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commenter
rafik the geek Said,
August 5th, 2008 @11:53 am  

Well put, having personally worked at a service department at a tech store and IT in a few companies, I have realised that the best geeks, are the ones who are not working low end jobs.

Generally, if you see a middle aged man claiming to be a geek and working at Best Buy, he will gouge you. He is working for 10 bucks an hour and on comission.

He wants to sound smart so avoid him.

Generally people doing work on the side, and getting paid in CASH are your best bet.

They will charge 25-30 an hour, and probably will fix your problem for less.

I personally charge 50$ for a problem, and if I can’t fix it, no “Consultation” or “Figure out the problem charge”.

You should not be charged for an idiot who needs time to figure out the problem.

commenter
A.Y. Siu Said,
August 5th, 2008 @5:01 pm  

I don’t really know what an IDE connector is, but I would never pay $250 for such a repair. For a little more than $250, I could get a new computer. The computer I use right now (an Eee PC) was only $399.

It’s about as ridiculous as an autoshop charging you $15,000 to repair your car. For that exact price, you could get a really nice used car. For a little more, you could get a brand new car.

commenter
Nelson Said,
August 6th, 2008 @9:25 pm  

Rafik, you are definitely right when you say that geeks working on high quality jobs are the best ones. these are the geeks who strive to be the best, the geeks that read every piece of technical paper that catch their eyes, because technology is their passion.

I believe you belong to that bunch.

charging 50 bucks for a well done job is acceptable, as long as the problem does not come back – educating and explaining the problem to the user is the best way to make sure the problem does not come back.

Thanks for your comment Rafik, and remember,if you want to publish anything interesting you want to share with us, please send me an e-mail to set you up with an account.

commenter
Nelson Said,
August 6th, 2008 @9:36 pm  

A.Y. thanks for your sincere comment.

I don’t know why computer repair services like Geeksquad charge so much money for a simple repair solution. I understand they might spend a lot of money to run the business, but they definitely don’t care about their customers which should be the base for any business. but they operate more in the mentally of hit and run, probably because they know the customer won’t never come back.

buying a new computer is definitely a better alternative instead of paying the same money to repair a PC.

hey, have you noticed that geeks quad techies always show up in a van and a ladder even though they only need to remove a virus?

strange uh.

commenter
Judy Said,
August 18th, 2008 @10:18 pm  

I think the biggest problem with Geek Squad is the technicians try to sell you products rather than fix your issue(s). My computer had a bad sector so my computer crashes often. But the Geek Squad came four times and spent countless hours. Guess what, they can’t fix it.

In brief, I went with this small local company in Toronto (http://computersquad.ca), they identified the problem and problem resolved. I’m happy.

commenter
Jack X Said,
August 20th, 2008 @8:15 am  

As a Geek Squad Covert Operator I must stand behind the quality of our work.

If you say that our work comes undone, allow me to retort.

90% of the work I do involves removal of the advanced polymorphic virus known as Virtumonde. This is included with several Trojan Packs (as in Wolf Packs, not service packs). Half of these are caused by illegally sharing files over P2P networks, and the other half comes from habitual use of online pornography.

So, If you call me a money grubbing fool, i call you a Pervert and a Thief.

commenter
jordan Said,
August 26th, 2008 @1:30 pm  

computer repair services suck i fix computers for $10.00 to $20.00
an im 14

commenter
PCTech Said,
August 29th, 2008 @6:25 pm  

“people should not pay for consultation or diagnose a problem, period.”
R u nuts?
Consultation and diagnosing the problem is the most important task, as you have just shown.

Using that same rationale…lawyers should give you free counsel when you get into arrested for breaking into a warehouse, and doctor’s should give you free care when you get an STD from screwing a hooker without a condom.

Why should you pay someone? Well, obviously he knows more than you, and he is providing a service that if you didn’t need or could do yourself, you wouldn’t have called in the first place.

Listen, I’ll be the first to admit that there are unscrupulous techs out there, and there many yahoos that think they can fix a pc because the know how to boot into safe mode, but I wouldn’t let those jerks tie my shoes, much less trust them with my pc.

What are you doing for a living these days that is so unreplaceable that you believe people should advise you for free?

Why do you pay for anything? People owe you, don’t they? After all, you were a waiter, and all you did was bring people food, why should I give you money for fetching me something that someone else cooked? I could just as well gotten up and gotten it myself, right?

It’s a good point that you make about being careful not to get ripped off, but when you start saying that people should do stuff for free, you need to move to a communist country.

