Let the Geek Squad save you time...

I mean rip you off installing software.

from JoeUser Forums
Okay. So most of us are all suckers when it comes to new software. We really want it. We go out and by it. Now theres some of us out there that cannot use it? What? You can't use it? Im sorry to hear that. What should we do about it? Well, You can try and install it and set it up yourself. I can't promise you that it will work. I also can't promise you the stability of an O/S after installation. You're pretty much on your own. Unless you of course are a sucker to pay for help. Yep thats right. This week Best Buy will install Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 all for the amazing price of $179! Wait a minute... $179? No where in that ad does it say it includes the software. Thats real nice. Especially since we have to bring it in to them. Thank god I can do these things myself. So , you want them to go to your house and spend time with you to show you how to use the software? Excellent! Thats another unspecified charge which is probably a rip-off amount. Don't buy into this crap. Save yourself some time and money by checking out excellent resources on http://www.cnet.com CNET Has free learning classes online for most of these things. Wait... I cant use the internet either. Or dont know how.. Guess I will have to pay someone to teach me too... Oh Well. nobody wins on this one ;)





8,055 views 12 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Absurd as this may sound to you or I, unfortunately there is a need with it. How many people have asked you for help or to install programs, etc?

In my case that was a lot in the past until I started to charge for it. Many people are just too damn lazy to actually read the instructions let alone follow them. Mind you I would come to your house (locally) and do this for far less.
Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
If you can't figure out how to download or install anything, perhaps you shouldn't even have a computer. Seriously. I figured all this stuff out on my own, why can't anyone else. There's NO WAY I would pay someone to even touch my computer. The only stuff I'm wary about is messing with the hardware, and in that case I'll get my uncle's help who helped me build this rig. Geek Squad, pfft rip off.
The Political Machine 2024
Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
If you can't figure out how to download or install anything, perhaps you shouldn't even have a computer.


Exactly! Why buy a new computer if you dont know how to use it?
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Jason....image was blocked here for being a spy site....
Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Exactly! Why buy a new computer if you dont know how to use it?

How many people take their cars to someone else for an oil change?  To do routine maintenance that anyone who invested a little bit of time in learning, could do themselves?  Just because it's intuitive or easy for you, doesn't mean it isn't  impossibly impenetrable for someone else.

Same thing for home repair.  Basic plumbing.  Carpentry.  Sewing.  All relatively simple tasks to pick up and learn if you look at it purely from a complexity issue, yet most of us have to hire someone to do these things for us.

A car is a black box to me.  It gets me from Point A to Point B.  I put gas in it to make it go, and I pay someone to do regular maintenance on it to keep it running for a while longer.  To a lot of people, the computer is exactly the same.  It's a black box that allows the user to accomplish certain tasks.  The sorts of people who would want the Geek Squad installation are the sorts that probably use their computer for email, saving digital photos, writing the occassional letter and surfing the web.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I don't see the big deal with people not being able to install software themselves. To be honest, I don't know why some would have such a problem, since you just pop the CD in and follow the on-screen directions, but some people are just too scared to do even that much.

I do have a problem with the Geek Squad charging $179 just for installation. That's such a ripoff and I feel bad for the people who have been and will be taken advantage of by the Geek Squad.
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The sorts of people who would want the Geek Squad installation are the sorts that probably use their computer for email, saving digital photos, writing the occassional letter and surfing the web.


Don't forget acquiring hundreds of spyware, malware, trojans and viruses.
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Noteworthy in that ad, did you notice MS One Care Live is $19.99 with no rebates or other crap required? Thats totally geek squad of them!   
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Never had to pay anyone to do for me. I learn by doing myself whether or not I know how. I ask questions and do the trial and error thing. I knew nothing about computers three years ago. Through a friend got my hands on some parts a threw one together.
It was a sort of mix and match. AMD processor at 500mhz, 13 in. crt, old case and what have you. It worked just find until I smoked the processor. Then I finally bought one.
Have the same rig with a few mods. For a three year old machine it's a screamer.
Reply #11 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I have never used Best Buy to do work for me and I actively encourage people not to use them after an incident I had.

A friend came to be because their PC was running slowly and had pop-ups everywhere.

They had taken it to Best Buy for the same thing and it had worked for a while before crapping out.

I asked what Best Buy had done.  They had cleaned the PC.  Cleaning in this case involved running virus scan and reg cleaner and spyware cleaner.  That's all well and good.  But they didn't provide the software for the user to continue the maintenance nor did they provide any training on what caused the problem.

So they charged $150US almost guaranteeing that the user would be back with the same problem in a few months.

I charged a reasonable hourly rate to install and configure freeware options and provided training on how and why to use them. Best buy?  Never!
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Generally...if I am asked to fix someones PC I will do it the first time for free. After doing so I will sit down with them and give them a list of do's and don'ts...explain to them why the problem occurred in the first place. After that I start charging.