Geek Squad — Local services in Ocala

If you are going to use Geek Squad (GS) make an appointment before going to the store or you may find yourself waiting a long time. The people I dealt with were courteous and tried but were only partially successful. The admin side could be considered a rip off.

It appears individual tech experience level varies and therefore their ability to solve a problem varies. For simple things like a hard drive installation, no problem. I recommend thinking about your problem and considering alternatives. There are many businesses and individuals that sell computer services but there is no guarantee they will be better than GS and may be costly. Buying individual services from GS can be expensive too so the Total Tech Support (TTS) offering might be the best option despite some drawbacks. Read the fine print. Even if you use it just one time you’ll likely save.

My problem started out simple. The hard drive in my laptop appeared to be going bad. I could have installed a new one but I needed to save my data so I went to Best Buy and bought the Geek Squad Total Tech Support. Total cost for the support package, hard drive, virus program and other items was $223.28. They installed the hard drive and preserved my data. I was very happy. For that they get a 2 star instead of 1 star. But then things went wrong. My operating system had been Windows 7 Pro which Microsoft was no longer supporting so GS had to install Windows 10, an upgrade I would not have chosen if there was a choice. I also found out at that time (didn’t read the small print I guess) that they require you to buy a virus program. I recall they asked me what I use but I didn’t realize why. So they installed a new version of my virus program. I had just done my annual renewal a month earlier. Now the new serial number did not match what was on file with the provider and was part of a package that covered my other machines and 24 hour support. Eventually I would have to uninstall what they put on and reinstall my original version with the original serial number.

I get home and try to connect to my home network and I can’t make it happen. My network uses DSL and consists of two work stations (WS), the laptop, an internet provider modem/router and all in one printer. The work stations are not wireless capable so are connected to the network via a switch. The laptop and all in one printer operate wireless. I don’t claim to be a tech but have worked for a company that does software for over 20 years so I have some experience. If I were to call tech support somewhere I would likely have already done what levels one, two and maybe three are going to run me through. So, I do everything that should connect the network. I then have my son, who is tech smart, try and he can’t make it happen. The two work stations can see each other and the laptop can see WS1 but not WS2. So I take WS2 to GS and they return it saying everything now works fine. Well maybe at their shop but not on my network. I call and arrange to have a GS tech come to my house. That is not covered under the TTS agreement. I’m told it will be $50. Later I would find out it is $50 per machine. Even though the issue was a network one the computers are counted separately. The tech spends three hours and is unable to fix the network. He didn’t appear to do anything I or my son had not already tried. So over $150 for nothing. The fine print says you pay regardless of outcome.

Next step was to get GS on line help which is covered by the TTS. After I establish a connection with the tech she works on the problem for 2-3 hours with no success and then gives up. But now none of the computers can see each other. I ask her to put it back the way it was and she can’t. So out of desperation I upgrade the two WS to Windows 10. After running through the normal network set up procedures I was able to get back to where I was before the on line support. Whether GS can solve your problem is...

Zero stars... Ok, so I bought an ASUS 2 in 1 laptop in June. Last month, Windows 10 went through an update and wouldn't log in to my profile. I took it to Geek Squad after I couldn't resolve the problem. I had a ton of photos saved on it that I hadn't had a chance to upload to cloud yet. They had my problem fixed in minutes however they advised me my mouse pad crashed with the update and asked if I wanted to send out the laptop for repair, since it was under warranty, it would be free. So I told them to go ahead. No one said anything to me about the laptop being restored to factory settings when it is sent for repair. Obviously why would I agree to this, considering the whole reason I brought my laptop to them was to get my photos back. So when it finally made it back to bestbuy. I went to pick it up, they turned it on and thats when I realized it was going thru set up and it was reset. I told them the whole reason I brought it in was to fix windows 10 so I could have my photos and now they reset it and they're gone. The guy pretty much told me they couldn't do anything about it. I now have to take my laptop to a local computer place that recovers data and pay them, if they can even recover anything. I wouldn't recommend using geek squad. If they had told me they were gonna do that I wouldn't have had them send it out til I backed...

Being someone who is extremely knowledgeable on electronics repairs myself, I knew that coming here was going to be a problem, but they’re the only Apple “certified“ repair shop in the area, so what can you do except drive to Orlando if you want OEM parts?

Drive to Orlando, that’s what you do. These people are clueless as to what they’re doing. They’ll make you an appointment for a repair knowing darn good and well they don’t have the battery in stock, then you have to stand around in line for 40 minutes past your appointment time only to watch people who came in behind you being tended to before you, order the parts incorrectly and have to re-order the parts later causing additional delays, and then it’s their policy to destroy your screen protector so they can sell you a replacement (funny how Apple doesn’t have to do that, or anyone else.

Then there’s the amount of uneducated nonsense being spewed from the mouths of the people at the counters to the unwitting elderly customers who are at their mercy and trusting of their “expertise”, and I think I’m cured from not only ever dealing with Geek Squad, bit with with Best Buy as as a whole from here on out.

Lord please bless us with Right to...