Stamping down prices? Stamping down on quality! (PC World)

Member Name: The Duke

Product:	PC World
Date:	08/01/01 (71 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Bigger stores have wide range

Disadvantages: Not cheaper than anywhere else, only interested in your money

First up, I've never bought anything from PC World (I've always known that you can get the same, or better products cheaper elsewhere), but I have been in PC World with a few people who were looking for PC's and other computer equipment or software.

One of the things I dislike most about PC World, since they started advertising about how good they were at advice and after sales service which is probably to be expected from a large company like PC World, is how everything is sales based.

A female friend of mine, who is quite computer literate, but knew nothing about what PC to buy for her needs, took me to PC World to make sure she wasn't fleeced. I hung back to look at some printers to see what a salesperson would say to a pretty girl on her own with £1000 in her pocket.

Within a minute of her looking at some PC's a salesguy came over, and she told him that my she was looking for a computer for some home office work, and internet access.

He led her off to look at some computers, and I watched, and listened in as I had gone to browse through the PC's myself by this time. He had led her to the most powerful PC's they had in stock at the time - 700Mhz Pentium 3 machines - these were obviously the most expensive too.

He was telling her that processor speed was as important as modem speed to internet connection speed, and was suggesting to her that she went for the 700Mhz beast with 19" screen and upgrade to 128MB RAM at a time when 64MB was standard and memory prices were expensive.

She told him that she would have to speak to a friend about it before she committed herself, so he said "Sure", and handed over his card, making sure she knew his name, and asking her to ask for him when she came back. She then turned to me and repeated what he had said, and asked my opinion.

When I told her what I thought, and suggested a cheaper PC (and I suggested she went elsewhere)
, the sales guy started talking about how much training he had, and how much he knew about computers.

The problem was, he couldn't even tell me what a Winmodem was which was a part of the system he was trying to sell my friend, and he had also brought up the subject of the dreaded extended warranty before she had even decided which (if any) PC she wanted!

I have been there when other PC World staff have tried to sell items that are not needed or just not right for the job which they are intended for, and that they worship the great god "The Sale".

The more and more I experience the wonders of PC World, the more I am reminded how much more helpful the smaller PC retailers are. The ones I have encountered in Belfast (Computastore springs to mind) are very honest at suggesting what you might need if you explain what you are using your purchase for, and they'll usually have a no quibble returns policy as well - certainly for hardware, not so sure about software.

So getting back to my point - I cannot recommend PC World to anyone, and if you must shop there, if you can, take someone who knows about computers along with you so that they can tell you what you want or need, not the sales people - they're only there to sell, not advise. It is possible to shop at PC World successfully, but only if you know exactly what you want and don't let the salesperson talk you into buying something you don't want or need.

**Note** This opinion is based on PC World in Northern Ireland, and is not a reflection on the chain as a whole.

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