Awesome Stocking Stuffer Ideas

Season’s Greetings,

Our family here at Geeks-In-Route has come up with the perfect stocking stuffer for that special person in your life, who has everything.

Between now and December 15th, we are offering gift certificates for a minimum of 2 hours, and a maximum of 4 hours of service at a discounted rate of $69.95 per hour. That’s an incredible 30% discount, on a gift that everyone can use. Service is available nationwide, and the certificates can be used for any residential service. Purchases of gift certificates for in-home service are limited to a maximum of 4 hours per certificate, and all gift certificates must be used June 30, 2010. Gift certificates are available for commercial us at a 30% discount off of current commercial rates as well.

We are also offering gift certificates for 2 year licenses for the #1 rated antivirus, AVG Internet Security, for a discounted rate of $69.95. A nearly 15% discount off of the retail price of $82.99. Now you can give the gift of security to the ones you love & care for. AVG Internet Security gift certificates are not limited. For more information about this product, please visit http://www.avg.com/us-en/225810. Remember, this is for a 2 year license.

You are welcome to forward this email to any, and all of your friends, but remember, both offers will expire at December 15, 2009 at 11:59pm, and will not be extended.

Merry Christmas your family, from everybody at Geeks-In-Route!

Geeks-in-Route Policy Changes

Hello Everyone,

1. We are no longer requiring customers to provide their billing information at time of scheduling. The customers are being advised that the technician will call in immediately upon arrival to the site, and place the customer on the phone with a customer service agent, who will secure the billing before work begins. It is imperative that you call in immediately upon arrival to the site so we can do this. We have been testing this out over the last couple of weeks, have done over 130 jobs, and have not had one instance where the customer was not there, or refused to give the billing information when the tech arrived. Subsequently, since we made this change we have increased our # of completed jobs per week by 50%, which means more work for all of you.

2. We are now accepting checks from customers. If your work order says “Please collect voided check from customer while on site” please do so, and write the customers Driver’s License # on the bottom of the work order. If you do not collect the voided check from the customer while on site, you will be asked to revisit the site to collect the voided check.

3. Lastly, please make sure you call the # at the top of your work order only, as we have a special team of individuals who are answering the arrival & departure calls. Do not call any direct #’s from your caller ID, as that person may not be available, and it is imperative that one of the reps physically speak to the customer before you begin working.

# Geeks-in-Route #

What Is My Vision For Geeks-In-Route?

As a friend of mine puts it best, we are trying to "Create A Better World". At least where computers are concerned anyway.

I started this company, because I had a lot of friends that were technologically challenged, and were always needing someone to help them resolve little issues they were having, and I don't like seeing them being taken advantage of. You see, there were and still are companies out there that, in my opinion, are charging way to much, and giving inferior service, by inferior techs that are willing to work for $14 per hour. Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to making a decent profit, but some of these guys are absolutely gouging people who are in a tight spot, and that is just wrong.

With that being said, my vision for this company is to create the worlds largest network of truly qualified technicians, who have taken the initiative to actually go to school to be professionally certified, and who get paid a high enough wage that they actually care about the service that they give our clients. Technicians that have the capability to go beyond using a piece of fix-it-all software that will hopefully solve the problem, and who aren't stuck when the fix-it-all software fails to do so. Technicians who care enough about the clients time to be on time to their appointments. You know, all those crazy, unheard of things that customers should never expect to get.

Some people call me crazy, but I believe the customer is always right. Even when most people would say they are clearly wrong, there right. I believe that every customer, big or small, should get the Red Carpet treatment. Most of all, I believe that they should get a fair price. Not too low that we can't stay in business, but not so high that it breaks them. Simply a price that is fair to both of us alike.

These aren't new concepts. They are lost concepts. Up until the 60's and 70's, that was just how business was done. Since then however, companies have slowly and methodically pushed back the customer service boundaries, and sadly, they did it just slowly enough that people did not even realize it was happening. Each time the corporate giants would nudge the boundaries, so that they could cut back, and make more money, the consumer just stepped back and let it happen. Now, it's near impossible to find good customer service from any company. I would venture to say that there is not a person reading this article that has not been treated rudely by an employee of a company they deal with. In the old days, a customer would have demanded that that employee be fired, and you know what? They would have been fired. Not any more. Most consumers now days would not even bother to call and complain.

