It’s no secret that one of Protocol16′s competitors is the Geek Squad, but what exactly is the “GS”? I spent some time this weekend researching their tools, how they hire and what their internal policies are – it’s always good to know your enemy… One of my “enemies”, in this instance, is just down the road… The Best Buy in Beaverton.

What I learned surprised me a lot. While I knew that I didn’t like how the service operated, I found out that there are some things that go on behind that scenes that make that feeling go from “didn’t like” to “disgusted”…

First, I knew GS’ prices are roughly TWICE those of Protocol16′s. While I don’t agree on some of their time estimates, most of our times do align, when you think of things in raw hours of required labor for a specific fix.

Now, some of you may have just found out that their pricing is roughly twice as much as ours, but how would you feel if you were charged that for an outsourced company to remotely work on your computer? That’s right, outsourced labor. GS runs a program called “Agent Jonny Utah” which is high-tech, internal, lingo for “outsourcer”. According to the article, they’re in India. Don’t know about you, but I’d want to talk to the guy that actually worked on my computer…

I managed to find some interesting material on this program as well. You would think it mentions things like “lower costs for customers” or “better quality”, but no. I discovered terms like “Better utilization of on-floor reps” and “gross margins” – it’s all about the money folks, not about the quality, not about your computer and not about you (except for your money).

I also found out during the course of my research that the GS uses “proprietary tools” to locate and destroy viruses and spyware. What that actually means is, they repackaged several antivirus tools into one package AND use a rebranded service for their remote work that many computer repair shops use, they’re just charging you MUCH more than any normal computer repair shop would for the same tools.

We’re about quality. We’re about welcoming you into our family and ensuring that everything runs right, not about the money. My goal when starting Protocol16 was to ensure that my customers were happy and that I’d eventually have a normal job that I felt was not going to affect how I slept at night. I’ve worked for far too many corporations that literally caused me to lose sleep at night.

I hate talking bad about any company, but the GS is the same type of company I left to start Protocol16.
Justin