops did the optimized settings give a performance boost in our test.
[Emphasis added]
And finally, we wanted to know if a consumer could “optimize” their own computer.
Some of the optimized settings were changes that typical users can do themselves, and basic security measures, such as the Windows Firewall or OS updates, are normally already activated by default. The optimization service does cover most of the security settings we recommend you perform, but in addition, you should check that Windows Defender and your anti-virus software are active and updated, and keep a recovery backup of your system and files. Geek Squad’s optimization is best for saving consumers the hassle of waiting for updates to download, or applying tiny “tweaks” to promote usability. However, you might not like all the setting choices Geek Squad makes, and as a performance enhancement, the optimization failed to impress.
In Which We Draw Conclusions
Based on the results of the tech team’s tests, we believe that optimization is not a good deal for most consumers. Our tests show that the service did not improve performance, and there are a number of free ways to do many of the same tasks (though you may be out of luck if you just have to have those exclusive “100 system tweaks”). We’ve listed a few of them below.
Yes, having Geek Squad download your Windows updates can save you time, but the tech team found that the service was inconsistent. Best Buy hadn’t finished installing all the updates, and of course, a power cable was missing from one of the computers. The computers we received still had the trialware installed – only the shortcuts were removed from the desktop.
We asked Best Buy about the inconsistent information provided by their sales staff, and about some of the more incredible claims about the benefits of optimization. A spokesman admitted that boasts of a 200% performance gain “seem a bit aggressive.” He also said that no stores should refuse to sell a consumer an unoptimized version of a product.
“This is about the choice,” the spokesman said. “If you don’t want it, you don’t have to get it.” He added that “we always try to stock some that are stock and standard so customers have the choice,” and suggested that customers who feel they were pushed into optimization when they didn’t want it should contact the company directly.
We asked Best Buy about the real value of optimization to consumers. The spokesman acknowledged that the service “isn’t for everybody” and “some people can do it themselves.” He said that one advantage of optimization is the “customization” that can be performed for individual consumers. However, when asked about pre-optimized computers – which aren’t customized for individuals – he suggested that “things like the updates and tweaks and removing programs” still make it a useful service for some buyers. “I would get optimization for my parents,” he said.
The New Service Economy
Best Buy takes the position that optimization is simply a choice available to consumers, and that it’s not for everyone, but looking at the larger picture it becomes clear that the company is betting heavily on services like optimization to take them through the recession and beyond.
Is Best Buy Mobile, with its emphasis on “specially trained,
impartial mobile phone specialists” the shape of things to come? .
In a recent Fortune magazine article, Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn cited “connectivity” (such as Geek Squad services designed to help consumers use their electronics together more effectively) as a potential $250 billion business that his company is going to aggressively pursue to remain competitive with more diverse big box threats like Walmart.
The company is experimenting with a new store layout that eliminates the many racks of DVDs and CDs and instead has stations for MP3 players, laptops, and such, according to Fortune. Each station will be manned by Best Buy employees who might turn your tech questions into sales opportunities for Geek Squad. A difference between Best Buy and Walmart (which recently started to offer a support service for electronics), says Dunn, will be that they own their own service company – Geek Squad.
“The operative word here is ‘owned,’” Dunn told Fortune. “Outsourcing works for back-office operations, but we believe that when an experience touches a customer, you must own it.”
Geek Squad’s services still represent a tiny percentage of Best Buy’s income, but that number is growing. According to a presentation delivered by Best Buy (PDF) at a conference in 2008, in the company’s fiscal 2006, Geek Squad services and Best Buy’s appliances installation business accounted for about 2.5% of domestic revenue, the same percentage that was brought in by extended warranties and other service plans. By 2008, the Geek Squad and appliance installation revenue share was up to 4%, while other service plans had declined to 2%.
