A terrible story involving BC, a guy that is always there to answer any and all questions for people (including myself) in need of aquarium help, needs legal advice and help spreading his story to others.

Gay Bashed By Tennessee Cops: people.tribe.net/codyinnebr/blog

If you have any advice for him, please provide it to him. I'm sure he'd greatly appreciate any and all help he can get.

Music Publishers Sue XM Radio
gizmodo.com/gadgets/port...io-246708.php

XM and Sirius are trying to take radio into the next generation of technology. Old style broadcast radio is dying a slow death, and XM and Sirius are there to pick up the slack. They'll take the reigns and steer radio into the next technological generation. Yet, the idi-freaking-otic people in charge of "protecting" artists' music *cough* bull *cough* are suing them for creating the capability to record a certain amount of hours of RADIO onto their players as long as they stay customers. Kinda sounds familiar to a cassette player recording your favorite station, doesn't it? Why in the hell would anyone want to share a radio recording for the masses (P2P)? They wouldn't! They do it for their own playback purposes (like when you don't get sattellite reception, duh!). Oh man, this is so ridiculous. Sattellite radio is a great way to find new artists' music, but the stupid people at the RIAA and NMPA just keep digging themselves into a bigger hole. Besides that, Sattellite radio is already suffering major financial problems (they might not even exist in a few years time if the RIAA and NMPA continue to file suits).

RIAA, are you wondering why you're losing huge percentage after huge percentage every year to lost CD sells and revenue? Get a clue! If you want to make money by suing people, become a law firm because you're sinking this music business ship fast, and it's going down in a ball of flames! I seriously am going to laugh so freaking hard if I hear anymore of this "The RIAA is right in suing file sharers (aka some customers), and it is stealing!" crap.

In response to Geek Squad employees responding to a story on the Consumerist titled: Geek Squad Charges $415 Dollars To Replace A Hard Drive; Makes Customer Retrieve Data Files Himself consumerist.com/consumer/b...hp#c1034281


dafonda says:

Here comes the TLDR reply thread. Buckle up, it's going to be bumpy.

Having quit about a year ago....
>1. Most of Geeksquad's customers are at the lowest common denominator when it
>comes to any tech knowledge

That's not a very professional way to describe your customers
in a purported posted as a representative of GS' apologia to a site like this.

> (IE. customer returns brand new desktop 4 times all
>because he was destroying his registry trying to install an
>elmo game meant for Windows 95, while denying he was
>trying to install anything, until we booted it up and
>the disk popped out "Well, that's just a game for my daughter....")

You can isntall a Win95 program under XP.
In fact, if you check the advanced properties for an executable in XP,
you'll find that XP offers a Win95 compatibility mode.
So that might have sounded good when you made it up,
but you'll need to spin again.

Moving on….

>2. A+ (or the lack there of) means nothing --
>working with a paper MCSE will make
>you want to shoot yourself -- ditto x8 for A+.
This is true enough, but a paper A+ is better than a completely clueless dolt.

>3. The location I worked at had mostly
>amazing guys (tech wise) while I worked there,
>mostly over qualified and underpaid (most no longer work there,)
> and have moved on to real jobs).

And the reported changes in the experience of GS customers
over the couple years makes clear the consequences of that pattern's continuation.

>4. Just because a tech gives you a blank
>look doesn't mean he is an idiot. Even the
>smartest tech can fumble around when you
>ask them if we can install a "holder thing"
>and mean a hardrive, or ask them to install a
> new harddrive so you can have better
>graphics.

This is true, but a good tech will ask gentle questions rather than doing
something to make the customer feel stupid or foolish.

>5. When I worked there, we were constantly being gotten onto
>for helping people "too much" during the free 5 min diag.

Have some balls and tell your manager that you believe in customer service,
and feel that customer satisfaction will lead to repeat business.

>From what I understand, there is a new policy that
>forces all customers to pay for a full diag if a
>computer needs to be brought in for
>anything other than a software install.

>(Customer used to DEMAND that we just
>"REINSTALL windows OK!" but then if
>harddrive was bad, then they would demand a refund even
>though we 5 min diag'ed it
>and told them something deeper was wrong, so
>all in all its a fair rule)

>6. 8 Ipod's a day, at least. Over half (after 4th gen) had no problem.
>Talk about a man hour drain. Same thing that killed the genius bar.

Then don't accept them for service, if its not profitable
or if its polluting your core business.

>7. We always ran the $69 diag first, this included checking to see
>if we could pull data off a hard drive, if everything was toast we would
>refund anything else that was billed and they would only owe $69. Very fair.

There are at least two major problems here.
1)You're charging $69 to run a utility and record the results it displays.
2)You're blindly accepting those results and
telling people they have dead drives on the strength of that result
--and then selling them expensive offsite services or new hardware when
their drive might in fact be recoverable (even if the data is not.)

