Best Buy Acquires SpeakEasy

spazimodo writes "From the announcement e-mail from Speakeasy CEO Bruce Chatterley: 'I am pleased to announce that Speakeasy has been acquired by Best Buy, an innovative and growing Fortune 100 company and the top consumer electronics retailer in North America. This is a significant milestone for our company as our new relationship will help us realize our goals of becoming the No. 1 provider of voice and data solutions to small businesses. It is important to note that though Speakeasy will now be a wholly owned subsidiary of Best Buy, we will continue to operate as a standalone, independent operating division with headquarters in Seattle.' As a longtime Speakeasy customer, it's too bad to see their business moving in this direction. Back in the day when I called up their support with a problem, and mentioned I was using an OpenBSD box as a firewall/gateway the response was: 'cool!' — slightly different from the response Comcast or Verizon would give. I can't imagine they'll be able to maintain that independence, and there's no way I'm paying a premium for Internet service to Best Buy."

Suckage

[ender-]

Well that kinda sucks. I'm already saddened by the fact that I can't get Speakeasy at my current home. It was always worth the extra money for their service, and static IPs. Now I have to live with the fact that by the time I move to another house, Speakeasy will probably suck as badly as SBC. :(

Noooooooo

[Lord_Frederick]

Noooooooo!

DSL speedometer

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

I have used speakeasy's broadband speed tester a lot. What are they going to do next? How many square inches of plasma screen you get per 1000$? displayed using their distinctive dsl speedometer animation?

Damn

[rainmayun]

A few years back, at the time I signed up for Speakeasy DSL, they were the only decent ISP who would serve me. Verizon said I was too far from the CO (mechanized loopback test said 17000 feet) and they weren't eager to build new infrastructure in a zip where the median age of residents is 60-something. Comcast didn't have the capacity in my neighborhood development, although their flyer route drivers didn't seem to know that. Speakeasy said "sure" and I got 1.2 Mbps down and the line was clean. I have 2 static IPs, one on a FC5 box and one shared on a wireless router amongst 2 (and sometimes more) Windows boxes, and all for $42 a month. I was on the verge of getting rid of my Verizon POTS, even though it would push up the DSL cost $15. But the main reason I stayed with Speakeasy was the cheap static IPs, no complaints about what services I run, and knowledgeable tech support. I swore I would never ever give Comcast another dime of my money for any service, and I really don't care for Verizon support. But if Speakeasy goes the way of Geek Squad, or in any way resembles Best Buy customer service practices, I might just give up completely.

Anybody know any other independent ISPs left who might not treat home techies like criminals for running something besides Windows?

Re:God Forbid

[Lumpy]

I would bet on it they will. BestBuy is known for taking something that is good and then leaning it out so far it starts to eat it's self. They started this in Geek squad by paying gutter wages, which gives you no skills techs and huge turnover. I actually get more clients from people screwed by Geek Squad that anyone else. Speakeasy will be the same. the rates will not go down but the QOS will drop to a level that the executives will deem acceptable to maximize profits. Also expect tactics used by companies like Vonnage that will make it near impossible to quit your service so switching to another provider will be incredibly difficult.

Everything Best Buy has touched they screw it up in the name of maximized profits.

Nice

[stratjakt]

I was considering them, now I know they'll suck.

Back in the day when I called up their support with a problem, and mentioned I was using an OpenBSD box as a firewall/gateway the response was: 'cool!'

Actually, would you believe that last night a comcast rep came to my door. They'd had some problems the last 6 months in my community, so he went door to door giving us all a rate cut, free digital and a free movie channel to compensate. I hadn't any problems, but hey - free.

We talked for a bit, he asked what kind of computer I had. I told him I'd set up a linux router/vpn gateway, and he said "cool". I mentioned that the tuner in my new HDTV was already picking up OnDemand feeds, and he didn't believe me, so I showed him a skinimax flick on 87.3 which was being rewound to show the same nipple over and over. He laughed, and said "cool" again, and mentioned that it'll probably be a long while before they get around to encrypting those feeds.

I still think comcast sucks a fat nut. Just because some rep said "cool" doesn't mean they are.

Speakeasy's policies won't be so fast and loose in the future. Best Buy sucks.

Re:Speakeasy

[digigasm]

Fourth paragraph, first sentence:

"Best Buy, like Speakeasy, is known for its high level of customer service."

Since when?

Re:All this complaining

[radiogeez]

Can you give a single example of a buyout of a small company by a larger one that didn't result in the eventual ruination of the smaller one? Just one example would make me feel better. Just so you know...this is the third time my "small ISP" has been taken over by a big company (Netcom by Earthlink; Zocalo by Via.Net). In the previous two cases, it didn't take long for it all to go completely to hell.

Re:OK, Cut the doom & gloom and focus

[Anonymous Coward]

And now Best Buy has access to your clickstream. How long till they look for people googling for plasma TVs and try and sell them something>?

Re:No more recommendations from me

[Osty]

BB refused to refund or exchange for a different title. All they would do is let him exchange it for the same title that would surely have the same bugs. He wound up just leaving the store in disgust.

How's that Best Buy's problem? They have a clearly-stated policy concerning returns of opened media, specifically that once you open it you can only exchange it for the same item. If your friend didn't read or understand that policy, it's his problem and not Best Buy's

A buggy game does not constitute an exception to the above policy. If your friend was not happy with the state of the game, he should contact the publisher directly and ask for a refund or a fixed version.

I'm not arguing whether Best Buy's policy is right or wrong. The fact of the matter is that this is almost universal policy in retail when it comes to opened media. Your friend would've had just as much of a problem trying to return a buggy game to Target, Wal*Mart, Circuit City, CompUSA, or nearly anywhere else (CostCo might be an exception to that).

Re:OK, Cut the doom & gloom and focus

[Anonymous Coward]

During a buyout, the first thing the two companies do is agree to calm people's fears. They don't need their longer-term plans disrupted by problems among the troops. One of the common refrains is that "We don't want to change anything. We bought your company because of its strength. People go along in hopes they will be one of the employees that gets to stay on. Often, upper managers will be kept in the dark about these plans so that they can't be accused of lying.

Sales will be given the green light right from the start. No one opposes attempting to increase sales.

After things settle down a bit - about 6 months to a year, the company will start getting rid of redundancies. They'll argue that they hate to do it but they can't justify two HR departments. The claim will be that it's the last cuts that they have planned.

At about 9 months to 1 year, the other elements of the company culture that have started to propagate will become part of the newly purchased company. The real plans of the purchasing company start to become more clear to employees.

It's highly unlikely that the purchased company will be allowed to maintain its own culture and direction.

Re:God Forbid

[fm6]

It's interesting that in the entertainment biz, "have fun, and make sure your employees do the same" is usually a formula for making money. Unfortunately, big publically-owned companies like Best Buy have no hope of following that model.

I have to wonder what they were thinking of when they bought SpeakEasy. SpeakEasy's business model is basically, "We're the geek-friendly ISP." When Best Buy tries to integrate SpeakEasy into their other businesses, "geek-friendly" will certainly be the first thing to go. With nothing to differentiate itself from bigger (and more efficient) ISPs, SpeakEasy won't last very long.