Geek Squad

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Geek Squad

Founded	1994
Key people	Robert Stephens, CI
Industry	Services
Employees	24,000+ Agents

The Geek Squad is a subsidiary of the Best Buy Company and is based in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded in 1994 by Robert Stephens, the company offers various computer-related services and accessories for residential and commercial clients. The Geek Squad provides services in-store, on-site, and over the internet via remote access, and also provides 24-hour telephone and emergency on-site support.

The company's brand is a combination of 1960s NASA, U.S. law enforcement, pop culture and geek themes.

Contents 1 Locations and partnerships 1.1 Total Services 2 Staff 2.1 Uniforms and vehicles 3 Process and procedure 4 Controversies 4.1 Data theft 5 Geek Squad in popular culture 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Locations and partnerships

Geek Squad "precincts" exist in all Best Buy stores in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, China, and in England. They offer in-home and remote/over the phone services. ^[1][2] There are also a number of "standalone" locations referred to separately as Geek Squad Stores.These consist of full-time "Agents" who specialize in PC repair, troubleshooting, data rescue, in-home PC setup, and wireless networking.

Best Buy terminated its partnership with Office Depot in Orlando, Florida, where Geek Squad precincts were located in 10 Office Depot locations.^[3] The brand is also located in select FedEx Office locations. In October 2006, it was reported that Geek Squad would be launching in the United Kingdom in a joint 50-50 venture with Carphone Warehouse, where today it exists as both an onsite service and a remote repair service. It is now fully operational with onsite services in Greater London, the Home Counties, the South Coast and North West areas of England, and phone and remote repairs undertaken from Tulketh Mill in Preston (Lancashire). ^[4]

Recently, Best Buy partnered up with online tech support provider, SupportSpace to offer remote Virtual Agent services to its customers. SupportSpace was founded in 2006 and provides immediate online tech support services. ^[5]

[edit] Total Services

In 2007, Geek Squad officially added Magnolia Home Theater installation teams as well as Best Buy mobile Installers to the Geek Squad brand. The change was titled, "Total Services" and was aimed towards the combination of major Best Buy services into one cohesive unit. Best Buy mobile installers and Magnolia Home Theater installers have now switched from their previous grey and blue uniforms to grey and orange shirts with grey cargo pants. This change removed all "Magnolia Home Theater Installation" branding and was replaced by "Geek Squad Installer units" instead. This has now allowed Geek Squad to incorporate home theater installation as one of the in home services offered via telephone. All services previously offered are still available; however, the process to set up the appointments has changed slightly (having clients contact Geek Squad for all home theater services). Despite this change, Best Buy appliance installers were not incorporated under "Total Services".

[edit] Staff

Geek Squad employees are known as Agents and are assigned titles similar to those used by law enforcement authorities and the military:^[6]

