PC World Muppets

BrianD3

First of all, I know that most people with a bit of tech knowledge tend to avoid PC World at all costs. I usually avoid them myself but occasionally I'll take a look to see what's on offer.

Saw a big newspaper ad the other day for a St Stephen's Day sale. One thing that caught my eye was an Olympus C-450 digi cam with 4 megapixels and 3X optical zoom for 299 euros. Not bad value. So I called into the shop and the camera is priced at 399. I questioned one of the staff (an Indian guy) about the price difference between the ad price and the store price. But he didn't really have a clue and just shrugged his shoulders. I guess I could have made a fuss and demanded to speak to someone more senior - but couldn't be arsed. Anyway I wasn't really sure of where I stood legally - do they have to stick to the advertised price etc. The ad had one of those disclaimers that prices and specs could be changed without notice.

Thing is - this isn't the first time I've experienced this sort of thing with PC World. About a month ago, I enquired about the exact same model camera after seeing it in the paper for 299, to be told that the price was 399.

And a few years ago, they had an ad for some obsolete computers that they were selling off for a couple of hundred quid. Called into the store - spoke to somebody fairly senior and he had no knowledge of the computers in the ad, and instead tried to sell me a standalone word processor :rolleyes:

I'm just wondering is this just pure incompetence. Does the person who produces the newspaper ads actually communicate with the store managers?

Or could it be something more sinister eg the misleading ads could be a deliberate "mistake" to lure someone into the store. Once inside, they'll realise that the item they were interested in isn't available or is dearer than they thought so they won't purchase it. However they may see something else they want in the store and end up buying it.

Either way PC World = crowd of muppets.

BrianD3

joePC

I agree 100% The PC world the employees I've come acorss where thick........

aphex™

Employees seem thick probably because they have no power to change prices and/or are afraid of management

aphex™

Originally posted by BrianD3

But he didn't really have a clue and just shrugged his shoulders.

Ofcourse, managment make the prices! Prices are set probably in england, for all stores. But, if it was labeled wrongly in the shop, it probably means they forgot to update the price thats all! Happens everywhere.

Originally posted by BrianD3

And a few years ago, they had an ad for some obsolete computers that they were selling off for a couple of hundred quid. Called into the store - spoke to somebody fairly senior and he had no knowledge of the computers in the ad, and instead tried to sell me a standalone word processor :rolleyes:

Ahh, thanks for reminding me why i never go to Pc world. Are they thick or what!?!?

Originally posted by BrianD3
I'm just wondering is this just pure incompetence. Does the person who produces the newspaper ads actually communicate with the store managers?

Or could it be something more sinister eg the misleading ads could be a deliberate "mistake" to lure someone into the store.

Incompetence. You get this thing all the time in big shops. Sometimes Tescos would run Tv ads for i dunno some gimmicky service/product or something and when u get in there and enquire Nobody might know anything about it.

Its false advertising if prices dont correspond in the shop as they are in the paper. They dont have to sell anything to you at any price they advertised (in the paper etc). What u could do is talk to the manager [only they can deal with this- not normal floor staff] and show them the ad. They would then change the price with alot of fuss and half an hour wasted probably. OR you could complain to the Director of Consumer affairs who would look into the matter and advise them they are breaking the law, and if it happens again she will take them to court (if enough people complain).

Personally i just accept theyre muppets and take business elsewhere. ww)

gs39t

About a year ago i was practically insulted by one of their "staff" in Blanchardstown. I enquired if they built PC's to order - and the muppet says to me "that would be like going to XXXXXX and asking if they'd build you a washing machine to your spec"

:rolleyes:

How these places stay in business with their shop monkeys and pricing is beyond me

Makaveli

Originally posted by BrianD3
Anyway I wasn't really sure of where I stood legally - do they have to stick to the advertised price etc. The ad had one of those disclaimers that prices and specs could be changed without notice.

It's an invitation to treat not a contract.
So you dont stand anywhere legally.

sunbeam

Originally posted by gs39t
About a year ago i was practically insulted by one of their "staff" in Blanchardstown. I enquired if they built PC's to order - and the muppet says to me "that would be like going to XXXXXX and asking if they'd build you a washing machine to your spec"

:rolleyes:

How these places stay in business with their shop monkeys and pricing is beyond me

oh dear god :rolleyes:

That reminds me of a few years ago was looking for a laptop with an IR or serial port so I could browse the net using my Nokia 6210.

Salesguy: ''And why on earth would you want to do that?''

Me: ''Well I travel a lot and want to use the net when I'm on the train.''

Salesguy: ''Could you not just plug in into a phoneline?''

