To: Brian Dunn, CEO and President of Best Buy
From: Lee Drury De Cesare
I have been a customer of Best Buy for some time: a frequent customer of the Geek squad at the 66th Street St. Petersburg, FL, store.
The squad features pleasant, knowledgeable young men. Two in particular, both named Michael, at the 66th street store have been helpful. There are four Michaels at the site, but the two I refer to are the one who is an Iraq veteran and has an aeronautical engineering degree and the second is a Russian: I mean from Russia. He knows the literature of the country as well as the lore of the Cossacks. One does not expect a Geek to know the works of Chekov, but so it is. The company is lucky to have such employees.
I have two complaints: overcharging and sexism.
I took my old computer in because it was on the fritz. The Geek diagnosis was the hard drive had died. I paid $69 for that diagnosis and had the Geek squad put in a new hard drive. That did not fix the problem. So the Geeks went back and rediagnosed the problem: they said it was the mother board, which made me buy a new computer.
The problem is that the manager of the department, whose name I don’t know, insisted I pay another $69 for the redone diagnosis. He was impervious to my argument that the Geek Squad had misdiagnosed my problem the first time and that I should not have to pay for that mistake. He is not managerial material: no charm, no flexibility, and rather surly. The Russian geek or the engineering Michael should replace him.
I ask that you refund the unfair second $69 charge for the first misdiagnosis on my Best Buy account.
I have another concern. The picture that appears at the top of the Geek desk in the store has all guys depicted: no women. When I complained to the Geeks, one said defensively, “We have three females in this unit.” I don’t know why men can’t bring themselves to call women “women.” “Females” has the negative connotation of not really wanting an alien species to invade their realm.
The “female” Geek who helped me discover that I was hooking up the computer incorrectly when I hauled in my computer yesterday for diagnosis said that she had saved her babysitting money when she was 14 and bought herself her first computer. She learned on her own. All girls need is Geek pictures that include them. That would up your women Geek population.
I note also that the store salespeople are almost all men.
This will never do, Mr. Dunn. How can our daughters and granddaughters aspire to be Geeks and Best Buy sales people when they get this “men only” message from your Geek pictures and nearly all-male store personnel? I request Geek pictures with women in them henceforth to send the message to girls that they too can be Geeks.
A young woman (in the minority) told me where I bought my I-phone that there is a Geek Squad summer camp for young people. She said she thought it was held in the Sheriff’s department. That is the wrong place to support equality. The sheriff’s department has always been a nest of sexism. I had to get the Justice Department to threaten to cut off the Sheriff’s department’s funds to get Sheriff Malcolm Beard to admit women as deputies.
Get the Girls and Boys clubs to sponsor the Geek summer camp for youngsters. That organization could reach both boys and girls without sexism. The Geek summer camp is a wonderful idea. I comment Best Buy for it.
The champion Geek of my Geek experiences is Brian H. of the online Geek squad. He worked several hours for the $49 fee to restore my HP all-in-one printer. Brian is as smart as a whip and customer friendly. He did not show irritation or make me feel dumb. But, alas, I see only one woman’s face in the Geek online squad. That should be rectified as well.
Sincerely,
(Ms.) Lee Drury De Cesare
Best Buy Customer and
Geek patron
15316 Gulf Boulevard 802
Madeira Beach, fl 33708
tdecesar@tampabay.rr.com
