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Geeksquad + Mac

Aaleck

Aaleck

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 11, 2007
728
39
Michigan, USA
I was in Best Buy the other day buying a new computer desk and chair and I was checking out how much of a rip off their hard drive prices are compared to newegg, and I was listening on a GeekSquad agent telling this older woman about how Mac's are ONLY for graphics, and PC's are far more superior in every way. He was then explaining about how PC's are far more easier to setup than Mac's and that installing software on Mac's is a nightmare.

So after the agent went to get her a cart for her computer, I walked up and told her that there was a store (authorized retailer) right down the road that sold Mac's and that she should go and check them out before making a final decision

She was so happy, she told me I made her day. She said that her whole family were Apple people and didn't know the area that well... I think it was a present for her daughter or something... so she picked up her other stuff and checked out... Regardless to say, I don't think that agent was very happy when he came back

Just thought I would share that everyone, I thought it was pretty funny
 
Damn!

I hear the same thing each time I visit my FutureShop. If I have the time, I usually tell the potential buyer the truth!
 
Congrats, GeekSquad are usually bullish.

20j5sfc.jpg
 
Aaleck said:
I was in Best Buy the other day buying a new computer desk and chair and I was checking out how much of a rip off their hard drive prices are compared to newegg, and I was listening on a GeekSquad agent telling this older woman about how Mac's are ONLY for graphics, and PC's are far more superior in every way. He was then explaining about how PC's are far more easier to setup than Mac's and that installing software on Mac's is a nightmare.

So after the agent went to get her a cart for her computer, I walked up and told her that there was a store (authorized retailer) right down the road that sold Mac's and that she should go and check them out before making a final decision

She was so happy, she told me I made her day. She said that her whole family were Apple people and didn't know the area that well... I think it was a present for her daughter or something... so she picked up her other stuff and checked out... Regardless to say, I don't think that agent was very happy when he came back

Just thought I would share that everyone, I thought it was pretty funny
Click to expand...

Geek Squad are idiots. The only thing they are good at is saying, oh $129 pl0x for diagnosis, then after diagnosis, sorry it has virus costs you $150 to fix and you may loose files, whats that you dont have anti-virus? no problem, thats $100 to put one in.

Next day, they give you a reformatted PC with anti-virus installed. Thats it, end of story.
 
i was a manager at Best Buy and i have to agree that buying an apple from best buy is a mistake. we always tried to find a way to lead ppl away from buying an apple. its a bigger profit margin Best Buy. if we sold a Dell for example at the end of the month we would get money from them while apple computers would get us nothing. this is also why the Geek Squad would also try and steer ppl away. the average consumer believes anything the geek squad says so if they came in looking for a mac we would send them over to the geek squad and have them bully them into buying a PC.
 
The Geek Squad are all idiots. I'm pretty sure there are only two requirements you need to get hired:
  • A pulse
  • Ability to lie your ass off
 
ViciousShadow21 said:
i was a manager at Best Buy and i have to agree that buying an apple from best buy is a mistake. we always tried to find a way to lead ppl away from buying an apple. its a bigger profit margin Best Buy. if we sold a Dell for example at the end of the month we would get money from them while apple computers would get us nothing. this is also why the Geek Squad would also try and steer ppl away. the average consumer believes anything the geek squad says so if they came in looking for a mac we would send them over to the geek squad and have them bully them into buying a PC.
Click to expand...

Better for profits. Then when that PC fails, they'll come back and guess who they'd see... Geek Squad! Haha, that's funny... Poor people. :(
 
I don't know... the smuck had a sale pretty much inked and you came along and trashed the deal. Sounds like an actionable case of interference with prospective advantage. Your Geek could end up becoming a Plaintiff........:rolleyes:
 
They are such scammers it's not even funny.

Three months ago, a hard drive died in an old HP laptop I had. I realized that machine still had a few months of Best Buy Service Plan on it, so I gave it to them to have it fixed.

They shipped it away to HP (for a hard drive swap.. LoL), I received it 3 weeks later with a new hard drive and a factory installed version of Windows and all the crapware preloaded.

My MBP is my primary computer, and the old HP was my backup computer, so I haven't really used it for two weeks after it was repaired, and when I did fire it up I realized the wireless card was now broken.

So I take it back to BB, explain my situation, and Geek plugs his "Geek Squad" branded USB drive into the computer, opens the Geek Squad branded virus scanner, and 2 seconds later virus scanner shows that I have 2 nasty viruses on it. The Geeks says that is the reason why the Internet is not working. And offers me a "sweet deal" to remove the virus and install Norton for $99.

Ofcourse I knew it was all ******** because I had not installed software, and that computer had no connection to the internet because the wireless network card is broken. Unless HP ships computers with viruses, that Geek Squad virus scanner (which by the way scans the whole computer in 10 seconds) is fake, so they can charge uninformed novice computer users into paying hard earned money for "fixing" computers.

I made a scene and shouted my head off, they replaced my machine if I promised I bought their service plan again for the new computer. I told them that I'd come by next week once I get paid.
 
RKpro said:
They are such scammers it's not even funny.

Three months ago, a hard drive died in an old HP laptop I had. I realized that machine still had a few months of Best Buy Service Plan on it, so I gave it to them to have it fixed.

They shipped it away to HP (for a hard drive swap.. LoL), I received it 3 weeks later with a new hard drive and a factory installed version of Windows and all the crapware preloaded.

