Once again, Best Buy’s Geek Squad is at it again, and this time, it’s a nasty vendor lock-in program.
Geek Squad recently came out with a program called “Ask An Agent Membership”. You PAY Geek Squad (GS from here on out…) $40 a year to be able to call and ask questions. They’ll answer your questions, if they don’t already have an offering targeted at your question. You also get 10% off, in the store, for any GS services, a free “checkup” each year – oh, and you get a nifty plastic card with a bunch of numbers on it.
Sounds great, right? It’s not, and here’s why:
- I’ve mentioned many times that we don’t require you to pay to answer questions. Yesterday, I had a nice lady named Barb call asking about an older HP that was starting to go bad. The power brick died and the AC adapter inside the laptop was acting funny. I gave her a price for the work, but stated it was probably in her best interest to buy a new(er) laptop. We discussed companies and quality for a good 10 minutes over the phone – she didn’t pay a dime. GS would have said “Well, we offer laptop repair services in our store and you get a 10% discount!”, which would have lead to a $299+ bill, which would have paid for half of a brand new laptop. Then you get to listen on the up-sell for data transfer, and optimization of the new laptop, etc.
- 10% off in the store. That’s not much, although the card “pays for itself” after your very first bill… Sorry, but certain customers of Protocol16 enjoy anywhere from 5% to 29% off normal prices, depending on the situation. That’s without paying us extra money for less fees. Is your business located in a specific business development (sorry, don’t want to name it)? Instant 10% off. Repeat customer, not already covered by a discount, 5-10% off. Goodness, I feel like “Flo” on the Progressive commercials “DISCOUNT!”
- The “free checkup” isn’t what it means. The “ask an agent’ page is buried in their site, so it takes a bit to get to it (link), but the “Free Checkup” is, oh, and I do quote:
Geek Squad recommends that you use your one PC Check Up towards the end of your term. This way you can maximize the information it provides you. The PC Checkup scans your computer and provides a report providing an assessment of system performance and protection.
You see, they just “scan” the computer. They don’t say what they’re scanning for, how long it’ll take, and what they’ll attempt to upsell you on. They also fail to mention the fact that if they do a Virus scan (again, if), if they find anything, that’s an extra charge. On top of this, if you’re part of the Geek Squad program, they already offer this service.
Sorry, we do a quick and free virus scan on anything that comes in the shop. Many times, customers have a few things on their machines they don’t know about, so we remove them automatically. Take that Geek Squad!
- What’s covered…. Well, according to their website: “Speak directly to an Agent for answers to your questions, help overcoming obstacles, and strategies to get the most from your technology.“ – well that’s generic. They don’t mention what they don’t support. This whole thing upset me enough that I actually went down to Best Buy, in uniform, and requested a pamphlet for the Ask an Agent program. I basically wanted the “Terms of Service”, this is the legal way of saying “what’s really covered”. I was told that I could purchase a card and that I could save 10%, but nothing else. I cannot find any type of legal statement saying what’s covered – so it’s entirely hit or miss as to if the Geek Squad actually has to answer your questions. I’m reasonably certain, however, that any question asked will be met “We can fix that remotely, if you’d like” or “We can send an agent out…”
Folks, this program is pretty much worthless, unless you use the GS service. At that point, you can pay for the card for anything over $200 worth of service. That’s right, it’s not even worth looking at the card until the bill is around $201, or more. They make money in almost every situation. Please be careful when you see “deals” like this. It’s plain not worth it.