Okay, aside from their past “everything is the rebate price” attitude, which they seem to have abandoned (thank God), there are many great reasons not to depend too heavily on Best Buy for your tech needs.
A friend of mine, who isn’t super tech-savvy, decided he wanted to get an iPhone 3G, and liked Best Buy’s package deal (comes with a case and a bluetooth earpiece). So he trotted to our local Best Buy and was greeted by the AT&T Cellphone Representative, who had exactly one person ahead of him, so he told my friend to go and take the iPhone tutorial on the computer nearby.
Well, after much trial, tribulation, and time, my friend finally had his new iPhone 3G, all set up and ready to go. Or so he thought. He wasn’t sure how to set it up for email, so he trotted over to the Geek Squad desk to get some help. They set up his email account, but after an hour were puzzled by why he wasn’t receiving any emails.
Later, my friend showed me his new phone, asking me why he wasn’t getting any emails. I took one look at the top of the screen, noticed the absence of the “3G” moniker, and told him, “you’re not receiving any data, that’s why.”
So it was back to Best Buy, where the guy had no clue. Later, my friend called AT&T and sure enough, his account was set up wrong. Which is big issue number one.
But for the Geek Squad to spend an hour on a problem that it took me about 2 seconds to diagnose… well, that’s just weak!
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not surprised - I work for Geek Squad and they never taught us anything about the Iphone - heck, I’ve never even touched one - the Best Buy mobile guys should be setting up your e-mail, I know a lot of people come to our counter by mistake, if it’s a cell phone or similar device, go straight to the mobile guys/girls.
Posted September 22nd, 2008 at 3:01 pm Michael Swanberg Says:
Thanks for the feedback… sorry to harsh on you guys 
I agree, it’s a training issue, pure and simple. I guess I’m glad it worked out in the end, but the poor preparation (at least at the Best Buy I was talking about) has most assuredly damaged the Best Buy rep with my friend.
-Mike
Posted September 22nd, 2008 at 3:22 pm Matt Says:
I read this article and can’t understand how the author has lost trust in Best Buy. A simple oversite at most. Was there any repercussions to the incorrect set up of the phone? People make mistakes. When a buisness doesn’t stand behind there product or service that is a problem.
Posted September 22nd, 2008 at 9:53 pm Michael Swanberg Says:
That was a little literary device known as hyperbole. The point of the article was to recount the event, not my confidence in Best Buy. To be honest, I bought a 1TB NAS from Best Buy just this past weekend, although I refused to let any Best Buy personnel help me.
In any case, for any tech fix-it group to be adequate, I would hope they have basic problem-solving skills and a basic knowledge of what it is they’re trying to fix. Every smartphone that I know of (not just the iPhone) has an indicator of their data connection. If I was pretty sure I’d set up the email account properly but no email was being retrieved, I would think it obvious to see if there is a data connection. Painfully obvious.
We’ve all heard the tale of the customer service call where the person calls to say their computer isn’t working, but by asking questions the CS rep discovers that the power is out. How stupid is the user made to appear in that story? But what if the CS rep didn’t think that mattered? Now who would be stupid?
In essence, I wouldn’t trust any of my tech to the Geek Squad… but then that was true even before this story came about.
-Mike
Posted September 23rd, 2008 at 7:20 am
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