Seriously,This Should Be Illegal

For only $129, Geek Squad will help you to set up your PS3.

[MisterNiwa]

What the hell? This should be INDEED illegal? What a rip off. O_o

[PinkUni]

what the f*ck is wrong with these people?

i f*cking hate geeksquad

40 dollars for graphics card installation

now 130 for account setup that's pretty much all automatic?

this truly is criminal

[Madusha]

lmao, I'll do it for $0

[IzKyD1331]

This is about as stupid (if not stupider) than when bestbuy wanted to charge money to send a "technician" to your house to insert a disc into your video game console (I am not joking, this really happened)

[Blaze929]

hey hey! Not everyone knows how to plug a power cord into their wall jack!

lol jk, this is stupid. Anyone who pays for this service is an idiot...but then again that means they probably DO need help setting it up

[Multi-Console Owner]

Step 1: Greet victim and offer to remove your shoes.

Step 2: Commence friendly small-talk and smile often.

Step 4: Ask where the crime will take place.

Step 5: Open box.

Step 6: Plug in all cords.

Step 7: Turn on power.

Step 8: Upon start-up, a message will appear asking if you would like to use automatic display and sound settings.

Step 9: Select "Yes".

Step 10: Commit heist.

[deadreckoning666]

Holy Crap. This isn't even funny. There alotta people out there that can get taken advantage of.

[calis]

People actually use this? Google it.

If only stupidity was illegal...

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

I mean they install the PS3, setup local user accounts with parental control and setup ONE online account. Where is the Xbox 360 offering? /sarcasm

In reality, I have no problems with this. If people are willing to pay for this assuming they have a need, then another competing service willing to do it lower will come. Capitalism baby!!!

[evrfighter]

this is how corporations see console gamers LOL

jaykay jaykay

There could be some truth in that

[Microsoft Xbox 360]

Their installation plans are the biggest rip offs. How hard is it to install HDMI?

[jessupj]

Well I guess they must figure if a few 360 gamers are stupid enough to keep purchasing 360 consoles when they inevitably break, they figure there must be stupid sony gamers as well that would be willing to pay for this service.

Sorry, I couldn't resist lol. I do apologise.

[Biggunz]

actually they offer the same service for stupid 360 and Wii owners.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site...

It's just that Kotaku sucks at trying to be journalist.

[iamtehpwn]

They had my BRAND NEW $1200 computer for once 2 months. They had it SO long the store eventually just replaced the computer and I never saw that PC again.

[Snyph3r]

Pre-ordered Batman for $39 ad right now they are still out of stock, why accept pre-order if they're going to run out of stock? Gave them (geek Squad) a hell for it in their forum but they deleted my posts...they keep on insisting that pre-order doesn't guarantee you a copy .. W T F???

[Sarcasm]

Typical best buy. I used to work for them a few years ago and always hated it. They always talked to us employees about "We want a no pressure work environment and for everyone to have fun!"

But when it boils down to it, "How many Service plans have you sold!?!?! You need to sell more service plans!! You did only 4 yesterday!" And it wasn't just one supervisor, it was every single manager who had that mentality. Then the bigger corporate suites would come in and do the same thing to the managers. Terrible place to work.

So I'm not surprised one bit that they want to hustle big time ripoff services like this.

[n4f]

wow i would be rich by now if i would do it

[will11]

I'll do it for free and enjoy a cold beer with the customer

[DominusRebellis]

Jock Squad: Will beat the living fvck out of the Geek Squad and setup you PS3 for FREE!!!

[BLuKhaos]

Well if there are people that are willing to pay for this then by all means charge them.Business is business, or is that only ok when MS charges for online?

[Real Gambler]

Not everybody is a tech brain, and I've seen so much screwy things in my life from people who's job is accountant, kindergarden teacher, or even a president of a huge enterprise with a doctorate!

Things like:
- Got sold a $300 Logitech Harmony remote with his set up, but was still using 5 remotes since he could not program it. (Even if these things are the easiest thing to set up in the world). Now, this guy would give away PVR, Microwave, pretty much anything in is house, but you cannot take his Harmony remote away from him...

- HDPVR set up properly (hey, cabling diagram was great), but since the owner was switching from lousy analog cable to digital cable, he was only watching digital cable, thinking HD was awesome. When I told him that HD channels were in the 600 range and showed him what true HD was, he was blowned away! (6 months watching regular digital cable with a $4000 set up and probably bragging that HD was awesome!)

