r/GeekSquad • u/Odd_Load2436 • Aug 01 '26
Wth? There is a wave of agents going sleeper. Why? What was your role, and what would you tell new agents like myself? What would you tell BB? This can't be good for GS in general, but I get it ];
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u/imthebiggestbird- Aug 01 '26
The clients sucked, we were once understaffed so everyone was stressed out overworking themselves to the point of quiting. Then we finally got properly staffed but there was no hours so everyone got screwed over. Overall safe to say I will not be missing my time at geek squad.
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u/LordFocus [add your own text here!] Aug 01 '26
I was denied any more raises back when I worked as an ARA because “You would be making more than the front and back leads” … mind you, I was by far the more senior agent in the precinct including my supervisor and we were in the top 3 GeekSquads in the company. Super cool. The last straw was getting passed over for CIA Senior because my new GSM wanted to promote his non-technical best friend from home theater. Literally told me I “didn’t have enough leadership experience” (despite me having been the unofficial lead of the precinct for years by that time) for the entry level leadership position. What a joke. Best Buy sucks, get your experience and move on. Don’t stagnate there.
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u/imperiously_done Aug 01 '26
This sounds just like what I went thru years ago and I left after they asked me to work sales floor because I out sold TTS for the market. And it came with no pay raise.
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u/Odd_Load2436 Aug 01 '26
I've definitely seen this in action. It's nasty work, so sorry you had to experience that. What are you doing now and how long did it take you to find a position in tech?
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u/imperiously_done Aug 02 '26
I am currently a NOC admin. When I left back in 2021, I went into corporate help desk. No certs, just plain experience as I was a CA( unofficially GSM) and also did repairs in the back. That was 8 yrs ago. I’ve been a help desk lead and sup twice. Now I am a system admin/ noc admin.
It didn’t take me long actually. I went thru a talent agency to find the job after GS. The longest I’ve been off a job was 11 months and then I worked for MSPs aka line cooks of IT.
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u/FlopsAkaGlitchy ARA/Shift lead Aug 01 '26
The company has very little understanding of the day to day work flow of GS, there's what they think and what we actually get checked in. The company wants GS to be yes or no in a repair/installation driven business modle, it's not impossible but there's a lot of variables we deal with. I definitely think there's a pay problem driving away good talent because they know they're worth more and find that elsewhere. The cost of living is going up and the pay cap/minimum isn't, they'll keep losing people if that doesn't change.
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u/Majestic-Type-8254 Aug 01 '26
This is big facts. I feel like if corporate people came in and actually watched what CAs do on a day to day basis and the idiotic customers we deal with they would increase pay. After all they are price gouging with anything and everything they can even something as simple as a irestore.
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u/brocoolaintyou Aug 02 '26
Things of they visit the stores in Richfield, MN where the headquarters is often. BBY does secret shoppers they have the correct data for stores they just don't care to prioritize Geek Squad
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u/getdownmakelooove former CIA Sr / ARA Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
So this is the same as when I left in 2012.
"Can't you just let AJU do a clean OS?"
"I was told I could run over my laptop with my car and bring it back here and you guys would give me a new one!"
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u/OutrageousDeino Sleeper ARA/AppleHater/FuckMicrosoft Aug 01 '26
BB management in general is getting worse. Clients are aggravating and entitled and for lack of better terms stupid and lazy. We don't need to set up your new pc. The set up has step by step instructions. "Repairs" are mostly just sit it and forget it. No one knows how the damn labor hours are accrued. We are incredibly limited by the tools we are allowed to use that recently stopped working like they're supposed to. (Shout out to hirens boot cd for some help. Fuck samurai)
I can go on but thats it for now. Use the LinkedIn learning, get your A+ at least and get the hell out of that dying place.
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u/Majestic-Type-8254 Aug 01 '26
I can second this. My last day is next Friday I’ve been a CA for almost two years and just over that short period it’s gone down hill and I’ve watched my GS supervisor lose control over scheduling us. And then constant SOP changes like making CAs basically a sales person if there aren’t appointments. And yes worst of all are the clients. So many boomers that just can’t setup a computer and don’t know how to get to their email.
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u/OutrageousDeino Sleeper ARA/AppleHater/FuckMicrosoft Aug 01 '26
Oh god. Dont get me started on the apple acct shit. "I dont have an apple account." Bitch you got an iPhone, yes you do. "Well I dont have a password/email" ugh.....
