• sad

    Geek Squad Calls To Ask If The Appointment That Never Happened Was Satisfactory

    Reader James is upset. His TV is broken and Geek Squad can't fix it. He bought the TV and Best Buy's performance service plan — which hypothetically should replace his TV in the event that it cannot be repaired. Now, after 2 months, 27 days, a botched repair job and 6 unreturned phone calls, James is annoyed. He's launched an Executive Email Carpet Bomb on Best Buy and CC'd us. The best part comes near the end of the letter, when Best Buy calls James to ask if he was satisfied with a Geek Squad appointment that had never even happened... More »

    3:18 PM on Wed Nov 19 2008
    By Meg Marco
    13,435 views, 49 comments

    Most discussed Incognito: Dear James, I bought my Toshiba laptop from Best Buy a year ago and they managed to sucker me into the more »

  • geek squad

    Geek Squad's Unionizing Efforts Met By Best Buy's Concerned Bulk Email

    Emails are shooting around to Geek Squad employees, encouraging them to join the Communications Workers of America union, so Best Buy retorts with emails of its own to voice its concerns. In an email sent by corporate management, Best Buy spoke of its concerns about unions, that unions would hinder its ability to speak with and negotiate with each Geek Squad employee individually. For, there's nothing like the closeness created when one employee negotiates with a hydra. That's just one fun piece of FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) in the email, posted inside... More »

    6:06 PM on Fri Oct 31 2008
    By Ben Popken
    15,447 views, 149 comments

    Most discussed downwithmonstercable: I'll probably get flamed up the wazoo for saying this, but unions had their place in history and are now more »

  • customer service

    Best Buy Questions Your Ability To Plug In A Computer

    Mike's friend gave Best Buy $200 to install anti-virus software and an HDMI input, but Best Buy somehow sent him home with the wrong power adapter. Mike works in IT and knows how to feed and bathe himself, but Best Buy insisted that he had the right adapter and that Mike had to be "doing something wrong." Guess how this ends... More »

    12:15 PM on Sat Aug 30 2008
    By Carey
    53,409 views, 93 comments

    Most discussed Eldritch: I need a new laptop... and suddenly I don't think going to Best Buy is a good idea now... Shit, more »

  • geek squad

    Geek Squad Cuts The Cables Inside Your Computer Instead Of Backing Up Your Data?

    Reader Kevin forwarded us this story from Dave, a I.T. consultant friend of his who helps people with their computer problems in exchange for hardware donations to the school he works at. Dave's "propane guy" said he recently took a desktop computer to Geek Squad after it failed, and "great Geek Squad guys were AWESOME and had been able to retrieve all of his family pictures for him," before selling him a new laptop. Dave offered to take a look at the desktop and try to retrieve the rest of the important files— the "7 years of QuickBooks 2005 data" that Best Buy wasn't able to save, but when Dave opened up the computer he says he was surprised to see that someone had cut some important cables. More »

    11:38 AM on Thu Jul 31 2008
    By Meg Marco
    27,421 views, 102 comments

    Latest by ShadowFalls: @MrEvil: Yeah, I know right. By the way, those DDR1 and DDR2 ones were far and in between. Though now they more »

  • walmart

    Walmart To Unleash Its Own "Geek Squad" In Dallas

    What began as a troubling rumor has evolved into a troubling fact. Walmart will soon be launching its own version of the Geek Squad as pilot program in 15 stores in the Dallas area. The new "Solution Stations" will supposedly help customers with such tasks as flat panel TV installation and computer repair and will be managed with Dell Inc. Details, inside... More »

    7:24 AM on Fri Jul 18 2008
    By Jay Slatkin
    7,514 views, 56 comments

    Latest by Methusalah: @XianZhuXuande: Unfortunately Best Buy's geek squad prices are rediculous. $130 to install an OS is not just excessive it's more »

  • computer repair

    Texas Law Probably Does Not Require PI License To Fix Spyware-Infested Computers

    Dries Janssens, a computer repair shop owner in Allen, Texas, is worried that a 2007 law passed by the state legislature requires computer repair technicians to have private investigator licenses to perform "simple computer repairs such as malware removal." We're not sure if the law was just badly written or written on purpose at the urging of the state's private investigator lobby (which Janssens suggests), but it certainly seems like a bad idea. Update: according to this article sent by our weekend editor Carey, it's just badly written ("It needs some tightening up," says one lawmaker) and should only apply to the private security industry. More »

    1:39 PM on Wed Jul 9 2008
    By Chris Walters
    4,849 views, 32 comments

    Latest by amyschiff: The title of this made me think this was a post on The Onion more »

  • geek squad

    Geek Squad Backs Up Your Desktop Shortcut Instead Of Your Data

    Reader Mike consulted Best Buy about removing a Trojan that was infecting his computer. They suggested that he buy an external hard drive, pay Best Buy to back up his data, and use his computer's restore disc. Mike agreed. 5 days later he got his computer and his external hard drive back — mostly empty, except for the shortcut to the folder where the data was stored. None of the files within the folder had actually been transferred. More »

    1:55 PM on Wed Jul 2 2008
    By Meg Marco
    45,895 views 58 comments

    Latest by Ben Popken: @Ben Popken: It wasn't the 21st person who said people who go to Geek Squad are total maroons who convinced more »

  • rumors

    Wal-Mart Planning Its Own "Geek Squad"?

    MarketWatch says that Wal-Mart is "very interested in expanding into installation and repair services in its fast-growing electronics segment." More »

    12:24 PM on Fri Jun 6 2008
    By Meg Marco
    7,240 views, 45 comments

  • geek squad

    $50k Porn-Pilfering Lawsuits Opens With Geek Squad Employee Confession

    The Star Tribune reports a woman is suing Best Buy for $50,000 after the Best Buy/Geek Squad repair service stole her naked photos from her computer, shared them with other Geek Squad agents, and even copied them onto the hard drives of other customers (this is hardly the first time Geek Squad has been caught stealing porn from customer's computers). William E. Giffels admitted in a written statement that he copied Kaylee Hall's nude photos from her computer onto his personal flash drive. On this drive, he also kept the most up-to-date version of the Geek Squad diagnostic tools and told other agents to copy from it. Then other Geek Squad made CD copies of the drive and installed the tools, along with Kaylee's photos, onto other customers' computers in the Traverse City, Michigan area. Inside, Giffels's written confession... More »

    10:44 AM on Mon May 5 2008
    By Ben Popken
    21,039 views, 91 comments

    Latest by Techno Viking: One more lesson, is to never go to geek squad for any repair. Try to do it yourself if you more »