Best Buy + Windows Guru = Apple Store Experience? 600
CWmike writes "As part of Windows Vista's $300 million marketing rehab, Microsoft will hire an initial wave of 155 'Windows Gurus' to walk around Best Buy and Circuit City stores to answer customer questions and defend Vista's reputation against skeptics, reports say. Gurus will earn $20 an hour or more, plus benefits. (Apply here.) One way Windows Gurus will differ from Apple Geniuses is that they are not intended to be sources of free technical support for existing Vista users. 'The Guru role is to help sell Windows-based PCs. It is not to be an alternative tech support channel for Microsoft as this has no financial return beyond improved customer satisfaction,' Baker said. One reason: Windows Gurus could end up 'lightning rods for customers' frustrations with Vista.'"
Re:Anyone named Bruno instantly hired (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Um, Since When Did BB/CC sell non-windows? (Score:5, Interesting)
That being said, I go to the Apple Store that's a little further out of the way on some occasions. I usually get greeted and asked if I'm looking for anything specific. I'll say I'm just looking around, and they smile politely and let me browse.
Now, the "Genius" they have in the Best Buy Apple Section is more in line of the Windows Guru seems to be, a salesman. I walked into that section and she was absolutely relentless. She asked if I could help, I said I'm just looking. She asked what I was looking for, and I said I was just browsing various things I might need in the future. She asked what I do with the computer, and I told her I do some graphics and web design, and I was just checking out some NAS options. Then she starts pitching
Now I always go to the Apple Store when I need to buy things for my Mac. If the Windows Gurus will be anything like the Best Buy Mac Fanatics, they won't last long.
Re:Guru? Not really ... When is "The Linux Store" (Score:4, Interesting)
When is "The Linux Store", one like the Apple stores, coming? IBM and HP and Sun could get together, fine tune various laptop, desktop, GPS, multimedia, cellular, console, and home management systems in 10 major cities:
San Francisco
Boston
Dallas
Houston
Los Angeles
New York
Baltimore
Denver
Phoenix
Atlanta
just to name some/around 10 cities. I imagine these and other companies could find a creative way to write this off as marketing. Rent or lease properties, them them like Gateway did and Fry's does, aim the products at people earning less than $35,000 a year, and MAKE DAMNED SURE that Gutenprint, SAMBA, Webmin, VNC, and other mixed-environment tools work. Get Compiz/Beryl/Metisse working like never before. Commit to being open 18 hours a day for 2 years. Tie it in to local unemployed/trainable people so cities and counties will allow some variances that otherwise would hamper such a project. Make sure smoothies and coffee and magazines are available, as well as some games, joysticks, and ESPECIALLY CAD apps, like Punch! ViaCAD, Medusa, and products such as 3dConnexion are on hand.
Re:Sales Experience (Score:3, Interesting)
I agree. I didn't say he shouldn't be pissed. I'm saying he shouldn't take the route he did by cursing up a storm. I was just trying to do my job and if he didn't want the plan, I could give two hoots. But, all he had to say was, "No thanks." Heck, he could even say, "No thanks, those things are worthless" and I would have shrugged my shoulders and taken his printer to the front of the store.
The "you must be an f'ing idiot" remark was what kind of pissed me off. No matter how upset someone gets, there are just some things that you don't say to people.
Re:Sales Experience (Score:2, Interesting)
Retail shops try to screw you with that stuff. I've had them try and sell me warranties on RAM that comes with a lifetime manufacturers warranty, and hard drives that come with a 3 year manufacturers warranty, but they pitch a less comprehensive warranty for a decent fee.
Actually it sort of depends on what it is. Buy a pair of headphones from Radio Shack and the warranty they'll sell you pretty much gives you free replacements for 3 years. It's $20, but well worth for it those who tear through headphones like there's no tomorrow.
Also, I like Sprint's service plan for cellphones, which is like $7/month ($84/year) per phone. If your phone breaks, gets lost or stolen, even if if you drop it in the toilet, they'll give you a new (reconditioned) phone for the cost of the deductible, which is like $50. A very good deal for someone with a $300 or more cellphone who get a new one about once a year (most people).
Re:Sales Experience (Score:4, Interesting)
I actually asked him that (I knew the printer came with a minimum 1-year warranty) and his response was this, "I don't have time to deal with that crap. I just want a new printer."
In all honesty, I think he just wanted to take the aggression out on someone.
Re:Anyone named Bruno instantly hired (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Guru? Not really ... (Score:4, Interesting)
What I think will be interesting is when the rest of Best Buy's "less paid but do more work" employees get fed up with the fact that there are staff on hand who make $5-12/hr more for simply being able to lie.
Think about it.... be a member of the "Geek Squad" and actually be the person stuck dealing with Vista and other issues, and actually be responsible for fixing problems, and you get paid less. Run around all day convincing people that Vista is great, do nothing to alleviate customer issues (other than point them to the less paid "Geek Squad" members) and get paid significantly more.
I think this is a wonderful way at raising employee moral. I wonder how much money Best Buy is getting handed from Microsoft to make this happen - or if they (Best Buy) are just too brain dead to realize it's going to piss off the rest of their less paid/do more (or real) work staff - or if this is a "requirement" that Microsoft stipulated for some future or continuing concession for carrying certain products.
Re:Some Questions To Ask (Score:2, Interesting)
Well, go ask the same questions of Apple employees in an Apple store. Replace 'vista' with 'leopard'. It would serve the same purpose.
