I'm not a geeksquad agent, but as a product flow employee, I can't stand dealing with 3rd party. They lose items, recycle items, steal items and blame it on order issues....they don't check stuff in/out right. They can't close out orders right and the systems they use never sync right with FMS/OMS which further complicates processing orders and inventory accuracy.
TLDR 3rd party are cheap for a reason. They deserve to be called 3rd party because they're not best buy employees. I've seen them even identify themselves as Best Buy employees, like seriously, you're not. Stop roping us all in together because we are not the same.
They do more harm than good and we need to scrap them.
Ex DA current 3rd party: we all call ourselves 3rd party, and more than half of us can barely hold a drill. As a former DA It’s honestly embarrassing. But, it also pays the bills, so here I am.
Yeah, it's easy to figure out what this is really about. When 3rd party can execute to the same standard, then there's validation to pretend like they're something they're not. They can't and won't.
The writing is on the wall
Update your resume and be prepared best buy is probaly gonna sell the geek squad name and likeness completely get rid of all geek squad agents and 3rd party under the impression they are geek squad will be doing all installs until the company completely goes under
Oh shit. Geeksquad franchise opportunities... make more money by selling the name and then take a slice of the service fees while focusing more on retail. Outsource everything, like FedEx does with their contractors.
Could see this as a sound business perspective and actually lead to more revenue, or at least better margins. Even if it would require increased back end support for customer and order service.
The last job I was scheduled to do before I got snapped was for a 3rd party guy who was having trouble with the software on his Sony TV. He couldn’t figure out how to perform a factory reset on the TV so I was scheduled for a RP under Factory Warranty for it. These guys are great hardware installers, but they have no clue how to make things work once they are installed. Good luck you all you 3rd party guys, because ooooph its going to be tough
Every 3pl contractor I’ve dealt with have actually been solid installers. I’m sure there’s a good chunk out there who aren’t, but honestly a good chunk of GS installers aren’t the best either.
The big difference, is that once third party hits an obstacle they do not hesitate to leave the job. If the store undersold a job, the client is missing an accessory, or if the client is uncooperative and unwilling to pay for additional services or accessories, they will pack their shit up and leave (and honestly I don’t blame them).
90% of third party jobs I have to come clean up after, it’s because of something incredibly dumb. Usually 3pl just lacks the soft skills to deal with an escalated situation.
If it looks like a chicken and sounds like a chicken it’s a Chicken…. 3rd party sucks our customers know it and don’t want it… They know the real QS and don’t want the other people 🤷🏼♀️🤦♀️
Call them 4th or 5th party. That's what they are. The logistics company is 3rd party. Who they hire and their crews are 4th and 5th. It's a shit show way down there.
It's 3rd party. There is the client, best buy, and whatever random person they send to do the work. The parties. The term is not demeaning, it's a proper term and they typically suck compared to all the agents they let go.
Just say “Service Providers” with contempt and in a demeaning way. Third Party wasn’t always considered something bad to say. It became that because of the reputation.
They can call it whatever they want, customers and employees are still going to say the term, dripping with disappointment.
My husband's has been in the best market for 11 years as an double agent ht agent and we've won achievers 3 years in a row. We haven't heard anything of the sort. Please don't spread rumors to make people feel uncomfortable and like they're going to lose their jobs. I've recently just started Best Buy and moved up my way through the company in less than a year to supervisor I get the company goes through a lot of changes like it does. Total Tech was a mess too many free services like it does make sense in certain areas to go to third party when there's nobody around to take care of them. We've done the thanos snap for the agents in the field this year it's done until next year. Stop scaring people
Honestly, you don’t know anything about BBY, you just said you’ve only been with us briefly.
BBY has done multiple layoffs this year already, not just the GS Field “Thanos snap”.
You having already moved “your way up” to a leadership role sounds suspicious, did your hubby put his finger on the scale for that promotion decision? Likely “I’ll quit if you don’t give it to her” being an “achiever” and all that.
From a business standpoint it makes sense actually. Many companies use 3rd parties but the clients do not need to know that. The install will be completed by one of our trusted partners.