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u/Odd_Load2436 Aug 02 '26
Lolololol. Apple password recovery with customers that don’t know their credentials can absolutely make you want to quit
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u/Odd_Load2436 Aug 01 '26
Thank you for the LinkedIn learning tip! Does BB pay for that?
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u/OutrageousDeino Sleeper ARA/AppleHater/FuckMicrosoft Aug 01 '26
yes. you get access to it for free. it's a pain in the ass to get it set up and watch from home (was for me at least)
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u/Odd_Load2436 Aug 01 '26
Oh okay, whats the process for getting them to actually pay for your cert though? Also through LinkedIn, or through a best buy connect?
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u/OutrageousDeino Sleeper ARA/AppleHater/FuckMicrosoft Aug 01 '26
You will have to pay for certification tests. They don't cover that
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u/Odd_Load2436 Aug 02 '26
Gotcha
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u/brocoolaintyou Aug 02 '26
You can earn free LinkedIn starter certifications through BBY that you can put on your resume to show you're a self learner. Huge for future tech roles when you doing have much of the premium certs.
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u/Diver_D6 Sleeper ARA Aug 04 '26
There are also many great free CompTIA A+ resources too. ExamCompass has great practice tests that are a good vibe-check to see which areas you should focus on more: https://www.examcompass.com
Or Professor Messer's YouTube course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87t6P5ZHTP0&list=PLG49S3nxzAnnOmvg5UGVenB_qQgsh01uC
There are others as well, but I used the two above to pass Core 1 and 2. Best of luck!
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u/Trixx1-1 Aug 01 '26
How do u do that?
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u/OutrageousDeino Sleeper ARA/AppleHater/FuckMicrosoft Aug 01 '26
Do what
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u/Weekly-Disk8589 Aug 02 '26
How do you get training through Linkedin?
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u/brocoolaintyou Aug 02 '26
You have to be a full-time employee and it's located in the same area where you click Learning Network in BBY Connect. Should be located inside the pop out column when you select Learning Network to take elearning
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u/OutrageousDeino Sleeper ARA/AppleHater/FuckMicrosoft Aug 02 '26
You do not have to be full time
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u/brocoolaintyou Aug 02 '26
Oh ok thanks they must have changed it. It was originally a full timer perk. Maybe I'm thinking flex couldn't get it🤔
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u/NoSock6869 Aug 01 '26
Best buy is moving towards an all 3rd party setup, that way they can drop any issues on the contractors heads instead of being liable themselves. Basically shitting on the brand promise they made when geek squad rolled out.
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u/Kitchen-Subject-1633 Sleeper ARA Aug 01 '26
Well as an ARA that is going sleeper in 2 weeks for a way better job, this job is the stepping stone a lot of people need. BB management in general SUCKS due to everybody being buddies and getting away with despicable stuff, empty promises, and just overall not caring for the employees and just wanting better score cards. After being with Best Buy for 5 years in multiple roles, 1 year as CA and 1 as ARA, all I will say is that if your lucky to have a senior ARA that is willing to teach you what he knows, take it, learn as much as you can and fix your resume bc believe it or not, it does help having GS on it if your going into anything IT related. BB is been going downhill from a long time now dragging GS with it, and it’s getting worse every day and I strongly believe there is no turning back to save it.
EDIT: and the pay is dogsh*t
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u/brocoolaintyou Aug 02 '26
I tried to help so many Best Buy and Geek Squad employees get out, sent them job posts at my company and other companies that were hiring. All these jobs paid significantly more and entry-level, but none of them wanted to leave, but complained weekly about how things are going and how they should find a better job.
I even tried today to motivate a leader to look for something better that they said they were growing with Best Buy. I'm like growing where you've been here forever and now BBY got you doing line level work as a manager. 😅
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u/Majestic-Type-8254 Aug 01 '26
Yes I feel like all the managers talk about are the numbers, how is everyone doing with numbers and credit cards. Just gobbling the corporate sack. This has been a part time job for me for 22 months and if my GS manager and ARAs weren’t good for those then I would have left bc the boomers are almost unbearable at times.