In my experience the guys at the Apple store would at least attempt to answer your questions honestly. I've had some really interesting discussions with some of them regarding the compatibility and differences between Linux and OS X, and they often try to convince people to buy whatever meets their needs best even if it's cheaper than what the customer was originally looking at.
My experience in Best Buy on the other hand is that if you seem to know what you're doing they'll more or less leave you alone, and attempt to answer your questions as best as possible, but if you ask for advice about which product to buy they'll try to steer you towards the most expensive option, preferably with as many addons and extras as possible. Of course, that's not always the case in either store, but it's the general rule.
Interestingly, the guys at Best Buy are generally more "technical" than their equivalents at the Apple store, but simultaneously less likely to give good advice concerning a purchase. The Apple guys don't know much about the technical side of anything outside a select few pieces of Apple hardware, but are well versed in the pluses and minuses of everything they sell, if not all the gritty details.
Re:'lightning rods' for customer frustrations (Score:4, Interesting)
In high dollar places like NYC or Chicogo, you can expect a lot of that to be taken in absorbent taxes associated with and on everything you buy. And when what I would call a cracker box of an apartment in my neck of the woods goes for over $700 a month in NYC, you can easily see where it wouldn't be enough.
Think about this. $8,400 a year for rent in a one room squallier, the subway if about $2.00 a ride as well as the bus, so if you have to take a subway and then catch a bus (because owning a car in NYC is expensive too with parking and all) your looking at spending around $8 a day, so 8 time 5 times 50 weeks is about $2,00 bringing living and working up to around $10,400 just to be in the city. Now this isn't even considering your electric bills, any travel outside of work or groceries or anything. And god forbid is you have to take a taxi, the last time I was in NYC, it costs me something like $45 to go halfway across town. Now part of that is the tolls I had to pay. Good thing I didn't have to go back that night or it would have bee $90 in one day.
Here is a report (PDF warning) [housingnyc.com] from the NYC housing authority. In it, it contains the lines
I could say that this is the costs of liberalism but I think we can all conclude that it has more to do with greed and population demand. The 52Gs a year supposedly includes normals costs like food, clothing, transportation and so on. Quite a surprise if you ask me who is from a smaller town in which the same apartment can be had for much less. I rent my 4 bedroom house out with .6 acres of fenced yard for $850 a month and I rent a 2 bedroom with about .75 acres bordering my land from a neighbor for $600 a month (because I live alone and it is easier to keep up). Both of us have twice the house, peace, and tranquility then the NYC apartment and we pay a faction of their costs.
Re:Anyone named Bruno instantly hired (Score:4, Interesting)
what would be good is if everyone that uses Linux would go to BestBuy and look at Windows Vista PCs and mention that they prefer Linux just to get the idea/word across that they are not interested in Vista...
Who exactly would you be getting the word out to? I work for one of these companies and it's hilarious when idiots walk in and start ranting about random BS to me thinking I am somehow responsible for the production and engineering decisions of the products we sell or that I have anything to do with the company policies and purchasing decisions.
Look, we're mostly college students just there doing a mindless job to make a paycheck at the end of the week. We don't care that you have some love affair with Linux and that you think computers should come with it instead of Vista, do you want me to go get the laptop out of the lock-up cage or not is all I give a crap about.
Re:Now we know who's been Bogarting the Sativa (Score:2, Interesting)
Can you tell me the strain that has 30%? Last I heard it was only physically possible for about 23% THC production in the trichrome due to the size of the pocket inside of the gland.
Brick weed is stuff that's been kiefed and then compressed - it's also generally been exposed to light, which destroys THC over time.
Wow, I study to get a degree in Cannabis Cultivation/Business and end up using the knowledge on Slashdot. What's the world coming to?
Re:Anyone named Bruno instantly hired (Score:4, Interesting)
"This sucks - avoid it" is appropriate, although perhaps not what they intended.
About a month ago, I had a Best Buy salesman tell me just that! Looking at new laptops, I commented that they all ran Vista and I considered that a problem. He proceeded to tell me that Vista is so bad that not a single one of their laptops runs well with it, and I should probably not buy one at all! He went on to say that I should hold out until Windows 7 comes out, if I can, because Vista is so bad that Microsoft will never fix it.
I couldn't believe I was hearing this from a BB sales drone. I'm not kidding. I wonder if he was an early pioneer of this "Windows Guru" program?
As a Geek Squad Employee... (Score:1, Interesting)
Here's how I imagine this will play out. Customer comes into the store shopping for whatever, and the guru begins their sales pitch about how wonderful Microsoft is. Customer finally caves and goes along with what the guru is telling them. The customer WILL have problems because, let's face it, they're a Best Buy shopper. Since the guru provides no actual SUPPORT, it then falls upon the Geek Squad people to fix whatever problems the customer has. Since Geek Squad is not a free service, the customer becomes irate and takes it out on the poor sap at the counter because "someone who works in this store told me this would work and now you want me to pay MORE money to fix it?!?!?!?!?!?!?"
All of this combined with the fact that the employees in the store who actually have to deal with all of this make FAR LESS than the proposed guru salary (GS employees are hourly, mostly part-time, and unless they're a supervisor, won't make even $25,000 a year), and it will only add to the misery that Best Buy perpetrates upon its employees.
(Posting anonymously for obvious reasons)