Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 11 to 20 of 20

Thread: Another example of Geek Squad ripping people off!

  1. #11
    mentally overclocked Cale_Hagan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Cameron Park, Ca
    Posts
    671

    Default Re: Another example of Geek Squad ripping people off!

    Quote Originally Posted by TheGreatSatan View Post
    I had this old woman (at least 70) come in and ask for an IDE hard drive. We have them, but she was told to get at least 250GB which is about $50. Apparently she brought her PC to Best Buy and that's what they told her.

    Her computer is at least 15 years old. She still had the receipt when she ordered it from Dell for $1600! It had 64MB graphics and a 40GB hard drive! BB had told her that her drive was bad and she needed one that they didn't carry. Why does a woman who goes 15 years with 40GB need 250GB???

    When she brought it in they charged her $120 to "look at it" and then another $50 for some diagnostic.....

    After $170 on a 15 year old computer she was told to spend $50 on a new hard drive. BB would install the drive, reinstall Windows XP on it and then try to get her data back on the new drive for another $150.

    Yeah, that's $370 total!

    To her it was worth it because she's still thinking that a new computer would cost her $1600 like her old one.

    Here's where we, and anyone not out to rip people off, differ from BB. Instead of wasting $370 on an old PC, we talked her out of the hard drive purchase and sold her a new computer for $300 and then recovered her data for FREE (Because we felt so bad for her).

    That place is the worst and I can't wait till they crash and burn like Circuit City
    SATAN, i always enjoy a good hate best buy story like the rest of us, but that one is beyond hate... may that best buy burn down in an inferno.
    "The very existence of flamethrowers proves that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves, 'You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I’m just not close enough to get the job done.” -George Carlin

    “Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity.” -George Carlin

    Quote Originally Posted by DynamoNED
    Any contest that lacks integrity is no contest at all

  2. #12
    woy...collokweee...weeble weeble blaaaat artoodeeto's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
    Location
    Simi Valley, California, USA
    Posts
    1,075

    Default Re: Another example of Geek Squad ripping people off!

    To me what's saddest isn't so much the seemingly idiotic sales associates. It's the whole management mindset that generates them. Management isn't putting the customers' needs/desires first. Rather, they're trying anything they can to make more money. They instruct (and in the case of CompUSA, years ago) require sales people to hit certain goals for different programs, yet they don't want to take the time and money to properly train employees on good sales techniques that create results without irritating the customer. What we're left with is programs that make us feel like we're throwing away money for something with no value, and on top of that getting it pushed on us by sales people who don't seem to know what they're talking about beyond the bullet points. And on top of THAT, I know some stores require certain numbers to be met resulting in sales staff not taking time to help you if you want something small, or spending their time trying to push everything under the sun onto you.

    Contrast that with online retailers like Amazon and Newegg, which passively advertise their specials (by passively I mean they put an ad on the screen, but nobody's forcing you to watch a video or click on it), and which allow you to browse products at your own pace. They also have so many reviews and links to more info that your buying choice is FAR more informed than what you'd get in most big-box stores. And if you need to return something, they're typically more accomodating that my usual store experience.

    The exception I'd make to my store rant is Micro Center. Yes, when I worked there I had certain sales numbers I had to meet, but I found with a little effort they were realistic, and I figured out ways to do it so customers didn't feel like I was pushing stuff on them. I hate it when people do that to me, so I did everything I could to avoid doing it to others. And guess what...for a long time I was the leading salesperson in the store, and for a week I was ranked #3 in the company. Anyway, Micro Center took the time to train us (they had me conduct a training or two on sales techniques) both on sales and on the technical stuff. They didn't hire idiots, they paid well, and their tech support and returns were VERY accomodating.

    I wish the big-box store management types would learn this. I think retail and online could co-exist, even complement each other, but so many of these big stores just aren't willing to put the effort in to get their staff, store layouts, and business models updated to deal with a very different sales world than we lived in 10 years ago. Sad.
    Quote Originally Posted by ElevateThis View Post
    I'd mod my dog if i could.
    Quote Originally Posted by AmEv View Post
    (Steam me.... that sounds bad >_<)

  3. #13
    The floppy drive is no longer obsolete. AmEv's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Idaho, USA
    Posts
    3,052

    Default Re: Another example of Geek Squad ripping people off!