- Having a XBOX 360 plugged with a composite cable, and thinking he was playing in HD. Set up XBOX for HD. Return one month later, XBOX still in SD. Asked? Well, kid brought the whole thing to a friend's place, and reconnected after (Probably had to use composite cable again at friend place, so used them again at home). Gave up on this one!

And the list goes on, and on, and on. Don't assume that because you know your way around cabling, that everybody does. Still agree though, $129 to connect a game console is a rippoff. I do that for free just because it's fun! But hey, for some people, if they don't know any tech guys, it's probably worth it!

[mrv321]

I think public nudity should be made more legal than this.

[thor]

Public nudity is actually legal in most countries...

[kaveti6616]

Depending on who's walking around nude, that could be a bad thing. *OLD PEOPLE*

[iceman06]

You might want to rethink that comment. As a young, developing teenager of just about 14 I thought I would be in heaven with public nudity. That is until I moved to Greece. Between all of the sagging, 70 yr old breasts and the hair in places that most people don't have places...I lost my appetite for public nudity...it is better left to the imagination!**threw up in my mouth a little on THAT visual flashback***LMAO

[KingKionic]

lol!

bestbuy is hilarious.

I bet someone did this before .

[D4RkNIKON]

They have "let us install it" on EVERYTHING at bestbuy... Even memorycards for cameras. Disks for game consoles wouldn't surprise me at all.

[Peter North]

Everyone knows how to operate a Toaster, so Geeksquad are not bothering with the Xbox 360.

[dragonelite]

ps 3 user are just stupid to setup up there own system.

j/k

[sunil]

actually 360 and Wii installations are also 129.99

http://www.bestbuy.com/site...

[Snake Raiser]

Except I didn't even need the manual to do this sh!t. Just plug in the chord into where it fits and turn on the system. You are auto told to update the firmware. So just press the X button to do that (as directed on screen) and to set up an account just follow on screen directions. So as long as you can tell what goes in which hole (lol) and you can read you don't need help with this. I might be willing to pay $25 if I was a lazy a-hole.

[Nitrowolf2]

yup, best buy did the same with 360 for it parental patrol during christmas. It wasn't as much but still expensive. This is just wrong. I feel bad for anyone who does this.

[kagon01]

This add is a joke...

[TheBand1t]

Anyone who is stupid enough to fall for this SHOULD have their money taken.

[-x.Red.x-]

some poor sap got caught to buy this...
:/

[LordMarius]

For Best Buy to do this means the PS3 is selling really well

[Sigh]

To feed off the ignorant... eh bunch of aholes

[CaptainPunch]

You'd have to be an idiot to not know how to set up your PS3. I hate geek squads prices.

[kaveti6616]

This is the nature of capitalism. Although it sounds ridiculous to people who know how to set up a console, (I set up my PS3 in 9 minutes without reading a manual), the financially ambitious portion of the world always seeks to reap off of the ignorant. This is, as I say again, the product of free market capitalism.

[tripewire]

Wow. Someone ones a bit slow ;)

[jerethdagryphon]

my dad wants me to work for them, but i couldnt lower my own standards nor ethics for that ,sides there just hardware monkeys,

if windows breaks reinstall, dont fix it just wipe and chage another 100.....

no i just work for a gu who can reball 360s..... no i mean reball the gpu

[Sir Ken_Kutaragi]

http://www.gp2xstore.com/im...

;-D

[ZBlacktt]

LOL.... that was funny to see :(

[Burbsta]

That is Best Buy for you. I recently bought a Palm Pre through them, no complaints, but on my receipt, there is a "SMARTPHONE EMAIL SETUP" "REG 29.99 WITH 29.99- DOLLARS OFF" that didn't really even happen. Really though, 30 bucks put in my own email information. No thanks...

PS. hope they don't charge extra for the time it takes in download and install a new FW

[Relientk77]

WOW $130 for easy crap r u joking

the stuff they help/do for u is ridiclously easy

I hope no one falls for this

[Tee7soo]

lol this sh!t is to funny .

[ginsunuva]

I'm gonna work for geek squad now. I'll get $129 for plugging in a Ps3 and pressing the on button.....I love it!!!

[gamingisnotacrime]

some lazy ass idiot, or the dumbest dude in the world

[NecrumSlavery]

K stupid but anyway.

