CBS 5 Computer Repair Investigations

[FirebrandNIRE]

The biggest virus I had on my PC was Windows XP :-)

Bought a Mac Problem Solved.

[FirebrandNIRE]

What was with the white coats? lolol

[beermandan420]

Finally a news story that is worth a damn! I work at a computer repair shop (I DONT SET THE PRICES I JUST KEEP MY HEAD DOWN AND FIX SHIT) but i can tell you, that the hour it takes me to do a hard drive format, then windows reinstall is not worth the 175 dollars it costs.

[MojaveDan]

The idiots at Geek Squad create more unnecessary computer repair calls for me than just about any other computer repair service combined. I don't know what Geek Squad does to qualify their technicians, but I'm sure sticking their thumb up their ass might be an important part of their job description for working at Best Buy.

[nkiddswiftkidd]

2:53 - that part was hilarious lol, Bunch of joker's.

[persevere67]

download system mechanic for free, it will take a brick and turn it into better than brand new condition

[Mateo92s]

fuck this you will bust the small time business but the won't do it to best buy FUCK THIS

[Omego2K]

Go to places you trust. Mom and pop stores are usually better and sometimes won't even charge you for simple issues hoping that you'll come back when you have a real one next time. Just to note: Even though the fix is simple, it still needs to be diagnosed. Although this issue should be resolved within a 15 minute time frame from the time troubleshooting begins.

[fkashem1986]

These people are just dumbholes. Not supporting the a-holes @ bestbuy and such, but this happens with ALL specialty service. For example, have a women take a car to Jiffy Lube, and they'll find a million things wrong with it. It's about 10% when a macho man takes the same car to Jiffy Lube. You just have to use some common sense... ie check online reviews, get multiple quotes etc..

And in this day and age, it's not acceptable to not know what a "spyware" or "Virus" is and how it works.

[cmedeiros17]

At 1:08 is why I hate the news -- so tacky.

[crazybuizel]

An easy fix - download and burn the Ubuntu "try-me" disk, grab your data, then after you grab your data just do a system recovery. :/

[MrManuelibarra]

i remove virus for 5 buck or free. like i had a computer that was so infected took me like 2 hr just to clean it up so i charge 5 bucks. and if it take me only like 30min or less i do it for free :D

[aznlilhero]

imagine if you worked for one of those bad companies what could you possibility say LOL

[excite236]

i do repairs voluntarily for my friends.

if you think you are paying too much for computer repairs make friends with a geek, take them out for lunch or something.

[blahinthe]

Lab coats? That is just plain scary.

[excite236]

@blahinthe and her poor computer is having a heart attack is funny

[drunkattheparty]

Wow! I am a computer technician out of Indianapolis, Indiana and I am completely shocked that technicians are taking advantage of people. I can save data and fix any problems for around $50.00! What a bunch of fools. (317) 724-5215

[RuskiKurgan]

Just remember that when you go to a computer repair store that physical damage to the HDD is rare, CPU burn outs are even rarer and motherboard damage is the rarest. Always get a second opinion and remember that Hard Drives are meant to be fault tolerant, meaning you can always retrieve data even if there is damage to the drive.

[dreammaker182]

There should be a license requirement to fix computers and scam artist like Geek Squad should loose their licenses.

[salsatangoswing]

@dreammaker182 There is, it's called the A+ certification. Geek squad doesn't require an A+ cert. 

[WanderingArtificer]

@salsatangoswing

a certification doesnt mean anything, it means they read a book and took a test, and thats all. real world experience is 10 fold to what a certification is.

[codeythesilent]

@WanderingArtificer

You need degrees and certifications to get a professional job, dipshit.

[WanderingArtificer]

@codeythesilent

a degree, yes... less so a certification. real world experience will take you a hell of a lot farther than a piece of paper saying you passed a test about computers.

[codeythesilent]

@WanderingArtificer

You really think so? Ok, try getting a decent paying job as a software engineer without a certification in C++ or some other language. Certifications are very important. In fact, most respectable computer jobs won't even hire you if you don't have your A+ certification.

[WanderingArtificer]

@codeythesilent

So lets pretend you are hiring someone for a job. Since you used a programing language, we'll go for a programmer. Would you rather hire someone who can SHOW you programs they created and take you through the logic of making it? or someone who has a piece of paper that says they read a book and took a test?

I can say with 100% certainty that 4 years experience on the job will get you hired faster than no experience and a test certificate.

[codeythesilent]

@WanderingArtificer

Again, if you go to someone like let's say Microsoft, they will ask you about your certifications and degrees. Go to some place like a home-brew game designer and you ask to work with them, they'll just see what you can do. Compare salaries, and you'll see what a certification can get you. If you want someone to hire you based on quality of work, ask the government. Hack the pentagon and they'll tell you life in prison or work for them. Now that would be a HUGE paycheck...

