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Best Buy Geek Squad Agents 'Going Sleeper' After Mass Layoffs (404media.co) 77

Posted by msmash from the tough-luck dept.
An anonymous reader shares a report: Best Buy is conducting mass layoffs of Geek Squad employees this week, according to former employees who lost their jobs. Workers told 404 Media they were told by the company to stay at home Tuesday and to wait for a call from their bosses about whether they had been let go. Best Buy did not respond to a request for comment, so we don't know how many people lost their jobs. But a laid-off worker we talked to said "it's definitely company wide and bigger than the cuts last summer."

[...] The r/GeekSquad subreddit, an unofficial community for Geek Squad workers, is full of posts about the layoffs, with many users posting photos of their Geek Squad badges and noting that they are agents "going sleeper," a Sleeper Cell reference meaning they've been laid off.
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Best Buy Geek Squad Agents 'Going Sleeper' After Mass Layoffs More

Best Buy Geek Squad Agents 'Going Sleeper' After Mass Layoffs

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  • Best buy is not the best place to buy and the upsell squad push out the good techs an long time ago.

    • Re:Best buy is not the best place to buy and the u (Score:4, Funny)

      by Randseed ( 132501 ) on Friday April 05, 2024 @03:37PM (#64373244)

      Best buy is not the best place to buy and the upsell squad push out the good techs an long time ago.

      On the other hand, if you want to buy massively overpriced USB cables it's the best spot in town.

      • No shocker there. Pretty sure LPT printer cables were the most marked up item in CompUSA stores.

        • Pretty close. I worked at Soft Warehouse, aka CompUSA, in the 90s and initially employees were allowed to purchase items at invoice pricing. One of the biggest surprises to me was the markup on printer and serial cables. The cables were priced at roughly $10 but employees were able to purchase them for less than $1.

          Margins on the computers (Leading Edge, Packard Bell, etc) were only about 3% because everyone was comparing prices and a $5 difference meant someone might go to Sears for a computer instead o

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by nomadic ( 141991 )

      Best Buy honestly isn't that bad for a fair number of consumer electronics -- you can get decent deals on TVs for example.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by taustin ( 171655 )

        Loss leaders are always a good buy at a big box store, as long as you can resist the high pressure tactics on the add-on stuff (and they don't flat refuse to sell you the loss leader item without it, which happens sometimes because they get in trouble if they don't make quota on add-on sales).

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by hawk ( 1151 )

        it also seems to be the only surviving vendor of car stereos, save for the itty-bitty places. Or at least the only one of any size that installs.

  • that the Goob Squad butchers. I've made more than a few bucks over the years fixing their fuckups.

    • I thought breaking the computer to the point the customer just figures it makes more sense to buy a new one, was their business model?

    • They Don't really fix computers. They do the bare minimum to get them connected to the internet and then somebody in India fixes them.

      It is weird to see them doing layoffs because the geek squad is an incredibly profitable scam. You pay somebody $15 an hour to do a couple odds and ends needed to get a computer functional enough to connect to the internet and then you pay somebody 50 cents an hour to try their hand at fixing it.

      I know PC sales are down and I know that Microsoft has gradually locked d

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      What's a typical example of one of their flubs?

      Most service in general these days is bleeped. I don't know if it's the post-pandemic labor shortage, or something else, but they ALL act like they're on meth. Covid is a key weapon from the Planet Kayoss.

      • Re:That'll be quite a few less computers... (Score:5, Informative)

        by Angry Coward ( 6165972 ) on Friday April 05, 2024 @04:55PM (#64373456)
        I had a friend concerned because their computer was overheating while gaming who made the mistake of taking it to best buy. They charged a fairly high fee to "diagnose" it then tried to sell him a motherboard and psu replacement. He brought it to me for a second opinion. whoever built it had done all the cables with zero slack anywhere, and the rear exhaust fan had come unplugged from the tension on the power wire. I plugged it back in and redid the cable tie so it had a little slack and would stay plugged this time, overheating problem went away. Someone brings you a computer thats running hot, maybe you should look at the cooling fan that isn't spinning?

      • I agree, most ma/pa computer shops and places like BB charge way too much for computer issues. I can fix most computer problems in less than an hour. I offer my repair and upgrade services for free to friends, family, and word of mouth through them. They purchase any parts if they are needed but I don't charge labor. Why? Because people are so thrilled to have an honest tech fix their system correctly that they almost always end up paying me something any way. Hell, they insist on it. If the fix is somethin

  • I went into Best Buy recently because I wanted to buy a new keyboard and actually try it before buying. Would they open a box for me? No! I could buy it an immediately return it, but I could not be bothered with the hassle.

    I can frequently get stuff from Amazon the same day, so, what is Best Buy's market? People who don't know that you can buy stuff on the Internet?

    • what is Best Buy's market?

      People to impatient for Amazon shipping.

      • People to impatient for Amazon shipping.

        Best Buy also sometimes stocks things Amazon doesn't. A few months ago I needed two Tesla J1772 Wall Connectors. Amazon didn't have them, Best Buy did.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by skam240 ( 789197 )

      Your Amazon service center must be better than mine if you often get things in one day. I ditched Prime over the poor service (plus how degraded their streaming service has become), My packages almost always took more than 2 days.

      In that vein I find Best Buy still useful on rare occasions as I can get something and use it same day. I dont like shopping there though, once upon a time I worked at my local store while going to college and it was the most miserable place to work I've ever experienced.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by mspohr ( 589790 )

        My "Prime 2 day" shipping was usually 4-5 days.
        I ditched Prime.
        If I need something I can usually find it on eBay for cheaper with free shipping (faster than Prime).

