The Geek Squad is Impressive

[WkdPaul]

12 hours ago, jslowik said:

*snip*

Thanks for listening!

Welcome to the real world, sadly enough people in general are as bright as a ficus ... as anyone that worked retail or customer/tech support and you'll hear crazy stories.

 

You could also check this thread for a laugh;

 

[AlanAlan]

12 hours ago, jslowik said:

I have a fun story to tell. Quick background, I picked up a part time job at Best Buy as a register jockey while I finish up the internship requirement for my software development degree with another company. Just for some extra money, and to fill the hours. I mention that only to establish I work in a related industry, and at least pretend to know what I'm talking about. Today was my first day of training. While I was waiting for the individual from HR I was seated near the Geek Squad desk, and had the wonderful (mis)fortune of overhearing a wonderful exchange.

 

An older gentleman appeared to have just purchased a laptop, and was looking to get some stuff set up (I couldn't really hear his side of the conversation). What caught my attention was when the employee he was dealing with informed him that the only way to get security software was to pay for it. I was intrigued, but rationalized it to myself by saying she was just trying to keep it simple for him. Then it continued.

 

Next she asked him if he wanted Google Chrome installed. He seemed to be unsure of what that was. She explained to him that there are "a couple different kinds of search engines, we recommend Chrome, but Edge will also be on there". At this point it's all I can do to not laugh.

 

For most people this might be enough, but she wasn't done. The gentleman also wanted a password on the system. She asked him to write it down. After he wrote it down she proceeds to READ THE PASSWORD ALOUD.

 

I know expecting something like the Geek Squad to be staffed by top tier talent is unrealistic, but I feel like referring to a web browser as a search engine should be something that gets you sent to the back to unload trucks.

 

Anyway just wanted to share that with you guys. Maybe that's kind of par for the course for them, but I haven't really spent much time in any Best Buy in the last 10 years or so.

 

Thanks for listening!

How much is the salary for a geek squad employee

 

[Drunk_Klaus]

In my experience the best buy employees in the tv section are the most informed. I used to go to best buy alot and ask them questions about stuff I already know for fun like asking someone for a molex cable and see if they know what that is.

[SteveGrabowski0]

17 hours ago, stconquest said:

Never mind Geek Squad...

 

WTF is FOX News doing?  Actual investigative journalism?  lol

It's not Fox News or they would have blamed Obama for it.

[BuckGup]

19 hours ago, DeadEyePsycho said:

Seriously? They required the A+ cert? I took that last year so I do have it but the tests are seriously outdated, as in the newest Intel architecture mentioned on the test was Nehalem.

WHAT Nehalem...wow

[jslowik]

18 hours ago, SteveGrabowski0 said:

Geek Squad is just sales people, they don't know shit. They're also crooks.

Goodness. That's.... well then. I was operating under the delusion that the Geek Squad was actually there to provide user support. Guess I was mistaken.

 

What have I gotten myself into ?

[2FA]

33 minutes ago, SamStrecker said:

WHAT Nehalem...wow

Yup but the tests were updated last August so I don't know what's on them now. Honestly they are mostly about printers and basic networking.

[Zodiark1593]

$100 to remove bloatware anyone?

[ShaithEatery]

It's like any retail situation; it always depends on which location and who is working there.  I used to work at Office Depot when they first started fixing computers and was so afraid of anyone else other than me and one other guy that worked there taking a computer in for service because they give you 0 training as far as doing anything with the computers that come in other than connecting them to a remote technician who is supposed to fix it for you.  One guy brought in his PC for a $10 "power clean" which is basically dusting out your PC with canned air for you, and because I wasn't there one of the stockers that works in supplies was covering the tech area and did the service.  Needless to say, the PC wouldn't turn on afterwards and the store ended up having to give the guy a brand new PC since we broke it (also wouldn't be surprised if they didn't turn the PC on before the cleaning to see if it worked to begin with).  They had a guy that works there, me, that knows how to properly do this, but nobody can be there every hour the store opens and because of how retail places divy up hours, it's likely someone from another department will have to cover a section they're not familiar or comfortable with.  It's just luck of the draw who is helping people at any given store at any given time.

 

Another thing to keep in mind is that sometimes, even if you know your stuff it also depends on who you're talking to and your ability to explain things in a way they understand.  It's not important that this old guy knows the difference between a web browser and a search engine when he gets his new PC home, it matters that he is able to use it for what he wants to do with it.  I find myself referring to things in an incorrect way plenty of times simply to better relate to what the customer/client already knows and help them understand as much as they need to be able to do what they're trying to do.  Doing the "um, actually... *push up glasses*" thing when someone is just trying to get something to work will leave a bad taste in their mouth and, while you fixed their issue, they won't be willing to come to you for anything else because you made them feel stupid or came off as arrogant.  I'm not saying that the Geek Squad person knew what they were doing, I'm just saying don't judge a situation because you only heard part of the conversation.