At Geeks-In-Route, I take customer service very seriously, and will not stand for any of our representatives treating our customers with any less than the utmost respect, and courtesy. Anything less than that would be grounds for dismissal in my book.

Hidden Cam Investigative Reports

Before you choose a computer repair company to come to your home, it's important to check them out thoroughly. Research on the internet is very easy to do and could save you a lot of headaches.

Also check with your states Better Business Bureau, Department of Commerce. These are also a good source to find out what other customers have made complaints about, and what the company did to resolve the issue.

If you have horror stories of your own dealings with computer repair shops, please feel free to use this posting to share with the rest of our viewers. You would be doing many people a great service in doing so.

To see some of the hidden cam reports that various news sources have published CLICK HERE.

Our Endorsement For Anti-Virus

We've tried many different anti-virus programs throughout the years. They all seem to be really good in the beginning when they are trying to make a name for themselves, but after they have done so, they seem to get lax. Norton and McAfee for example, used to be great anti-viruses, but now seem to be more into seeing who can cram the most fluff into their software. All this fluff sounds good, but only seem to serve the purpose of robbing the system of it's valuable resources.

I can't tell you how many times I have been called out to a client to remove a virus, and find that they are using Norton or McAfee products that are telling them that they have no viruses. For example, I went to a client the other day who just so happened to be running Norton Internet Security. Somebody had gotten ahold of his banking credentials, and had attempted to transfer $5000 from his bank account via his online banking. Luckily, his bank noticed the transaction, thought it was suspicious, and froze the account. When I installed the software that we use, which is AVG Internet Security, the client was shocked. The AVG had found literally thousands of viruses. It found some of everything (key loggers, trojans, downloaders, spyware, adware, etc.).

I tell people all the time. Norton and McAfee aren't the best anti-viruses, but rather, the best promoters. If you are one of those millions of people still using Norton or McAfee, get rid of it, and go to www.grisoft.com right away, or call us, and we will come out and get you straightened out. Remember to completely uninstall your Norton or McAfee before attempting to install the AVG product that you purchase.

Exciting New Partnership Negotiations

We are excited to announce that we have entered into negotiations with Planet Hip Productions and IMC/Beryl Wolk, who brings to the table more than 50 years of advertising expertise. Once the negotiations have been finalized, Mr. Wolk and his colleagues will be managing all aspects of Geeks-In-Route's marketing.

Planet Hip Productions has pledged to provide Geeks-In-Route with a substantial amount operating capital to facilitate the expansion of the company, improve our current customer management system for more efficient interaction with our clients, and to expand our current call center capabilties.

In forging this partnership, we will be able to reach many more clients, and introduce them to our refreshing approach to the computer and IT service industry.

Vista! A Blessing Or A Curse?

We've all heard the horror stories about Vista. Is it really as bad as people say it is?

My take on Vista, is that it is actually a pretty good operating system. Sure it has it querks, but every other operating system, prior to Vista also had their own querks in the beginning as well. That's why there are such things as Microsoft Updates.

I think the bigger problem with Vista is not that it's a bad system, but rather that most people do not like change. They get used to doing things a certain way, and don't want to learn a new process. Rather than embrace the new technology, and learn to use it, they half heartedly try it out, and the first sign of issues, they say "See, I knew this new system was no good" and they run around telling everyone that will listen to them how bad it is. It's almost as if they think that by telling enough people that the new technology is bad, they will be able to some how halt the advancement of the product. That's just not the case.

If you are a Vista user, and you are still having lots of issues, try installing the latest Microsoft Updates. Many of the issues in the beginning have been resolved. The printer and peripheral issues that people had in the beginning, were mostly due to the fact that the manufacturers had not developed updated Vista drivers yet. This is not the case anymore, as most manufactures do now have updated drivers for the pre-Vista equipement. If you have a pre-Vista printer, try going to the manufacturers website, and downloading the latest driver.

The biggest advantage that I can see with Vista, is that it does not get viruses. At least I haven't seen an infected Vista machine yet. Before Vista came out, about 80% of our business was virus related. Vista has been out for a year and three months now, and we have yet to do the first virus removal job on a Vista machine. That's pretty impressive in my book.