At a 2008 conference associated with the W.P. Carey School of Business of Arizona State University, Sean Skelley, then Best Buy’s senior vice president for services (he’s currently president of international retail operations), said that Geek Squad – which Best Buy purchased in 2002 – gave the company a “relatable mythology” to connect to its customers, according to a W.P. Carey online article. Skelley was impressed by Geek Squad’s use of terms like “special agents” to refer to its staff. “We were interested in Geek Squad for these stories,” Skelley said, “and the brand elements that could help Best Buy get its ducks in a row.”
Skelley also waxed rhapsodically over another company’s creation of a service that kept customers coming back for more, as described in the W.P. Carey article: “Everyone knows you’re supposed to get your oil changed every 3,000 miles. But that was a Jiffy Lube marketing creation rather than an automotive standard, Skelley said. It is the way the company pulled customers back into their stores on a frequent, regular basis.”
Ultimately, it’s not Best Buy’s official policy to press customers into buying anything they don’t want, and they suggest you report any such indiscretions. However, it’s clear that Best Buy’s new post-Circuit City business strategy is to concentrate more on “services.” It might be helpful to keep that in mind when you head into the store with the circular in hand.
Optimize Yourself!
You can optimize your computer on your own with free software and a little patience. You’ll have to learn a little about your PC in the process, but since when is that a bad thing? In addition to using some of these tools, you should also keep your web browser up-to-date – and stop downloading cursors and toolbars!
| Task | Program | Comment |
| Overall optimization | CCleaner | This Swiss army knife of optimization can change your startup options, remove files left behind by web browsers, clean up your system registry and delete unnecessary programs. Settings can be complicated, but extensive online help provides answers for most questions. |
| Remove trialware | PC Decrapifier | This program includes a frequently updated database of trial programs bundled with PCs, making it easier to identify those that you don’t want. One click deletes multiple “craplets.” |
| Change startup options | msconfig | This system utility comes with every copy of Windows. It’s not for the faint-of-heart, but it will let you change almost all of your system’s startup settings, including which programs load automatically |
| Remove unnecessary software | Programs and Features (Add/Remove Programs in Windows XP) | This Windows Control Panel lets you remove both third-party software and unneeded Windows components. |
| Block spyware | Windows Defender Spybot Search and Destroy |
Free programs that are automatically updated with new threats on regular basis. |
| Protect against viruses | Avira Antivir Personal AVG Free |
Free antivirus programs rated as highly as commercial applications by Consumer Reports. |
Phil Villarreal and Marc Perton contributed additional reporting.
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how is it that bestbuy can get away with such bs.
optimization, oh please….I guess that’s what I should add to my annual review at work…”I optimize new workstations and laptops by 200% by…installing AV, removing bloatware, changing to classic start menu, list details of file in win explorer, enable statusbar in win explorer, enable file extension list and hidden folders, sort desktop icons automatically and arrange by type, perfom windows and office updates, insteal ccleaner and cleanup to remove temp files, delete unwanted shortcuts from startmenu and desktop, opening programs like adobe acrobat, photoshop and autocad and accepting the licensing agreements…..oh the list is endless.
it makes the end users life more stress free….oh please.
bestbuy and their sales tactics is disgusting, they give good tech people a bad name and bad reputation.
What would you call your service? How long does it take you and how much do you make per hour? Do you charge a fee for your service, or do you earn a salary?
I am not a pro-Best Buy person, but every company needs to make a profit on the goods/services that they provide. Most companies provide goods and services that won’t be valuable to every customer. Does any other company sell stuff that won’t be of value to every customer or that not every customer actually needs, or in quantities that not everyone needs?
Does your company? Of course they do.
OK, my turn for the pile on. About 6 months ago, I went to a BB here in SA to get a laptop advertised for 350 (normally approx 500). They said sure, for 425. I looked the sales flunky like he had an extra head (without brain of course) and asked to repeat. 425. I told him, “No I want the one advertised for 350.” He said that was the 350, with 75 worth of “optimization”. I told him to go fornicate himself and shove the optimization. I then sent a complaint to BB, AG of Tx (which use to instill fear in companies, but now causes shrugs), and the BBB. Only the BBB complaint got a result, and I got a $50 gift card for my “inconvenience”. I did not get the laptop there BTW.