>8. With a few notable exceptions every Geeksquad guy I worked with just wanted
>to help the customer,
>during my time there we all knew quite a few customers by name.

It would be nice if this were true. Maybe it is.
However, the way your services
are structured is EVIL.

>We had a lot of repeat business from the elderly because we would take the time
> to listen and actually help them

It's widely understood that the elderly
are vulnerable to predatory sales
tacticsin many diferent markets as well
as other cons for precisely this reason.

>("selling" to an octogenarian on a fixed income is just stupid).
>Being a tech friend was what Geeksquad was originally all about.

Selling to an octogenarian is exactly what you're
doing using the decision tree and rates you yourself reported.
Not only is not what a "friend" would do, it's beyond stupid
--the word is "reprehensible."

>9. The quality of every BBY depends on the whim of the stores General Manager.

Does the CEO know that?
Upper management might want to do something about that.
They've already regimented it everything, or so you claim.
What does the GM control?

>As a result, some stores are excellent,
>and some cause all involved to slowly lose the will to live.

Beyond variation seen in any chain, I don't think this is a factor in
GS customers mass dissatisfaction.

>9. Best Buy is notorious for screwing everyone to get to the bottom line.
>No matter what they say, Geeksquad IS NOT a separate company and by and large
>it has taken on the value system of BBY.
>This is primarily because in-store GS people are usually hired by BBY managers
>that no nothing about computers, and work under / report to BBY managers.
>If the management hierarchy had a greater degree of separation between
>Geeksquad and BBY then many of these problems would be solved.

Cognitive dissonance alert!!! This is contradicted by your claims above!!!

Standby, your head will explode in ten....nine....eight....

>10. Bestbuy has so many loss leaders that they squeeze profit
>out of any segment that turns a profit(appliances, home theatre, GS).
>GS is 80% profit, the only other segment that beats it is accessories/cables.

You don't see a problem here?
There shouldn't be an 80% profit on computer repair labor.
You need to make more, and they need to charge less.

>11. Bestbuy has policies in place that attract the meanest/worst
> possible shoppers and reward them for bad behavior,
>part of their high employee dissatisfaction and poor overall service.

GS's clientele is not composed exclusively of BBY spillover.

>12. To sum up: Some GS locations are awesome,
>but most now hire 12yr olds that can't tell SATA from IDE.
>If you bring a computer in, have them do a $69 dollar diagnostic.
>Then if they are incompetent and bungle things you can say
>"You lied about the diagnostic results and
>solicited more work under false pretense, screw you."

Or just take it to somewhere that isn't both a rip-off,
and a gamble at the price.

KernelPanic says:
>First, I am not defending Best Buy or the Geek Squad and while they probably
>did diagnose the problem poorly and charged them for some fees
>they shouldn't have. The overall amount is right about
>dead on where it should be. There is nothing worse than spending
>3 to 6 hours reinstalling an OS, downloading drivers, running updates,
>loading an end users software, restoring settings,
>restoring emails and getting all of their setting just right,
>for the third time and then not getting compensated properly for your effort.

So charge by the hour.

>Hey, owning a computer is a responsibility like owning a car.
>You need drive your car responsibly, have insurance and when you
>break the car you have to pay to fix it, so why are computers any different.

They're not, on that level. How'd you like to spend
80% of the value of your car for routine repairs?

Or be told your transmission is is unusable and must be replaced
because the mechanic's diagnostic protocal was too
imprecise to detect and identify the problem?

GS' tactics would be illegal in the auto repair business.

>You should practice safe computing by not going to shady websites
>and loading every cool new widget that catches your eye and
>why wouldn't you have a backup in the first place and
>not expect to pay to have your computer fixed when it broken.

Wait, I'm confused. Are you here to provide a service, or a sermon?
Are your rates intended to convey the value of your assistance, or
are they supposed to be a punishment for bad behavior?

>The internet is not always a friendly,
>safe or forgiving place -so act accordingly.

Apparently, neither is your local Geek Squad.


HOOO-KAY. Who's next?


Ghosx says:
>I work at Geek Squad.

I feel for ya.

>An in store data backup is for healthy drives only.
>Backups for unhealthy drives are to be sent to an ontrack specialist
>or "Geek Squad City" which admittedly is costly,
>but has a higher chance of success.

This is ridiculous. You should run a repair utility and then carry out
the backup, with verification. Make sure the customer understands the backup
may not be reliable, and allow them to decide how to proceed.

>The agent this guy dealt with did a disservice to this
>customer by offering an in store backup on a drive he knew was defective.
>Not only did he waste this customer's time, but also risked damaging his data.

That depends upon the nature of the problem, the tech's expertise, and
the customers informed decision.