• "Chief Inspector ": Leader of all Geek Squad agents and founder of the company. After the Best Buy/Geek Squad merge the Chief Inspector functions as the overseer of the majority of Best Buy's service departments.
• "Precinct Chief": Leader of a standalone store. A managerial position.
• "District Squad Services Manager" (DGSSM): A person responsible for the quality and results of Total Services for a group/district of Best Buy stores in Canada.
• "Deputy Field Marshall" (DFM): Deputy Field Marshals are the conduit between Geek Squad HQ and agents in the field.
• "Geek Squad Services Manager" (GSSM): A managerial position within Canadian Best Buy stores who oversees the sales, branding and operating processes of Total Services within the store.
• "Deputy Director of Counter Intelligence" (DDCI): A managerial position within Geek Squad City - Overseas teams of repair agents who repair laptops and desktops.
• "Deputy of Counter Intelligence" (DCI): Leader of the precinct, a supervisor position. This person handles most complex issues and manages other Agents. Responsible for the day to day operations of in-store locations, enforcing policy and being heavily involved in Home Office sales.
• "Certified Special Agent" (CSA): Sort of the "technical architects" they work in conjunction with the Special Agents to ensure larger scale installations retain scale and scope of project specification. Required to hold a current MCSE.
• "Special Agent" (SA): Services mostly businesses, supporting technology solutions such as VPN' s and server based environments. All Special Agents are required at minimum to hold a current MCP but encouraged to obtain a variety of certifications including CCNA, MCSA and others. This was the title of ALL onsite Agents prior to the Geek Squad acquisition by Best Buy in 2002.
• "Double Agent" (DA): Offer in-home services and some services for small businesses. The 'Double' part of the name refers to the fact that they also train other agents in the store when not performing in-home services.
• "Agent on Deck" (AOD): A store agent that is ready to assist the with in-home services when the DA is unable. When not assisting the DA they assume the duties of a CIA.
• "Counter-Intelligence Agent Senior" (CIA Sr.): An entry-level supervisory position at all Geek Squad locations (Best Buy Precincts, Stand-Alone, & Repair Facilities). A CIA Sr. would be the most knowledgeable technician. Their primary duty is to delegate work, train new agents and insure all repairs are done on time and are proper. Usually the "right-hand man" to the DCI.
• "Counter-Intelligence Agents" (CIA): These Agents are located at Geek Squad Precincts, working at the precinct counter in order to provide customers with computer services and handle most of the repair work on computers, in addition to working the register and helping Home Office in PC and service sales.
• "Counter-Operations Agent" (COA): In store Agents who handle most of the paperwork and customer communication needed to support CIAs.
• "Field-Intelligence Agent" (FIA): An in store Agent trained and versed in the latest in technology requirements and in troubleshooting, these agents are the go-between for the sales people and the precincts, working in the precinct when needed but also assisting on the general sales floor as a technical advisor to salespeople and customers.
• "Autotech" (GSA): Offer car installation services in Best Buy store. Such services include speaker, amp, car starter, and alarm installation.
• "Geek Squad Installer" (GSI): Previously Magnolia home theater installers. These agents offer in-home services for the setup and configuration of home theater components.
• "Mission Controllers" (MCs): Support Agents identifying customer issues and recommending a service to resolve the issue through an in-home or in-store service. Online service deprecated (See Covert Operators, below)
• "Covert Operators" (CovOps): Remote Repair Agents, specializing in handling client software problems over the phone or the Internet. Deprecated service as of February 10, 2009 due to financial situation in the United States.
• "Virtual Agent" (VA): A team of agents who can remotely repair up to five computers simultaneously. The client can initiate contact via http://support.geeksquad.com and does not need to be the phone for the Covert Agent to work their magic.
• "Sleeper": Any Agent who has been honorably discharged from active duty to pursue other jobs. Sleepers can be recalled to active duty at the request of the Chief Inspector.
• "Central Dispatch" (CD): Engineers who set up appointments and assist the field agents with scheduling emergency and recall services.
• "Cadet": Prior to the Best Buy/Geek Squad merge a Cadet was an initiate in the Geek Squad. After the Cadet had proven himself around the precinct he was given his or her badge and promoted to Special Agent. After the Best Buy/Geek Squad merge a Cadet was an agent in a Best Buy location who was authorized to do follow home service calls. Cadets also served to take simple calls from a Double Agent's schedule when the Double Agent was needed for a more urgent situation. The Cadet position was eliminated from the Geek Squad early in April 2007; However, due to high work loads, many still remain active.
• "Agent Jonny Utah" (AKA Black Ops): Agents who fix computers in Precincts over the internet to help alleviate and speed up the repair process. These agents are generally similar to Counter Intelligence Agents and just focus on computer repair. As they use the Internet as their medium, they are unable to do hardware repair.
• "Secret Weapon": An elite team of Agents with extensive field experience as Double Agents, Special Agents, Geek Squad Home Theater Installers, and Autotechs that provide phone and remote support to other Agents while they are on site.
• "Public Defender": Executive agents who deal with escalated customer service issues.

[edit] Uniforms and vehicles

Dress code for Geek Squad employees consists of white short-sleeve dress shirts, black clip-on ties with the Geek Squad logo pin, black trousers or black skirts, white socks or nylons, and black shoes with the Geek Squad logo imprinted in the sole. This is the uniform for all Counter Intelligence Agents (CIA), Counter Intelligence Agent Seniors (CIA Sr.), Double Agents (DA), Special Agents (SA) and Deputies of Counter Intelligence (DCI). Special Agents, Double Agents, Deputies of Counter Intelligence all receive a Geek Squad Shield after 90 days of service. Recently (2008) Geek Squad began to issue badge numbers to all Geek Squad Agents regardless of their position so that once an Agent enters a shield holding position their badge number reflects their actual service history and not simply their time of entry into a shield holding position. Counter Operations Agents (COA) usually wear black polo shirts that bear an embroidered Geek Squad logo on the chest.

