Geek Squad® - Premium Home Theater Setup and Mount with Concealed Wires

I recently purchased a HD tv, blu-ray player and home theatre system and decided to pay the 800 dollars for the complete "premium" install. I had problems from the get-go since the store scheduled the install, I took the day off work, only to find out they had not actually added me to the schedule. After speaking with multiple managers I finally got back on the schedule. The head installer was bit on the unprofessional side, but his assistant maintained a professional attitude. They sang along to rap music, made jokes about the house and accidentally breaking things, etc. which I found a little on the unprofessional side. In the case of the few things they would actually do, the guys did decent work but they are not in the least bit innovative and I heard a lot of "we can't do that." Here's what they don't tell you that you need to know: -they will not put the electric cord in the wall, so if you are mounting the TV and want no cords, call an electrician... -they will not remove or replace baseboards and they do minimal carpet work. Makes hiding wires more difficult... -they don't bring ANY extra cords except speaker wire the diameter of coax cable (not easy to hide). You will find yourself spending a fortune on wires and accessories that keep popping up. I had to make two runs to stores because this cord wasn't long enough, or that cord wasn't the right gauge, or the worst is that the "free" speaker wire they bring is so big its practially unhideable so expect to buy 50 ft or more of thinner wire, etc. They didn't even attempt to hide wires to my rear speakers and told me I had to go buy a rocketfish wireless speaker system--that was another hundred bucks. -they DO NOT haul away all the trash. That's only if the stuff was delivered. If you picked it up from the store, you have to throw all those boxes and styrofoam away yourself. I talked them into taking the TV box, but they didn't want to. -they DO NOT run you through all of the features on your TV, stereo etc. They set up just the basics, give you about a 2 minute run through and hand you all the manuals. They did adjust a few settings on the TV, but didn't really walk me through it or anything so frankly I have no idea what they tweaked. Overall, I found it to be too expensive for what you get. This is a 400 dollar service maximum. If you want truly professional installation with all hidden wires and a liscensed electrician that can hide power cords, then this isnt the install for you. Pay a little more and hire a contractor IMHO.....

I bought the $800 installation service because my new home's walls came pre-wired for surround sound. We informed best buy of this when we purchased the installation. The two guys from Best Buy arrived on time, were nice enough, and seemed to understand what I was talking about. The head technician was wonderful, competent, and conscientious. His assistant was nice enough, but not bright. When the two arrived, I explained roughly where the wires were. The guy at the store told me that they had devices that would find them. The wall punch for the speakers was what caused me to upgrade my service from the basic install, as the conduit and power was already run to behind the TV. The batteries for the device that could locate the speak wires were dead. *Lead technician leaves to go find batteries - leaving assistant to map out the bolts for the TV on the wall* I had carefully explained how high I wanted the TV, I provided visual references on surrounding furniture. They made a mark on the wall where the top of the TV was supposed to be. *Lead technician returns with batteries after 45 minutes* Technicians begin punching holes in the wall. Drill battery dies (no joke). They have to get the other drill from the truck. That battery is also about to die. Back to the truck again. Back up battery has a little juice, so they start drilling again. Oops. Not the correct spots. Move two holes over 2 inches. Now it works. Mount connected to wall. I exit room for a couple minutes so as to not directly hover over them while they work. "Chris, the TV is up." I come around the corner to find the TV a full 5 inches lower than it was supposed to be. I think about making them rehang, but decide not too as it is not *terribly* low and I really don't want a ton 1/2" molly bolt holes in my new wall. OK, now he uses the wire finder and it turns out it wasn't really where I wanted the speakers, so I buy a Rocketfish remote surround sound base off them for $100. This is fine, not a Best Buy issue, but rather my issue. However, now that they are not punching holes in wall, they are doing nothing more than the basic install - do I get refund? No. Then they mount the one and only speaker that I asked them to mount on a wall. Assistant tech is taking the lead on this project. "Hey, Chris, can you tell me when it is centered?" (No joke, for real, he asks me this.) I respond... "You know, do you guys have a tape measure? Because I have one if you need to use it?" He proceeds to use the eyeball method and hang the speaker off center. (Lead tech later took the speaker down and re-centered and hung it without my asking). They beautifully wrapped the wires, but they were about to leave a gapping hole in the wall behind the TV where they pulled wires through the conduit. "Do you guys have a plastic thing for that hole?" I ask. Yes, he does and he goes to the truck and gets one, and puts it in, no complaints. In the end, things look nice, but was it worth $800? No. $400? No. $200? Maybe. Or you could just get a case of beer, a nice bottle of whiskey, 2 pizzas and con your friends to do it for $100. It will be the same result. Even if you are not tool friendly.

We bought a HDtv, 5.1 home thearter and blue ray. We had to wait 3 weeks for them to come install it. When they got here I was already very upset because they were late and we were to be going out of town. The head installer was very apologetic and professional and did calm me down(not an easy thing to do) but was un able to install it today because what the sales person had sold us would not work in our house. Long story short get the consult before you buy anything. We will review again once the work is done. checked yes for recommend but really do not know yet.

We purchased a new home and proceeded over to Best Buy to get a new TV and Home Theater System. We purchased the installation package from the Geek squad to have everything installed. The guys who came to do the work were friendly enough but obviously did not have the knowledge and experience to install the equipment right or get everything to work right. After they were done, we had to have the TV on to listen to the CD player, and they left a big messy hole behind our TV. The system was a nightmare to operate and the sound was never quite right. After a few weeks of frustration my husband decided to call someone else to see what they could do and we found a small local company that has been doing this kind of work for years. They not only made our system work easily, sound great, and look good, but the technician was able to help us set up all the rest of the TV's in the house and even fix our internet problem. I only wish we had found them first and I really recommend finding a company that will send out an experienced technician. If you are in our area and need someone to do a professional job or clean up the Geek Squad's mess, avcomp is who we used.

I purchased a 47" Samsung with blueray player and decided on complete home theater installation package. Installation on wall went fairly well. Running and hiding the speaker wires become a problem even with unfinished basement. The crew seemed not to have enough experience to accomplish the task. Seven hours later they left with job completed but left too many blanks on wall from drilling wrong places (4 extra blanks) and a bundle of exposed wires behind the disc player. They could not program the metrocast cable remote to turn off the TV. They do not respond to service calls. You can not talk to a tech for simple solutions.They will not call back. Poor customer service.