anyone have any info on "new player on the block" ... Geek squad?

I've seen a lot of buzz regarding "GeekSquad'. Slick ads on TV and a few in
daily print media. Apparently Best Buy, the consumer electronics chain, is
moving into the "mass market" consulting business. The concept is not bad
and he market seems ripe for "McDonald-ization" of consultation. One of the
tings we see is a wide variance in product, meaning...there are some really
marginal people in the business. For an example or two, read back a few days
in this or any other newsgroup.

I'm wondering if this is a wave worth catching or should we sit on the beach
and tickle the Wahinie.

So, what's the read on this?

Beoweolf

In article <imqOe.134$>,
says...
> I've seen a lot of buzz regarding "GeekSquad'. Slick ads on TV and a few in
> daily print media. Apparently Best Buy, the consumer electronics chain, is
> moving into the "mass market" consulting business. The concept is not bad
> and he market seems ripe for "McDonald-ization" of consultation. One of the
> tings we see is a wide variance in product, meaning...there are some really
> marginal people in the business. For an example or two, read back a few days
> in this or any other newsgroup.
>
> I'm wondering if this is a wave worth catching or should we sit on the beach
> and tickle the Wahinie.
>
> So, what's the read on this?
>
>
>

How much do they charge? This will determine how much they pay there
staff, and thus the general quality level of their work.

I think that this model could work if it were run like a multi-tier help
desk (I.e. level one routes calls, fixes issues that need no diagnosis,
level two does basic (kb article type) diagnostics, and level three does
the heavy lifting, combined with a crack break/fix staff to make the
house calls. Now that IT salaries have returned to a sane level, this
model may be possible.

I have a feeling the Best Buy model is more similar to the eminently
unqualified cable modem installers that roam the earth though.

Home support is really tough to do profitably solo, because there is so
much differentiation in hw and sw.

Ben Smith

Beoweolf wrote:
> I've seen a lot of buzz regarding "GeekSquad'. Slick ads on TV and a
> few in daily print media. Apparently Best Buy, the consumer
> electronics chain, is moving into the "mass market" consulting
> business. The concept is not bad and he market seems ripe for
> "McDonald-ization" of consultation. One of the tings we see is a wide
> variance in product, meaning...there are some really marginal people
> in the business. For an example or two, read back a few days in this
> or any other newsgroup.
> I'm wondering if this is a wave worth catching or should we sit on
> the beach and tickle the Wahinie.
>
> So, what's the read on this?

I do some side work consulting/fixing home PCs and had a guy call me up to
fix some stuff that Geek Squad had screwed up. This guy claimed their "tech"
didn't know sh*t from shinola.
--
aka
Doom MCNGP #38
Some people are like a Slinky.
Not good for much but still fun to push down a flight of stairs.

CBIC

Best Buy bought the "Squad" after I quit working there. To the best of my
knowledge their is little or no formal training for techs other than the
fact that they "prefer" A+ certification. In KY, I think rates were in the
$50 - $80 per hour while the techs salary starts at $10 - $12. It could
have changed in the last 2 years though.

--
Mitch S.
MCSA, A+, Net+, CCNA

"CBIC" <> wrote in message
news:j9KdnfuB1vR8q5feRVn-...
> Beoweolf wrote:
>> I've seen a lot of buzz regarding "GeekSquad'. Slick ads on TV and a
>> few in daily print media. Apparently Best Buy, the consumer
>> electronics chain, is moving into the "mass market" consulting
>> business. The concept is not bad and he market seems ripe for
>> "McDonald-ization" of consultation. One of the tings we see is a wide
>> variance in product, meaning...there are some really marginal people
>> in the business. For an example or two, read back a few days in this
>> or any other newsgroup.
>> I'm wondering if this is a wave worth catching or should we sit on
>> the beach and tickle the Wahinie.
>>
>> So, what's the read on this?
>
> I do some side work consulting/fixing home PCs and had a guy call me up to
> fix some stuff that Geek Squad had screwed up. This guy claimed their
> "tech" didn't know sh*t from shinola.
> --
> aka
> Doom MCNGP #38
> Some people are like a Slinky.
> Not good for much but still fun to push down a flight of stairs.
>
>
>

MitchS

In article <>,
says...
> Subject: Re: anyone have any info on "new player on the block" ... Geek squad?
> From: MitchS <>
> Newsgroups: microsoft.public.cert.exam.mcse
>
> Best Buy bought the "Squad" after I quit working there. To the best of my
> knowledge their is little or no formal training for techs other than the
> fact that they "prefer" A+ certification. In KY, I think rates were in the
> $50 - $80 per hour while the techs salary starts at $10 - $12. It could
> have changed in the last 2 years though.
>

Ouch. That not a winning recipe for success. At $75 per hour, the tech
really should get at least ~$20 per hour with $5/hour being put into a
customer sat bonus program.

Ben Smith

That's is the point of my question. If the staff they hire is mostly "McMCSE
types", then those are the horror stories, results you would expect. Too
many of them and the project will fail.

Understandably, to get off the ground, they may be a little lienant in
hiring standards. As wages and compensation increase, they can attract and
draw from a more talented labor pool and establish the levels of service you
mention. I see in their ads a number of what I consider as "loss leader"
programs. Where they offer one price rates for simple installs,,,but hourly
rates are charged for small / medium size business projects where I assume
they will spec, provision, install and possibly offer some kind of on-going
management plan. I suspect most people will be attracted to the "One price"
install, them realize they have a more complex network. There's where things
could get messy.