The Minnesota Historical Society added the official uniform to its permanent collection in 2000.^[7].

Geek Squad Autotechs and GSIs (Home Theater Installers) wear a grey button-up work shirt sporting the Geek Squad logo on the front and optional certification patches on the arms. Matching pants or shorts are worn as well as a bright orange undershirt. These agents also have the option of wearing a grey Geek Squad hat and/or black Geeks Squad nylon jacket.

Double Agents & Special Agents drive black-and-white Volkswagen New Beetles (dubbed "Geekmobiles") with an orange-and-black company logo on the door. In the summer of 2005, the California Highway Patrol requested that the Geek Squad vehicles be repainted to no longer resemble the paint scheme of their police vehicles (a violation of Californian law).^[8] As a result, Geekmobiles in California bear an alternate color scheme consisting of an all-black vehicle with white roof and running boards.

Due to a number of financial issues, including a large number of parking tickets and thousands of dollars lost for parking garage fees the Geekmobile program was ended in Manhattan New York City Geek Squad Precincts.^{[citation needed]}

In the UK, Double Agents use the smaller, but just as geeky, Smart cars. However, due to congestion charging, agents operating in the centre of London usual rely on the London underground system.

[edit] Process and procedure

Geek Squad in-store agents work in a "first come first served" manner, are non-commission, and base repair work on a flat fee, a process designed to avoid time constraints and excessive fees. Recently, Geek Squad added a "check repair status" feature to their website, allowing clients to check their computers' repair status online. In-home services are also available from Double Agents, although they typically cost around one hundred U.S. dollars more than their in-store counterparts, as well as "911 repair service", where appointment can be made and completed in the same day, recently changed and carries a $500 emergency fee on top of the original service charge. Starting in late August 2008, some precincts began offering a similar service called "Code Orange" at a price of an additional 150 dollars, for a selection of services. When a unit is checked in for Code Orange repair, it automatically receives the highest priority, repair starting immediately with a promise of return by 5 PM the next day; failing this, work continues and the fee is refunded.

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Data theft

Consumerist.com performed an experiment where they brought one of their computers to twelve different precincts for a simple installation of iTunes. The purpose of the experiment was to identify whether Geek Squad agents would steal pornography and other files from the client when repairing a computer. Through the course of the experiment, the Consumerist.com made their computer log a record of activity while Geek Squad agents installed iTunes. At one of the precincts the computer was brought to, an agent copied personal photos from the client's computer.^[9] After the death of porn star Jasmine Grey in a car accident, an employee publicly revealed that his branch had cracked a password to scour her computer for pornography and shared them within the office.^[10]

[edit] Geek Squad in popular culture

• The term "Geek Squad" originated in the movie Heathers.

• In the TV series Chuck, the main character works as a member of the Nerd Herd at a Buy More and drives in a Nerd Herd-branded car, respectively alluding to Geek Squad, Best Buy, and its Geek Squad cars.^[11]

• In the episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft" of South Park, when Randy and the two heads of World of Warcraft take over the demo display at Best Buy, in the background is a sign saying "Nerd Patrol", similar to the logo of the Geek Squad.

• The remote agent "Johnny Utah" (mentioned above) is named after Keanu Reeves' character in the movie Point Break.

• In the TV series The Office, the tech help-desk Geek Squad's logo has appeared (logo on the wall of Toby's cubicle and a toy of the Geek Squad Volkswagen car atop a filing cabinet, in "Michael's Birthday" and "Drug Testing", respectively).

[edit] See also

• Computer repair technician

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Geek Squad
• Robert Stephens - Founder of Geek Squad* Geek Squad Remote Support
• Geek Squad Canada
• Geek Squad United Kingdom
• Geek Squad Spain
• Robert Stephens - Founder of Geek Squad