[codeythesilent]

@WanderingArtificer

(continued) ... but that would be the only exception I could think of for getting a good job without previous certifications/degrees.

[WanderingArtificer]

@codeythesilent

really, the ONLY exception? would you rather hire a computer repair tech who can show you his process of troubleshooting and getting an issue fixed without resorting to formating it and starting over?

Let's not lump college degrees into the same category as a certification.

Unless its an extremely specialized certification (CCNA, various Novell, Windows Server), then something like A+ will only help you get a foot in the door a bit more.

[codeythesilent]

@WanderingArtificer

If I were running a PROFESSIONAL business, I'd ask for degrees, certifications specific to the job they want, and an example of their work. 'nuff said.

[WanderingArtificer]

@codeythesilent .

and you would have every right to do that. but ask any employer if they would rather have an experienced person with no certification or someone with a certificate and no experience (not talking degrees here, assuming they have this already), and every time they'll say experience.

[excite236]

@salsatangoswing its an educational certification not a business related licence

[wallysboyfriend]

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

[kopele578]

Last laptop i have repaired,got blue screens because of the WiFi drivers,so i run in safe mode uninstall/install new drivers and and basiclly i have the work done in 20minutes,so i thought think I'm not going to charge € 40 for 20 minutes work...So i did some software maintenance like old files compressed restore points defrag the HD and make a buckup just in case...I am not that t kind of people to charge 100 200€ for crappy work i do the thigs the right way thats the way people should work...

[AryanBlade]

The first thing a good tech should have done is to look in the BIOS and see if the CD drive was being recognized by the POST. If the CD drive is not recognized, or listed in the BIOS, then there is a hardware problem and the next step is to open the case and check the cables and jumper settings.

It's very rare for an IDE ribbon cable to work itself loose. Any good tech would have known it was a setup!

[MarkuPro]

i was around 15-17 y old when my pc window xp stop working and just to save some cash i open my pc first before deciding to take it to bestbuy and the first thing i notice there was a lose cable inside and i figure where to connected and just like magic my pc start working again lol

[wtf0804]

I have that same dell



[retart441]

thats why im saying we should start a company something legit. 

[LG15Fan]

It's not so much fraud as it is these techs do not have the skills to be techs. I was a computer tech years ago and consistently came across "techs" that felt the only way to solve the problem was a complete format for software issues. And replace parts for hardware issues. Laziness is also part of the problem. But downright fraud? I disagree.

[omega1919191919]

@LG15Fan yeah I feel ya with that but as soon as they saw that it could not find the operating system they should have automaticly knew it was the hard drive I mean come on its basic but maybe that just me because im a gamer and know my way around a computer I build my computers myself I would never buy a built computer from any site

[RuskiKurgan]

@omega1919191919 You should always check BIOS to make sure the hardware is being detected but if the OS is not found it could be a number of software or hardware related issues, such as the Master Boot Record being corrupt or even deleted, it could be a damaged boot sector or partition where the boot loader is kept. I've even seen viruses inject arbitrary scripts into the boot.ini file where the boot loader options are configured which thus caused the OS to not load.

[turrauko]

3:00 - To be fair, the computers were not new out of the box. The potiential for viruses and spyware is still there as not every Antivirus Suite will find all of them. Otherwise very good detective work.

[pyrotickenny]

DONT EVER REPAIR WITH GEEKSQUAD THEY WILL JUST MAKE IT WORSE

[xzample77]

That's ridiculous Best Buy should be ashamed. If you don't know what the heck is wrong with it just say so, this pisses me off.(excuse my language)

[gregtestagent]

Knowledge certainly is power. I'm constantly educating myself about computer software and hardware failures so I don't get ripped off by charlatans such as these.

[likesspice73]

tip: best buy is always a rip off, no matter what you buy. best buy doesnt care about losing a customer to their scams because they feel there are still customers to be scammed out there.

[khon123456]

Best buy?!?! wth Bad buy*** and isnt scamming in real life illegal

[1ofmeNlotsofU]

GEEK SQUAD SUCKS

[Xjak]

What an abuse of knowledge and trust. Commerce and Honesty just don't go together.

[lodevijk]

Exactly the same applies to cars.

[pellaman19]

people just suck or dont know what they are doing, no matter what business you work in. i work for geeksquad and wouldnt do something stupid like that.

[nemesisnick66]

i just go to google

[peterFans]

Best Buy = Best Price???

[brotheryang]

I dont like computer repair services but as someone who builds and repairs computers. it sucks when your friends and family know they get free tech support.

[dp535i]

if someone called me to fix their computer and i discovered it was just a cable disconnected, i would probably only charge them gas money. it only takes 5-10 minutes to diagnose that problem.

Honesty is a virtue!

[rahidelvi]

Computer repairs can be a huge ripoff. Some are fortunate to have a friend or two who 'knows computers'.

