The Best Buy Geek Squad: What Do They Do?

Best Buy is a big box electronics store that gets a lot of mileage by advertising the Geek Squad, but what exactly do they do?

The answer, in my case anyway, is I am sure sure.

Blame me for purchasing my third laptop at Best Buy. I am not sure why I keep returning. Maybe their name makes me think they really offer the best value, but I am not sure it is true. I probably keep returning because they have a variety of stuff, and are convenient.

When my first two laptops quit on me, the obtuse "no can fix, no can do" attitude of the Geek Squad personnel drove me nuts, leading to angry exchanges.

I promised myself,never again, but last year, I fell for it again. You might wonder why, but I had discovered a new, smaller store with accommodating staff, that seemed a cut above the other Best Buy stores in my area.

When I purchased the new laptop, I purchased the best service agreement, which covered problems including ones that were my fault, such as spilling a liquid of shutting a pen under the cover. The service agreement added about $300 to the cost of the laptop, but it has turned out to be worth it.

The laptop has been in twice for repairs, which would have cost that much to fix, so the service contract has paid for itself. The problem? They do not do the work at the store. The computer has to be sent out, which means about a month without the laptop.

I also get irritated when I take the laptop in for service. because the Geek Squad guy always tries to collect a fee for looking at the computer. I have to repeat at least three times that it is under a service contract. Best Buy management is probably cheering at that information.

I use my laptop all the time, mostly for business, and cannot afford to be without it. Needless to say, being without the computer for a few weeks is a major hassle.

During the most recent repair, the keyboard was replaced. The number two key broke off within a couple of days, which is not right. It is not like I was pounding on the key. At first I thought, well OK, how often do I use the two key. The answer to that question is "a lot".

Toshiba Laptop is missing the two key. Permission granted for use with this article.

Credit: Christine Bude

Copyright: Christine Bude