Life on the Squad - Page 2

Bob The Mercenary · 08-26-2010, 08:52 PM

So I landed a job at a BestBuy near me two weeks ago as a Geek Squad agent. They literally hired me on the spot during the interview which at first I thought was cool as I had been nervous as hell for the interview. At orientation I met the other three who had been hired with me. They all seemed like cool guys, all just as nerdy as me, same interests, etc... After the four hour orientation I was given my hours for the first week and was all excited for my first real day of work. I imagined being surrounded by computers, or burned out husks of once great machines, and doing what I love for a living. Tinkering. Diagnosing. Bringing the dead back to life.

You guys...

These people...

First phone call I answer: "How do I open my laptop?"

The day went downhill from there.

A man came in saying we broke his computer, quote, "more than it was already broke". He originally brought his system in because it wouldn't power on. Verdict was a bad power supply and mobo. He paid the $70 diagnosis fee but refused to have it serviced because the price was too high to fix it. He comes back, points to the main power connector on the motherboard and says we snapped part of it off. What made him think this was that the cord coming from the PSU had extra connectors as part of an adapter for newer boards that had more connectors. Long story short, we didn't do shit to his computer, but he was one of those "fight the man" types. He left the store in a huff.

Rule #1 of dealing with Geek Squad: NEVER FUCKING BRING US A MACBOOK! No one here knows how to deal with Macs. They are built with HEX HEAD AND STAR SCREWS WHO THE FUCK USES STAR SCREWS!? And almost none of our software is compatible with them.

Rule #2: If we tell you it will take a few hours to set up your new laptop, assume that means "come back tomorrow, if we're lucky".

Rule #3: $200 for a virus cleaning means $200 for a virus cleaning and none of us grunts can do shit about it.

Rule #4: It's not my fault your warranty is up.

Rule #5: There is a queue line. We can not just fix it for you "real quick". No you may not wait right there while we do it.

I mean it's not a terrible job. The day goes by in a second and it pays relatively well. Most of the time I'm just installing antiviruses on laptops and "optimizing" them, which means running one program and walking away. Occasionally they'll actually let me run a diagnostic, very occasionally will I ever see the inside of a computer. Most repairs they send to Kentucky anyway.

Not sure if this was the right thing to do or not, but lately I have been recommending such products as OpenOffice and Malwarebytes for people who have simple problems that really don't warrant a $200 fix. It's amazing how this entire establishment is being kept alive by the public's general ignorance about technology and something called Google.

08-26-2010, 08:52 PM	#1
Bob The Mercenary Bob Dole Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Bob Dole Posts: 5,606	Life on the Squad So I landed a job at a BestBuy near me two weeks ago as a Geek Squad agent. They literally hired me on the spot during the interview which at first I thought was cool as I had been nervous as hell for the interview. At orientation I met the other three who had been hired with me. They all seemed like cool guys, all just as nerdy as me, same interests, etc... After the four hour orientation I was given my hours for the first week and was all excited for my first real day of work. I imagined being surrounded by computers, or burned out husks of once great machines, and doing what I love for a living. Tinkering. Diagnosing. Bringing the dead back to life. You guys... These people... First phone call I answer: "How do I open my laptop?" The day went downhill from there. A man came in saying we broke his computer, quote, "more than it was already broke". He originally brought his system in because it wouldn't power on. Verdict was a bad power supply and mobo. He paid the $70 diagnosis fee but refused to have it serviced because the price was too high to fix it. He comes back, points to the main power connector on the motherboard and says we snapped part of it off. What made him think this was that the cord coming from the PSU had extra connectors as part of an adapter for newer boards that had more connectors. Long story short, we didn't do shit to his computer, but he was one of those "fight the man" types. He left the store in a huff. Rule #1 of dealing with Geek Squad: NEVER FUCKING BRING US A MACBOOK! No one here knows how to deal with Macs. They are built with HEX HEAD AND STAR SCREWS WHO THE FUCK USES STAR SCREWS!? And almost none of our software is compatible with them. Rule #2: If we tell you it will take a few hours to set up your new laptop, assume that means "come back tomorrow, if we're lucky". Rule #3: $200 for a virus cleaning means $200 for a virus cleaning and none of us grunts can do shit about it. Rule #4: It's not my fault your warranty is up. Rule #5: There is a queue line. We can not just fix it for you "real quick". No you may not wait right there while we do it. I mean it's not a terrible job. The day goes by in a second and it pays relatively well. Most of the time I'm just installing antiviruses on laptops and "optimizing" them, which means running one program and walking away. Occasionally they'll actually let me run a diagnostic, very occasionally will I ever see the inside of a computer. Most repairs they send to Kentucky anyway. Not sure if this was the right thing to do or not, but lately I have been recommending such products as OpenOffice and Malwarebytes for people who have simple problems that really don't warrant a $200 fix. It's amazing how this entire establishment is being kept alive by the public's general ignorance about technology and something called Google.