:rolleyes:

unkel

They are so completely ignorant and incompetent it is almost funny were it not so sad that thousands of people who don't have the same information as we do actually buy there

Oh, and currys=pcworld=dixons, all part of the same group. I only ever buy there if I cannot avoid it and I actively try and prevent others from doing so

BrianD3

It's an invitation to treat not a contract.

I just checked the legislation and it appears you're correct.

Even so, it's extremely bad form. Anyone can make a mistake and advertise a product at the wrong price. But as I have described this seems to be a regular occurence in PC World. FFS they've had several weeks to get their act together regarding the ads for the Olympus C-450, yet they still get it wrong.

Oh, and currys=pcworld=dixons, all part of the same group. I only ever buy there if I cannot avoid it and I actively try and prevent others from doing so

I agree, but I've found Curry's and Dixon's to be a fair bit more professional than PC World. Wonder why that is. Maybe it's cause Curry's/Dixon's are more the electrical side of things and as such are competing with places like DID and Power City. Whereas for your average uninformed Joe Soap, PC World is the first place he's going to go if he wants to get the kids one of dem compooter yokes for Christmas

PS one good PC World story - I picked up a brand new IBM buckling spring "clicky" keyboard in PC World a few years back. They were advertising it as a "typists keyboard" priced at 70 pounds but they were having extreme difficulty selling them so I got one in a sale for 30 pounds It's a wonderful keyboard which should last for decades and is by far the nicest keyboard I've ever used (all modern keyboards are cheap mush in comparison)

BrianD3

dazberry

Let the stories flow

I bought a laptop in PCW a few years ago and when I got it home it was the wrong (lesser spec-ed) laptop in the right box.

They didn't have a replacement, and I was offered e100 to keep it, or e100 towards a new laptop. Eventually I just got a refund because there was nothing I wanted.

There were no problems, and my credit card was re-credited that day, but the staff were just rude, a marked contrast to the previous day when I'd bought the original one. So much for being nice about the whole thing and not screaming blue murder, regardless of having to take a 1/2 day off work which cost me more than e100 in real terms (at the time - not any more ).

D.

Capt'n Midnight

I've yet to see a "managers special" that when you addied in the catalog price of the missing bits worked out at much less than the original price.

Must start a thread to see who has the worst tale to tell of "mastercare" or whichever shower of butchers they use for repairs.

Yeah I still pop in from time to time for in case they've mispriced anything

Conlai

Remember though, staff usually react to how you approach them in the first place. And you never who might be reading the boards, including some of those employees so don't be to harsh

gaui3d0pnbz86o

Remember though, staff usually react to how you approach them in the first place. And you never who might be reading the boards, including some of those employees so don't be to harsh

*cough cough* too true

Saw a big newspaper ad the other day for a St Stephen's Day sale. One thing that caught my eye was an Olympus C-450 digi cam with 4 megapixels and 3X optical zoom for 299 euros. Not bad value. So I called into the shop and the camera is priced at 399. I questioned one of the staff (an Indian guy) about the price difference between the ad price and the store price. But he didn't really have a clue and just shrugged his shoulders. I guess I could have made a fuss and demanded to speak to someone more senior - but couldn't be arsed. Anyway I wasn't really sure of where I stood legally - do they have to stick to the advertised price etc. The ad had one of those disclaimers that prices and specs could be changed without notice.

it also says that this is a voucher price, to purchase at this price bring the ad(voucher) to the store. prices are not changed instore to reflect prices in paper
ie bring your voucher

Does the person who produces the newspaper ads actually communicate with the store managers?

no they dont, approved special offers come in via head office in hemmal hamsead englland to head office ireland(dublin) where they are faxed to proofers in the newspaper office for insertion to whatever paper. stores recieve a fax of offers day before release to change layout to match special offers, so no is the answer

ither way PC World = crowd of muppets.

wouldnt agree with that totally, some are, some are not, depends on who you talk to

Employees seem thick probably because they have no power to change prices and/or are afraid of management

we have total control over prices and can act totaly independent management

Ofcourse, managment make the prices! Prices are set probably in england, for all stores. But, if it was labeled wrongly in the shop, it probably means they forgot to update the price thats all! Happens everywhere.

see abvove

I've yet to see a "managers special" that when you addied in the catalog price of the missing bits worked out at much less than the original price.

that price is set by staff at cust service desk, usually its half price, or any price above that that seems resonalbe, there is no logic to it

ps i no longer work there but many employees do read these boards daily

JustHalf

Just remember... the sales staff in PC World are there to convince you to spend money in PC World. They are not there to get you the best deal, they are not there to help you out. Their purpose is to convince you to spend as much money as possible, and they are encouraged to convince you to go for the highest margin goods.

I used to work there, a long time ago. I didn't know as much about PCs as I do now, but I was shocked at how little some of the staff understood about PCs. Yet time and time again, their sales would dwarf mine.

