Now I know that Geek Squad is overpriced and for most things is not worth it, but on this specific occasion, it was the only place I could go to to get my hard drive fixed. They wayyy overcharged me for this, I know many other people who can do that same hard drive recovery for at least half price. I don't appreciate the overpricing, and I could see how this would be disorienting to someone who isn't experienced with computers.
Why didn't you go to the people that you knew could recover your hard drive? I don't know if I would dismiss them that easily. There is always going to be someone that claims you can find someone cheaper, but maybe the convenience of Best Buy and the knowledge that it is a national chain is worth the extra money in repairs for the peace of mind that it can get done and if not, something will be rectified upon demand. There really is no price on an easy mind.
I agree with Sugarhill, The Geek Squad the overpriced but you know if the problem is mot correct you have a way to get it fixed or your money back as opposed to some one who you are taking a chance on and crossing your fingers that it will be ok.
They're overpriced because they don't get a lot of work. I heard Best Buy laid a lot of them off. I would suggest you learn how to fix these problem yourself, it will save you a lot of money. I watch YouTube videos on how to fix my laptop. The information is there you just have to have put the effort into learning how to fix the problem.
I look at Geek Squad the same way I look at the AppleStore Geniuses - they aren't worth the price. I would rather take my chances and fix it myself if I have the confidence and tools or take it into a repair shop. Piece of mind is what you make of it and I can get that easier if I just admit that somethings don't require a brandname repair service and others are not something I should leave in the hands of some random dude.
The only experience that I have had with the Geek Squad, was when my computer died on me and I called Verizon to shut off my internet service. They sent out the Geek Squad. The gentleman worked on the computer, got it running and then worked on a second out of order computer and fixed that one as well. The entire service was free. I was thrilled, needless to say.
I agree with Adeal, a lot of computer issues end up being a lot more simple then they seem. Sometimes silly little minor problems can cause chaos and make it seem like something serious is wrong. Geek Squad in my opinion is basically meant for people that don't know jack about computers or are too lazy to try and fix it them self, so of course it's gonna be overpriced because of that nature. No offense, it seems like you had no other option point blank but yeah, I guess you learn from little things like that, haha.
Repairing hard drives and restoring information can be very tricky and there are not many people and few companies that can actually repair the HD without losing valuable data on your hard disk. Best Buy is one of the best in the business that is why they tend to charge more than others, especially if you need to recover data. Otherwise it would be easier and much less expensive to just purchase a brand new drive.
Just buy a new harddrive for like $40 bucks. I did. All you need to do with items on your harddrive, is save them to a second drive. So if the main drive goes bad, you'll have drive two with all of your stuff on it. Or you can dump items to your mp3 player drive. Most MP3's act as a flashdrive. So you can save stuff on there and just plug it to the USB on the side or in back of your computer, whenever you need to access what you saved.
I saw a news story a few years ago where the Geek Squad from Best Buy got in trouble for finding and saving porn they found on people's computers. Even if you're not a porn fan ,it's kind of scary that they could keep copies of photos or anything of interest they wanted from your computer.
I've only had to bring in my computer to Best Buy once, but it was under warranty so it didn't cost me very much. I can't even recall if it cost me anything actually. But the service was quick and they did a few extra touches.
I am not a fan of the Geek Squad's work either. I took my computer there years ago, and it was never the same after that. I don't even use that computer anymore because it doesn't have enough space on it anymore. It did not have that problem until I took it to them to be serviced. The prices were also highly unreasonable. They get paid about $13-15 dollars per hour so I don't understand why the most minor problems seem to average about $100 dollars per computer. Also I'm not a fan of the sales team in the computer department. I know that it's all about making a sale, but they make it so blatantly obvious that their only intention is to make a sale. ( I'm only talking about the Best Buy I shopped at) They don't even pretend to care about people getting the product that is best for them. I just needed a cheaper laptop at the time to bring to school. I didn't need it to have the latest functions or all the selling-points he was force feeding me and I explained that to him. The computer I wanted to purchase was on sale for $289. He kept trying to get me to purchase one that was almost $600 dollars even though I told him that I was looking for something simple and I didn't care if it couldn't support "Looking at youtube videos and opening other tabs at the same time." He was very disappointed that he didn't make the bigger sale and it really made me feel like he wasn't giving me the best service.
