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Best Buy is axing 650 members of its Geek Squad, the group of repair specialists that travels to people's homes to fix their electronics. The retailer isn't doing away with its repair service entirely, though; those getting the boot will be Geeks who serviced appliances and televisions. "We know that clients will always need us to come to their homes. That's why we're evolving in-home support for a more specific customer segment," Best Buy said in a statement released to Minneapolis' KARE 11. The laid-off Geek Squad agents will also "be receiving severance packages and job placement assistance," said the statement.
Consumerist talks to a tipster who says the downsizing is causing chaos in the customer service department. Explained the tipster, "Because they laid off so many people, an appointment that was supposed to happen on, say, July 5, might not be able to be rescheduled until sometime in September." Though the axed Geek Squad workers will keep their jobs through Aug. 1, they won't be doing any repairs between now and then. ("At least they did one things smart not sending freshly laid off employees into customer homes to wreak havoc!" quips a second tipster.)