Follow this guide
1. Ensure PS3 is off/Main Power swich too
2. Hold down power button while flipping switch
3. Keep the power button held down
4. PS3 will default and ask to set video at Optimal to your TVs capabilities.
5. Select OK/Yes and let it auto set up
6. It'll ask to setup audio too
7. Repeat and finish

the PS3 saves its settings based on the TV. I learned this cause it would turn on but stay black on my wife's mother's crappy 720p plasma. So this trick synced it up. Nothing compares to my 52" LCD 120hrz. The PS3 will optimize from a/v on a b&w tv to hdmi on a 240hrz led HDTV. Its super user friendly and you'll get no scrolling through ads like the hexbox 3sh/ttee

[KillerPwned]

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!! Im going to best buy tomorrow im gonna find out why the hell they do that.

[JonnyBigBoss]

I hope nobody uses that, but I know someone will.

[Blazian]

Did Sony stop giving people Owner's Manuals or something? This is completely idiotic. If you can read, you can do anything. And if you can't you don't need to own a game console anyway.

[AliTheBrit]

W-T-F

No seriously

Go f*ck yourself Geek Squad

Low life, no shame Bastards.

The sad thing is, I bet some poor un-suspecting person has paid that.

When, if they had a problem could easily get it sorted out, by coming onto some online forum and plenty of people would be willing to help.

[foxtheory]

but I remember when I got a new fridge from Best Buy and it didn't cool properly, so they sent Geek Squad out to help. It took them a month and a half to get new parts for it, which evidentally didn't help. So the guy said screw it and ordered a brand new fridge for me. Pretty nice, huh? Well it took another month for the frickin thing to ship because of some mess up. Thank God I still had my old fridge in my garage, otherwise I wouldn't have had a place to put my food. That's pretty bad business if you ask me, and this just proves it even more.

[ambientFLIER]

wat

since when does best buy sell kitchen appliances?

[foxtheory]

but all I know is that I bought a fridge and washer/dryer from them!! lol!!

[FragMnTagM]

has had refrigerators, washers and dryers, stoves, microwaves, and even vacuum cleaners at some. Some stores may not have them, but I haven't seen a store that hasn't.

I have only bought like 3 things from Best Buy and have been in their stores plenty of times. I just don't get a good feeling when walking in there. I am a smart shopper and they are notorious for having ridiculous prices and pushy salespeople trying to sell you sh!t you don't need.

Get this, I once bought a 72" DLP Mitsubishi from them on sale. It was actually the cheapest I had seen it. I got the TV home and plugged it in, turned it on, it came on and had a beautiful picture and turned off after about 20 seconds or so. I tried everything and looked in the book for the error code for how the light was flashing and it said that it was related to a fan not kicking on. I confirmed this with customer support. They said since it was brand new, to take it back to Best Buy. I did and the customer service lady tried to argue with me. Then the sales rep I bought it from actually accused me of doing something to it. I told him what I knew about it and he insisted he could get it to work. I let him mess with it for about 15 minutes and I showed him the error code in the book a few times. Still didn't believe me. At that point I demanded a manager and finally got my money back. That's my horror story. Avoid them like the plague.

[foxtheory]

That sucks big time!

And you're right about the pushy salespeople. When I bought my PS3, I bought it with a 52 inch LCD TV, surround sound stereo system, subwoofer, and a hanging ceiling mount for my TV. After negotiating a fair price with the guy, he kept going on and on about get a warrenty for the PS3. He sat there for about 10 minutes telling me stories about how he "knows people whose PS3s have broke". I have about 10 friends with PS3s, 4 with launch ones at that, whose PS3s have never had problems. I think that's the closest I've ever felt like punching a guy in the face.

[v1c1ous]

Your pc running slow? SYSTEM RESTORE

got adware? SYSTEM RESTORE

accidentally deleted a program? SYSTEM RESTORE

and all our services at the low low price of $150 per visit!

[jerethdagryphon]

welcome to my work: got adware. jereth will kill it
pc slow: prune the registry tweak windows services and bring it up to speed

acdently delted a program, if its windows easy fix if not reinstall

price around 40-60$

[skip2mylou]

........... wow who is really dumb enough to not know how to set up a gaming system theirs like literally millions of sites u could go to on info to set up a game console

[Odin777]

You would have to be pretty damn stupid to buy into this scam. Jesus it isn't that complicated! ha ha wow

[ambientFLIER]

Well...to be fair, they can't charge you $50...they have to cover the cost of actually having the trained people, the equipment, and the drive to your house, not to mention the actual work. It might seem silly to us gaming geeks, but getting the proper HD signal, setting up wireless, and setting up psn accounts aren't the easiest things in the world to an average person.