So I work at Best buy so I know that I’m a little biased. But the state and the store that I work in, if we only have pre-optimized computers and the customer doesn’t want the optimization, we waive the fee every single time. So either the “secret shoppers” are exaggerating for a good story, or some other stores have wrongful practices. Because I completely agree, that is BS that someone HAS to pay for opti if they don’t want it. As for offering the optimization, come on, what store doesn’t have something to promote. Get over it. No matter what retail store you go to, or how shitty the service or product they are offering, they are going to offer it. I’m sorry but it’s what they get paid to do.
How exactly would a benchmark designed to test the performance of a graphics card tell you if a computer has been made to run faster inside an operating system?
As another person (or persons) have stated, BB & GS used to be a decent place to work. Yes, I was a CIA there for GS back in 2004/2005 or so & some of the others “techs” I worked with wouldnt know how to pull their heads out of the dark spot at the back end of their bodies.
As was said, just refuse the “opti”, most stores only push it to make more money. I just got my laptop (only thing I would buy already made as I custom make my towers) from BB 6 months ago when I heard winsh….7 was coming out & I would have to do with Vista (as much as it sucks air its still better than 7 IMO for what I need to run), when the salesperson tried selling me on the opti I said no thanks, I’ll do my own. Same when it went down to GS so they could “check it”, nope, no thanks I am capable of that too.
Walked out of the store with a unopened laptop & words of advice from the cashier that it can only be returned in 15 days now (which was the same as if they worked it over, so what difference?).
And no, it doesnt violate any EULAs overall. Most of the work GS does/did is maybe removing shortcuts, we never ever removed progs unless asked too, or they purchased a different virus prog & we informed the client of it conflicting. Say Nortons & McAfee both being on the system.
Now, can most people do that? Nope
Can most folks older than me do that? I’m in my early 40′s, nope.
Can a “geek/nerd/nowadays hacker” do that? YUP
And in my area dial-up still rules as the way to connect (thats another story) so trying to download updates is a PITA but I just go to a nearby biz & shoulder surf their highspeed if I dont feel like going to my office.
If it was Pushed then that was wrong, the opti used to be done by a registry program specially written for XP by a GS agent then it got made “official” so agents wouldnt get fired for using it I wouldnt trust most people know how to turn their computers on let alone how to do reg hacks.
And yes, I used to work for Dell Tech Support before they outsourced it to India & I actullay got customers that asked how to turn their systems on when we needed to hard boot a system, a tower no less… duuuhhh
BB employee here, i wanted to let you know that the company is aware of this report. it landed on the employee news today and of course they’re trying to do damage control from the inside. Of course no employee just catching wind of this report wants to give The Consumerist page views (like it matters) and calls this a load.
Now i’m a good company guy, i love my job and i love helping people, but i’m also a realistic smart consumer and knowledgeable about my product area. I don’t push the unnecessary stuff that everyday people don’t need (in my case for gaming, that’s superfluous accessories and our system setup services) and I really only urge Black Tie consideration on Xbox 360s as under normal wear and tear PS3′s and Wii’s hardly fail as much. And I get satisfied customers left and right. It’s all in the people who do the service. If the person doing these optimizations truly knows their stuff and does a good job of it, it’s worth it, and if they do a sloppy job they should be held accountable by the consumer and the company. Sounds like much more of the latter (the holding accountable, not the sloppy work) needs to happen and this could be the start. Just ignoring the problem doesn’t help for improvement, especially in this department where it’s one person doing a job without much interaction with others.
Here is a screw up for you! The Geek Squad left their Optimization disc in my Sony Vaio! Although I told them about it, they are ignoring the fact that I have it. I would appreciate it if the author of the article wishes to contact me for a copy of this because that seems to be the only bit of information that was missing from the article and now all of you can see exactly what you are not getting!
when I worked for Best Buy (Geek Squad) last year, we did the optimizations a lot. Here’s the deal…the company really focuses on this and they wanted us to optimize pretty much every PC/mac we sold – so on a Sunday morning when the new sales were out we would have 40 computers lined up to be optimized and the salespeople would promise the customer it would take 1-2 hrs to complete. This just wasn’t possible. It takes that long to download Windows updates!
