bgl
join:2000-12-19
1 edit | [Rant] Best Buy / Geek Squad UPS
Around a year ago i had an employee go out & purchase an APC UPS from Best Buy.
I was not pleased with the condition of the box & the testing date.
I decided to return it to Best Buy and was informed they didn't have any other of that particular model.
As a 'solution' the employee came back to the counter with a Geek Squad UPS that was 'higher rated'.
This employee felt it was his job to convince me the quality of the Geek Squad UPS was not only equivalent but in fact better than APC.
While i wouldn't give APC a 100% score in quality i feel there's little question that APC > Geek Squad.
After what was nearly an argument i reluctantly took the Geek Squad UPS as an exchange. We really needed it.
Month or two down the road I connected some mostly non-crucial devices (router, external hd's) to the Geek Squad UPS. - No computer.
Fast Forward to today.
What i didn't know:
- Why our server was re-booting at random between 1-3 times a week
- The Geek Squad UPS gives no warning whatsoever for its impending doom.
Wait but.. didn't i say no computer was connected to the Geek Squad UPS??
Yes i did.
So what WAS connected to the Geek Squad UPS?
The external HD's - that were connected to the server.
So guess what re-booted at the exact same time (confirmed in logs) as the Geek Squad UPS going TU?
The re-booting situation had been going on (i hate to admit it) for months. Never been able to figure out the cause.
I suspected it was either something hardware with the server or it was somehow related the external drives.
I would've never guessed it was the Geek Squad UPS.
I pulled the POS out of the closet & took it to another room. Plugged it into another socket. Dead as a doornail. It blinks slightly when hitting the power button and nothing else.
Never emitted any type of warning/beep & still doesn't.
Now my concern is what other (wear & tear) damage it may have caused.
Bout ready to drag it around in the parking lot by its power cord.
The Model: GS-1000U |
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dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
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Phoenix, AZ | LOL. geeksquad gives us people that KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING and KNOW OUR PRODUCTS a bad name!
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screavic
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1 edit | reply to bgl
I actually had a APC UPS do this after being hit with a light surge, of course APC replaced it with no problems.
I do have geek squad and APC UPS's cause when we went to the local store to buy all our UPS's we bought all the 1300va APC ones and I decided to place the non mission critical stuff of the geek squad ones (TV (for weather), wireless antenna's, non critical servers). So far they have performed ok, not outlasting the APC one's in runtime considering they are supposed to be a higher rating.
Either way, even though I havn't had any problem with the geek squad ones with the excellent service I have had with APC, I will just wait for them to come back into stock. I don't like buying them online cause some reason companies think shipping should be like $50 for them. I paid $15 to ship my fried one back to APC on Fedex Ground, UPS wanted $20.
--EDIT-- NOT to also forget the 3 year warranty that APC gave on these products. |
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cowboyro
join:2000-10-11
Shelton, CT | reply to bgl
Aren't GS UPS's just rebranded Cyberpower? |
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Gbcue
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| said by cowboyro  :Aren't GS UPS's just rebranded Cyberpower? Yes.
I went with a Tripp-Lite from Costco for my UPS. 1000W.
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Technogeez
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said by Gbcue :said by cowboyro :Aren't GS UPS's just rebranded Cyberpower? Yes. I went with a Tripp-Lite from Costco for my UPS. 1000W. I've got TWO of them - one for the server, and one to keep the network running...
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thedragonmas
join:2007-12-28
Albany, GA | reply to bgl
you tellin me cyberpower isnt any good? wish some one told me that two months ago. i got a cyber power CP600LCD love the ability to see the current load. |
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Mr Neutron
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Gorham, ME
1 edit | reply to bgl
said by bgl :Around a year ago i had an employee go out & purchase an APC UPS from Best Buy. I was not pleased with the condition of the box & the testing date. I decided to return it to Best Buy and was informed they didn't have any other of that particular model. I have to ask: why, at that point, didn't you turn to an online source? And while I'm asking questions: Does BB imitate Fry's by repackaging returns and throwing them back on the shelf?
I know some people swear by Best Buy, but it's always been a mystery to me how those folks stay in business. Of course, I feel the same way about Fry's, too, so I'm probably in the minority when I admit to a complete failure to understand the allure of dealing with such ding-dongs.
Isn't your time worth anything with all the returns/angst/aggravation?
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sivran
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| reply to thedragonmas
said by thedragonmas :you tellin me cyberpower isnt any good? wish some one told me that two months ago. i got a cyber power CP600LCD love the ability to see the current load. I haven't had any trouble with my cyberpower UPS units. After a very bad experience with APC, I swore off them and am now gradually replacing my aging Belkins with Cyberpowers as they die. Only one left now, and I'll be sad when it goes. It's a big monster with voltage regulation, serving my quad-core machine.
I hate that Belkin has gotten out of the UPS business.