>The customer took a risk in using his own methods to
>get the data off his machine, and it's fortunate that he was successful.
>Sometimes it's that easy, sometimes not.

And if it's not, you sure won't get it fixed at GS--
because GS would have already given up.

>Sometimes it's as easy as simply running the manufacturer's own utilities,
>but that's not something we're willing to risk at the store level.

Apparently, the only thing GS *is* willing to risk is
massive overcharging for elementary tasks and watching
software execute.

>To sum it up...

That was good of you, but I'd suggest people google for more
complete resources. If they don't know how already,
they'll need more help than that.


ZeeUberGeek says:
>I have been employed by Geek Squad for the past eight months.
>I can say that your case does have its issues, but it is not of the norm.
>Here's the rundown, as far as I can see it (
>granted, I can only see one side of the story).
>?1. $69 Diagnostic is the standard fee.
>No if's and's or but's, a diagnostic is $69.
>If we found out that you needed to restore the machine, $69.
>If we found out that you needed to un-select 'mute', $69.
>Just the same as going to the car dealership.
>If they find out that you failed to twist your gas cap tight enough,
>they aren't going to waive the fee.

The problem is not the principle of a diagnostic fee, but the amount.

Like most of what GS does, its hugely inflated.
The checks described are mostly automated, with a few quick visual
checks inside the case. The procedure takes a matter of minutes.
And believe me--GS' equipment, insurance costs, and the cost of your labor
are not commensurate with that of the mechanics at an
auto dealership or garage,and so their basic cost for a vehicle inspection,
road check, and initial diagnosis. Which is about the same--around $70.

ECON 101.

>As far as what the diagnostic entails, we use 3 primary hardware tests:
>Memtest86, Hitachi DFT (or the MFG-supplied hard drive testing suite),
>and Eurosoft PC-Check.

/golfclap

>2. If your hard drive so much as had a bad sector,
it MUST be deemed a bad hard drive.
Either the MFG-supplied HD test program, or PC-Check flagged your
drive as failing SMART, read/read verify, write/write verify,
mechanics stress, etc. This is a policy issue.

Having a bad sector is not the same thing as failing SMART checks.
Disks may very well have a few sectors go bad here
and there over their lifetime. This does not mean the
disk is unusuable or is about to have massive failure.

>3. If your hard drive fails a test, we can still attempt a data backup.
>As long as it isn't mechanically shot,
>the file/partition table is mostly intact,
>we can get as many files as possible.

That's good to hear, although your colleague above contradicts this assertion.

>Let's assume that you want 10 arbitrary files, totalling 7GB.
>$99 for all backups under 9.4GB (2 DVD's).

Why does an unattended backup cost $100?

>Now let's assume that due to the hard drive failure we can only get
>9 of the 10 files you want. We have advanced data recovery services
>through OnTrack Data Recovery that are available
>(per what O. said, he was offered). We can either send your drive to
>OnTrack for recovery, give you what files we WERE able to get
>(for the full fee), or refund your money and give you NO data.
>Assuming we could only get 1 of the 10 files, and you wanted that one,
>we would STILL have to charge you the full amount.

Anyone can pay OnTrack or another forensic service for data recovery.
Charging for partial data is OK, but again the fee is just too high.
What did anyone do to earn that $100? It's extortionate.

>4. In regards to being able to load the filesystem under Linux,
>that does not imply that there are no defects to the drive itself.
>The defects may have been in free, un-used space
>(though it's more likely that it was the space the registry hive occupied).
>I am very glad to hear that you were able to use Linux to back up your data,
>...Linux is not at our disposal. Once again, a policy issue.

GS should provide authorized Linux based tools. There are plenty out there
that commercial entities can use, or GS could pay someone to roll their own.

Now, what would have happened to the customer if he hadn't been
bold enough to attempt his own recovery with Linux based tools?

>5. There are some (although not very good) explanations for
>the poor turn-around time that you experienced.
>The most likely are that the Precinct is simply busy,
>or does not have a large enough labor budget.
>At our current precincy, the past few weeks have shown the
>trend that for every six machines we complete, seven are checked in.
>As you should be able to infer, this could lead to some pretty big wait times.
> Our Awaiting Work queue is currently at about 35 computers.
>That means that there are 35 computers which must be completed
>before a new checkin will ever hit the bench (give or take,
>because our bench can hold ten machines).
>Currently, we have a 4-6 day wait before we will ever even have
>the CHANCE to touch your machine. The number of machines in front
>of yours may even GROW as machines that are awaiting work authorization
>or customer information are inserted back into the queue
>(machines are worked on in order of first checked-in to last.
>If someone brought their machine in four weeks ago, and
>neglected to bring in their recovery discs until today,
>that means that they get bumped ahead of a new checkin,
>because it's been there longer). I wouldn't blame the
>Geek Squad precinct for this so much as the
>Best Buy store in which they reside.