So basically what we would do is unbox and power up each computer sold…then go thru the start up process, set up the username, click thru all the license agreements, etc. Once the computer was fully booted we would pop in a CD that had a program on it and that program would basically put everything in one place… “uninstall programs”, “Msconfig”, etc. We would remove any junk trial software (even though the company says we cannot do this) we would get rid of the antivirus software (only if the customer agreed to it), I would take off any of the “hp software update” or crap like that…then i’d knock out any services/startup apps that were not needed. then the disc also had some of the bigger windows updates on it (the discs were updated every month or so) so we didn’t have to download them all. After that we would reboot the computer and make sure there’s no error messages in case we removed the wrong app. Then we’d connect it to the internet and run Windows updates, I would also run/install Microsoft update so it would update the drivers as well.
Once the updates were done, another reboot and if it boots cleanly then its powered off and boxed up and ready for the customer.
The problem was consistency. I would do a thourough job on all the computers I worked on, other agents would rush it and miss a lot of things, they would forget to put the AC adapter in the box, they would give the wrong computer to the customer…it was very unorganized!
If we were out of the non-optimized computers we would try to convince the customer that it was a valueable service…if they didn’t want it, they were told the computer has been opened, it has been updated, etc but we would sell it at the full price (not an open box price) if they agreed, and they were never forced to pay for the optimization.
The main benefits of the service that I would explain to customers…
1. the computer has been tested for functionality. We know it boots up fine, it can get online, the screen has no defects (and we would find tons of new computers that were broken). etc. They won’t drive all the way home to find out that the computer is a defect.
2. if they didn’t want us to install antivirus software, it was ready to be installed when they got home. Often with Norton Antivirus, its very hard to uninstall, so we would do it for them, only with their permission
3. most people buying computers from Best Buy barely know how to turn them on. If they didn’t pay us to optimize it, it would never get done. They would forever be running Napster, HP Software Updater, Google Desktop and many other useless apps which really do slow down the computer.
If a guy came in and said he was a computer geek and was buying a new laptop for gaming, we wouldn’t even offer these services. They are mainly for people who don’t know what they are doing.
It’s enough to make you want to buy online and/or get a MAC.
It’s cheaper emotionally to not have to deal with such BS.
Im not sure about all states, but I work for Best Buy & there is an internal document stating that if only optimized pc’s are left and the customers wants it without the optimization we have to give them the service for free as its state law. I could probably find this paper if anyone is interested
As a Best Buy employee (Yeah I know, boo. But I have to pay rent somehow right?) I have always hated the scams the management tries to force me to do, like these “services”. During training I was lied to – i.e. optimization speeds up performance 20% or everyone needs an optimization done. I get in trouble all the time for recommending free software to take care of customers’ computers instead of trying to sell them on a $120 service, which consists of “optimization”, recovery Cd’s (free to make yourself), and anti-virus (microsoft security essentials works just as well).
Now by no means am I computer genius but I know my fair share of knowledge and it kinda makes me feel bad inside that this is happening and I am thrown in the category of dirty salesman. Now I can vouch for the extended warranties especially on laptops because so many people come in with problems like batteries($$150) and AC power adapters($75-$120), and with the warranty you get those replaced for free.
I agree that the pre-setups are complete bullshit and I can’t do anything about it in fear of losing my job or something.
So good people – Best Buy isn’t totally evil!
The only way to truly optimize all laptops or PC’s is to setup one as a base model and then image the rest based on the model. Consumer Reports is correct in that a lot of the tweaks can be done for free, and there are some others available for more advanced users that can be found on the Internet.
Half truths and placing fear in the customer, all in the name of making sales should never be practiced anywhere. I say to all of you (stores with added services with pressure tactics and fear sales) just tell the truth, your customers will appreciate that even more.
