Dixons

[Borboski]

Your average customer just doesn't care though, I've said time after time to Mrs Borboski's dad that next time he's buying a PC I'm happy to have a look for him, help him work out what he can get for his money.

But people impulse buy and, especially blokes, like to feel like they know what they're doing - and so went and bought from PC world a 2.8, 256mg RAM, 80 gig HD, with on-board graphics (!), for - well I forget the price but went on-line and even from dell you could get the same PC with a decent graphics card.

[Joy Nktonga]

I was in PC World last week looking for a laptop bag/case. Due to thier location instore I listened to a fella trying to buy a laptop. Once the salesman had convinced him to go for one he went off to check stock to complete the sale. While he was gone I told the customer to check ebuyer before buying anything from PC World. I pointed out that for the money he was prepared to spend he could get a much higher spec machine or spend less money to get a similarly specced one. I also mentioned that if was looking to get it on finance then they offer that service too. The salesman came back with a box under his arm and the customer thanked him for his time and said he'd decided he would like to go and think about it. He then thanked me and walked off.

I didn't feel bad at all. And I bought my laptop case off of Amazon instead. The only good thing I've ever experienced from PC World was their engineer turning up to replace my broken HD with one double the size of the existing HD. I did buy a lovely fairly inexpensive set of gold-plated JVC phono cables from Dixons once, but you can't really fuck that up can you?

[Utter Shit]

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Mesh_Shop__20198/TabId/2

Near enough every review mentions that the customer service basically sucks a dick...if you're like me, reasonably well-informed when it comes to PCs and more importantly not that arsed about having to format your PC if it fucks up (I use my mp3 player as an external HD for important files), will that become irrelevant? I guess I could have a problem with a hardware issue which could screw me over, but most of those reviews seem to suggest that they try and fob you off with technobabble, but if you retort showing you know what you're talking about, they can't really fuck you off that easily.

[Utter Shit]

I did buy a lovely fairly inexpensive set of gold-plated JVC phono cables from Dixons once, but you can't really fuck that up can you?

Check the small print on the box, you've probably signed over your soul to Dixons.

[Norman Jzzzzzzz]

Has anyone here every worked for any of these companies?

I currently work in the Dixons head office as a helpdesk monkey. Thankfully I finish on Friday as i have never been treated as such a twat in any previous job. The people that work in the stores that i speak to daily are mostly decent folk but i doubt they give a fuck about their jobs/customers!

[amp]

Where are the competitors?

Well, in terms of PC sales I can say this much...

I used to work for The Computer Shop, which is part of TIME computers. We were situated on a retail park just opposite PC World.

When I joined it seemed to be a reputable company, my co-workers and manager were all knowledgable and honest (yes, honest). Of course there were targets, and pressure to make sales, but they were realistic and reachable and if we couldn't satisfy somebodys we were happy to let them walk, rather than swindling them into buying something which is of little or no use to them, and would only result in them coming back to yell at us in due course.

But when we started doing well, head office consistently increased our targets whilst cutting bonuses and making them more difficult to achieve. Essentially, we had to do more work under more pressure with less in return.

So we found ourselves desperate to sell PCs to avoid daily bollockings on conference calls (where you got humiliated in front of the whole region's stores) and unable to maintain our previous high standards of honesty and friendly, non-pushy sales pitches. The desperation obviously came across and it became even harder to clinch sales as a result.

Then there were the extended warranties, or "support packages" as they were called (which meant in-store tech support / repairs, and telephone helplines that weren't the "standard" £1/min to fucking Dubai). New head office rules on warranty "hit rates" meant that occasionally we had to tell people that we couldn't sell them a PC if they didn't purchase a support package - it simply wasn't worth our while as our hit rates would be buggered and we'd get in more shit than it merited.

Then they told us that we had to stop offering in-store repairs, even for customers who had already paid for the privelage. Which we promptly ignored.

Of course, the guys at the top neither understand nor care, as they never had to deal with an angry customer screaming down the phone or threatening to split your bowels with a Radeon 9200SE.