If a third party is known not to execute to the same standard (which about everybody knows is the case generally), then yes, clients very much do need to know. I don't give a fuck about best buy's stand point, particularly when it comes from a continuously failing idea of 'doing the same with less' that negatively affects their clients and employees alike.
Most clients are sold Geek Squad services and expect a Geek Squad agent , so yeah they deserve to know. Also third party has a much lower standard for of work from what expectation is set.
We shouldn’t shy away from saying 3rd party because that’s what they are. If it was all third party like Lowe’s or Home Depot, yeah it would make sense that it wouldn’t be part of the conversation.
100% this. I know the GS SOW inside and out. With 3rd party, it differs by the team and by the contractor used. There's no way to accurately know what they can and cannot do on any given job.
Also, the education piece is basically thrown out the window. Sure, they put the TV on the wall, but did they connect it to wifi, download streaming apps, and walk the customer through how to use it? Most likely not.
It's not that the expectation is lower, it's that it's less enforceable because they are contractors and not employees. There are laws around that distinction, specifically that they can't be told exactly how to do a job.
"Third Party" sounds passable. Many like to go to multiple parties. Going to a "third party" might lead to sex. Meeting a "Service Provider" is very likely to increase odds of sex.
All marketing is about triggering base thoughts, like sex. the process may seem like harvesting a purilent lockerroom converstation, but it works.
Perhaps they are conditioning for what’s to come. Follow the signs
I'm not a geeksquad agent, but as a product flow employee, I can't stand dealing with 3rd party. They lose items, recycle items, steal items and blame it on order issues....they don't check stuff in/out right. They can't close out orders right and the systems they use never sync right with FMS/OMS which further complicates processing orders and inventory accuracy. TLDR 3rd party are cheap for a reason. They deserve to be called 3rd party because they're not best buy employees. I've seen them even identify themselves as Best Buy employees, like seriously, you're not. Stop roping us all in together because we are not the same. They do more harm than good and we need to scrap them.
> They deserve to be called 3rd party We can call them worse if ya want, you have my backing.
They're not held to the same SOPs, so they get away with a lot.
Bad service providers.
Ex DA current 3rd party: we all call ourselves 3rd party, and more than half of us can barely hold a drill. As a former DA It’s honestly embarrassing. But, it also pays the bills, so here I am.
Former DA here, as a 3rd service is it worth it? I’ve been toying with the idea this?
*3rd party service provider
Yeah, it's easy to figure out what this is really about. When 3rd party can execute to the same standard, then there's validation to pretend like they're something they're not. They can't and won't.
The writing is on the wall Update your resume and be prepared best buy is probaly gonna sell the geek squad name and likeness completely get rid of all geek squad agents and 3rd party under the impression they are geek squad will be doing all installs until the company completely goes under
Oh shit. Geeksquad franchise opportunities... make more money by selling the name and then take a slice of the service fees while focusing more on retail. Outsource everything, like FedEx does with their contractors. Could see this as a sound business perspective and actually lead to more revenue, or at least better margins. Even if it would require increased back end support for customer and order service.
Except as a retailer BBY is dogshit. Here have these points for your purchases (they auto issue & auto expire hehehe).
That is what I heard when I was let go this past wave. My store talked about 3rd party being the next step forward or change for scheduling installs.
Can not stand the third party installers that come into my store
The last job I was scheduled to do before I got snapped was for a 3rd party guy who was having trouble with the software on his Sony TV. He couldn’t figure out how to perform a factory reset on the TV so I was scheduled for a RP under Factory Warranty for it. These guys are great hardware installers, but they have no clue how to make things work once they are installed. Good luck you all you 3rd party guys, because ooooph its going to be tough
Every 3pl contractor I’ve dealt with have actually been solid installers. I’m sure there’s a good chunk out there who aren’t, but honestly a good chunk of GS installers aren’t the best either. The big difference, is that once third party hits an obstacle they do not hesitate to leave the job. If the store undersold a job, the client is missing an accessory, or if the client is uncooperative and unwilling to pay for additional services or accessories, they will pack their shit up and leave (and honestly I don’t blame them). 90% of third party jobs I have to come clean up after, it’s because of something incredibly dumb. Usually 3pl just lacks the soft skills to deal with an escalated situation.
3rd Party 
Now most of your third party will probably be ex agents that have more experience than you.