EXACTLY – it’s about choice, and no one is forcing you to come in on the last day of a sale and expect to get a limited item, that’s your choice! If you read those ads, the models (unoptimized) are restricted to a certain quantity. If you desperately wanted the unoptimized model, then you should have come in Sunday when the ad started.
This “optimization” in the computer dept. is the equivalent of the “calibration” service in the TV dept at Best Buy. All that signage is designed for you, the gullible customer, to fall victim to the “black tie” protection plan nonsense. Best Buy will attempt to sell you, for $299 added to the regular extended warranty price, a slew of “services” for an additional 3 years for your computer or TV. In each case, the total Premium Black Tie “protection” plan will be $500 and up. What a crock! Do your own research, buy online, never listen to a saleperson there as their only motivation is to not be lambasted by the managers for not selling black tie protection.
relatable mythology …. what a crock. smoke & mirrors with smarmy self promotion. I’m glad these tests were done and show that caveat emptor is as relevant as always.
Optimization is another word for open box which also means used. When I buy something, I want a factory sealed container. All OPTIMIZED systems deserve a refund of some sort since they were sold used equipment.
Good article…
When trying to buy two toshiba laptops at the advertised price, I was being charged the same bs for EACH laptop! The cashier said the over $120 extra charges was because of the “optimization” since Geek Squad had placed their sticker on the laptops (you could only tell that the box was opened and the sticker in place of the manufacturer’s seal). When I requested un-optimized computers, they were out, of course. But then she proceeded to price modify the laptops, so I got the laptops at advertised price… BUT:
After getting home and powering on the laptop: the laptops were being turned on for the first time, no optimization! All trial software still on desktop, no changes to windows whatsoever. I’m pretty sure this crosses the lines on a lot of laws…
Don’t ever buy a computer from Best Buy; they must be feeling the effects of their online competitors and stores like Walmart who are now selling computers and decided to deceive the public with false advertising. Not only is this a rip off, some of the software they install is not compatible with Windows 7 and you must go online and download the update yourself (Webroot is the software that had a screen that popped up and said it was not compatible).
I did buy a laptop from Best Buy on Black Friday – to make a long story short it was the worst consumer experience I’ve had in a very long time. After many hours of dealing with their Geek Squad I was able to prove the computer had a power supply problem. Even after showing them this error, receiving a full refund (and not being charged a 15% restocking fee) was extremely difficult, they wanted to give me a Best Buy gift card when their return policy clearly states defective computers will not be charged a restocking fee and will result in a full refund. I finally got my refund but after this experience with Best Buy I will never deal with them again – my advice to all is get your computer somewhere else.
On Tuesday 3/16, I decided to buy the cheapy Presario laptop from BB’s Sunday ad.
I walked into the store, found the laptop, and after a few minutes a young lad strolls up asking to help. I told him sure, I’d like to buy this laptop. I had already confirmed via the internet site that they were in stock at this particular store.
He then informed me that the only stock he had of this laptop were already pre-bundled with the Norton anti-virus, and the price would be an extra $60 for this “service”.
I told him directly that that was unacceptable, and asked again if he had any in stock for the advertised price.
He said no, there were none in stock at that price. At no time did he offer to check the computer for stock-on-hand.
I was now pissed, and kicking myself for not just buying it online with the in-store pickup option.
So I stormed out, drove home, and immediately purchased the laptop online with for in-store pickup. Less than 10 minutes later, I had my email confirmation that the item was ready to go.
I drove back, walked to customer service, and picked up my laptop. Now I’m boiling over mad, so I demand to speak to a manager.
Manager comes up, and I tell her about the lad’s deceptive practice, asking why I was able to buy something online for a price that he was incapable of selling it at.
I pointed him out to the manager, and she went to have a few words with the lad, then came back and said that he wasn’t aware that there was stock in different parts of the store and that the one he was trying to sell me was the “display” model that had the AV protection already installed.
I politely called BS, because he never mentioned that it was a display model, and I said that obviously he is incompetent to have let a sale go because he had been too lazy to check the computer or backroom for stock.