Eventually, we ALL left within 2 weeks of each other (I was first to walk, yipee!) - they were alienating not only their customers, but their staff too.

Most of them went to work over the road at PC World, where they said it was less stressful, yet they still felt bad selling blatantly overpriced / underspecced products. And apparently the "fantastic" deals they advertise on TV are kept in such minimal stock levels, just to get you into the shop and get you interested in something more expensive when it turns out that they've "just sold the last one". However it was less stress so I don't blame them.

So to answer GOFM's question, they're about - but they're just as bad!

I don't think I will ever trust any major electrical retailer. Ever.

[Adrian Brezhnev]

mostly decent folk

That must be some definition of the word 'decent' that I had not heard before.

I wonder whether we will end up with electrical retailers like Saturn and Promarkt, hugely successful in Germany, and have been for years.

Now, they are bastards! Saturn in particular, but they are far better than the likes of Dixons, PC World, and Currys. And they incorporate huge CD shops.

[Mr. Analytical]

I find it shocking that there are people out there who buy expensive things without checking the net first.  

It's like paying RRP for a book or DVD.  There's simply no need for it any more.

[Adrian Brezhnev]

But not everyone's as analytical as you. A lot of people walk in to Dixons (incorrectly) assuming that they will have great offers.

It's the prices (and small sizes) of hard drives that I always find to be particularly abhorrent at Dixons.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Don't ever buy a PC without an extended warranty, and a return-to-base option. It's worth the extra money alone because it's the difference between buying a PC that just will not break down for a good 5+ years, and one which starts breaking as soon as you put anything on the hard drive, because all the components they use apart from the processor (the part they show off about) are as effective computng devices as a big piece of paper.

Even Dixons will sell you a good PC. You do need to know what you're doing though, and most sob stories about these terrible retailers comes from the fact that they sell shit to people who know shit (which is unscrupulous, but then I think the majority of major retailers are unscrupulous. That's why they're major retailers).

[Utter Shit]

Any more opinions on MESH computers? Mostly good reviews on here, but as I said that one site of reviews has them marked hella down for customer service...

[zozman]

I got my laptop from Currys (yes,  I know), and they had a nice little trick which took me about 6 months to sort out.  I bought it over a year so it would be interest free, however, they then set it up over four years at a stupid interest rate of about 30%.  I had to ring up their credit sub-contractors about a dozen times, as well as my bank, but in the end they knocked 100 quid off for all the hassle.

I've got DFS trying to do exactly the same thing to me now.  When I can muster up enough patience I'll ring them up.

My brother in law used to manage a video shop and gave me a very good tip for getting what you want.  If you remain calm and say "OK, this is nothing personal, I'm not blaming you at all, but can you please give me the contact details for your head office" watch how quickly they start listening.  It's worked every time for me and it means you don't have to shout at the poor people who work in these places.

[Frinky]

Is it past history, or still current?

My employment with them finished rather abruptly on my own terms long ago, although I am now enjoying the benifit of having bought those extended warranties (at great discount, you undertstand), as I have a shiny new iPod and Camcorder and I couldn't be happier.

[m...wW(wwMww)Ww...m]

I've heard nothing but good things about Mesh except for one guy who was absolutely adamant that Mesh are terrible, anyone able to give an opinion?

I bought my PC from Mesh, and I've got no complaints. Absolutely nothing has gone wrong with it in the three-and-a-half years I've had it, so I can't speak for the quality of their customer services.

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

If you time it right, Dell is the place to go.  They often have special deals on their website, but you have to know where to look.

A good place to look for electrical bargains, especially computers and mobile phones is this website:

http://www.users.totalise.co.uk/~lauriem/latest_additions.html

There are a couple of old Dell deals from May, which may still be current on there.

[wasp_f15ting]

If you really cannot build your own machine (its not that hard) then try microdirect.co.uk  or other people who sell components.

Dell / Time / Tiny all make horrible PCs, I was taking my mates apart the other day, because he wanted a memory upgrade, and most of the motherboard and other cards / slots were terrible cheap things (mother board worth £20) his CPU was running hot @ 60c So I took his heat sink apart and saw no fucking thermal goop! I can't believe how shoddy most built computers are.