    "Why don't you have built-in WiFi on your desktop, a Wireless N router, a 50 foot Ethernet cable, a 100 foot Ethernet cable--"
    "Lemme guess: You guys are paid based on commission."
    "0.0 How did you know?"
    Two years. They were great. Let's make the next ones even better!

    Tri.fecta

  4. #14
    Code Monkey NightrainSrt4's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Your cookie jar
    Posts
    2,679

    Default Re: Another example of Geek Squad ripping people off!

    Well, Best Buy isn't, or at least wasn't, directly commission. The problem is they will, depending on your store and manager, dock your hours if you don't hit a certain attach rate.

    They don't want knowledgeable employees in the computer department. When I worked there they put me in media (dvds and such) even though I specifically asked for the computer department. I was finally switched to computers after I was approached by a customer because there wasn't anyone in the department, and I sold him a crap load of stuff and he told the store manager how helpful I was.

    Within a couple of months I was down to less than half the hours of when I worked in the media section as I refused to sell people crap that wasn't applicable to them or that they didn't need. So even though my revenue numbers were nearly double that of anyone else in the department, my hours were severely docked because I had a horrible attach rate for useless services because I put the customer before the company's profits.

    It's so much nicer working for a company where I actually matter, and can actively make a difference in the company.

  5. #15
    The floppy drive is no longer obsolete. AmEv's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Idaho, USA
    Posts
    3,052

    Default Re: Another example of Geek Squad ripping people off!

    What Best Buy doesn't realize is what drives a customer away:

    • Overpriced items
    • Forceful staff
    • Unwanted items
    • Staff that looks like idiots
    • Not listening to the customer
    • Just because the customer isn't always right, doesn't mean they're always wrong.
    • Security is good, but when it takes half of the staff to shut off one alarm? Not good.
    • Many other things.
    Two years. They were great. Let's make the next ones even better!

    Tri.fecta

  6. #16
    I got rid of my floppy disks Xpirate's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    537

    Default Re: Another example of Geek Squad ripping people off!

    $300 can score you a brand new Dell desktop without a monitor. $400 can get you a laptop. People who don't know anything about computers, or at least have friends who know, are really at the mercy of places like that.

    I just gave away an old 633 Mhz Celeron with the last two IDE hard drives in it that I had. Didn't realize that I still had an old phone modem. I should have put that in there to get rid of as well.

  7. #17
    AARGH dr.walrus's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Ho Chi Minh City
    Posts
    993

    Default Re: Another example of Geek Squad ripping people off!

    There's almost no margin on a standard computer these days, the extras (and ****ing people around) are how this sort of place makes money...

  8. #18
    Bottle of Whiskey! altec's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Maryland
    Posts
    501

    Default Re: Another example of Geek Squad ripping people off!

    That's a great story TGS! Sounds like you guys saved a old woman a lot...more...hassle.
    Current Projects
    -1979 Jeep DJ5 "Mail Jeep"
    -1981 Chevrolet K10

  9. #19
    Code Monkey NightrainSrt4's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Your cookie jar
    Posts
    2,679

    Default Re: Another example of Geek Squad ripping people off!

    Quote Originally Posted by dr.walrus View Post
    There's almost no margin on a standard computer these days, the extras (and ****ing people around) are how this sort of place makes money...
    I understand how thin the margins are. I worked there and saw the prices. I will never support not telling a customer about Microsoft Security Essentials, or another decent free antivirus, and convincing them to buy a mediocre retail antivirus, then charge them a whole ton of money to click through an install prompt.

    They already make ~3000% on every cable they sell, and that has nothing to do with monster cables, just your basic USB cable. There are plenty of other products they can push that people can actually use, make the company money in the process, and not peddle snake oil computer tune-ups.

  10. #20

    Default Re: Another example of Geek Squad ripping people off!

    Why don't they tell a old lady a truth that she can have a new computer by paying a few hunderds dollors....

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •