So I've been using the services of Geek Squad for the past few years, and even occasionally with my daughters mac book I've had to go to Apple's Genius Bar. Now I have to admit, I'm really not tech savvy at all, neither is anyone in my family, so almost every time something goes wrong we need assistance. Over the years Geek Squad has been really getting on my nerves because I feel like they take longer and longer to get to me, their technicians know less and less about what they're doing, and with their prices I feel like I'm putting someones kids through college. I recently heard about a company from a friend of mine called Nerd Force and decided to check them out, and these guys are unbelievable. They're based out of Staten Island, NY which is where I'm located so maybe that's why I had such great service, but I doubt it. The estimate they gave me over the phone of the price and ETA was completely accurate, and when the guy got to my house he very quickly found the issue, corrected it and got out. He was a pleasure to work with. It's a relatively new company, so I don't think they're available everywhere, but I highly recommend going on their website to check them out. You can input your zip code and it tells you if they have service men in your area. www.nerdforce.com. I talked to the guy for a little bit, and he told me about the company, and I was just really pleased with the service and the way the company is run, they are pretty new so I decided to help them out and get their name out there a little. This isn't an ad, and I don't work for them I just wanted to help support a local business and let you guys know. Thanks for your time.

I've actually heard of these guys and I'm down in Florida. A friend of mine has called them before, I never had, but I only heard good things.

You're experiencing a common problem. When a company first starts up they're hungry (Nerd Force) and they work hard to build a client list. Generally speaking, the technicians have some experience and a brain and are go-getters who get there fast and work hard to make the client happy. However, over time, the tech's get enough experience to get better paying jobs and leave. They're replaced by people who likely know less than the guy (gal) they're replacing and have inadequate training in a lot of cases. Guys like me don't take jobs fixing PC's. Been there done that. I make real $$$ now doing some hard core computing and no company like Geek Squad, or Nerd Force for that matter, could afford me. At least, not as a field technician....maybe as their internal IT guy. I digress..........over time companies become complacent and stop being hungry. They start charging more and more to make up for lost clients and business (ie: income) and since they won't pay their tech's decently, constantly have that drain I mentioned earlier. All in all, companies like this seem to have a 'life cycle' and I suspect you'll find Nerd Force going the way of Geek Squad in 5 to 10 years as well.

Geek Squad... These guys are a joke and have been for years...I send them xmas cards because they are always making me new clients because of their costs and non tech people. My latest customer bought a new Emachine and 21" LCD monitor from them and she couldn't burn discs...so she took it back to them and they wanted to charge her $100 to look at it.....she bought it less than a week before... She got all mad and filed complaints with the BBB and then called me...The problem was that the samsung drivers for the CD/DVD drive didn't install...installed the drivers made a fast $25 for a house call and a customer that has already refered me to her best friends. I really love the Geek Squad In reference to 11/05/2008 "So this is how liberty dies. With thunderous applause." - George Lucas

I think it is admirable that alot of computing.net contributors make their crust in the I.T industry and offer their expertise for free here also. I relate it to finding a good mechanic or plumber... the rogues will try to take you for all the job is worth, but every now and then you find the right one, and stick with them. The advice here is second to none... computing.net to me means the rogue pc repair person I never have to meet.

Ditto on Geek Squad. Have you guys looked at their prices for services? Totally outrageous. I called them one day just for the heck of it...described a problem that a user had...not a very "usual" one at that. The guy gave me an estimate of how long it would take to fix and how much. MY fix took just a few minutes to find and was done quickly. Geek Squad AKA RIP OFF!!!!!! "So won’t you give this man his wings What a shame To have to beg you to see We’re not all the same What a shame" - Shinedown

I went to a non-profit place once as part of a free evaluation to get their business. They were having a problem with some Lotus program (something comparable to MS Access, I think) that was printing the last 1/2 inch of a landscape printout on the second page. Geek Squad had been there and quoted like $1,100 to fix it. (I think they wanted to migrate them to another system like Access.) I played around with the margins in the layout settings and got the whole report to print on one page like it was before in under 5 minutes as part of their free eval. Geek Squad became a dirty word to them after that. Assume that I already did an Internet search.