Great post JackX. People get into all kinds of sh1t doing illegal stuff, then say the computer is a piece of crap. Maybe they should call up Limewire and complain that Limewire owes them free support because the virus is interfering with their ability to rip off music and software…good luck with that phone call.

commenter
May Said,
November 11th, 2008 @8:04 pm  

I just had been rip off worst than ever. I went to the small retial repair shop and asked them to check the problem for me. Then, they give the invoice for only $40. Then, we’ve been talking during the week and realized that the motherboard are broken (2 computers), so I told him that I don’t want to fix it. When I went to pick up my useless computer, the guy give me a $250 invoice. Now I’m stuck with $250 bills and 2 useless computer (that not even start). What should I do? Should I pay the guy or take him to complain court for not being honest and upfront from the beginning. Please help.

commenter
Drew Said,
December 8th, 2009 @11:16 pm  

I my self am a Tech, now i have had to deal with the geeksquad and the firedogs before and let me tell you their techs are dumb as hell. I had to explain the problem to them as if they were end users. Now your saying to yourself why would Drew go to them to fix something? Well a few of my clients got burnned by Best buy into buying the Black tie protection which is BS because they just send it out the the manufacture and have it repaired for free. Long story short they dont do their job right they place a Dynex power supply into the Dell unit and VOID the warranty which my client paid extra to dell for. They are such retards.

When i do a job i charge most of the time a set price and no matter how long i take i will get it done and 90% of the time it only takes the proposed set of time.

I am A+ cert, Network+, and CCNA. I am tierd of warnning people of the danger of going to a place that your just another number. I tell them we are here for you they are there for them selfs. We care and conform to your need and take care of you as if you were family but with respect. lol Its those dumb a$$es that put us back ten steps and make people lose trust in their local techs. I love computers its what i eat sleep and breath. Its all ive done since i was a little kid my dad worked for a major company (bigger then cisco back in the day) I would run up and down the labs and mess with networking equpment build and distroy computers. Its what i love. Sadly i still cant find a nice job in IT even tho i have my certs. Its crazy! I can tell you one thing i will open my own business before i work for the geeks or compUSA.

commenter
Zack Said,
December 27th, 2009 @7:04 pm  

Is it just me or are there no people on this thread who speak English as a first language? Just sayin’…

Yes, the “technicians” at Geeksquad, Best Buy, CompUSA (before they went under) and Fry’s should all be regarded with suspicion. In regards to the Best Buy doofus in the first video, if parts of the computer power on, any jerkoff should know to be looking for other causes before blaming the power supply. I was particularly amused (and dismayed) that the idiot calls the psu a “box.”

I’m not a trained techie. I’m 25, and strangely enough I didn’t have access to a computer at home until I was 13 (we’re talking 1997 here), my parents not being computer users themselves. I think it’s important for any person who depends on their computer today to become familiarized with the basics of pc hardware. My interest doesn’t quite reach passion, but I did enjoy learning to build my own systems, selecting exactly the components I wanted, and saving buttloads of money.

At the very least, use decent system protection programs to try keeping your rig safe when you’re torrenting porn. Oh, and don’t buy a freaking Mac–it’s just PC hardware in a semen-colored enclosure running a different operating system and sold for twice as much as a comparable Dell or Toshiba or whatever. Really love that Leopard-Tiger-Snow Leopard-Drunk Siberian Ruskie OS so much? Buy a PC and learn how to set it up as a dual boot rig–one for XP or 7, one for the Mac’s OS.

commenter
sinister1 Said,
December 29th, 2009 @10:08 am  

Hi all,

I also got into the IT arena because I got tired of getting ripped off. I work as a Deskside Support Specialist for CompuCom and also do my thing on the side thus the name of my website (Techs On The Side).
I do the work out of my house so that cuts out the price of renting a store or location plus I offer the lowest prices possible in the Houston area. I’m discussed but what these stores charge for simple things like a simple virus scan or memory upgrade. Guys if your in the Houston Texas area look me up at: techs-on-the-side.mysite.com. :)

commenter
alkibulan Said,
January 16th, 2010 @11:19 am  

Hi I am a geek and a 50 year old man. I am in a IT school now! And I learned how to fix computers on my own, and I have never charged, people prices like that! As much as I have ever charged anyone it has never ever been even a hundred dollars. The highest I have ever charged anyone has been $80 bucks. Because I see myself, as helping people keep their computer safe and running well. You! are right I was getting rip off to at one time before, I knew about fixing computers myself.

But I try to educate people about their computer letting them know even if they don’t have the money I will fix it for free! And I have done a lot business for free. So I know what Geeks charge and I don’t try to take advantage of people. Honesty is the best way to go! Because it keeps more people coming back to you! Because you value your trade of life, and you not just trying to make a buck by lying to people. I mainly work with linux, but I do most of my repair work in windows.

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