Geek Squad logo

The Geek Squad is a subsidiary of the Best Buy Company and is based in Richfield, Minnesota [1]. Originally founded in 1994 by Robert Stephens, the company offers various computer-related services and accessories for residential and commercial clients. The Geek Squad works both in-store and on-site, and also provides 24-hour telephone support. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... For the defunct chain of catalog showrooms, see Best Products. ... location in Hennepin County, Minnesota Coordinates: Country United States State Minnesota County Hennepin Founded 1850s Incorporated 1908  - Mayor Debbie Goettel (elected 2006) Area    - City 18. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) The year 1994 was designated as the International Year of the Family and the International Year of the Sport and the Olympic Ideal by the United Nations. ...

The company's services are branded with an American law enforcement and geek theme. For the band, see The Police. ... The word geek is a slang term, noting individuals as a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, especially one who is perceived to be overly intellectual.[1] Formerly, the term referred to a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live...

Locations and partnerships

Geek Squad "precincts" exist in all Best Buy stores in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, and China, and exist as an onsite only service in England.^[1] 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. For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ...

Best Buy terminated its partnership with Office Depot in Orlando, Florida, where Geek Squad precincts were located in 10 Office Depot locations.^[2] The brand is also located in select FedEx/Kinko's 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 service in Greater London, the South Coast and North West areas of England, and phone and remote repair sites based at Tulketh Mill in Preston (Lancashire) and in the Stornoway Contact Centre (Isle of Lewis, Western Isles of Scotland). ^[3] Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) is one of the worlds leading suppliers of office products and services. ... Orlando redirects here. ... For other uses, see October (disambiguation). ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Logo Main office, in Acton, West London The Carphone Warehouse is (as of 2004) Europes largest mobile phone retailer, with over 1,300 stores across Europe. ...

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 black 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 have changed slightly (having clients contact 1-800-Geeksquad for all home theater services). Despite this change, Best Buy appliance installers were not incorporated under "Total Services".

Staff

Geek Squad employees are known as Agents and are assigned titles similar to those used by law enforcement authorities and the military:^[4]

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• "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 Geek 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 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 when not performing services.
• "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.
• "Mission Controllers" (MCs): Technical support Agents identifying customer issues and recommending solutions.
• "Covert Operators" (CovOps): Remote Repair Agents, specializing in handling client software problems over the phone or the Internet.
• "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.
• "Guidance Engineer" (GE): 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.
• "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, as well as provide live video conferencing scheduling and support; currently being tested at select FedEx Kinkos locations for future national roll-out.

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) refers to both an individual Microsoft certification and a broader professional certification program. ...

Uniforms and vehicles

Geekmobile in Maryland

Geekmobile in California

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. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2516x1788, 420 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Volkswagen New Beetle Geek Squad Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2516x1788, 420 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Volkswagen New Beetle Geek Squad Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 564 pixels Full resolution (1268 × 894 pixel, file size: 350 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A Geek Squad Volkswagen New Beetle specially painted to comply with California law. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 564 pixels Full resolution (1268 × 894 pixel, file size: 350 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) A Geek Squad Volkswagen New Beetle specially painted to comply with California law. ... In American English, a dress shirt is a mens shirt with a collar, a full-length opening up the front from the collar to the hem, and full length sleeves with cuffs. ... Clip-on tie. ...

The Minnesota Historical Society added the official uniform to its permanent collection in 2000.^[5]. The Minnesota Historical Society is a Minnesota instutution dedicated to preserving the history of the state. ...

Best Buy's Home theater installers and car audio installers will soon don Geek Squad installer uniforms. While they won't be shirt and tie, they will house the Geek Squad name for all Best Buy's service installations.

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).^[6] As a result, Geekmobiles in California bear an alternate color scheme consisting of an all-black vehicle with white roof and running boards. The Volkswagen New Beetle is a compact car introduced by Volkswagen in 1998, drawing heavily on the design cues of the original Beetle. ... // The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is a state agency that acts as the state police force of California. ...

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]} New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ...

Process and procedure

Geek Squad in store agents work in a "first come first serve" manner, allowing even service to those in line, regardless of the repair issue. All Geek Squad agents are non-commission and base the repair work on a flat fee system, as opposed to an hourly charge. This allows agents to perform the work without having to worry about time constraints. This can be beneficial in a situation where a user might have a difficult problem and resolving it requires a lengthy process. In contrast, if someone has a simple, easily resolved issue, the costs remain the same.

Recently, Geek Squad has added the "check repair status" feature to Geeksquad.com. This allows clients to check their computers' repair status online rather than have to call or meet with the agents in person.

Double Agents (in-home Agents) also use the aforementioned tools; however, pricing is higher for services. (typically around fifty U.S. dollars more than their in-store counterparts)

Controversy

Winternals lawsuit

In April 2006, the Geek Squad was accused of using unlicensed versions of Winternals software toolset. A judge granted a restraining order on April 12, requiring use of all unlicensed software be stopped, and forcing Best Buy to turn over all copies of Winternals software within twenty days.^[7] After settlement, a version of the Winternals software was released to be used by Geek Squad.^[8] April 2006 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → Marcos Pontes, Brazils first astronaut, reaches the International Space Station. ... A software license is a legal agreement which may take the form of a proprietary or gratuitous license as well as a memorandum of contract between a producer and a user of computer software. ... Current logo of Winternals. ... is the 102nd day of the year (103rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the defunct chain of catalog showrooms, see Best Products. ...

"Peeping Geek" lawsuit

In April 2007, a Geek Squad employee was arrested for covertly recording a 22-year-old woman in her shower with a camera phone and later placing the phone in the victim's 13-year-old sister's bedroom while on a service call. ^[9] The suspect was arrested the same day on suspicion of using a camera to view a person without their consent and of annoying or molesting a child under 18. ^[10] A civil lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, April 4th 2007. April 2007 is the fourth month of the year. ... A Sony Ericsson K800i camera phone The camera phone instantly sharing media A camera phone is a mobile phone which has a camera built-in. ...

Data theft

The 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 Geek Squad while agents installed iTunes. At one of the precincts the computer brought to, an agent copied personal photos from the client's computer. The Consumerist chose to not inform the company of the agent's activity, assuming it was an industry issue and not an isolated incident.^[11] 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.^[12] Consumerist is a consumer affairs blog run by editor Ben Popken, along with associate editor Meghann Marco, and weekend editor Carey Greenberg-Berger. ... This article is about the iTunes application. ... Porn redirects here. ... This article is about the iTunes application. ...

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 around in a car similar to the Geekmobile, respectively alluding to Geek Squad, Best Buy, and its Geek Squad cars.

• 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

This article is about the film Heathers. ... Chuck is an American science-fiction television program created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. ...

References

For other uses, see Forbes (disambiguation). ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 52nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Geek Squad
• Geek Squad Canada
• Geek Squad United Kingdom
• Robert Stephens - Founder of Geek Squad