Consultants, as a group, suffer from the same uneven expertise. Some are
great and expensive...often over-kill for most situations. Other are
adequate, and have pretension of greatness...that's where you start running
into problems.

I guess we will have to watch for the fall-out, see if they get better or
stay average. I wonder if the model will catch on?

In the past, I have hired consultants to augment our staff, for various
reasons...we didn't have the core competencies and it would take too long to
develop or like dragging cable through the ducts, attic and basement...no
one on staff wanted to do it, on the weekend, for free! Like a bad haircut,
you just paid them, led them to the door and put on the word that they are
unreliable and would not be worth hiring. AT least with a larger model, you
may have some leverage in getting the right service... the first time!

So, I guess we still have time to sit on the beach until we see how the
waves are breaking. Anyone for Franchising?

"CBIC" <> wrote in message
news:j9KdnfuB1vR8q5feRVn-...
> Beoweolf wrote:
>> I've seen a lot of buzz regarding "GeekSquad'. Slick ads on TV and a
>> few in daily print media. Apparently Best Buy, the consumer
>> electronics chain, is moving into the "mass market" consulting
>> business. The concept is not bad and he market seems ripe for
>> "McDonald-ization" of consultation. One of the tings we see is a wide
>> variance in product, meaning...there are some really marginal people
>> in the business. For an example or two, read back a few days in this
>> or any other newsgroup.
>> I'm wondering if this is a wave worth catching or should we sit on
>> the beach and tickle the Wahinie.
>>
>> So, what's the read on this?
>
> I do some side work consulting/fixing home PCs and had a guy call me up to
> fix some stuff that Geek Squad had screwed up. This guy claimed their
> "tech" didn't know sh*t from shinola.
> --
> aka
> Doom MCNGP #38
> Some people are like a Slinky.
> Not good for much but still fun to push down a flight of stairs.
>
>
>

Beoweolf

In microsoft.public.cert.exam.mcse, MitchS spewed across the ether:

> Best Buy bought the "Squad" after I quit working there. To the best
> of my knowledge their is little or no formal training for techs other
> than the fact that they "prefer" A+ certification. In KY, I think
> rates were in the $50 - $80 per hour while the techs salary starts at
> $10 - $12. It could have changed in the last 2 years though.

ISTR being told that the pay ranged in the $10-$15 hr bracket. The kicker
for me was that they got to set how many hours you were paid. For example,
they book an operating system upgrade at 1 hr, a general mucking out of
spyware, etc. at 1.5 hr, and so on. It's all good if you don't have a fsck-
up, but if you take three hours to do a one hr job, you still only get paid
for 1 hour.

One can just imagine what a pay plan like that does to the overall quality
of the work.

--
JaR
Thug 10110
MCNGP.com Dept of Customer Dissatisfaction

JaR

Have no fear, Geek squad, compu-nerds, whatever. I do consulting and
repair work and I often need to spend the extra time to get the customer
happy. A mass produced under-trained, overpriced service will never be
able to compete with the level of service I can offer. Now if it is
warrenty service then the customer won't care as much, but these guys
aren't cheap and I have heard many horros stories about formating hard
drives and the like.

The problem, howeverm is marketing. They do it well and I don't. The
first call will be to the nerd squad but then the customer may get a bad
taste in their mouth from the eperience, so next time they need service,
they just go buy a new computer. A win-win for Best Buy.


kpg

kpg

I think at this location, that only applied to call in work. When working
"scheduled time," they clock in and out like everyone else. But it may have
changed.

--
Mitch S.
MCSA, A+, Net+, CCNA

"JaR" <> wrote in message
news:Xns96BA9350DA4CBMisanthrope@207.46.248.16...
> In microsoft.public.cert.exam.mcse, MitchS spewed across the ether:
>
>> Best Buy bought the "Squad" after I quit working there. To the best
>> of my knowledge their is little or no formal training for techs other
>> than the fact that they "prefer" A+ certification. In KY, I think
>> rates were in the $50 - $80 per hour while the techs salary starts at
>> $10 - $12. It could have changed in the last 2 years though.
>
> ISTR being told that the pay ranged in the $10-$15 hr bracket. The kicker
> for me was that they got to set how many hours you were paid. For example,
> they book an operating system upgrade at 1 hr, a general mucking out of
> spyware, etc. at 1.5 hr, and so on. It's all good if you don't have a
> fsck-
> up, but if you take three hours to do a one hr job, you still only get
> paid
> for 1 hour.
>
> One can just imagine what a pay plan like that does to the overall quality
> of the work.
>
> --
> JaR
> Thug 10110
> MCNGP.com Dept of Customer Dissatisfaction

MitchS

Best Buy is definately not concerned with quality of service, product, or
customer satisfaction. It made me sick to sell e-machines to unsuspecting
customers along with the $150 service plan on the $400 pos.

--
Mitch S.
MCSA, A+, Net+, CCNA

"kpg" <ipost@thereforeiam> wrote in message
news:Xns96BAA9329C283ipostthereforeiam@127.0.0.1.. .
> Have no fear, Geek squad, compu-nerds, whatever. I do consulting and
> repair work and I often need to spend the extra time to get the customer
> happy. A mass produced under-trained, overpriced service will never be
> able to compete with the level of service I can offer. Now if it is
> warrenty service then the customer won't care as much, but these guys
> aren't cheap and I have heard many horros stories about formating hard
> drives and the like.
>
> The problem, howeverm is marketing. They do it well and I don't. The
> first call will be to the nerd squad but then the customer may get a bad
> taste in their mouth from the eperience, so next time they need service,
> they just go buy a new computer. A win-win for Best Buy.
>
>
> kpg

MitchS