[DonCorneo]

but if you are setting a home theater, maybe it's worth it

a hundred buck shouldn't be a problem; you have to be loaded to begin with to set up a 7.1 system

[evilmonkey501]

I can tell you that for the most part....no one knows sheet. Everything done is followed verbatim from a manual. You would honestly get better advice/setup from your neighborhood 10 year old computer nerd. Seriously. Best Buy setup and extended warranties are a scam.

However, since your reading this I can deduct you have more computer skills than most best buy employees and this is falling on deaf ears.

also : 7.1 doesn't have to be expensive.You literally have only 2 more speakers (four wires)

http://www.bhphotovideo.com...

[Cajun Chicken]

OMG, one of my friends works for Geek Squad in the UK. Boy, is he gonna be rolling in the money if this happens here.

[dkgshiz]

Most people know how to plug in a power cord and HDMI cable.

[OldParr]

it is a service dude! and it is up to you if you pay for it!!! there is nothing illegal about it. but, seriously, what were they thinking!! i know they are engineers and stuff but that does not look reasonable!!

[dkgshiz]

This is a scam for little kids with no brains parents.

[Magna Farta]

...this is simply taking advantage of those who aren't as familiar with technological common sense as most of us.

I remember being a computer salesperson at CompUSA back in 1999-2000, and our tech counter guys did nothing but prey on people who feared the dreaded "Y2K", and charged them $149 to "Y2K-proof" their new computer that I sold them at an already outrageous price.

Not to mention some of the other highway-robbery fees they charged:
Just opening the case was $50
Installing a stick of RAM was $69, on top of the case open fee.
A "Virus Check" (if you could call it that) was $60.
Hard Drive upgrade (which included data transfer) was $179.

And these were just a few of the ways CompUSA burned themselves to the ground. Personally, I can only hope Geek Squad gets put under soon. It would help if half of their guys actually knew what they were doing, but it's just a bunch of kids plugging cookie-infested desktops into diagnostic machines that do all the work.

[Gobot]

Well, 360 fanboys are to young and can't understand the manuel for their new Ps3 slim.

[ddurand1]

if your dumb enough to pay for it, theyre smart enough to offer it.

they arent losing money buy offering it, so why wouldnt they try to make extra money.

[Reshun]

How do I plugged cord?

[cyberwaffles]

up your ass.

[davekaos]

you need the number for geek squad to get your ps3 set up.
its (0800 im a con artist)

LOL @ peter north comment in open zone

[danielle007]

I truly feel bad for everyone that is a new PS3 user, and falls prey to Geek Squad.

The only image I can conjure is a poor old Grandmother buying a PS3 for her grandkid, and she doesn't know how to work it, since she's too old and adorable and sweet and isn't up on the technology :( and then Geek Squad swoops in, robs her purse, and sets up the PS3. Makes me want to QQ :(

[Pixel_Addict]

keeps this economy going... just look at all the fugly overpriced gas gulping SUVs and trucks on the road in America, who bought big US flag 'support the troops, cause my kids aren't going' bumper stickers.. the entire US economy is fulled by idiotic right wing conservatives!

[OtherWhiteMeat]

This would work much better with the Xbox 360. $129 to setup, $129 to unhook and replace.........$129 to setup , $129 to unhook and replace.Please repeat these steps as many times as needed.

[cyclindk]

FINALLY! I haven't been able to use my PS3 since I bought it at launch..

[ScoobyDrew]

its called going on youtube and looking up "how to setup ps3"

screw geek squad

[deshon09]

what the hell only a tard would pay for this my 6 year old nephew could set up a ps3 only old /uninformed people

[cyberwaffles]

lol this isn't new folks. plumbers, carpenters, computer technicians, and other types of laborers/engineers have been shafting costumers for ages. plumbers sometimes charge over a 100 bucks to fix a problem that would've been simply resolved by buying a 5 cent washer or nut to tie on a pipe.

it doesn't matter anyways, most people who buy consoles are into electronics and most people who are into electronics know how to set them up. geeksquad are kind of stupid to think they can get away with this.