GS doesn't control their own hiring and firing? Are you saying the BBY
manager is ultimately the GS manager too, and that GS doesn't have it's
own seperate management and HR? If so, that's a disaster.

If you have labor problems this severe something is very wrong with management.

02/27/07 10:45 PM
Zinger says: [reply to this comment]
>First of all all of you people have no clue
>what its like to be in the Geek Squad.
>You think you know what your talking about.

I'm confident I'm more knowledgable about computers than any GS
employee I've encountered, yes. I have no idea what it's like to
intentionally fleece my clients, or to work in an oppressive atmosphere
like BBY, no.

>Geek Squad Standards are to offer the customer
>what will make their life easier.

By relieving them of that vexing weight in their wallets?

>I understand that you think they might have over charged you but they didnt.
>You think that a diagnostic only covers booting the computer.
>But its many tests on RAM, HDD,
>Spyware & Viruses (if the computer was in working condition),
>Mobo, Slots in the computer, Optical drives, etc.
>With a big corporation there are many things to consider even
>though you say you can get your data back with Linux or Getdataback?
>I am sure you can, who the hell can't run a piece of software?

The 'diags' you describe are simply less powerful "pieces of software."
You're arguing against the value of the service you just said we should
all shut up and thank you for.

>But Legal actions on using this type of software for
>business use takes time and money.

GNU/Linux can be used commercially without breaking any licenses. Noob.

>When you have barely enough people working the counters
>with stupid people asking questions like whats wrong with my computer,
>and calling the store and asking how can I delete these viruses?

News flash: you work in customer service. THIS IS YOUR JOB.
HELLO?

>Its tough to get to the many computers in line.
>Trust me your not the only one who has to wait.

"Welcome to the Best Buy Republic of Geeksquadistan.
Take a number, give us your money,
sit in the corner, and shut the f**k up."

>A backup is like you said not gaurenteed you signed
>the paper work as it was stated.
>In my opinion you should not have received any refund.
>You were quoted a price you said ok.

What many people are complaining about is bait and switch, or a failure
to perform the service as described. It sounds like reps are either
overselling, or underexplaining their service. I have no trouble
explaining to even the most computer illiterate user what an
"unreliable" backup is.

>As for college kids making minimum wage and people with A+ Certs,
>Yeah anyone can read a book and pass a test no doubt in my mind,
>but the experience comes in working in the field.
>Its not tough to learn or fix a computer anyone can use google.
>But I don't believe you should be judging everyone that has an
>A+ cert dumb or incompitent.

No one is saying that. But there are many A+ certified techs out there
who are both of those things. And many didn't understand and couldn't actually
explain much of what is in the A+ spec, even if they passed the test.

What GS needs to do is pay a little more. GS is getting what its paying for--
even if its customers are not.

>In fact $415 was actually priced out
>wrong anyways, depending on the drive that was purchased they
>should have charged a hardware installation.

Riiight. So it should have cost even MORE!! YAAAY!
You can build a new 3.0ghz P4 machine w/1GB RAM, a 200GB HDD, DVDRW
and a decent 3D card, nice case, keyboard, mouse, etc., for $500--easy.

Get real.

>People come to the Geek Squad because they do not know where to go for help.
>The Geek Squad is there to help as best as they can.
>You want premium service go to Geek Squad,
>you want Joe Blow using Illegal Software and
>adding shit like Spybots on your comptuer and
>telling you Limewire is the best software out
>there then look them up in a paper.

This makes me angry, but I'll just let its ignorance speak
for the mindset and experience and maturity
of the typical Geek Squad employee.

>if you don't like the price find a friend to fix your computer,
>and once they are don't messing it up,
>bring it by the Geek Squad to have them do it right.

KEK!


Zinger says: [reply to this comment]
>It seems that some people have a problem with
>Geek Squad and some have a problem with the people.

Some like say TOH-MAY-TOE, and some say TOH-MAH-TOE.
But they all hate Geek Squad.

>Its not like its the people who take your computer ins
>fault for charging 129 for an OS install.

Yeah. But it's their fault when they screw up diagnosing problems,
triggering the Geek Squad Flow Chart of Lies and Financial Ruination.

>Its the corporation. The people working there cannot
>help the prices that they have to charge people.

Then quit. It's called ethics. If you can really fix computers,
and can understand networks, get a better job. Let GS whither.
Technical workers should not want GS to suceed, anyway.
You're assisting in the commoditization of your own expertise.

>The reason a diagnostic was charged was because the customer
>did not know if the hard drive was bad.
>In fact if they wanted they could have just
>gone to the Geek Squad and said all I want is a HDD installed
>and the OS installed. Geek Squad would have
>bypassed the Diagnostic and did what the customer asked.