      • Must be. I get most things One Day.
        Still confused why it comes from the Tampa warehouse across the bay in of the St Pete one almost literally across the street.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by skam240 ( 789197 )

          Yeah, it really does vary by region. I even live fairly close to a major urban area, about an hour a way.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by cstacy ( 534252 )

            Yeah, it really does vary by region. I even live fairly close to a major urban area, about an hour a way.

            Same here, and I even get same-day delivery on many items. Order in the morning and get it by dinner time.

      • location is everything.

        around here, walmart is usually faster than amazon (as well as less expensive).

        hawk

      • Your Amazon service center must be better than mine if you often get things in one day.

        A day?!? I'm in a very rural community and often get deliveries on the same day. Fastest so far has been 4 hours.

      • >Your Amazon service center must be better than mine

        If the thing is in one of the local amazon warehouses, it will sometimes arrive the same day it was ordered. If not, you wait.

      • Your Amazon service center must be better than mine if you often get things in one day. I ditched Prime over the poor service (plus how degraded their streaming service has become), My packages almost always took more than 2 days.

        I have moved now, but for a few years, we got 2-day shipping without Prime. Amazon's warehouse was only a day's drive away, and Amazon hadn't figured out how to delay shipment for non-Prime customers.

        Now that I have moved across the country, we must be close to an Amazon warehouse, because same day shipping is frequently an option.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by EvilSS ( 557649 )

      I went into Best Buy recently because I wanted to buy a new keyboard and actually try it before buying.

      The only place I know that's good for this is Microcenter, if you are lucky enough to have one nearby. They usually have all the keyboard models out on display.

    • If Best Buy sells the same thing as Amazon, I give Best Buy the business simply because it is a local presence and usually I can go in and pick it out in person. There is also no worry of junk fake returned counterfeit crap.

      The prices are almost always similar. Same for Home Depot and Lowes. Amazon is now the last place I buy things if I can get it somewhere else.

      • And they all import from the same Chinese factory (so does Walmart), which is why I tend to simply have a bit of patience and order it from China via AliExpress.

        Why should I make Richard Schulze. Jeff Bezos, or a Walton richer? They're not doing anything for me, and they're downright evil the way they treat us peasants.

        I might as well give a bit less money directly to China, where it was going anyway.

  • Probably better off (Score:3)

    by skam240 ( 789197 ) on Friday April 05, 2024 @04:14PM (#64373332)

    I hate hearing about people losing their jobs and all but these people are probably better off at least in the long run. I worked on the Geek Squad before it was called that when I was going to college and it was the worst part time job I ever had because the company. Between working through most of high school and college I've had a few part time jobs as well, working at Pizza Hut in high school was significantly better.

    Still though, Best Buy pays so shitty even a brief loss of income is likely to be uncomfortable for these people in the short term so I hope the best for them.

  • "Going Sleeper"? (Score:3)

    by PCM2 ( 4486 ) on Friday April 05, 2024 @04:23PM (#64373368) Homepage

    "Going Sleeper"? I don't get it. If you were laid off, why wouldn't you say so? You're under no obligation to a retailer you no longer work for, least of all to use some kind of coded language.

    • Better than "going postal".

      • The problem is that the people who go postal tend to start at the front door, when they need to start at the top floor. The former hurts regular people just like them...

    • Today's upcoming generation is so weak they can't even handle being called "FIRED!"

      You can't ghost your boss you are fired either way...

      • Today's upcoming generation is so weak they can't even handle being called "FIRED!"

        Ok boomer I'll bite. Fired and being made redundant are not the same thing. I guess the previous generation is so stupid to not know the difference. (You, I'm talking about you. I'm calling you stupid. I feel the need to be specific here because I'm afraid you won't understand what I was saying).

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by CAIMLAS ( 41445 )

      The show "Chuck" gave people who worked in that business the air of being special secret service types. That was already long after Best Buy stopped being a useful store and was predatory, so the kind of person who works there tends to be a bit delusional and predatory.

      (Perfect intersection with the reddit demographic, tbh.)

    • Not that there are any editors, but if someone set submits a headline like this, just make it readable. I thought it meant that whoever was left still employed would either slow walk the work or call in or no call no show.

      Internal company jargon does not belong in a headline.

    • I think they're just trying to be funny and keep up the "agent" shtick until the very end. A lot of the GS procedures and manuals refer to them as "special agents" and stuff.

  • And not a single thing was lost.

  • They could have had those Geek Squad cars out there delivering stuff.

  • "Stay home and wait for a call as to whether you've been laid off or not."

    I'll make it easy for you fatfuck. I quit.

    P.S. I have your customer list.

    • Not a smooth move, ExLax. If you're fired or laid off, you're entitled to a number of things starting with getting your last paycheck within 24 hours, getting Unemployment Compensation and possibly other benefits. If you quit, you get your last paycheck when everybody else does and you're not eligible for Unemployment or some of those other benefits. About the only good thing about quitting instead of getting fired is that warm glow of self-righteous pride, but that doesn't pay the bills.
  • The only time I go there, is typically on a weekend, if I have to have something now, and there is no other option.

  • ....nothing of value was lost.

  • welp, they should rename it "OK buy"

  • I guess those recent jobs numbers are going to get a rude awakening on the next update.

  • Best Buy has been in a downward spiral ever since physical media disappeared.

    This is what mostly killed both Circuit City (DIVX really) and Fry's.

    The only one I know that is still doing ok is MicroCenter and they have gone more the "geek" route, with desktop components and things like Raspberry Pis and Arduinos. They also haven't focused on TVs, which you can buy much cheaper at Costco, Sam's Club, or even Amazon.

    The "center" of Best Buy (where the media used to be) has become almost like an "as seen on TV"

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