PC World everything a superstore should not be (PC World)

Member Name: cabletow

Product:	PC World
Date:	27/03/02 (698 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: ease of use

Disadvantages: staff, price, attitude

PC world is a surprise. 8 years ago I wondered to my self how a superstore,dedicated to only computers could survive in the industrial state battleground on the outskirts of town, apparently competing with the likes of Tescos, Asda, Comet, Curries, etc.

The battle however has seen more specialised superstores take arms in the struggle to wrest cash from us, Joe Public. Mothercare, Toys R us, Momas and Poppas, and Pets mart. All have found the cheaper rates of industrial estate Britain profitable.

8 years on and PC World is going strong. PC World sells hardware and software, targeting the novice, and aiming to deliver a cheap feel to expensive products. This aim has been delivered successfully as far as the accountants are concerned. Is it any good as a computer store?

By virtue of the fact that you are all sitting at home using your computer to read this, you are all out of PC Worlds target population. You all know a little about computers. That is why many of the opinions written here are negative towards PC World.

I remember the first time I wanted to but a computer. I went to PC World and talked to a salesman. It took me half an hour to find one but when I did I asked him the questions that I though were sensible. "Which one is best for me?","What should I look for in a computer?" and "What if something goes wrong?"

Well, the salesman was helpful. He answered that I needed as much RAM, Processor power and Gigabytes as I could afford, in that order of preference. He had an Advent 350 P2 here for $1000 that was great value and that PC World would guarantee it for a year and I could bring it back at any time. Armed with this information I left the store and went to a small local back street builder gave him the specs and he built me one for £500. So my impressions already of PC World are mixed. I got useful information, but I felt they were a little pricey. This was all 5 years ago.
r>Since then I have expanded in girth as well as in other areas. My computer has grown and my knowledge has grown too. I have bought the odd peripheral from PC World and found the store to have two big faults. I have always had trouble in finding someone on the shop floor with any computing knowledge, and I have found their repair service and their stock levels to be lacking. The only good aspect of using this large superstore is that they will gladly refund items, no argument, if you keep the receipt. Every piece of hardware I have purchased from them I have had to replace as parts were missing or the hardware was broken. I have bought scanners, mice, printers and soundcards. A total of ten items. Yes, all ten had to be taken back and replaced. Not a good strike rate is it? 10 out of 10 returns. It is not surprising, therefore, that PC World is good at the refund aspect of customer service, they get a great deal of practice at it.

What do PC World do badly. The staff has no sense of ownership in the business. This means they are curt, rude, interested only in their next break and see punters as just that, punters. They all will counter that they are not paid enough to be interested, I am sure. New management advice from America does teach that "If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys" A good manager will engender a feeling of ownership from the staff and this translates to improved public service. PC World and other superstores have a great deal to learn on this count.

Running a store dedicated to computers is tricky when it comes to stock keeping. Computers date very quickly and PC World has a large network of stores. Therefore stocks of the latest game, mouse or operating systen are hard to keep up to date. Also unfashionable items will tend to stockpile, so there is a temptation to build these items into the next home computer system that they will sell. It is only in the last two months that you can buy an off the shelf system from PC Wo
rld that has XP loaded, they had surplus Windows Millennium to get rid of. This does tend to leave a feeling of, "I have just been ripped off"

Prices are competitive with other computer superstores and, although not the cheapest, Cheap enough. After sales guarantees are not worth the paper they written on though. The first time you use your computer to go on the internet or load an external programme on, you negate the guarantee. So
rewording their guarantee promise ~ it should read " We will guarantee our product only if you never use it"

So why is PC World in business still. Well it is easy, it is open seven days a week and it is reassuring to complete novices to go into a store where there are working computers that they can have a play on. Do not be fooled though PC World is not a great place to get your computer. You can get a
good idea of what you need and it is a great place to get your stocks of paper or ink. Before you part with any real cash ask your self this. "If they are all that cheap how can they afford such a big store with all this kit in it?" "What is their main purpose, to make themselves richer or provide you with the best computing solution to match your needs and
budget?" and "Why do real techno heads not get their kit from here?" I think, therefore, that you should consider browsing and then walking away.

Others will disagree strongly. I accept that. In computing we all like the way we do things the best. I bet my Internet explorer is configured differently from yours. I bet many of you swear that MSN explorer or AOL is better than Internet explorer. No one is right. These are all solutions to the problem as to how to see a thing on the net and not one solution is right and all others are wrong. For me PC World was a dead loss. I would be happy to hear of happy shopper stories from this superstore.