Geek Squad do overcharge for most of their services. Don't quote me on this, but I've heard for installing Windows they charge about $300. Now, while installing an operating system is a scary proposition for the inexperienced, it really is just a matter of putting in a CD and clicking next a couple of times. It's maybe 15 minutes of actual work, followed by waiting for a bit, during which a technician could do other work. So that comes out to about $1200 an hour to click a couple of times in the same spot. I need to get into this business But restoring data, on the other hand, really is a difficult process. It must be done in a sterile clean room under a microscope and is easy to mess up if you don't know what you're doing. Unless the files on the hard drive are really priceless and valuable to you, you're much better off getting a new hard drive for around $50 and finding someone who's comfortable replacing it for you.
LMAO! That's crazy! It's hearing about stuff and stories like this that makes me glad I know how to install windows and all of its updates by myself. $300 is fixing the motherboard price tag. Not installing windows. With prices like that, Geek Squad will never be able to break away from Best Buy and become their own business.
You paid for them to have that big store and the fancy guarantee. You could have easily found another person, on Craigslist for example, but you also know that if something goes wrong you have a name to hold responsible for it and some way to get it sorted out.
I never used Geek Squad and never will use this company. They ripped me off one day on returning a computer which would not even turn on. However, they took it back and swapped the hard drives and said the computer was perfectly fine and not a problem could be found.
I'd never do business on Craigslist. I remember how long it took me to give in and actually buy something from Ebay after all the horror stories I had heard. Now, I love Ebay more than my first love, Amazon.com. Although when it comes to ordering Halloween candy to give out on October 31st, or any kind of food items. I'd trust Amazon since they are joined at the hip with a lot of legitimate vendors who sell stuff like candy bars, chips, cookies, cakes, etc. But Craigslist? I'd never do business on that thing. I think I did business on there one time. And that was last winter when I picked up an old CRT monitor someone was giving away. I prefer CRT monitors for work, blogging, writing articles, and surfing forums. Colors look way better, more normal, and crisper. My 50 inch LCD monitor is strictly for watching movies. The address the craigslist ad had checked out as a business district downtown in Manhattan, and a legitimate office. And I desperately needed the monitor after my old one went out. So I made an exception. But otherwise, I won't use craigslist. Lots of crazies on there.
My husband had a problem with is computer screen where it wasn't displaying anything but when he plugged it into the TV to project the image everything showed up fine. We figured it was a cable inside that went loose so we took it to geek squad to get it fixed. When we got there the kid said it was the whole screen that needed to be replaced and we would have to ship the computer to the manufacturer to get it replaced because they don't cover screen damage. We turned around disappointed and looked elsewhere for service. My husband found a gentleman in the yellow pages that comes to your home and fixes your technical issues. For $40 the guy came to our home, checked the entire computer for viruses and such to ensure the issue wasn't something else, removed our screen, replaced it with a brand new one out of the box and set up a new anti-virus account for us. We didn't even have to leave the house. Oh and turns out - it was just a cable that was snapped off, apparently someone doesn't know his own strength and pulled the lap top open too widely.
Geek Squad also tries to upsell you. They're like sleazy mechanics who don't tell you exactly what's wrong with your machine but instead speak in vaguely correct technical terms in order to throw you off.
Wow. They almost got you guys over at Geek Squad. It's sad that they're so unsavory of an arm of the Best Buy company. And it's sad that Best Buy allows them to be so unsavory. I think Best Buy should dump Geek Squad because at some point. They will drag BB down with them if this sort of behavior keeps up.