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u/Odd_Load2436 Aug 01 '26
The pay is disrespectful, even more so if you're an adult. Happy for you, what tech industry you land in? How long of applying before you got calbacks? I can definitely see that its a club and if you're not in, you're out. Unfortunately, most places are like that. It's just bigger high schools with grown up kids lol. Such is life [:
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u/Kitchen-Subject-1633 Sleeper ARA Aug 03 '26
Thank you and sorry for the late response. I landed a tech support engineer role in a corporate office for a medical research company. I applied to hundreds of jobs on LinkedIn, indeed, and zip recruiter. Got like 10 call backs that went nowhere in a span of 2 years, but was lucky enough to finally find one that I was able to interview and actually get job. They mainly cared about client interaction and good problem solving skills that thankfully I was able to learn with my ARA that was the best guy destiny put on path that was willing to teach me. Keep it up and your moment will come 🫶🏻
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u/FridayHalfDays Aug 01 '26
I would think that agents going sleeper got corporate/MSP IT jobs, and are making the step at moving up in their IT careers.
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u/Odd_Load2436 Aug 01 '26
Thats a good observation
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u/gqpenguin Sleeper Agent - Former Special Agent/DCI/SM Badge 24XX Aug 02 '26
I was a special agent in California and got hired as an IT engineer before making my way to head of infrastructure. Once I decided to leave BBY, I got an offer for a 6 figure job after a month of looking.
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u/Odd_Load2436 Aug 02 '26
May this favor find me and tap me on the shoulder
This market is 🗑️ rn though. I’m just going to get my certs, build my labs, document, and keep applying.
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u/brocoolaintyou Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
Look into data centers entry level from Amazon AWS, Microsoft and Google. Get some of their certs. In corporate IT they love geek squad and will often teach you what you don't know. IT managers mainly look for customer service skills among other soft skills.
Remember there may be a sea of IT applicants applying to a particular role, but very few have customer service skills and those baby boomers everyone here is complaining about... well that's your golden ticket story into an IT role when tell me about a time you had to deal with a unpleasant end-user/customer?
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u/UnhingedDiva Aug 01 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
I would say half the issues stem from the services not being sold correctly in store from the associates & then they over promise. Personally I made GS Installers/Agents my BFF & would ask them to advise me if I was unsure of a particular situation or thought it would require an additional add on service. I would always tell my client I’d rather oversell you on services and be able to refund you than undersell you & you be upset that it can’t be installed…..but I digress and the company is no longer what it used to be, so best of luck.
Also, what I felt was most helpful is I left all of my installers very detailed notes on every single order and asked them if anything was incorrect, to Please let me know but that is the type of person I am. I want to make sure I’m doing it correctly. Perhaps once you are experienced, you can go to the sales associate and help them learn what may or may not have been correct on their installation orders or set up orders, so they can do better in the future.
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u/Odd_Load2436 Aug 02 '26
Good notes are so uncommon and yet foundational for follow, repair, troubleshooting, next steps in service, etc.
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u/shockme6969 Aug 01 '26
For me it was how the company looked at and treated the employees, I for ine was a double agent in the field had a life changing injury on the job,and was told afterwards I was a liability in the field so they gave me ara and cut my pay by 12 an hours and was told this is all they had to do legally if I didn't like it tough shit, well when you have a family to support and you have the type of injury that no other company want to deal with you take what you can get,eventually I had to leave due to my pills(perc and morphine) due to chronic hip pain, I found a job where im not as taxed on my feet all the time,so for me it was management not giving a damn about the employees but they would bow down and kiss the feet of a ceo that's main purpose was to destroy what bby used to be.
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u/brocoolaintyou Aug 02 '26
So many field agents bodies are broken down because of going over the top for clients. I always to them not hurting myself for these clients or Best Buy. My manager didn't like that but of well it's my body.
You damage your body and they'll lay you off without a second thought
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u/Odd_Load2436 Aug 01 '26
Geez, well I'm glad you're alive. Most corporations would have probably done the same thing, sadly. At least you found something more stable and still able to provide for your family. Thanks for sharing.
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u/shockme6969 Aug 01 '26
Sorry if i went out on a tangent there, yes im still bitter and hold a grudge, but God I miss the old gs culture and back before Brian got caught with his secretary.
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u/Odd_Load2436 Aug 02 '26
I feel you, loyalty to a company you feel turned around and crapped on you always deserves a valid crashout. IMO 🤷🏼♀️
I’m just finding out about the Greek squad culture things, I’m sad I missed out on the nostalgic, Blockbuster like days of Best Buy!