My MBP is my primary computer, and the old HP was my backup computer, so I haven't really used it for two weeks after it was repaired, and when I did fire it up I realized the wireless card was now broken.

So I take it back to BB, explain my situation, and Geek plugs his "Geek Squad" branded USB drive into the computer, opens the Geek Squad branded virus scanner, and 2 seconds later virus scanner shows that I have 2 nasty viruses on it. The Geeks says that is the reason why the Internet is not working. And offers me a "sweet deal" to remove the virus and install Norton for $99.

Ofcourse I knew it was all ******** because I had not installed software, and that computer had no connection to the internet because the wireless network card is broken. Unless HP ships computers with viruses, that Geek Squad virus scanner (which by the way scans the whole computer in 10 seconds) is fake, so they can charge uninformed novice computer users into paying hard earned money for "fixing" computers.

I made a scene and shouted my head off, they replaced my machine if I promised I bought their service plan again for the new computer. I told them that I'd come by next week once I get paid.
Click to expand...

So they are going to replace the entire laptop with a new one? And you only have to pay for the service plan?

If so, that sounds like a decent deal to me. Unless of course this service plan is $600:eek:
 
RKpro said:
They are such scammers it's not even funny.

Three months ago, a hard drive died in an old HP laptop I had. I realized that machine still had a few months of Best Buy Service Plan on it, so I gave it to them to have it fixed.

They shipped it away to HP (for a hard drive swap.. LoL), I received it 3 weeks later with a new hard drive and a factory installed version of Windows and all the crapware preloaded.

My MBP is my primary computer, and the old HP was my backup computer, so I haven't really used it for two weeks after it was repaired, and when I did fire it up I realized the wireless card was now broken.

So I take it back to BB, explain my situation, and Geek plugs his "Geek Squad" branded USB drive into the computer, opens the Geek Squad branded virus scanner, and 2 seconds later virus scanner shows that I have 2 nasty viruses on it. The Geeks says that is the reason why the Internet is not working. And offers me a "sweet deal" to remove the virus and install Norton for $99.

Ofcourse I knew it was all ******** because I had not installed software, and that computer had no connection to the internet because the wireless network card is broken. Unless HP ships computers with viruses, that Geek Squad virus scanner (which by the way scans the whole computer in 10 seconds) is fake, so they can charge uninformed novice computer users into paying hard earned money for "fixing" computers.

I made a scene and shouted my head off, they replaced my machine if I promised I bought their service plan again for the new computer. I told them that I'd come by next week once I get paid.
Click to expand...

So you got a new machine and walked out with no service plan or do you have to buy the service plan then get the new computer?
 
The Hammer said:
Why would they do that? Selling Mac's still = profit for Best Buy doesn't it?
Click to expand...

No where near as much profit as a PC. The profit margins are so tight on Macs.

Also the recurring revenue stream they would receive from ongoing support for a PC when it has it's little hiccups ;)
 
edblor said:
So they are going to replace the entire laptop with a new one? And you only have to pay for the service plan?

If so, that sounds like a decent deal to me. Unless of course this service plan is $600:eek:
Click to expand...

It's their policy to replace the computer if it takes a long time for repair, or if it gets repaired a few times and still breaks. I had 2 minor issues before.

I made a scene because they were trying to scam me paying to have viruses removed that didn't exist, because I came in with a hardware issue. They have a fake virus scanner that shows infections every time. I didn't pay a cent to them, because I already paid $350 for the extended warranty 2 years ago, and it kept breaking. They should have replaced it under the terms of that original warranty.

I sold that computer on facebook.
 
iNash said:
No where near as much profit as a PC. The profit margins are so tight on Macs.

Also the recurring revenue stream they would receive from ongoing support for a PC when it has it's little hiccups ;)
Click to expand...

IDK I hear the opposite, unlike on PC's that are on sale that week where they often times can loose money, but of course with a PC it is easier to attach extra services, software and accessories.
 
Aaleck said:
To think, 4-5 years ago, I wanted to work there (when I was in High School) X_x
Click to expand...

actually its not that bad working there because the discounts are awesome!! i could get a $250 Monster HDMI cable for $50. also our house brands like rocket fish i could get an HDMI cable for about $3. but part of the reason i left was their treatment of customers but mostly employees including me. i got HR to look into my old store and got a pretty good sum of money for time clock issues.
 
reallynotnick said:
extra services, software and accessories.
Click to expand...

True, there is very little margin in the laptop market really, although PC are higher than Mac.

The real revenue generators are the accessories (particularly if they are purchase in massive bulk or from the grey market) and the services esp. subscription services to make money when the stores are closed
 
I hate to say it, but the only thing the geek squad is good for is driving up prices on basic services. I had someone pay me $50 just to set up their home wireless and they thought they got a deal since the geek squad was going to charge 3 x that amount (or 3.5, can't remember). I felt like a jerk though and bought them a small gift.
 
A while back I was having problems with my cable modem. My home router was also rather old and having a few issues, so I went to Best Buy to see if they had a modem/router combo I could pick up. The only modem/router combos they had were for DSL. So I asked a GeekSquad person walking by if they happened to have any Cable Modem ones tucked away somewhere. He replied that I would ABSOLUTELY be able to use the DSL modem/router combo with my cable connection, as a matter of fact he does just that at home with the same modem/router I was holding in my hand.

"Really?" I replied.
"Yep, I've got it running at home right now on my Time Warner connection".
"So where do you plug in the coax?" I asked...
 
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