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Selenia
join:2006-09-22
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| reply to thedragonmas
said by thedragonmas :you tellin me cyberpower isnt any good? wish some one told me that two months ago. i got a cyber power CP600LCD love the ability to see the current load. LOL! You never asked me :P
Anyways, I have had good luck with APC, in general. Their lower end is kind of crappy(I have heard and can tell by lack of some critical features), like most brands I've seen. You want a model with their AVR, at least, as well as enough juice for your rig. You do get what you pay for, to an extent. |
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thedragonmas
join:2007-12-28
Albany, GA
| said by Selenia :said by thedragonmas :you tellin me cyberpower isnt any good? wish some one told me that two months ago. i got a cyber power CP600LCD love the ability to see the current load. LOL! You never asked me :P Anyways, I have had good luck with APC, in general. Their lower end is kind of crappy(I have heard and can tell by lack of some critical features), like most brands I've seen. You want a model with their AVR, at least, as well as enough juice for your rig. You do get what you pay for, to an extent. :p
i have an old APC for the other system, you HAVE to unplug the usb cable when restarting otherwise the ups goes nuts.
i owned ONE belkin. left it unpluged for a month after we moved plugged it back in and it wouldnt charge. so thats why i went with cyberpower this time around. so far im happy with it. |
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bgl
join:2000-12-19
| reply to Mr Neutron
said by Mr Neutron :I have to ask: why, at that point, didn't you turn to an online source? I needed it by the next day.
said by Mr Neutron :And while I'm asking questions: Does BB imitate Fry's by repackaging returns and throwing them back on the shelf? I have yet to be in a Fry's but i've heard a bit about it. I can only assume it's similar to (what used to be) CompUSA.. ?
The box was pretty much wide open w/a dent in it... The employee referred to it as 'unopened' .. he must have been referring to the bottom of the box..
said by Mr Neutron :I know some people swear by Best Buy, but it's always been a mystery to me how those folks stay in business. Of course, I feel the same way about Fry's, too, so I'm probably in the minority when I admit to a complete failure to understand the allure of dealing with such ding-dongs. Speaking of people that swear by Best Buy...
»www.theonion.com/content/video/s···piece_of
I don't know how they stay in business either.
I have difficulty believing Fry's is worse.
Best Buy is just a slightly better looking version of Circuit City. |
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dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
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join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
| Fry's is the king of "open box". want to make a game out of it? take some buddies with you and the first one to find a mobo WITHOUT "open box sticker" on it gets $10 from each of you.
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I bought a video card supposedly "NiB" and one of the pamphlets had a coffee cup stain on it!
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bgl
join:2000-12-19
| said by dvd536 :I bought a video card supposedly "NiB" and one of the pamphlets had a coffee cup stain on it! haha well to be fair 'NiB' is not referring to paperwork! |
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sivran
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| reply to bgl
Fry's is sort of a Best Buy, CompUSA, and Radio Shack (as in, before Radio Shack became mainly a cell phone vendor) all put together, but with lower prices--often much lower.
I don't even bother looking at other places anymore. CompUSA was the only place that occasionally beat Fry's, and they got bought by Best Buy. Circuit City was always overpriced worse than Best Buy and failed because of it. Now, it's Best Buy or Fry's, and that's a no-brainer, unless I really want to overpay for something, or want to gamble that they have something Fry's doesn't.
quote:
Fry's is the king of "open box". want to make a game out of it? take some buddies with you and the first one to find a mobo WITHOUT "open box sticker" on it gets $10 from each of you.
That'd be the first one that's not an ECS. I'd easily win that! 
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Jahntassa
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1 edit | said by sivran : CompUSA was the only place that occasionally beat Fry's, and they got bought by Best Buy Systemax, Owners of Tiger Direct. |
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dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
| reply to bgl
said by bgl :said by dvd536 :I bought a video card supposedly "NiB" and one of the pamphlets had a coffee cup stain on it! haha well to be fair 'NiB' is not referring to paperwork! NiB to me means it hasn't been touched by someones grubbies since it left the factory and yes you can tell where the anti-stat bag had been opened and resealed!
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bgl
join:2000-12-19
| Update(s)
I decided to haul the GS POS down to Worst Buy just for the hell of it. If nothing else i could toss it around in their parking lot.
After telling the story @ the return counter, looking up a phone etc. they decided they'd do an exchange
So the first thing they haul back to the counter is a CyberPower 550VA 330w brick UPS..
I said 'No way' knowing that CyberPower apparently made the GS POS that i'd hauled in there. They didn't dispute that at all & went back to retrieve another.
Next thing they haul up is an APC 550VA 330w brick UPS..
Couple minutes go by and i say look, i don't mean to point out the non-obvious but the GS POS is 550 watts not 550VA
(I forget the GS POS VA rating but it was probably 900+)
I don't know if this was an honest mistake or if they were trying (twice) to get me to 'fix' on the big 550 number instead of the actual watts.
If nothing else the visual (brick vs non-brick) difference should've been a sign.
Anyways, at this point they go back again and they haul back an APC 900VA/XS 540w.
Doesn't really make up the GS POS headache but i accepted it.
BTW the testing date on this APC is this year!! amazing! |
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Mr Neutron
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Gorham, ME | I'm guessing that, based on the saga posted above, you won't be returning to Best Buy anytime soon?
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guyver01
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| reply to dvd536
said by dvd536 :LOL. geeksquad gives us people that KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING and KNOW OUR PRODUCTS a bad name! i decided to stop shopping at worst buy when i was walking around, past the burners.. and overheard an employee telling a customer that the 25x external burner was better than the 52x internal burner, because "since its external.. it will dissapate heat better" |
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