Service Review: The Geek Squad

A Review of the In-Home Computer Installation Service Provided by the Geek Squad

By K. Cauldwell, published Jun 14, 2006
Published Content: 197  Total Views: 370,441  Favorited By: 32 CPs
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Rating: 3.2 of 5
 
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I needed a new wireless Internet system for my home, and I was uncertain about my ability to install it properly. I also knew, with a fair amount of certainty, that I’d need some help to set up the necessary encryption system that would protect my computer from the prying eyes of tech smarties lurking in my wireless range. After some discussion with my husband about who to contract to take care of the installation of my wireless Internet, we decided to give the Geek Squad a try. What follows is a review of the service they provided.

Service Rating: 4.5 (of possible 5)

Pricing
We contracted to have the Geek Squad provide our wireless installation service through Best Buy, where we purchased our system. We knew that our local high speed cable Internet provider would charge us $150.00 to come to our home and perform the necessary service. Best Buy offered us the Geek Squad service for $159.00. We quoted this price offered by our Internet service provider to Best Buy, and they matched the price.

Questioning whether Best Buy might pad the pricing for the services provided by the Geek Squad in order to cover their brokerage fee, I checked out the pricing for on-site service on the Geek Squad’s website.  There I discovered that the Geek Squad sets flat rate pricing for a number of on-site home and business service, and the price quoted for an in-home wireless Internet installation was, in fact, $159.00. You can check out their website for flat rate pricing of the particular service you are looking to have provided.

Reliability
When we set up our appointment, we set it up for 12:45pm. Not between 9:00am and 3:00pm, but 12:45pm. And that was on a Saturday- the Geek Squad is not your telephone repairman or your cable guy. Furthermore, we were impressed to get that appointment, as we set it up at 5:30pm the evening before. At approximately 12:40pm I received a telephone call from a Geek Squad service representative letting me know that our personal geek was caught in traffic and would most likely arrive around 1:15pm, and certainly no later than 1:30pm. Michael, our geek, rang our doorbell at 1:20pm on the nose.

 
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Service Review: The Geek Squad

The Geek Squad provides a thorough, timely service, if you don't mind paying for it.

Credit: Miguel Ugalde

Copyright: SXC

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The Geek Squad utilizes the professional expertise of actual, authentic geeks.
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Comments
Showing Comments 1 - 15 of 19
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I contacted The Geek Squad number in my Yellow Pages on Friday, June 13,2008. I was given an appointment time of between 4:00-8:00p.m. for Saturday the 14th. No one ever arrived, no one ever called. I will never contact them again, and am relishing finding as many places as I can on the Internet to leave negative feedback.

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Posted on 06/16/2008 at 7:06:42 AM

 
We contracted with The Geek Squad through Best Buy to hook up our flat screen tv, Bose music system, etc. Two young techs came to the house, spent 8 hours, couldn't get the system to work using one remote, didn't call in anyone for assistance and left telling my wife and me to call someone from Bose to figure it out! We contacted the manager of the department at Best Buy who contacted the Geek Squad to try again. Four days later an even younger looking tech came to the house, couldn't figure it out, called his supervisor and left a message with him (the supervisor wasn't available to speak to me). We again contacted the manager at Best Buy who eventually spoke with a Bose tech, got the information and codes he needed and he personally came to our home to get the system working. While awaiting the Best Buy manager (now almost 2 weeks since the initial techs came), The Geek Squad called to set up a service call.....this call came four days after the second tech called his manager.

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Posted on 06/01/2008 at 9:06:50 AM

 
I have heard lots of people who got really poor service and large bills.

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Posted on 03/24/2008 at 7:03:40 PM

 
Had an appointment scheduled with the "squad" for 1 pm. My wife took the afternoon off and 1 hour after no arrival contacted them. After emails back and forth got a phone call informing us the scheduled tech no longer worked for them and they had called to reschedule and no answer and no voice mail. Wrong. My wife was placed on hold and while on hold a call came in to our voice mail indicating that they were calling to let us know someone would be here in an hour and if that was not ok, please call to reschedule.(same voice as scheduler)An hour and half later another call came in from the tech indicating he could be here about 4;30 for a job that should take 4 hours. Don't think so. As it happens, my wife had a bad feeling about the appointment as a fellow worker had informed her that she had 2 appointments with Best Buy and no shows both times. Don't you just hate unprofessional business that has no regard for your time?

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Posted on 02/07/2008 at 5:02:05 PM

 
Hurray to "Beeconsumer" for your post! I thought I was paying for a good reputable company. I wasn't shopping for the cheapest, I was shopping by brand and thinking I was going to get great results. Don't assume people choose Geek Squad because they are cheaper. Some may have been as naive as me thinking that since Best Buy promotes them, they must be good. You have an excellent point though, you get what you pay for!

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Posted on 01/27/2008 at 11:01:11 AM

 
Sorry Carl, you probably know what you are doing...you should probably go work for a better company (and probably get paid more too ). I just wish I had read the reviews about Geek Squad before I used them. I trusted the brand name which was stupid. Shame on me. I learned my lesson!

