PC World, does it really suck like everyone thinks? (PC World)

Member Name: adam_caines

Product:	PC World
Date:	22/05/02 (122 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy of use, One-One Help

Disadvantages: Staff (sometimes)

As many of you that read my opinions may have gathered by now, I dont have many bads things to say about technology but now its times like these when I see PC World with 218 opinions that I feel I have to add something of interest to a seemlessly endless debate. I have worked in Dixons and Currys through DSG (Dixons Stores Group) for nearly 2 years and PC World is, if you didn't already know, part of the group DSG. Therefore I can hopefully input some sort of feel for you as a customer to what we see from behind and in front of the counter, as I am myself a customer too.

Many of you have said how you feel the staff and their attitudes are not what you would expect and feel that we only see you as 'punters' to be honest this is true. Many of the attitudes of staff I have worked with and met are very wrong and don't see themselves as customers and give the service they would expect from someone serving them. Of course we are in the job for the money and the majority of our pay checks are made up of the commission that you guys provide, in terms of PC World the wage is a lot better than that of Dixons and Currys as you would expect. This is mainly due to the margin that is involved with PC sales. You would be suprised to know that only 10% is made on sales of most PC's and Laptops and therefore not much comission comes our way from that. The margin is in accessories, insurance and credit. If we can sell you a PC with all the printers, scanners, peripherials and coverplan on it on an interest free option we make a a fortune. Also the majority of PC World staff have some sort of qualification in computers, whether it be from A level to degree. As much as you like to think they don't really know what their on about most of them do.

In terms of customer service I do agree with most, that in retail, and this is not just PC World, service is not up to a standard that you would expect. In my opinion from experience this is due to th
e expectation from the customer. I have dealt with customers that have ask me outside, threatened me and so on. This is not something I expect or would do myself. Unless you have worked in a retail store you don't really know how difficult it is and what goes on for us to make a profit. There is so much that we as a sales person cannot actually do due to the policy of the company, especially when it comes to repairs. A lot of the manufacturers will not accept units that we send back to them as faulty without us first sending them to be repaired by them or asessed. This does leave you as a customer without you goods for weeks. The reality of it is that if we don't have this process we end up with a warehouse full of useless stock/assets and have nothing to do with them. We cannot write them off as we loose too much money and can't send them back to the manufacturer because they will not usually accept the goods.

I have been a customer at PC World and yes it is difficult to find someone to serve you. This is normally due to budgets that managers have to adhere to and therfore less staff are employed, we are in it to make money unfortunately a lot of stores suffer from this. This is the same with many other companies, Comet is just as bad and so on.

PC World are still going strong though as so is DSG. They have honestly cornered a market and even though Toys R Us etc are moving into PC's who is realistically going to go there to buy a PC? But to be honest if you know anything about PC's your not going to buy one retail you will most likely build one and save yourself over £500. (I probably shouldn't say that) However to argue that, you dont just go into your local Dixons, Currys, Comet or PC World just to buy something normally you are looking for a 'Service' and there is a price for that service. Thats why retail is more expensive than the Internet, how much back-up do you honestly have on purchases on the Net? Not m
uch normally and even Dell have slumped down due to their after sales service. It al depends on the customer though, there are people that will happily come in and talk to us for hours and then there are those who want to start arguments because 'they know more' etc etc. What should we expect as a customer though? As I have been both sides of the counter I would say that the majority of us are honest and will help but there will always be individuals that aren't. This is the reality of retail its just about luck really and i hope you get someone like me who was in the job to help and interact with customers and is not a loose cannon. Happy shopping....

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