These are the staff that PC World management want, and for good reason... they increase profits. Making money is the primary purpose of the company.

You shouldn't expect anything else of a company. Test everything. My own company promotes the use of web standards, but I wouldn't expect a customer to trust us enough to accept everything we say as the entirety of the truth. We could be telling them how great web standards are without telling them how fantastic method XYZ is, for all they know*

Similarly, I wouldn't expect a sales assistant in PC World to tell you that Dell offer a similarly specced product for cheaper, even if this is the case. It's not their job to help you spend your money in the wisest manner possible. It is their job to help you spend as much of your money in PC World as possible.

* We don't know of a better way of making websites than with web standards.

BrianD3

it also says that this is a voucher price, to purchase at this price bring the ad(voucher) to the store. prices are not changed instore to reflect prices in paper

That's daft. Anyway I have the ad in front of me and there's no mention of vouchers or having to produce the ad in the shop to get the item at the price in quoted in the paper. A few of the items in the ad do have an "in store price" quoted which is higher than the "stephens day offer price". But there's no mention of an "in store price" for the camera I looked at. It just says is that the "st stephens day offer price" is 299.99 yet when I went in to the shop it was 399.99. And as I stated earlier I noticed this same price discrepancy a few weeks ago so it's not just an isolated mistake.

Considering that many of the people going to PC World to buy stuff will be pretty clueless, this confusing/misleading advertising makes things even worse for them. I reckon PC World are just preying on people's stupidity. For instance those offers where they advertise a crappy low end PC with "2000 euros worth of software thrown in for free!!!" But word is getting out about this crowd and they're in danger of shooting themselves in the foot. Many inexperienced buyers are buying stuff from Dell, Komplett etc. and wouldn't go near PC World. It shows too - witness how empty the PC World shops are a lot of the time eg saturday/sunday when most other shops are jammed.

BrianD3

eth0_

I would direct your complaint to head office in England. I worked part time in PC World in blanch when I was in college and management were a bunch of fat, clueless goons.
Having said that, all the christmas/sales offers in the papers DID require you to bring the advert into the store in order to get the item at that advertised price. Haven't seen any recent ads of theirs though.

ColinM

Justhalf said:
It is their job to help you spend as much of your money in as possible.

Well said, the whole thing, Justhalf - but the bit I quoted is well worth bearing in mind when dealing with any company. The primary purpose of any company is to make a profit.

shinzon

reminds me of a funny story about PCWORLD, went into the waterford centre here in town to get a new graphics graphics vard

So i picked it out, and off the sales lady went to get the card and what ever went with it

So she came back and i swear i was there 20 minutes later and shes still trying work out how to actually get all the stuff into the box.

now im not giving out about it the poor girl was flustered and so was i, what happened next really kinda pissed me off

This idiot comes over and treats the sales girl as if she was really really stupid, she just asks innocently enough how do you get all the stuff inside the BOX, now i dunno whether he was being a complete prat or just being nasty to her but he said and not a word of a lie

"well if you dont know ask technical they know everything"

Shin

BrianD3

well if you dont know ask technical they know everything

LOL doesn't surprise me though. I bet the guy who said it was a right poncey w*nker too.

Most of the floor staff in PC World are OK though. As in they're polite and they try their best to be helpful (they're not though cause most of 'em are clueless) I actually feel sorry for them in a way, the shambolic way that the shops are run is obviously not their fault.

BrianD3

eth0_

Originally posted by shinzon
reminds me of a funny story about PCWORLD, went into the waterford centre here in town to get a new graphics graphics vard

Uh, there's no PC World stores outside of Dublin, I just double checked on their site, just Blanch and Liffey Valley.
Sure you're not thinking of PC Superstore?

Mr E

Nope. Not sure about Waterford, but there is a PC World in Limerick.... Opened this year.

- Dave.

Kegser

A couple of things in no particular order;

There are four PC World stores; Limerick, Waterford, Blanchardstown(Dublin) and Liffey Valley(Dublin).

You can pick up some good deals every once in a while, but generally speaking prices will not be able to match online stores or smaller "cornershop" electronics stores. However bear in mind if you see a product in any shop in Dublin brand new and in stock for a certain price and PC World have the same product they will match the price for you.

If you aren't happy with something a member of staff has told you then grow some balls(not sure what you should grow if you're a woman...) and ask to speak to a Manager. They will try to help you out if you're being reasonable. The Sales or Customer Care staff have NO authority whatsoever.

Like any other job or company, you're dealing with people. Unfortunately people can be complete tossbags. Conversely however there are some extremely nice people also. It depends who you talk to. Bear in mind also if you approach anyone with an attitude or with completely unreasonable requests you're not going to be their favourite person.