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Posted on 01/27/2008 at 11:01:55 AM

 
I spend $100 bucks to have "Geek Squad" remove a nasty virus from my computer and fix any issues that were causing my computer run slow. Guess what? The virus was not removed and my programs still ran slow. I complained about it at work and a guy from work overheard and said he just rid his computer of the same virus. He came over to my house and completely removed the virus and cleaned up some temp files that I the "Geek Squad" guy missed. My computer ran like a charm and the best part I only had to pay him $20 bucks. I just want to say how sad it is that I had paid $100 bucks for nothing, from a company claiming to have experienced techs. Anyone out there reading this and not sure whether to use the Geek Squad, I am warning you.....don't do it. Ask around and get referrals from friends.

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Posted on 01/27/2008 at 11:01:19 AM

 
I am glad you had a positive experience. I believe you are alone in this unique accomplishment. I've had the geek squad try to scam me (they told me my hard-drive was bad and needed replacement - on speaking with Sony tech support - I discovered my hard drive was fine - just got some bad spyware and restoring the original System configuration cured everything). Several people have also encountered incompetence at the hands of the geek squad. Which is sad - because I think best-buy is a great store - and I like the customer service in all the bestbuys I've visited. Just take away the geek-squad - because it lends a 'scam' image to an otherwise good store.

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Posted on 01/10/2008 at 11:01:11 PM

 
thats what usually happens with all companies when they get too big, the actual service takes a nose dive. Now unfortunately, they are coming to the UK to mess up our computers and charge £99 for the priveledge.

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Posted on 12/20/2007 at 7:12:15 AM

 
LOL! You folks are amusing! Well lets see, I worked for the crap squad myself for 1 year before realizing that whole year was wasted on a sham job working with teenagers (and for a teenager) that had NO idea what IT (Information Technology) is about. GS managers asked a kid during an interview, can you remove viruses and back-up data? Kid says "uh yeah". Manager says "YOUR HIRED!" WOW! not impressed. I left GS and went to work for a real IT department in corporate america, where real qualified IT professionals go to earn a living. Folks, here is the lowdown, if you really want PC support, don't go to ANY retail electronics store expecting excellent results for the price. Conversely, don't do it yourself if you aren't well versed. Find a reputable local PC repair shop, and use them. Think about it, are you REALLY going to get professional support from a bunch of kids working for $8-12 an hour? No. Go to a real PC shop, period.

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Posted on 09/27/2007 at 10:09:00 PM

 
I am a Geek Squad In-Home agent and as far as we don't know what were talking about anytime you want to test knowledge id be happy to do the challenge as well as any of my co-workers. You can make claims that we don't know what were talking about but obviously don't know what you're doing or you wouldn't have to bring the computers to us. Now I admit there are certain agents that are not as educated but you can blame that on whoever hired them. Most of us are very educated and have a vast amount of knowledge. We are very willing and able help people in any situation. AS FOR AGENT ORANGE You need to watch your mouth because you give us a bad name. We are here to educate but at the same point provide customers with the service that they are paying for were not only there to perform the service were doing but also to educate our customers as to what were doing and WHY they are also paying to learn something that is what our job is and every Geek Squad Agent needs remember that. We are her

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Posted on 06/05/2007 at 8:06:00 PM

 
What happened to the old adage you get what you pay for. I do not have allot of sympathy for people who laboriously research the cheapest alternative, and then get upset when it does not deliver. Professional service has a cost. For a few dollars more, the people who had these mishaps could have gone to a local PC store or called an independent professional. As to the story of the person who lost their hard drive, have you ever heard of backing up? I am sorry, but if someone wants to use the Geek squad because its cheap and it doesn't work out, then you got what you paid for. Next time-spend a couple of more dollars if you want a higher level of service. There are allot of adult professional out there, but adults charge more.

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Posted on 04/14/2007 at 8:04:00 AM

 
THey just DONT have expertise as they advertise. dont trust them with your computer Just ASK neighbood high school kid who knows computer well they will do it for less and smile. you have no idea if they are actually the ones that breaks the computers..THEY RUINED MINE.after keeping the computer for so long, THEY ARE AS GEEK AS THEY CAN BE and dumb its all hype and talk DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THEM. THEY WILL MAKE YOUR LIFE MISERABLE after making you spend more money/ THEY SIMPLY DONT KNOW HOW TO FIX it, when it comes to soft ware issues.

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Posted on 04/02/2007 at 8:04:00 PM

 
This is why I repair my own Computers, And set up my on wifi servers etc

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Posted on 03/10/2007 at 1:03:00 AM

 
By the way...How come you will pay your lexus mechanic $1100 for a tune up, but us coming into your home and saving you a headache for $200 is absurd...I have spent $30,000 on my MCSE and countless hours honing my craft...I can't vouch for the 18 year old newbie's out there but what were you doing when you were 18?

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Posted on 10/26/2006 at 12:10:00 AM

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