[Chewu]

dr geeks could have found some virus' depends on what software they used. but they did charge waaay too much

[Esona]

Sounds framiliar. Friend of mine took her computer to Futureshop to get it fixed. She was having problems booting into windows (blue screen of death on bootup). They "diagnosed" it with a dead harddrive (saying it wouldn't even spin up). They apologized for the data loss and charged her about 60 bucks. I got the computer and fixed it with Notepad. It works fine now. I got all her data backed up without issues.

[juma626]

I worked at Best Buy and they rip you off big time. They would rather you buy a new computer then fix it. They charged one guy there 300 bucks for finding a lost icon.

[ZoneTechProductions]

I find out my problem first if I can't fix it myself, I just go to a local repair service tell them what's wrong MYSELF and they will fix it.

[coffeeandsugar20]

Apple computers don't turn sour. That's the thing

[leeV18]

Serious, if you want a computer, look on craigslists. You'll be surprise to see how many decent computer there are on craigslists for cheap.

A decent Computer would have at least:

- 40 or 80 GB Hard disk Drive.

- 512 MB of Ram.

- 2 GHz Processor.

- 64 or 128 MB Video Card

[ProfesserMoriarty]

@leeV18 That sounds fucking terrible

[jet62095]

It's not best buy that's the problem. It's geek squad. I had a dead 160GB hard drive on my old windows laptop, and it had a geek squad warranty, and they replaced the hard drive fine, and they made me pay $550 for data backup and would not return my machine until I paid for the data backup.

[mrctucker21]

i work for best buy they are all about there customer service and i had the money to pay for my hard drive who in the right mind would cry about it. best buy hires it techs as well as geek squad to train you guys are losers if you cant afford.

[jacksawild]

Perhaps 'ordinary people' should RTFM and stop whingeing

[CommunistSquirrel]

I think the newscasters that report these stories know just as much about computers as the "technicians" Best Buy and other tunafish companies employ

[Eudevie]

You actually could scan your computer for viruses and still miss some. it depends on the scanner you use. Even moreso if the virus is very new.

same with adware. Ad-aware gets what Malwarebytes doesn't,and visa-versa.

[lcvd1]

These computer doctors should have called the customer to inform her that the computer had viruses and if she wanted to clean it and how much. They were there to fix an issue, but since it was easy they wanted to justify it with a scan for viruses.

[warmoviesboy]

wow I'm 16 i build and repair so many computers. IF someone offers you to repair your PC for $ 300- $400 you could buy a better PC with that and tell best buy to suck it.

[slifergold]

most of the scammer is the big fat motherfucking nerd!!!

[Vargas1349]

This pisses me off, there are guys out there who seriously work hard and study to become good technicians and we get bad reps due to clowns like these. I would never charge anyone $300 to fix a PC, if the damage (if ever) amounts to that munch I would tell them to buy another PC, and help them find one at a reasonable price that suite there needs. With all due respect to Geek Squad and other repair centers, hire people that know what they are doing and are honest!

[Tron1999]

Haha, I was expecting Chris Hanson to come out! -Any- place with gimmicks will rip you off.

[Iori400]

@Tron1999

Why don't you have a seat?

[Suorrel]

Knowledge is power alright...to screw people over.

[SovietDouchebag]

Goddammit, the fucking puns are annoying

Sour apple

Megabtye from a mega bill

[jazztrio2008]

what do you mean so annoying.. I won't pay 300.00 to anyone to fix my computer, I won't! in fact I could get a new one for that price. plus if its one little thing you shouldn't charge that much and the geek crew didn't look professional..

[damnallgoodnamesgone]

your annoying

[888kermit]

this is theft

[888kermit]

i hate geek squad. they wer charching me 400 dollars to remove a virus

[crowtservo]

@888kermit They should call Geek Squad what it really is: Money Squad.

[threewing]

@888kermit

I can remove viruses for free...

Like reinstall windows?

[junkiepixels]

they should call me, I'll fix that problem for $20.

fuck geek squad

[elchessboy0wnzuagain]

no wonder the economy is down..damn bro..just do that shyt for free if ur only gon charge 20 bucks... u must SUCK@

[thedoctor01101111011]

Yeah let's see what happens when you're paying your own bills after you move out of your mummy's basement... probably in another decade or so.

So stay in school, pay attention in English class son.

[elchessboy0wnzuagain]

uhh i dont get it

[thedoctor01101111011]

People pay good money for technical expertise, but giving it away will do nothing for you when the your bills come due.

There is, of course, a difference between a fair price & just repugnant "fees" that so many companies would have us pay.

Me, I'd have done gratis if they've brought me a good cup of coffee. It would've done *much* more good in the long run via referrals.

[prototype21]

Same thing w. car repair, just add a extra 0 to the charging fee.