http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2007/10/03/geeks/

Quote :

"Getting Gouged by Geeks What you should know before you call a geek in to fix your computer Their dorky company names and their cute little cars give off an air of friendly, helpful competence. But do the people who make computer house calls actually know what they're doing? As Erica Johnson's hidden-camera investigation reveals, most of the time the answer is "no." With the help of experts from Humber College Institute, we modified a computer to simulate a common hardware failure. Then we called in the nerds. The result? Only three of the ten technicians who saw our machine managed to correctly diagnose the problem. "

Interesting story, albeit a bit one sided. The devil's in the editing right? It wouldn't be a very interesting story if they showed a majority of the techs doing a good job? Obviously there's some shady stuff going on with alot of these outfits...but then there are scams in pretty much all consumer-service type industries though: auto repair, construction/home repair, animal care, human care, you name it.

Not too mention you have to consider that its hard to find truly talented people to come to your house and fix your PC anyway. the pay isn't good enough, there are better jobs out there. And even though places like GeekSquad charge 80-100+/Hr, that doesn't mean the guy with his hands in your machine is earning much more than 10-15 per hour...and career-wise, who wants to do that very long? Its like being pissed cause the $8/hr jiffy lube guy doesn't put an oil filter on your car. Its better to go with an independent computer consultant than one of these larger outfits...that much should be obvious to most people.


btw if anyone needs a computer consultant (business or residental) let me know...i know some people who go great work.

10/4/2007 1:08:19 PM

WRAL should do this.

10/4/2007 2:47:45 PM

It's nothing new. All of this has already been covered by various blogs like The Consumerist, etc etc...

This "report" kinda pissed me off when they started talking like "OMG HE CHARGED US $45 FOR SOME RAM THAT CAN BE BOUGHT FOR $25" Well, no shit. It's called retail markup AND the convenience of having it delivered.

I mean, their own tech 'expert' runs a pricegrabber search and finds out you can get it for cheaper!! They really cracked the case.

10/4/2007 3:02:17 PM

RAM damaged like that is pretty hard to diagnose without having spare RAM to test with. That would easily look like a motherboard problem on the surface.

10/4/2007 3:04:53 PM

the problem is they didnt spend enough time before making the diagnosis. they immediately went to the most expensive and costly repair.

10/4/2007 3:08:37 PM

isn't the same thing as some auto repair places? but more white collar? surprise?

10/4/2007 3:22:13 PM

It boggles my mind that people go into places like Geek Squad expecting expert advice and low prices.

1) It's Best Buy/Circuit City/Whoever's cash cow. Yes, you will be milked. Yes, you do deserve it for being so technologically inept in a world that runs on technology.

2) Going into a big box store seeking any type of expert advice is dumb, let alone for something like computers. The employees aren't necessarily dumb, they just don't care. Anyone who's worked retail should know this.

10/4/2007 4:40:55 PM

^^ like i said in the initial post...its the same any most any consumer-focused service industry

10/4/2007 4:41:44 PM

i would run memtest on a pc before even booting into an OS.

it seems pretty obvious anyone doing this for a living (god fucking help you) would do the same

10/4/2007 6:27:36 PM

^^^ That could apply to anything - For example:

It boggles my mind that people go into places like AutoZone expecting expert advice and low prices.

1) It's Carquest/Advanced Auto/Whoever's cash cow. Yes, you will be milked. Yes, you do deserve it for being so mechanically inept in a world that depends on automobiles.

2) Going into a big box store seeking any type of expert advice is dumb, let alone for something like cars. The employees aren't necessarily dumb, they just don't care. Anyone who's worked retail should know this.

10/4/2007 6:57:00 PM

http://www.wibble.co.uk/tech/index.html

This is mildly amusing/disturbing:
http://www.wibble.co.uk/media/helpdesk.wav

10/5/2007 1:44:23 AM

That's corporate America for ya. That's why there's a huge niche in the market for very specialized customer service. Retailers see this and they try to make bank, but it's very hard to do a mass market for specialized services.

I did PC Tech repair for a friend's business where I did make house calls. I did it for a few months and I didn't like going to people's houses. The pay was good, but I'd rather diagnose PC's in a lab without having a customer watch and ask a question every 5 seconds. Gave me new respect towards service men such as a plummer. And I'd always run into those small little problems of where I haven't seen before and end up spending an hour to research on.

10/5/2007 6:51:02 AM

Quote :

" I have to take a little umbrage at the inflammatory headline, though I suppose the choice of words generates traffic. These people were not being gouged by geeks. They were being gouged by assholes. These are the same assholes who'd sell you a re-built carbeurator to fix a low-transmission fluid problem (it's true, I stopped this guy from doing just that to a good friend). Most "geeks" I've ever known or met often may suffer social ineptitude, but across the broad spectrum, geeks, IMO, seem the least likely to be the type to pull these ripoffs. Quite the contrary, my experience has been geeks, true geeks who really know technology are the ones far more likely to shrug and take no money for helping someone with technology. That's not to say they're not willing to make a living at it... just that they're not ripoff artists. Also the story is long on anecdotal "sting" evidence, and short on statistically significant information to substantiate the claim. My advice, ask around, ask a friend you trust, not necessarily to do the work but to give a "yea" or "nay" on any recommendations. Also, if it's a company like "geeks.com", stay away... any company pedalling technicians en-masse on the cheap is suspect... the market doesn't sustain that kind of business model... fixing technology is hard, and not cheap. Anyway, back to my thesis, this is ripoff by assholes, not geeks. "

10/5/2007 9:45:01 AM

Quote :

"That could apply to anything - For example:"

Oh, totally.

That's my point.

Don't go into big box retailers and ask 7.50/hr teenagers for expert advice. Regardless of what the product is.

10/5/2007 2:16:01 PM