The GS rep above says that this is no longer permitted. And why
should the customer have had to know to ask for this exception,
while it was in place?

>But what if the HDD was not the problem?
>What if it was the mobo or the ram then they had charged
>the customer money for somthing they did not need. Its a risk everyone takes.

You're comparing apples to oranges. Work not requested =/= work requested.

>Also it is not legal to fire somone who is not hitting numbers.

Current evidence does not suggest that BBY or GS observe rules like
this with great devotion and assiduousness.

>Their job is to fix computers and make money for the company no doubt,
>but to fire somone because they lie to customers just to hit numbers
>is illegal and Geek Squad does not tolerate such acts from managers.

Let's hope not, for their employees' sake.

>I however love my job, I make the customers I deal with happy.
>I make them feel that every service they
>purchase from me was worth the money.

That's good to hear. I agree that this is what makes you
feel appreciated at the end of the day, and that's a nice feeling.

>So if your gonna be pissed off don't be pissed off
>at the people working at the Geek Squad,
>its not their fault they are just
>doing what they have to in life.

Somebody's in charge. And some GS techs are not ethical.

>They do not make extra money charging
>you an arm and a leg for somthing not needed.

I would suggest that this is in fact the operation's entire
business model.

vermonttheatre says: [reply to this comment]
>Let me give you some information about Geek Squad policies and practices.
>First of all, Not! everyone should have a computer.

Quit tomorrow, and apply for work as a DMV clerk.
You've missed your calling.

>85% of the time that we see a BSOD come into the store the
>problems are not being caused by a dead HDD.

And?

>Most of the time it is a bad driver most likely caused by a Windows update,
>or some Malware that the computer received because
>their owners don't want to believe that
>Gateway, HP and Dell do not put on protection unless you pay extra for it.

Maybe you should tell them that Windows Defender, AdAware, Spybot S&D,
ClamWinAV, Kerio firewall, ZoneAlarm, etc. are all available online for free.

So, for that matter, are full (or better) featured
equivalents for all of your 'diag' tools.

Free.

>Geek Squad in store tech work on a first come first serve basis.
>If a computer that is before yours in line is giving them
>difficulties then your computer will take longer.
>This is the only fair way to help all customers.

No--to reuse the car analogy: you stop rebuilding an engine to do a quick
tire rotation or brake job, if your garage is backing up. Or the medical
analogy: you don't ignore triage patients, or minor injuries easily treated,
while you wait for a burn victim to recover.

>Geek Squad has to charge a diagnostics for
>every computer that comes in for repair.

What happens if it doesn't, and it just does them for free?
The universe explodes?

Certainly, they could charge much less.

>If you purchased the Service plan this
>diagnostics charge is covered under the plan.

OHH--so the supposed mandatory charge is just a billy club used to drive
plan sales. Yay!

>This diagnostics takes geek squad between 2 to 5 hours to complete.
>We check the HDD, RAM, Motherboard, Network interface card.
>USB ports and a list of lost of other checks such as dust and fan functionality.

Software does this. Where's the labor cost in this procedure? You're just
there to plug the results into your flowchart of doom.

>They also check for distended capacitors.

Gotta watch out for those distended capacitors. In my twenty odd years of
computing, I've seen---zero.

Oh.

>If best buy did not charge this charge and make sure there
>were no other problems we would have customers coming in
>all the time with complaints that we did not fix their problems.

You can't complain that a free test didn't fix anything.
If I offer free cancer screening, that doesn't expose
me to lawsuits for failing to cure cancer. Liability for
false negatives can be disclaimed, with some limitations,
especially with a free service.

>At my store, we had a customer that came in who sounded like he
>knew a little bit about computers. He informed us that his HDD was
>dead and he wanted a new one installed. Because this guy sounded
>like he knew what he was talking about we installed a new HDD
>and sent him off to re install his OS.
>This customer came back in the next day to return the
>HDD install because he said the computer was still not working.
>We had to return the labor and HDD for the customer.

No, you didn't. It's funny that you guys cave in when you don't have to, and
then turn around and engage in a bunch of unethical practices that are
in fact not permissable.

>It turned out his problem was a dead stick of memory.
>If we had kept the computer in for a diagnostics
>we would have found this out and let the customer know his true problem.

And then you would have charged him $70 for running MEMTEST.

>Most of the time the customers are so stupid when it comes to
>computers that no matter what you say they will never be happy.

Then I guess you might as well rip them off, eh?
They deserve it, the idiots.

>We are here to provide a full service work, not do half-assed work.

Every post here by GS reps supports the perception that you on the
average lack the expertise, resources and attitude to provide
"full service work" but rather that all of your work is "half-assed"
--by official decree and company policy!

>We try to have a computer tun-a-round time of one to two days,
>but when we get 25 computers in an afternoon
>this time frame becomes impossible.

