Geek Squad

Reviews 4

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Alex L

I have been a Geek Squad employee here for over two years. There are some inherent issues with Best Buy/Geek Squad as a company, and some new ones that we face as a result of recent changes. Before you start chewing out that geek squad agent when something goes wrong, read what I have to say. Its not his/her fault things are this way. ORGANIZATION AND LEADERSHIP -The turnover rate for Geek Squad employees is too damn high. Our precinct had almost an entirely new crew one year after I started working there. Reasons for this include low pay and low job satisfaction. Due to their small size, Geek Squad precincts have an opportunity to treat their employees as members of a tightly knit team, with managers interacting with and encouraging front-line employees on a daily basis. The key to increasing employee retention is to focus on the intangible aspects of employee satisfaction, such as personal respect, trust, responsibility and opportunities for career development. Does this happen? No. -Geek Squad City (the repair center for repairs we can’t do in-store) routinely performs unsatisfactory repair work. I cant tell you how many times we sent units out to service and received them with the same or new issues. As a store we have no power to hold the repair center responsible for anything they do. The icing on the cake is that we are the ones who get to tell clients when there’s a screw up. -Selling services and warranties are pushed more than actually completing repairs. Selling a new service is more important than completing a service that has already been paid for. We promise clients a 24 hour turn time on setting up new computers, but we fail at that so often. It’s not because our agents don’t care, or we’re lazy. It’s because there’s just so much to do and not enough people to do it. UNDERMINING EMPLOYEES Managers have to put out fires left and right at Geek Squad. This should not be happening. Your employees are not there to bring problems to you. Employees exist to solve problems. You should always support your employees’ decisions, unless they have completely and utterly failed. What we’re given is fake authority. We can make our own decisions, but if we don’t do things the way management wants us to we won’t be promoted and/or our decisions will be overruled. Giving us real authority would make us feel empowered and motivated, thus improving the employee and customer experience at the same time. BOTTOM LINE THINKING Our competitors have outpaced us in terms of innovation. Corporate is desperately trying to keep the old retail model alive as long as possible. Why? Maybe they like being rich...while their employees struggle to make ends meet. "Renew Blue" was implemented as a response to this greater level of competition. Renew Blue is a program designed to cut costs, while maintaining revenue. In 2016 Best Buy merged the position of "Operations Agent (OA)" with the position of "Consultation Agent (CA)." This was an effort to cut costs while attempting to resolve one of our greatest failures…the time customers spend in line. Our store has such high traffic that CAs barely get time to eat during a normal shift. Instead of scheduling an extra person or two to help with the workload, corporate made all OAs work out front as CAs. This has helped with the tide of clients, but now all the other duties OAs helped with have been redistributed. This has negatively affected the quality of work. Also, Best Buy does not encourage Geek Squad computer techs to get certifications or reimburse or pay for part of taking a certification. Geek Squad does not provide enough emphasis on training...I cannot stress this one enough. Spending money to train your employees is an investment. The TLDR…the only reason our precinct stays afloat is because there are so many overqualified people working here who care about their job. If you made it this far, my hope is that next time there’s an issue with your repair or computer setup, you won’t take it out on one of our hard working agents.

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Scott Hoffman

Extremely disappointed in Best Buy. Bought a sonos soundbar and subwoofer and a Sony tv and have had connection issues from day one. Called sonos three different times and last time sonos tells me that there is a connection problem with sonos and my model tv. I call Best Buy since I have a protection plan and 90 day warranty and explained the situation. They tell me that I have to go into the store in order for someone to come out and replace the sonos soundbar. What?!?! This should be able to be taken care of via phone or email. I should not have to go into the store for this. Will return my sonos and Sony and buy from Amazon next time for same price and cheaper protection plan that I can use via phone or email. Very disappointed. Lost a customer.

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Brandon Ballard

After a terrible experience in the computer section of Best Buy trying to find a replacement charge cord, I was finally able to talk to a squad member who was kind and courteous. Be careful with Best Buy staff in computers, they are rude and not very knowledgeable. Good thing i checked the manufacturer website, the advice I got from the gal in computers could have blown it up

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daniel gilbert

Un knowledgeable and just in a rush to transfer you to someone else . Would recommend you ask your dog for electronic advice before you call them .

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