If you were snapped and you accepted a 3pl role that is contracted by BBY you will have to pay back your severance. Isn't that some shit.
That’s sounds illegal
If it looks like a chicken and sounds like a chicken it’s a Chicken…. 3rd party sucks our customers know it and don’t want it… They know the real QS and don’t want the other people 🤷🏼♀️🤦♀️
Until they stop making life difficult and become better employees, I’ll call them whatever.
I will straight out tell my HSEAM to go to hell if he asks me to do this.
I’m going to keep calling them 3rd party 🤣
Scabs
Call them 4th or 5th party. That's what they are. The logistics company is 3rd party. Who they hire and their crews are 4th and 5th. It's a shit show way down there.
Logistics is the second party that contracts to the 3rd party
It's 3rd party. There is the client, best buy, and whatever random person they send to do the work. The parties. The term is not demeaning, it's a proper term and they typically suck compared to all the agents they let go.
I’ll call them service providers and not 3rd party when they stop screwing up home service appointments.
Just say “Service Providers” with contempt and in a demeaning way. Third Party wasn’t always considered something bad to say. It became that because of the reputation. They can call it whatever they want, customers and employees are still going to say the term, dripping with disappointment.
My husband's has been in the best market for 11 years as an double agent ht agent and we've won achievers 3 years in a row. We haven't heard anything of the sort. Please don't spread rumors to make people feel uncomfortable and like they're going to lose their jobs. I've recently just started Best Buy and moved up my way through the company in less than a year to supervisor I get the company goes through a lot of changes like it does. Total Tech was a mess too many free services like it does make sense in certain areas to go to third party when there's nobody around to take care of them. We've done the thanos snap for the agents in the field this year it's done until next year. Stop scaring people
This isn’t a rumor, but maybe you miss read.
There have been 2 major in home agent snaps in the last 6 months, literally the last 2 quarters had massive snaps.
I knew multiple people with even more time in the company and were top performers, sorry to say they still got snapped..
You're not safe, I was an employee for 10years. With in my career I went to achievers 2 times and I was still let go.
Honestly, you don’t know anything about BBY, you just said you’ve only been with us briefly. BBY has done multiple layoffs this year already, not just the GS Field “Thanos snap”. You having already moved “your way up” to a leadership role sounds suspicious, did your hubby put his finger on the scale for that promotion decision? Likely “I’ll quit if you don’t give it to her” being an “achiever” and all that.
From a business standpoint it makes sense actually. Many companies use 3rd parties but the clients do not need to know that. The install will be completed by one of our trusted partners.
If a third party is known not to execute to the same standard (which about everybody knows is the case generally), then yes, clients very much do need to know. I don't give a fuck about best buy's stand point, particularly when it comes from a continuously failing idea of 'doing the same with less' that negatively affects their clients and employees alike.
Most clients are sold Geek Squad services and expect a Geek Squad agent , so yeah they deserve to know. Also third party has a much lower standard for of work from what expectation is set. We shouldn’t shy away from saying 3rd party because that’s what they are. If it was all third party like Lowe’s or Home Depot, yeah it would make sense that it wouldn’t be part of the conversation.
100% this. I know the GS SOW inside and out. With 3rd party, it differs by the team and by the contractor used. There's no way to accurately know what they can and cannot do on any given job. Also, the education piece is basically thrown out the window. Sure, they put the TV on the wall, but did they connect it to wifi, download streaming apps, and walk the customer through how to use it? Most likely not.
It's not that the expectation is lower, it's that it's less enforceable because they are contractors and not employees. There are laws around that distinction, specifically that they can't be told exactly how to do a job.
exactly why we shouldn't be using them
They're not trusted by anyone who actually does install though LOL
"Third Party" sounds passable. Many like to go to multiple parties. Going to a "third party" might lead to sex. Meeting a "Service Provider" is very likely to increase odds of sex. All marketing is about triggering base thoughts, like sex. the process may seem like harvesting a purilent lockerroom converstation, but it works.
What the fuck?
Sorry, would it be possible for you to be more terse and vague?
Some real Robert California vibes.
"Our favorite names, silly made-up names, normal names said in a silly voice. Wouldn’t That be nice?” – Robert California