Best Buy Geek Squad has been in the middle of a storm of media criticism as it seems the FBI has paid one or more of their workers for reporting information about illegal material on laptops. A child pornography image in a space on a laptop inaccessible by an unsophisticated user caused an indictment. In addition, the defense attorney in the case believes the Geek Squad search was “extracurricular” to required repairs. Best Buy says they are required to report illegal activity to the authorities.
What is troubling is the taking of money from Best Buy employees. Even the company says this was a mistake if it was done. This news coupled with the fact that at least 70% or so of the U.S. population has done something that could put them in jail should be scary to many. If Best Buy workers know they can earn an extra buck searching computers for illicit activity, we may have a lot more people in our federal prisons soon.
Should you stay away from Best Buy? This is a tough one. We really like the store… They really saved us this past December 26th by having the item we needed in stock and also allocating two salespeople to help us solve a technical question not easily solved.
We do know however that Best Buy techs don’t get paid a lot. They are typically entry level.
The concern here is if the FBI is indeed doling out $500 rewards, generally, those at the bottom end of the pay scale have the most to benefit.
Bottom line… You often get what you pay for.
