The Nation's Favourite Computer Shop (PC World)

Member Name: Deru

Product:	PC World
Date:	23/03/09 (173 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Store layout, Convenience, Range of products, Lower Web prices for Collect @ Store

Disadvantages: Price of accessories and some items, Queues, Selection of certain items

PC WORLD STORES

PC world are the retail arm of DSG International group. They specialise in computing items but also sell, TVs, digital cameras, stationary and even office furniture. PC World stores are dotted around the country with stores often located in retail parks so many of them are as big as supermarkets. I have most frequently visited the stores in Croydon, Catford, Charlton and Old Kent Road, with Croydon and Catford being the most frequent. They usually have their own car parks (depending on location) and there's usually a fair number of spaces which is good, as I hate having to look for parking spaces.

Stores seem to consistently have the following sections:

- Components
- PC
- Laptop
- Software
- Stationary
- Digital Photography
- Home entertainment
- Printers
- Networking

The above sections are usually the big sections, many of which have a large signs labelling the section high up on a wall or hanging from the ceiling. This is similar to what you will find in a supermarket, which I like very much, as it makes locating things much easier when looking for something specific. You will also find a PC World Business section, Tech Guys and Reserve and Collect section but I've also seen small sections dedicated to Apple Mac computers and iPods.

Most of the larger stores seem to be arranged quite similarly whereby you are greeted by displays of computing accessories such as mice, keyboard, webcams, etc. near the entrance, followed by PCs, laptops in the middle, and digital cameras, TVs, a networking items at the back. I like the store layout very much as things are usually relatively easily to find and everything is usually quite tidily displayed on the shelves. Smaller sections can be a bit tricky to locate at times so I just ask a member of staff. The stores are big so the aisles are all very wide so it never feels cramped.

PRODUCT RANGE AND PRICES

With such large shops, one would expect a wide selection of products and PC World do not fail there. As well as computers, software, TVs, computer peripherals, components and networking, they also have a selection of Sat Nav, MP3 players, games consoles and accessories, mobile phones, peripherals, laptop and PC accessories as well as . They also advertise 3G contract deals to get free laptops and phones.

Even though they have a lot of different products on offer, I find that they are a bit limited on their selection of certain products. With laptops in particular, even though they have a fair few on display, most aren't particularly good. They do have the odd high end machine but they do tend to try to push the sale of Advent and their own brand, Packard Bell, machines more. I find that Micro Anvika, a much smaller computer and technology shop, have a much better selection of laptops, although it may just be that PC World stores are only targeting the lower end consumer market and that more expensive machines don't sell as well for them. They do stock name brand laptops such as Sony, HP, Acer, Samsung and even the odd Dell laptop but I find they that the better ones are often out of stock. In terms of peripherals, accessories, etc, they do have an acceptable selection ranging from cheap to the higher end ones.

In terms of prices, their laptops, computers, TVs, etc are on par with other retailers but there are many items that I cannot justify buying from PC World due to the rip off prices. Some items are slightly more expensive than what you can find elsewhere, which is fine but things like accessories and cables can be 20 times more expensive at PC World than if you were to shop elsewhere.

For example:

1M CAT5 PATCH / NETWORK CABLE (Poor)

PC World - £19.56
Poundland - £1.00
Ebuyer.com - £0.60 Plus Postage
eBay.co.uk - £0.99 Plus 79p Postage

USB CABLE 1.8M (Poor)

PC World - £14.96
Poundland - £1.00
Ebuyer.com -
eBay.co.uk - £1.49

HP 363 CYAN INK 4ML (Okay)

PC World - £12.99
Inkfactory.co.uk - £10.01 Plus Free Delivery
Amazon.co.uk - £7.58 Plus Free Delivery

LG SLIMLINE USB EXTERNAL DVDRW DRIVE (Good)

PC World - £69.86
Ebuyer.com - £67.71 Plus Free Delivery
Dabs.com - £61.15 Plus £5.86 Delivery

Given that selling from a store has more overheads, a slightly higher price is expected but I find the prices for the network and USB cables excessive. Other prices are okay but on the plus side, PC World has a feature on their website called Collect @ Store, which enables you to reserve an item for collection at your nearest PC World store. The idea is that you find the item on the PC World website, add the item to the basket and then checkout. When you checkout, you select the Collect @ Store option, enter your name and mobile number (plus email if you want), choose which store to collect the item from and then it will generate a unique reservation code for you to take with you to your designated store where you then pay for it at the Collect @ Store point.