And now for some specific comments;

unkel: Before making such sweeping statements about the staff you should really make an attempt to speak to them all, yes? I have hundreds of horror stories ranging from Gardai to the guy who stands at the traffic lights selling his Herald but that doesn't mean they're all the same. There are some great people working there.

gs39t: That doesn't sound like an insult; that sounds like someone trying to clarify an answer they've given rather than just saying "No." It can be difficult replying in a negative to a customer, especially when they've been given out to by customers before for not explaining things better.


So just remember you're dealing with people, some of whom are extremely nice, and yes some of whom may not know everything about everything. Treat them with a bit of courtesy and respect and you may be surprised.

gurramok

So just remember you're dealing with people, some of whom are extremely nice, and yes some of whom may not know everything about everything. Treat them with a bit of courtesy and respect and you may be surprised

Nice and polite yeh, what previous posters dont like is getting conned on buying over-priced stuff on the sales-staff word.
Most sales staff in Blanchardstown branch for example are not qualified to be employed there, not a generalisation.
At least in other computer stores, the staff know their stuff and will help you out with their knowledge of the gear they are trying to sell you

Kegser

Qualified in what way exactly? I didn't realise qualifications were neccesary for low-end jobs in retail.

And yes, that is a generalisation.

eth0_

Originally posted by Kegser
A couple of things in no particular order;

There are four PC World stores; Limerick, Waterford, Blanchardstown(Dublin) and Liffey Valley(Dublin).

Oh right! Didn't know they'd branched out...maybe they should update their store locator on the website

As for qualifications....for gods sake, do you expect someone with a degree to want to work somewhere like PC World for minimum wage? Anyway, it's the same in any electrical store, dixons etc are really hit and miss when it comes to advice, also, it's well known that you ought to visit shops like pc world during the day on a weekday, as visiting outside 'business hours' you're going to be dealing with part-time staff who aren't trained/don't really give a toss about helping you.

Kegser

Yea, there's going to be a couple more opened in the next few years too in the West I believe.

And yea, the advice can be very hit and miss alright. I think a bit of patience on the shoppers part goes a long way though.

Also, good to know there's other night crawlers out there

unkel

Originally posted by Kegser
unkel: Before making such sweeping statements about the staff you should really make an attempt to speak to them all, yes? I have hundreds of horror stories ranging from Gardai to the guy who stands at the traffic lights selling his Herald but that doesn't mean they're all the same. There are some great people working there.

Fair enough, my comment was a complete generalisation. I apologise to any competent staff in PCworld, although I have never met any so far. I do go there frequently though (Blanch and Liffey Valley) and have not met a single member of staff that has the faintest at all. Last time I was there was December 23rd looking to buy a 17" LCD monitor. They had a Proview for €399 in beige and €499 in silver

When I asked about response time of the monitor the sales person looked at me as if I had 7 heads. The manager had the same reaction. They could not give me any technical specifications about the monitor. Obviously they had never heard about anything like response times or brightness or anything like that before. The best they could offer was get a box from the stores. Nothing on the box either. When I researched this later I found the response time was 100 ms :eek:

Originally posted by Capt'n Midnight
Yeah I still pop in from time to time for in case they've mispriced anything

Same here Capt'n Midnight :cool:

m8 bought a ti4400 for €69 at the start of the year, lucky b*stard Have picked up a few bits and pieces like that myself. A more typical example though is a B choice ripped box geforce 2 mx FROM €229 now €219 ROTFFL :cool:

But seriously - they obviously will never rip off Capt'n Midnight, myself or most other people on the boards, but they will do so to the general public. What can we do about that? The thought that ill-informed people spend their hard-earned money in PC world sickens me :mad:

Stephen

Kegser, long time no see (!)

ColinM

Why has the www.pcworld.ie website been "under development" for approximately the last three years?
They never seem to answer the phones either.

unkel

Originally posted by ColinM
Why has the www.pcworld.ie website been "under development" for approximately the last three years?
They never seem to answer the phones either.

Sure same reason as the Eircom lady spokesperson infamously kept saying about broadband: "There is no demand for that in the Irish market"

sceptre

Originally posted by BrianD3
Most of the floor staff in PC World are OK though. As in they're polite and they try their best to be helpful (they're not though cause most of 'em are clueless) I actually feel sorry for them in a way, the shambolic way that the shops are run is obviously not their fault.

I'd agree with this. I haven't dealt with any of the staff in any depth (any time I go into a PC store or electrical store of any sort I usually know exactly what I want) but I've always found them polite etc.

Originally posted by eth0_
Uh, there's no PC World stores outside of Dublin, I just double checked on their site, just Blanch and Liffey Valley.

There's been one in Limerick for about a year. I expect them to update their website any day now:D