Then mangement is failing, or the business model is broken.

>If you don't like to have to wait a week then call
>1-800-GeekSquad and schedule an
>in-home agent who will do all of this work in front of you.
>It will cost a little more to have someone come out,
>but we would be providing a premium service.
>Even doctors do not make house calls any more.

No, but your competition does, and provides by far better quality of work
for customers willing to pay. By the time a GS housecall is added up,
most customers would have been able to employ a $80/hour consultant for
at least three hours, if not more like four or five plus.

I'm talking about professional IT contractors specializing in
small businesses here. Compared to Geek Squad.

>According to recent polls people's greatest fears
>with computers if loosing data.
>That is why we offer this backup service every time.

Customers have indicated that they are coerced into purchasing the backup.

>Sometimes we can get the Data off and sometimes we cannot.
>According the Best Buy SOP if NO data can be backed-
>up you WILL get a FULL refund. I have do this all the time.
>If we are able to get some data, but not all of it this charge will remain.

You are again contradicting other reps above, and you are misusing
terms of art.

Is the customer charged if any data is *RECOVERED* (you find data)
or *RESTORED* (the recovered data is placed
on a functioning drive)? "Backed up" just means copied to offline storage
--i.e., placed on the backup media.


>It is on the contract you signed before we charged you for this backup.
>Go ahead read it, we mostly only have problems with
>the people who do not read before they sign.

Everyone should read the contracts they sign. Although I still believe
that GS violates theirs routinely.

As for the Linux argument, Best Buy does not currently have
corporate approval to use this tool.

Suse and Knoppix, or what ever flavor you like, is free to consumers it
is not for commercial use.

Linux can be licensed for commercial use. Some distros are free for
commercial use.

>According to the GPL, if you read that, the software not
>approved for commercial use with out prior permission.

Please don't talk about that which you clearly do not understand.
These distinctions are of extreme importance to some of us out
here in the profession and on "teh intarwebz."

>Secondly, The cost of BBY's backup if extremely affordable.

In Pesos.

>Comparatively, any other data recovery center you
>would take it too would cost much more.
>They range any ware from 200 to upwards of 3000 dollars to recover your data.

Those services are providing data recovery services on a much deeper level
than GS is. GS' recovery amounts to using the same kind of tools users could
easily run themselves.

SpinRite and Acronis together are less than $170, by a longshot. And that's
staying withing the boundaries of friendly, commercial Windows software.
image its partitions using whatever tool is preferred.

>On to the complaint about GS agents not being certified.
>This is not true, we have over 60,000 Vista Certified Agents.

AH. AHA. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.

That means you've undergone sales training of upselling unsuspecting noobs
to Vista--which will have them returning soon to buy a new sytem, due to HW
demands.

Congratulations on being whored out to Microsoft. For nothing in return.

>Every store's Geek Squad Supervisor HAS to be A+ Certified.

That A+ is good enough for a supervisory position is not something
to brag about.

>If you ask anyone who is actually knows about these
>tests will tell you they don't mean anything.

Well, A+ sure doesn't mean much. Better than nothing, if its
all you have to go on, but all in all fairly unreliable. And
its an awfully low bar--both in terms of whats in the spec
and the scores needed to pass.

>I have known so many people who hold these certifications and
>I would not trust them with my calculator.
>This certification only tells us that this person
>took a book and practiced for a 200 test that
>provides you with a piece of paper that
>makes your bullshit smell a little better.

Again, this is true for many certs--including A+--but not all of them.
Personally, I haven't bothered with certs, because I don't do any
really specialized support or development
(as in dedicated to a specific product)
which is where they make sense.

>You talk to anyone why actually knows computers and
>they will tell you that experience in the field
>is much more valuable than any number of certifications.

And this is exactly what GS lacks.
GS is isolated from real world experience--the employees
it trains actually learn to confuse what they do
with the provision of real service from an actual expert.

>I know there are a lot of people who hate us.
> We do not get it right all the time,
>but when you are the Biggest computer repair team in the world
>there are bound to be people who hate you and want to bring you down.

Dell's support subcontractors just burst out laughing. Amongst others.

>I apologized to you if you feel that BBY
>wronged you in some way, but get over it.

That always goes over well in customer service and customer relations.
Good job!

>When you are on the TOP people only want to bring you down.

Again, I must thank you and all the other GS reps for all the Lewlz.

Really, it's almost too much.
02/28/07 10:44 PM

I am sick to death of fanboys. Fanboys of all kinds. I don't care if you're a Mac fanboy, a Playstation fanboy, a 360 fanboy, a Linux fanboy or whatever. GET OVER IT! There are other decent products out there that aren't made by your precious company and there always will be. I have said this many times before but somehow I have to keep repeating myself; I own a Mac but that doesn't make me a computer user that thinks I'm superior (this seems to emenate from a lot of Mac users). I use Windows for one very good reason; gaming. I like computer gaming, thus I own a PC, simple as that.