 

As far as the password reading-aloud situation, yeah if you could hear it from where you were they probably read it aloud way too loud, though I'm personally not of the mind that someone would be listening close by and plot to get access to this old guy's...what, family pictures and emails?  Worst case scenario, the person overhearing the password follows this guy home to find out where he lives, breaks in overnight to log into his PC, and tries to get some sort of financial information from his PC.  But who would do that to a guy they could also hear probably doesn't even know how to use the computer in the first place?  Not saying it's impossible, just something that I'm not too up-in-arms about with the situation given.  In an office setting where the domain administrator is read aloud for normal users to hear, that's a major issue, but not this situation imo.

[IMPERIUS]

Interesting, cuz this isn't a thing I would ever overhear in my local shops, everyone there knew their business, is this just an American thing?

[Atmos]

The saddest shit is you need an A+ cert to even be considered for geek squad. Makes me think a lot of those guys just bullshit that part of the requirement, or know someone who's already there and get floated a job.

 

Rofl though, yea geek squad is a total joke, most computer salesmen are jokes at big box stores. Back when I was department manager at the local tech store, I tried to make sure the salesmen we brought into my depart knew what the fuck they were talking about, since I left last year though shit has gone down hill fucking fast. One of my mates went in a week back to buy some computer components for a new system (He's still pretty new to the whole computer thing) but I was on my honeymoon so I couldn't help him out. The dumbass salesmen sold him, a 4790k, 16gbs of ddr3, a gtx 950, a fucking msi z170 motherboard, and a fucking corsair cx750. The case and ssd you can't go wrong with, so I'll leave that out. Let's just say that as soon as I heard about it, I went over, had him return 90% of the stuff (Which also was taken out of the guys commission) and got him a 6600k, antec hcg 620, 16gbs of ddr4, an actual hard drive (since the 120gb ssd is SOOOOOOOOOOOO not enough) and a 4gb 380. 

Also might have chewed out the current department manager for having SHIT staff who know virtually nothing about computers, and are only interested in making commission, since it turns out most of what he sold my friend was on double commission that week.

[DocSwag]

Bruh, put this in the experience with non-techies thread!

[jslowik]

On 6/1/2016 at 4:55 PM, DocSwag said:

Bruh, put this in the experience with non-techies thread!

I considered it, but she was wearing a shirt that said "Geek Squad", doesn't that disqualify the story?

 

@ShaithEateryI definitely understand communicating on the customer's level. However I also firmly believe that you also have to do right by them. In the course of the day during my "regular" job in an office IT department I am sometimes called away to provide basic desktop support and answer general troubleshooting issues like you would see at a Geek Squad desk. I make it a point to try to read the "customer's" knowledge level and communicate in a way that will make anything they should know clear. What I will not do is put them in a position where their ability to help themselves in the future is hampered by a misunderstanding of basic terms. 

 

If a person walked into an auto garage and said "I want my tires changed" when they meant "I want my oil changed" as professionals (both in the automotive industry and the technology industry) we are duty bound to do right by the client and gently educate them. If they choose to not listen that's on them, but I don't want to be the one that contributes to the ignorance.

 

The way I look at it is in the best case the customer never tries to learn more on their own, and the difference is never noted. Worst case their interest is piqued by the discussion and they begin researching the topic at hand. Gradually they begin to wonder in what ways you're pulling the wool over their eyes by trying to sell you another "search engine" when you were very clearly discussing web browsers. Kind of like the old stories about garage owners selling blinker fluid, and rust inhibitors.

 

It is my belief that you have to tactfully approach all situations where you're assisting someone with something that is outside their area of expertise. My overall goal is to help my customer fully understand their choices and options. This includes imparting at least a general knowledge of the roughly correct terminology. Again, as tactfully as possible.

 

That's all just my personal philosophy. Take it for what it's worth, and thanks for your insight as well!

[bgibbz]

On 5/30/2016 at 8:18 PM, DrMacintosh said:

When I'm at Bestbuy I frequently help customers because the staff is either not there or know very little about what they are supposed to........mind you I'm 16. 

Lol im in the same boat as you, im 16 years old and im rarely at Best Buy, but the last time i was there, some person said to an employee that they wanted to store a bunch of pictures on something that he could transfer to his laptop and his wife's laptop and that they have 10,000 pictures. The employee proceeds to hand him 4 32gb flash drives and tells him to store it on those, at this point i couldn't resist pointing him and the employee to a few aisles over where they had 1tb external hard drives that cost less than the recommend 4 flash drives. It completely baffles me how anyone working sales in the electronics section wouldn't know what an Ext. HDD is, so im inclined to believe that the employee was attempting to extort money from the costumer.

[DocSwag]

9 hours ago, jslowik said:

I considered it, but she was wearing a shirt that said "Geek Squad", doesn't that disqualify the story?

No, not really, since she's a non-techie in geek squad!

There are a lot of posts in that thread about geek squad people that are also non-techies. I'd imagine it's totally fine. A few of the guys there will probably get a good laught out of it.