Description
Geek Squad Inc. is a subsidiary of American and Canadian multinational consumer electronics corporation Best Buy, headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. The subsidiary was originally an independent company founded by "Chief Inspector" Robert Stephens on June 16, 1994, and offers various computer-related services and accessories for residential and commercial clients. In 2002, they merged with Best Buy, retaining Stephens as the primary corporate leadership for the subsidiary. The Geek Squad provides services in-store, on-site, and over the Internet via remote access, and also provides 24-hour telephone and emergency on-site support. Geek Squad no longer works solely on computer-related devices. It now diagnoses issues in and repairs all consumer electronics, as well as appliances.
Locations and partnerships
Geek Squad precincts exist in most Best Buy stores in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, and the Netherlands. They offer in-store, in-home, online, and remote/over the phone services.
Best Buy terminated its partnership with Office Depot in Orlando, Florida, where Geek Squad precincts were located in ten Office Depot locations. The brand is also located in select FedEx Office locations.
In October 2006, Best Buy was reported that Geek Squad would be launching in the United Kingdom in a joint 50-50 venture with Carphone Warehouse, where today it exists as both an onsite service and a remote repair service, although not under the same name. At its peak, Geek Squad services were available in Greater London, the Home Counties, the South Coast and North West areas of England, with phone and remote support was undertaken from Tulketh Mill in Preston (Lancashire) and repairs completed at a site in Wednesbury (West Midlands). In November 2015 Geek Squad repairs moved to Newark following the merger between Carphone Warehouse and Dixons Retail forming Dixons Carphone (now Currys PLC).
In 2008, Best Buy partnered with online tech support provider SupportSpace to offer remote Virtual Agent services to its clients. SupportSpace was founded in 2006 and provided immediate online tech support services. On July 15, 2013, all Geek Squad business was transferred away from SupportSpace and moved in-house to Geek Squad agents.
In January 2012, following poor financial results, the Best Buy Europe venture was discontinued with Carphone Warehouse purchasing its 50% of the deal back. In the following years the Geek Squad operations in France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Spain and Portugal were slowly wound down with the brand finally ending in Europe with Carphone Warehouse adopting the Team Knowhow brand in 2017.
A 2013 agreement with Atomic Learning, Inc. provides all Geek Squad tech subscribers with access to over 60,000 on-demand tutorial training videos.
Total Services
In 2007, Geek Squad officially added Magnolia Home Theater installation teams as well as Best Buy Mobile Installers to the Geek Squad brand. The change was titled, "Total Services" and was aimed towards the combination of major Best Buy services into one cohesive unit. Best Buy mobile installers and Magnolia Home Theater installers have now switched from their previous grey and blue uniforms to grey and orange shirts with grey cargo pants. This change removed all "Magnolia Home Theater Installation" branding and was replaced by "Geek Squad Installation Units" instead. This has now allowed Geek Squad to incorporate home theater installation as one of the in home services offered via telephone. Geek Squad is also now an Apple Authorized Service Provider.