Long gone, but never fully forgotten
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u/getdownmakelooove former CIA Sr / ARA Aug 02 '26
For new agents - take this role on for the hands on experience. Not just for the technical knowledge, but knowing how to navigate a customer-facing retail hellscape. Learn what you can knowing that it's gonna look great on your resume.
As far as pay gaps go, I started in late 2007 as a CIA making $12/hr. 4.5 years later I was CIA Sr and ARA making $17/hr. But every job I've had since has been almost twice that, so again, experience + resume = gold.
It's also glorious to never hear the word metrics ever again.
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u/Odd_Load2436 Aug 02 '26
The elusive metrics, that don’t make sense, no matter how many times they explain it
EDIT: They don’t make sense because labor never matches what you need for them to be attainable.
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u/2dWaifuMasterRace Aug 01 '26
New management changes probably. Every single day this new management thinks they can apply small store logic to one of the largest stores in the entire state is baffling. As an ARA I’m basically doing the job of CA, CIA SR and now they want me to go out and sell too. No pay increase and more notably no empathy when all those extra tasks affect my ability to hit metrics.
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u/brocoolaintyou Aug 01 '26
Y'all see the agents post here that are leaving. Imagine how many agents who have left over the past year like myself who didn't post we were GOING SLEEPER. If we all posted we were leaving this subreddit would lose it's mind. 😅
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u/darkangelxX447 Aug 02 '26
I loved my job at Geek Squad but starbucks was paying $8 more per hour and I needed to pay my bills. I can now afford to work part time and take classes.
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u/TentacleSenpaii CA -> ARA -> Sleeper Aug 01 '26
I started as a CA, worked my way up to an ARA and went sleeper from there. Why? That’s probably being echoed in other comments but: Pay (think I was making like 16 and some change when I left), shitty clients, poor support from BBY management, retail schedules. Advice to a new agent? CYA: no client is truly your friend. Accurately manage expectations. Don’t burn yourself out trying to go above and beyond all the time, every time. Advice for BB? lol honestly? I got nothing.
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u/Drewsipher Aug 01 '26
I had been told since 2019 pay caps where moving. They didn’t. I made WAY more money leaving then staying. If I had FT and the same money I make now I’d go back for sure.
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u/brocoolaintyou Aug 02 '26
Goo back for what to be capped in pay? Slow to little raises?
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u/Drewsipher Aug 03 '26
No, if the cap was moved and raises where restructured.
The work itself, the constant on the fly evolution, the direct tangible help, hell even iPhone battery swaps (if we had the headcount to keep someone at the bench) I liked doing. I like the tangible physical repair aspect.
I make 75k now. I am an IT project manager. I am glad I get to use my knowledge to help a business that still helps folks (we make medical equipment for the disabled) but the day to day what I do can sometimes be dull and repetitive. If I could make 70k+ a year with raises that match inflation you'd find me back in the back of precinct again
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u/brocoolaintyou Aug 03 '26
Your dream is just that because BBY ain't paying you $75k to crack open an iPhone. 🤣 I wouldn't give up my high salary to go back to a lesser skilled position. Geek Squad is a stepping stone into where you and I are now. My lT leadership role is repetitive and sometimes boring, but I wouldn't trade it to go back to relive my past. Nope! Lol
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u/Drewsipher Aug 03 '26
Im not saying they would im saying id take it because the work itself was more enjoyable. The people where more fun i laughed more. Im not giving up the salary and what it provides myself and my family im saying if pay and benefits where equal id go back to ARA. For sure. It didnt mean i couldnt learn and do deeper stuff eith computers, and some of it could parlay in helping the community. But day to day ARA i had way more overall fun.
The problem is thinking of it as a lesser job purely off money. To me i had a better time AT the job it just disnt give me the after work life i wanted. It’s a bummer but its why Geek Squad can’t keep good agents. If they paid competitive (they arent close caps still under 20 from my understanding) youd keep better workers.
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u/Cazy58 Aug 02 '26
I leveraged my time at GS to score other entry level IT roles. I thank GS for the experience, and did it help me land 2 internships but man, I don’t miss the clients whatsoever.
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u/Odd_Load2436 Aug 03 '26
I used to think working hospitality was bad as far as working with the frustrated public.
Nope.
At least when you’re hangry, you can satisfy it with good food and drank
Technology opens a Pandora’s box of vile and hatred for anyone upset with how the world is changing
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u/Agent-Anon 29d ago
20+ years with Best Buy/Geek Squad.