I think she was covering for him. I’m sure that these associates get tremendous pressure to bundle add-ons onto loss-leaders like this laptop, but to out-and-out lie about it has really got me steamed.
sales people are required to offer all of these services to every customer.
now you ran to a person that obviously doesnt care about customer service and i have ran to those people as well, but sales people at best buy are not pressured to get sales at higher amounts because no body is on commission, they just simply do their job of offerings some services that some people are interested in.
I worked there for 10 years and I think you guys are being over critical of the service. I own my own computer repair company and still I need to defend them a bit.
The service is a good one the tweaks that they have come up with are pretty amazing and none of your tools even come close to tweaking the system like they do. Sure you could do it yourself for free but they take the time and figure these registry tweaks out and apply them to the machine. Plus they decrapify the machine which you can do with PC Decrapifier but they are already in it so why not let them do it.
This is also a chance for you to leave with a computer that is set up and working. If the pc was bad you would have to take it home and then bring it back, if they do the setup on it you will walk home with a working computer.
Now if BBY presents this service in any kind of dishonest way then of course there is a problem but dont bash the service espically if you dont know about computers.I can see that the author of this article is not familiar with computers as they toss out some of the worst/outdated applications for spyware and virus protection there is.
My first question to the salesperson would be: “why are you out of non-optimized models if they are clearly inferior to the optimized models” ?
ok so, you say that “best buy optimization” is a waste of money and doesnt improve performance yet you say that the 100 tweaks they do does improve performance for some people. how is it that the same percedure works for some computers and doesnt for others???
also you say that sales people lie about what is actually done and that it can all be done by yourself at home and it doesnt take that long.
for some sales people that are computer illiterate, that may be so but when you list a bunch of system tools and softwares that do the optimization for the customer, most customers are also illiterate in that sence… so when you put “msconfig”, some customers have no idea how to access that… yet they never do it and they have programs running all the time when they arent needed. also it takes some time to do all of this and thats why best buy offers to do all of this for you for a fee because that fee pays for the people that are doing all of that for you. also, everybody can do the recovery disks. as a matter of fact theres a system tool that allows you to do that but making recovery disks take 2-3 hours and some people dont want to waste time on that… therefore they pay to have it done!
I would refuse their so-called “optimization” or shop else where.
Removing unwanted programs in Windows is quite easy, just go to the control panel and select programs – uninstall. This doesn’t take any special skill. You can go a little further and type msconfig at the run command. From there you can select programs and services that you don’t want to start at boot. Windows Defender, Security Essentials and Firewall are all free and come installed on Windows7 or can be easily downloaded. Avast anti-virus is a free alternative to Security Essentials. Make sure your computer is set to auto update and install. Once a month run a scan disk and defrag. A router will add an extra layer of security for your computer. Make sure you use a modern browser like Chrome or IE9. Don’t use file sharing software and always use a web-based email client rather than Outlook.
That’s really it folks, very simple and very free.
So if it’s not free then it must be evil? No one is holding a gun to anyone’s head making them buy anything. A lot of elderly and other technologically impaired would rather pay someone else to set up their laptop than to deal with the hassle themselves. Furthermore there was nothing deceitful about the ad. They were simply out of stock of the laptops that weren’t pre-setup. (Which they preset up less than half the stock so they’re not entrapping you to buy) Just like if they were out of anything else. That happens. Believe it or not, there actually is a finite amount of product that one store can hold at one time. And no one associate can make it materialize out of thin air. Don’t cry about it; Check Walmart or shop online. Upsets you? Hit them in their wallets instead of blogging about it!
I have found that if one just refuses to purchase the “optimised” computer and then start to leave the BestBuy store, the non-optimised price becomes available. If the non-optimised price is not available, do not buy – just leave the store. There is enough competition in computer stores that you should never buy what you do not want.
Thanks for this great article. It may take another decade or so, but I feel confident that if we maintain this persistence in investigation, we’ll eventually bring down the idiocracy that is BB.
It sounds like a bait and switch, in some cases.