RE: Let's start over

How many times in your careers have you had to clean up after Geek Squad's
expensive mistakes?

In the last *week*, I've had to fix the following problems they've caused:
1. A client asked Geek Squad to make sure her PST file is backed up. The
"agent" moved the PST file to the external hard drive on her computer (which
was coincidentally failing at the time). (Psst... Backed up doesn't refer to
the physical location, it refers to having a spare copy that is not on the
machine.)
2. Same client wanted her email changed from Exchange (SBS2k3) to her ISP. A
different "agent" simply deleted the OST file and created new email accounts
without turning Exchange off. Lost all of her email contacts, had no clue
how to recover things from Exchange, and left Exchange running because she
didn't know how to disable/uninstall a SBS feature?
3. A law firm had hired Best Buy to install a new server and configure their
new domain. The "agent" ended up with two independent DHCP servers running
on the network, one of which was not part of the new domain. 


I don't ever have a problem with somebody charging a fair amount for a
service that they provide. If you want me to take a look at your machine,
you're looking at anywhere from 80-150 per hour, depending on what is being
done. Is that expensive? Probably. What does the client get for that? I
don't charge $20+ for a USB cable. I don't sell security products based on
what makes me the most money. In most cases, I can get them a free solution
that is far superior to what the retailers are pushing. Most valuable of
all, I am honest with the client about purchases. I don't make money on the
things that they buy. I don't have a supervisor to tell me that I need to
sell more security packages, or that I need to get more people to buy
overpriced backup software. Heck, if I can handle it remotely in less than
fifteen minutes, I don't usually charge anything.

I thought I was a relatively nasty person, a "bad" person if you will...
until I actually started working around Best Buy and other local providers.
I'm rude... I'm offensive... But goddamn... I'm sitting here like Mother
Theresa compared to these charlatans.

Rob

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Gmail
Sent: Wednesday, February 02, 2011 4:35 AM
To: Jay Scalf
Cc: Eric; [email protected]
Subject: Re: Let's start over

that why I, a completely freelance computer technician, have zero problem
splitting what best buy charges just cause I'm happy to help someone in need
who doesn't want to be taken advantage of :)

Sent from my iPhone 4

On Feb 1, 2011, at 12:41 PM, Jay Scalf <[email protected]> wrote:

> Yeap - we have become a Dixie cup society - use it, wade it up, toss it -
and why not if you can, I hear, buy a new machine for $90 and it cost $140
to fix in labor alone. Still, something seems wrong with this picture.
> 
> On 2/1/2011 11:33 AM, Eric wrote:
>> No it is not unbelieable. If anything it should be more. If you
>> (meaning people) want your data and you don't know how to do it, well
>> we (meaning geek squad) can do it. Yes, it is extremely easy to us,
>> but not to you, and our time is not worth nothing. So. yes we will
>> charge you up to $140 to do a data transfer. Our time is more valuable
>> to you at the moment because you failed to backup your own data like
>> you are supposed to.
>> 
>> This comes up countless time and I am tired of hearing and seeing it.
>> If you break a valve and need it fixed you hire a plumber and you
>> (meaning people) will pay what the plumber tells you to pay. But for
>> some reason when it comes to computer you (again, people) think it
>> should be done for free.
>> 
>> This message goes out to everyone. Yes we know how to do these things,
>> we are nice people, and we want to help people, but Best Buy is a
>> business. How long will your business stay up if you kept working for
>> free?
>> 
>> On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 10:46 PM, Jay Scalf<[email protected]>  wrote:
>>> charged $100 extra to move his data from the old to new machine.
>>> (Unbelievable, eh?)
> 
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