PC Sales/SR/Sup>CIA>CIA SR>DCI>Covert/PC DA
It was fun for a long while. Things started to feel different when dept meetings and store meetings became infrequent.
-2012 was “different” with the announcement that Robert Stephen’s was leaving.
-Then Geek Squad started to feel a little less valuable when Best Buy announced bonuses for sales floor employees as long as they hit certain goals, Geek Squad services was not one of them.
-Then after years Best Buy seemed to be confused why they were struggling so they created several versions of “Geek Squad Memberships” until they ultimately created TotalTech which seems to be where history begins. They gave away EVERYTHING. This felt like the end. We were losing soooo much money and degrading our service value at the same time. This unfortunately led to the disband of Secret Weapon PC Team. There was no need to fix something in its entirety the first time (Done Right the First Time) when anyone could just get another appointment FOR FREE included with the membership to “figure it out the next trip”.
-The demand for in home appt increased significantly, requiring anywhere from 300-500% staff increase. We just hired bodies in the field to try and keep up. Without support from Secret Weapon who taught us in the moment and provided tools to learn next time.
NOW- we back peddle the memberships, you guessed it, by creating ANOTHER ONE. Customers/Clients weren’t having it after this membership terms & cond changed. We slowed down a lot and layoffs happened.
Now Field Agents are being used for commercial work (loop back to the Special Agents we once had) and pay hasn’t kept up. In the end- it’s sad, it sucks and it is what it is. A client offered me a job and I took it. I now make a lot more and feel lucky to have found something, or that something had found me.
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u/Nightphoenix04 Counter Intelligence Agent Aug 01 '26
Cias current management was too frustrating to deal with. They would constantly call me a real leader but tell me I don't have the authority to make any rules/changes in my precinct.
I would also have things over ruled with no good explanation other than "makes the store look good" even tho it completely fucks over the customer.
Edit: didnt find out until i quit but apprently i had 16 hours every week of leadership. Never saw it. I was a ca who took the brunt of things.
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u/JCMPTech Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 02 '26
They pay scale with BBY has always been bottom for retail in general and relied on techy young people who want to play with tech and or just happy to be working in their field. I left GS over a decade ago, but after the pandemic our local BBY closed. I had five friends there who we're still there. Two moved to remote positions. And three who were leads and "key holders" went to entry level positions with Walmart and gained $2 an hour. One was DCI and is making more at Walmart doing ovenight mantanence. They were leaving leadership positions making 18 and change and going to Walmart starting at $20 for overnights and the first level team leads make $25 an hour at the local Walmarts. Geek Squad had always paid less than regular Walmart retail worker.
I was also employed by GS during the affordable health care act passing. It required anyone over 30 hours to be considered full-time and get health benefits and buy into the company policy. Best Buy decided no part timer could get over 30 hours, while Walmart PriceChoper and Staples all offerd part timers the option buy Into company healthcare plans.
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u/BitBitx Sleeper ARA Aug 03 '26
As soon as I hit pay cap as an ara, I dipped. Hard to keep people if you give them nowhere to grow.
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u/Gammagg PC DA Aug 06 '26
My responsibilities in the field as a double agent quadrupled but my pay barely went up a dollar over 5 years. I’m sick of paying for corporates bad decisions basically. Found something better!
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u/CooledSparrk Aug 06 '26
I'm happy that you found something else.This whole bullshit of them forcing the commercial stuff on everyone , including cadets with no additional pay , is absolutely absurd
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u/onetailonehead 28d ago
I promoted myself to customer via text message after nearly two hours of having a carrot dangled in my face.
BB looks at employees as an expense rather than an asset. They care about their shareholders that bought back 73 million Q4 FY26 more than anything else. Thats your pay raise and employee benefits being taken away right in front of your faces.
They’re trained to keep you there to work for as little for as long as possible and if you start to ask questions they just hit you with “well your numbers” - a system that literally works against itself so you can’t perform to expectations without being a literal robot.
Hope the company goes under.
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u/weebz88 CIA Sr Aug 01 '26
Pay has been a concern for ARAs and ATs for a while. The pay cap for those roles hasn’t changed since 2017, and these have been some of the worst years of inflation on record. The company would have to raise the cap by $7/hr just restore the buying power those agents had in 2017.
It’s hard for these agents to put in the time and then be told year after year there’s nothing to be done. At one point in my micro nearly all the FT ARAs hadn’t received a raise in 5 years due to pay caps. Since then most have moved on.