[monsterduc1000]

Customer Service is free from whoever the manufacturer is.

[gamerzBEreal17]

some people do need help b/c there handicap are something but i dont see why thay cant get one of there familys to do it maybe theye give u HD wires are something

[Kyur4ThePain]

I don't see the issue. They could charge $300 for the service. It's optional. It's not included in the purchase price of the product. If getting it set up is worth that much to someone, they'll pay. If not, they'll go out and find a friend or family member to help them.

To some people paying $20 to have their car washed is ridiculous. For me, it's par for the course. People value different things differently.

[SeraphimBlade]

okay, look. There's "valuing things differently" and then there's being ridiculous. you could get TWO new games for that price. The thing practically sets up itself.

[SeraphimBlade]

.............................. .............................wo w.

[Majinzo]

I'll do it for $129.99 and i'll help u unlock trophies too. 99cents per platinum make that 9.99;)

[BrianC6234]

I would hope any kid or gamer would be able to handle this. Seems more like a service for the Wii and old the grannies who buy that system. It might be worth it for them. Anyone buying a PS3 should be capable of plugging in a couple cables.

[Knightofelemia]

I wonder howmuch BestBuy charges to set up the Wii and the 360 lol you would have to be a moron if you cannot set up a game console its fairly easy even a chimp could do it.

[theminority]

some sorry fool fell for it lol.

[djfullshred]

It certainly is unethical if they try to make it seem like these are difficult to hook up when advertising this service. The first step in good customer service would be to try to explain to the customer how easy it is, and advise them only to use the service if they try & fail first on their own. Stuff like this is why I call this store "Worst Buy"

[Sumadyan]

I dont own a ps3 but.. even for an some idiots who is clueless and first time console buyer, doesn't it come with instructions??!

Its sad when i see sores pushing BS plans and services, bestbuy and gamecrazy are on top. GD game crazy store had 1 guy there that was trying like 6-7 times to sell me their 2 dollar scratch protection plan for a 6.99 used game (Prey i think). Then rang up a preorder for MW2 on the reeipt without effin asking, had to void transaction, 5 minutes at register to get 1 7 dollar game, some places are friggin impossible to shop at.

[FF7numbaone]

lets charge people for being idiots. hello!!! google.

[KeenanTheSavage]

Geek Squad fail.

[NateNater]

What a scam!

And did anyone notice the PS3 font is identical to the old PS2 font?

Hmmmm...

[ZBlacktt]

If someone really pays for that service. Then they truly deserve to be charged for it, lol... :( And here I thought only Game Crazy and GameStop were the biggest rip offs in the gaming world to consumers.

[hulud86]

Wow i hope stupid consumers dont fall for that. Highway robbery. We'll plug in the power cord for you for only $200!

[bds1313]

Yet there are people out there that will pay for the service.

[bunfighterii]

i'd do it for $129 if someone was willing to pay me.

[Mr_Luke]

Wow, only a super ultra lazy person (and rich probably) would buy that "service" O_o unless someone knows 0 about everything....
Or maybe retarded like MikeAngelofDeth, the first who posted on Kotaku, probably he bought it and now discovered how stupid he was.

[devilhunterx]

Hey if idiots love paying $50 for online gaming ("its free everywhere else"), why should this be any different?

[xg-ei8ht]

I don't think it's a ripoff, i'm making millions from it/s

[Avenged Sevenfold]

Geek Squad wanted to charge me $190 to install like 3 drivers that I was missing.

[Aft3rKill]

That is a SCAM and they know it.

[Lilith_Belial]

let's burn 'em down just like we did with circuit city >:(

[Xlll]

Really? They also have this for the 360 and wii? The only ones i see paying for this is the Wii older(near death) users. I seen one lady who picked up a Wii and a wiifit at wal-mart ask if they had a install service.... She also picked up a copy of the book The Lost Symbol and a tabloid...nuff said.

[mfwahwah]

God forbid people crack open the instruction booklet and follow diagrams and listed steps.

[gumgum99]

what the ***

*calls lawyer*

Yeah....I'm calling for a Phoenix Wright?

operator: There is no such name as Phoe-

gumgum: are you sure?

operator:...yeah.

gumgum: oh.

*looks at Best Buy ad again*

gumgum:...

you sure you don't have a Phoenix Wright?