Oleg
Bellsouth Fastaccess
Premium
join:2003-12-08
Birmingham, AL | reply to jaykaykay
Re: File stealing techs -
People who use Geek Squad do not know: Why computer Is slow,how to check e-mail,click yes on everything. |
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swhx7
Premium
join:2006-07-23
Elbonia
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to jaykaykay
JKK, I don't think I ever said or implied any excuse for these employees' behavior. It's deplorable and I don't know why you would conclude that my judgement was otherwise.
As for ignorance, etc., you may have mistaken a statement about computer knowledge for a statement about general knowledge. For the most part I don't know what's what in a car engine, for example, and my mechanic may not know the history of Indo-European languages, but it doesn't mean we're "uneducated". People just have different sets of knowledge.
Finally, I do think that figuring out how to identify and back up all the right files, or encrypt them, takes approximately as much time and effort as fixing most common computer problems. Common problems include such things as failing hardware devices, wrong or missing drivers, conflicts between programs, borked configurations. An above-average user can solve most of these by Google plus experimenting to rule out possible causes; an average user needs help with both the fix and the data protection.
If it's anything that would take more expertise, then Geek Squad won't know how either - they're not exactly engineers. They'll just use the "restore" disk. |
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jaykaykay
4 Ever Young
Premium,MVM
join:2000-04-13
Scottsdale, AZ
 ·Speakeasy
1 edit | I wasn't trying to pick your statement to death...only correct what seemed to like a very negative view. "The problem is that the people who use "Geek Squad" and similar services are almost exactly the ones who don't know how to backup or encrypt, and won't or don't have time to learn" isn't true. Would I call Geek Squad? No. Would I call someone else whom I think I should trust, after doing those things, and yes, I know how to do that and more? Yes and have. I merely thought your statement put all too many people in the same box. There are many of us out here that have to rely upon other services, many even have to call Geek Squad as they may live in a place where there is little else available, heaven help them.
If I took your statement wrong, I apologize, but be careful of how something is said. "Common problems include such things as failing hardware devices, wrong or missing drivers, conflicts between programs, borked configurations. An above-average user can solve most of these by Google plus experimenting to rule out possible causes", also rules out a huge number of us out here who have far more than the average person's knowledge but still have to take the conflicts sometimes outside their own abilities to fix. I was suggesting that those of us who are very computer literate still may not be able to do what needs to be done to fix something and are still left open to those who would steal their files, if they could. That is reprehensible and it sickens me to be in the position to have to count on those people unknowingly.
If I've misunderstood, once again, what you meant, I do apologize. I was not trying to get OT or nit pick. I was merely recognizing that I, and some others I know, for our own reasons have to rely upon others to do our fixing now when we were the ones doing the fixing in prior times. It's not a comfortable place to sit.
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JKK
Age is a very high price to pay for my maturity. If I can't stay young, I can at least stay immature!
»www.pbase.com/jaykaykay
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swhx7
Premium
join:2006-07-23
Elbonia
·RoadRunner Cable
| I probably did overstate a little.
Trying again: Customers of Geek Squad are unlikely to be reading forums like this, or getting good computer advice elsewhere. So they're three ways vulnerable: having to take the computer to a store for service, getting sketchy service at Best Buy, and in many cases being subject to the file-raiding. They'd be better off getting on-site service (as Mele notes), it would be more competent probably, but do they realize this? Maybe it would cost more and some can't afford it.
Yes this is a negative assessment, but it's hard to see how ethics and customer service will improve. Big businesses will just do whatever is profitable. Best Buy will make superficial changes and continue hiring the low-end people they can get for peanuts and not regulating them well, while presenting them to the public as real experts. And government in the US today is hardly on a trend to improving consumer protection.
The only long-run solution I can think of is user education. Maybe that can happen only by a new generation growing up with more familiarity with computers. |
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Oleg
Bellsouth Fastaccess
Premium
join:2003-12-08
Birmingham, AL | reply to EGeezer
I do not know much about hardware so If something goes with my hardware why In the world I would take my computer to the Geek Squad? |
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Kearnstd
Elf Wizard
Premium
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ
| reply to EGeezer
i must say i found a computer dumped once when i worked at a supermarket and the drives where loose so i took em home. sadly they both had crashed heads but i was gunna snoop em. though i guess its different when something is dumped as garbage vs getting service where you expect some kinda privacy.
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[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports |
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