Monday, September 15, 2008

Is you PC down? Viruses all around? Who you gonna call? GEEK SQUAD!!

Some sad stories have happy endings, there is a fairy godmother, and the good guys do win in the end. And, yes Margaret, there is a double agent from the Geek Squad who can unravel the mysteries of your PC, banish the boogeymen, viruses, trojans, worms and other evil things inside the hard drive, make the sun shine again and make the rainbow appear after the storm.

I know this is true, because my very own (well, scheduled to arrive) double agent saved the day (or I should say my desktop) on Saturday morning. He also synced up two laptops, moved files, and make all sorts of other tweeks that left the PC purring and running like the winner at the Kentucky Derby. The appointment was for "between noon and 4 p.m.," and at about 12 noon on the dot I got a call from him, saying he was in range and would be there shortly. I didn't know what to expect, since I had only seen "agents" at the store, but he certainly did not disappoint. I opened the door, and I could swear I saw rays of light emanating from behind him as he stood on the porch, black shoes shining, dressed in full Geek Double Agent attire (black pants, white dress shirt, black tie), with very cool black sunglasses to complete the picture. Calm, cool, collected, and very polite, warm, friendy smile. I knew this was going to be a pleasant experience. After talking just a few minutes I had complete confidence that this Geek knew what he was doing, and he had the great customer service skills necessary to assure me that he could take care of whatever ills had beset my PC.

During the five hours that he worked on the PC and laptops, my husband and I wandered in and out of the office, answering questions, chatting, and watching as he worked his magic. Armed with the proper tools (a portfolio of CDs) he took the PC through extensive diagnostics and tackled each problem one-by-one, taking them to the mat and scoring points each time.

What was remarkable was that he didn't seem to be "on the clock" and took time to be sure that we were completely satisfied with the outcome, and was happy to answer any questions and make modifications that would make the PC and laptops perform even better. I was impressed with his professionalism, confidence and respectful demeanor. I was amazed with his expertise and knowledge and ability to walk into a realtively unknown situation and handle it with ease. The cost of the in-home service was well worth the price, and the ease of scheduling a plus. If I hadn't procrastinated, a double agent could have been in my home the day after I visited the store (Wedneday). As it was, he was available the following Saturday.

One software package, ACT! was a new one to him, and was the only trojan standing after the service call. Still inoperable, he apolgized for not having the key to that one, but promised to do some research on it. Also, he reminded us that the work is guaranteed for 30 days, so if we need him, he's only a call away to the Geek Squad 800-number. We have also found a few files that we forgot to ask him to move (we have two user accounts on the desktop), and will be testing the 30-day guarantee this week.

Often, in home service providers are an annoyance, are in a hurry to get done and get out, are non-communicative, defensive, or know-it-alls who talk down to you. Not the Geeks from Best Buy. Either their parents or Best Buy's training taught them what customer service is all about. When we asked him about retrieving data from a hard drive had been dropped on the floor, he let us know that Best Buy has a new provider that can do a diagnostic for $59.95, and let us know if there is any hope for the data. We promptly took it to our local Best Buy with high hopes that somewhere there is a double agent (or just an agent) that can coax the data out of it. That will be my next story. Hopefully, it will have as happy an ending as this one.

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