There is a down side as you cannot do this for all items. Some items are not on their website, others simply are not available for Collect @ Store even though they are available in store and some items may not be available at certain stores or are just out of stock everywhere. Still, I have managed to buy quite a few items from PC World at a lower price thanks to this feature so I highly recommend it. With the LG Slimline USB External drive mentioned earlier, reserving the item on their website first brings the price down to below those of their competitors thus giving the best price.

LG SLIMLINE USB EXTERNAL DVDRW DRIVE (Very good)

PC World (Web Exclusive Price) - £60.50 Plus £4.84 Delivery OR no delivery charge if collected at store.

With laptops and PCs, the prices are usually negotiable so it is worth haggling! You can even get stuff like blank discs and accessories so it is worth asking and doing your research beforehand. My suggestion would be to shop at Poundland, other £1 shop or online for the cables, and always check the PC World website to see if you can reserve an item at a lower price. Definitely price check to ensure you get a better price.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Buying stuff is usually very straight forward when buying small items as you just pick them out and take them to the checkout. Checkout process is usually very quick. However, for larger purchases such as PCs and laptops, there are usually sales reps floating around to help you select products. The one I spoke to today was friendly and helpful. How knowledgeable can be hit and miss depending on what you ask and which sales rep you encounter but they generally know a sufficient amount about their products to help you make an informed purchase decision. They're not as pushy as they used to be, most likely because they no longer get commission for sales.

Now, in terms of after sales service, I have seen long queues at the Tech Guys and Customer Service desk (it's the same desk along with Collect @ Store point). There seems to only be one and at most, two staff members dealing with customers there, which is a bit annoying. At times, even when I'm only there to collect and pay for a reserved item, I've had to queue for a long time.

Occasionally, I've seen some disgruntled customers with PC and laptop issues but I personally fix my own computers so have not used their Tech Guys service so can't say how good or bad that is. Returning items is possible if items are unopened and unused. I don't know about returning faulty items as I've not had to do this but I'm sure they have procedures in place, even if the process is quite slow.

One time, I used Collect @ Store to reserve a Power Supply. I went to the store only to be told that they couldn't find the model that I had reserved. They gave me a slightly more expensive model so at least that ended well. However, it does show that their stock control system isn't always 100% accurate.

I think the after sales customer service can be improved with more staff and better procedures for dealing with faulty computers but otherwise, I don't think it's too bad, as staff are friendly and know what they're doing most of the time. They should not make so many customers wait in their queue and should allocate more staff to deal with this.

SUMMARY

PROS

- PC World Web prices are less and can be used with Collect @ Store
- Convenience
- Good store layout
- Range of products

CONS

- Price of some items
- Selection of certain products
- Queues

VERDICT

Their prices vary but if you need something in a hurry, then I wouldn't rule PC World out as they are all over the place so it is convenient. Items such as cables and certain accessories, should be bought elsewhere as PC World prices are excessive but they have redeemed themselves by offering cheaper web prices, which you can take advantage of without paying postage and waiting for delivery by reserving and collecting the item at your nearest PC World branch assuming the item is available. I've not had any problems with customer service (but may vary from store to store) and I do like to have a browse around their stores even if I have nothing to buy, so I do recommend shopping at PC World so long as you do your research before visiting the store and know roughly how much items should be. If you need to return something, then go when it's not busy like early on a weekend.

Thanks for reading!

Summary: PC World Review