I don't hate Windows. Yes, there are many issues with it but there are issues with Mac OS too. Has my Mac frozen? Yes. Has it happened more than once? Yes. Was I doing something seemingly "normal" and there was no real explination for why it happened? Yes. OS X is not perfect, yet, try getting this mentioned in any mainstream media. The fact of the matter is people are starting to look at Apple like they look at Google, they can do no wrong. They are the picture perfect company who will never come out with a bad product or program and everything they spit out is platinum.

Does Vista have new, nice features? Yes. Does Vista have problems? Yes. Does Vista look pretty? Yes. Does that mean you should go out and buy it? Depends on your circumstance. Overall I would say no and would recommend you switch when you need a new PC and it comes pre-installed. But don't go around making ill-informed comments like "Vista's just XP with prettier graphics!". While you're going around making stupid comments like that, you might as well say the same about the upcoming Mac OS. And don't even get me started on the Linux fanboys who think they're so cool and unique because they use it, and as such, they're entitled to be looked at as some kind of "special" user. They're "special" all right, just not in the way they think; the kind of "fanboy" special.

I really find myself in a weird prediciment here. I don't usually take a liking to defending Microsoft. So what's all this about then? Simply put, state the facts. That's it. Don't sugar coat it because it's Apple, and don't downplay it because it's Microsoft. But who am I kidding? People are going to continue to make fun of Microsoft like the nerdy kid in high school while everyone follows everything Apple says because they're the "cool" kid and everyone wants to be like the cool kid. That reminds me, where's my iPod...

My tolerance for fanboys goes beyond Microsoft and Apple though. I obviously am a gamer and as such care about what console will end up "winning" the war of sales. So I have encountered my fair share of PS fanboys as well as Xbox and Nintendo fanboys alike. Overall though, the thing I find most common among all fanboys is sheer missinformation and/or complete and utter blindness to any of the competion's qualities.

So I will say to any fanboys out there, get over it. Go stock up on the latest 'insert brand name here' products and pile them as high as your ceilling will go and enjoy them in solitude. Just don't share your dirty little habits with the rest of the world who decide to do some thorough research on all options and make an informed decision on what they'll buy or use.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay%...uter_games

It's interesting to see how things slowly shift in popular media. It's also interesting to see how the American culture differs from other countries when concerning sexual orientation.

A side note: A movie I recommend to view is This Film Is Not Yet Rated concerning the movie industry's rating system. Though I knew about some of the info in here, what I didn't know was interesting to learn.

Anyway, out of the whole article the best part I read was, "In these ways, Brad and Billy are portrayed as ordinary people, whose sexuality is irrelevant in their settings and to those around them."

Oh man, I feel like a car ran over me. Why does my nephew always have to get me sick? My head feels like someone's hitting it with a hammer.

I posted a long review to someone on Tribe and thought I'd let everyone else know what my experience with the Wii has been like:

This is what I think of the Wii so far. The controller scheme seems very odd. When I first saw it, I thought the same thing a lot of other gamers out there thought, "How the hell am I supposed to play games on this??". But when I actually got to use the thing and play a few games on it (Trauma Center, Rayman, Wii Sports, Excite Truck) I realized how natural the controls felt (best way I can describe it is like a standard controller cut in half if you include the "nunchuck" portion of the controller). I also realized how much more fun every day games like platformers and racing became with just changing the controller scheme. It really does feel like a whole different experience playing game on the Wii.

I am not a big platformer gamer anymore, but playing a little bit of Rayman, I was having a lot of fun using the controller in different ways for different parts of the game. One in particular that I thought was very fun to play was using the Wii-mote to aim my plunger gun and shoot rabbits by pulling the "B" button trigger all while moving around with my nunchuck (just like a standard controller would have but seperated from the directional pad and with motion sensoring added) and reloading with a motion when needed.

This is just one example of the innovative way to use the remote control scheme of the Wii. Excite Truck feels like a whole different experience using the remote sideways and tilting up, down, left, right, or forward to move your truck.

Is it harder to play games this way? Well, yes and no. Yes because you really have to get used to using the remote in which ever way the game permits, and no because in certain games, you can be quicker and more accurate than if you just used a standard controller (Trauma Center).

Of course I am not a Nintendo fanboy and one thing I will admit off the bat is that the games out right now are really not all that involving. Yes, there's Splinter Cell. Yes, there's CoD3 (ordered but haven't gotten it yet). Yes there is Red Steel (seems to be a very bad game). But what is wrong with this is that the learning curve for these games require a lot of patience. I have only played SC, so you could take that statement with a grain of salt if you wish. I will say though that because SC needs to be played so preciscely (and I have played the first and third game on PC), I don't think the Wii is the best console for it to be on. It may not be as involving to play SC with just a standard controller or keyboard, but atleast it's pin-point accurate, which the Wii-mote at this moment is not (unless you really really practiced).

So basically what this boils down to is Nintendo is doing what they said they were going to do. They innovated on game-play instead of just updating their system, and leaving the gaming masses to play the same games but with better graphics. They also said they would bring the non-gamer to their console. That they CERTAINLY did! My game-hating mom wants to buy a Wii and played 2 hours on mine which in itself is an insane miracle. There are countless other stories to back this statement. Graphics-wise, they are pretty much DoA (pretty much GC graphics atm). Nintendo stated from the beginning though that that wasn't going to be their aim so, you can't say you were dissapointed if they never promised it.

Online wise, I'd say they got 50/100. They gave us the opportunity to download old games but at the moment, the selection is really small. Adding friends is really implimented poorly. You have a 16 digit code that you need to tell someone and they need to tell you theirs. You both must have eachother added to be able to connect with one another. The least they could have done is send you some kind of message when someone adds you. That way you could say "Yes, add this person to my console" or "No, do not add them". I can say the online friends feature is not my favorite. So far there is no online play with any of the games, but I think that is coming in the future. I believe a Pickachu game is going to be one of the first to offer it sometime in early 2007. Creating a Mii is very fun but very limited in choices you can use to make them. Mii's are characters you can create, or share with other Wii friends of yours and use in playing the games in Wii Sports. That is about all you can do with them at the moment though. Besides showing up in the BG of the Wii Sports game, trading them, and playing as them in the Wii Sports game, there is not much else left to do with them. Making celeb Mii's though is really fun. There is also the standard sending messages and sharing pictures. As for hooking your Wii up online, for me it was pretty painless. I have Wi-Fi. Currently there is no way to hardwire you Wii up to the internet but the ethernet adapter is coming soon. It should have been a standard included "feature" if you ask me. Why give the option to connect to the internet and only include Wi-Fi out of the box? Makes no sense.

Hardware failure? So far there have been a few problems with people's Wiis especially during software/firmware updates. I personally have not experienced any malfuntioning. But for the people who have, Nintendo has been great with customer service. They will send you a brand new Wii if yours ends up an expensive paper weight not from your own doing, within 3-4 days. They pay shipping. You get your new Wii and send your dead one in to them in the same box. They pay shipping back to them. Seems like you can't go wrong with Nintendo customer service.

Availabilty? They pretty much sell out every time they're available. There are the standard gamers hunting for it and there are the "soccer moms". It seems a lot of kids want this for Christmas. The remotes, nunchucks and classic controlers (you use for old games and some new ones) are pretty much sold out. They trickle in stock every now and then. You'd probably have better luck locally than online. Same goes for the Wii. The component cables which do not come with the Wii (it comes with the standard composite cable which doesn't do much for the already not so great graphics) are sold out as well. You can pre-order them on Nintendo's own website. I am not sure about shipping dates though. I have heard it definitely has a noticable improvement to the graphics when you get the component cables, especially when involving text. Remember though that the Wii only displays at 480p, not high def.

Backwards compatibility? Well seing as how I stupidly sold all my GC games along with my console (wasn't planning on getting a Wii), I cannot comment on the actual expereince of that. So far though, I haven't heard any complaints except that it's better to use the standard GC controller than the Wii classic controller for those games. And yes, the ever popular Wavebird (wireless GC controller) is compatible with the Wii (I sold those too damnit!).

The future? Well, there are rumors that the Wii will eventually be able to play DVD's. There are also rumors that the online gaming will be implimented as the norm with next years games. Then, of course there is the whole "games will only get better" and "graphics will only get better" statements. I think they are right, the question is, how much will they get better? That question is still left up in the air. And as for 3rd party support from other game companies, that is also left up in the air. It will really depend on how well the Wii will sell AFTER the holiday season. Since now, things seem to be going smoothly, the future looks bright. But when the PS3's availability is high, and the Christmas rush has died down, that will be the only teller of the truth of whether or not this console will succeed.

Here is how I would score the Wii:

Price: good but lots of added accesories make the price not such a great selling point (extra remote AND nunchuck, Wii Points card, classic controller). Only console and games priced fairly (games $50 each instead of the standard $60 this gen)

Fun Factor: great! Plenty of people will be interested in it that you didn't expect

Games: Limited selection right now, but two games continually getting good reviews are Zelda and Wii Sports (gotta love that it's free)

Future Prospects: Good, but mostly depends of 3rd party game developer interest
Online: Ok. Old game selection will be huge, but adding friends sucks.

Overall: Worth the price, but don't expect Nintendo to cater to the "hardcore gamer" crowd.