Tiny especially have nasty machines. Don't be worried about warranty if you are building your own! Each component is guaranteed separately, so when they break down you get your replacements that way. They last longer and are quieter and are just better to repair. Mine for example has been on since October last year (constantly) and I have had no problems (crosses fingers) my CPU temperature is 37-41C and ambient case temperature is 20-34C.

Compare this to a friends Dell running at a constant 55c and sounding like a plane when switched on!

Having a good airflow figured out, and making your system yours not only makes a machine run longer, it allows for a better system.

A medium power machine can be built today for as little as £500 that's with A-class components.

Again if your afraid of building it by yourself, by all the components in microdirect, and they'll assemble it for you, for £80.00 other component shops do the same.

[mook]

This seems a good a place as any to ask. How can I find out what temperature my PC is running at?

I've a couple more questions which I'll put in the techy thread later.

[gazzyk1ns]

Yeah it must be tricky buying a PC if you can't build one yourself, or don't know a mate who can order components and do it for you - you'll probably end up having to settle for what a shop is offering. That's the obvious problem with buying a whole PC, isn't it, the chances of it having nothing more and nothing less that what you want are slim. There are loads of local spods these days who offer "custom builds", maybe it's worth going down that route... I'd certainly try to get someone who has done it for people you know though, some of them are right "slap it together and run" merchants. Get someone who knows a bit about PCs to order it for you if you can, otherwise they'll be really vague about the specs and just throw together whatever they can get their hands on for pennies. Like Waspy says though, it's really not hard, it's just putting stuff on to a motherboard. If you built Lego Technic when you were younger I don't see why you can't build a PC.

[bomb_dog]

(PC WORLD)...apparently the "fantastic" deals they advertise on TV are kept in such minimal stock levels, just to get you into the shop and get you interested in something more expensive when it turns out that they've "just sold the last one".

This is absolutely true. I have been to the PC world near me on no less than three occasions to buy bargain hard drives, graphics cards etc, and on each occasion they only had a few allocated to each shop (sorry, "store", its not the done thing to call a shop a shop anymore), and they've all been sold in less than a couple of minutes.

I did laugh though, as when I went to get the hard drive it turned out that their entire stock of drives (well, about 10 of the special offer one) had been stolen that morning by someone scooping them all into a big bag.

Plus I really hate the fact they treat you like a criminal by having an umpire by the exit. I took a component in with me in plain view to establish compatibility with someone in the shop/back of the boxes, rather than having it in my pocket and looking like I'm nicking something when i replace it later, and had to convince them on the way out that they don't even sell that dusty board at this time, let alone in the shop.

{The same goes for Toys R Us - you have to push through an open checkout queue to get out if you don't actually buy anything.}

Just don't even bother - ebuyer.com and aria.co.uk will do everything I need from this point on!

[Duffy]

My mate went into Comet to buy a pack of C90s a good few years back (they were handy from where he worked). Simple purchase, he thought, and handed it, plus tenner, over to the sales guy, who promptly disappeared. Eventually, my mate asked a colleague of his where he had gone, to be told, "Oh, he's just popped out for a Mars bar'". Customer care at its very finest.

[Mr. Analytical]

My brother in law used to manage a video shop and gave me a very good tip for getting what you want.  If you remain calm and say "OK, this is nothing personal, I'm not blaming you at all, but can you please give me the contact details for your head office" watch how quickly they start listening.  It's worked every time for me and it means you don't have to shout at the poor people who work in these places.

Actually the thing to do is as follows :

1 - Go to their website and find the name of their Cheif Exec.
2 - ask for or find the company switchboard number
3 - call up switchboard either first thing in the morning or last thing in the evening and ask to be put through to the chief exec's office.  Chief Execs frequently arrive before and leave after their staff so with a bit of luck you'll get straight through to them.

I've watched my GF do it loads of times and it almost always works.  Sometimes you have to go down a rung and talk to the director for customer services or some other corporate operations bod but it works best when you go straight to the chief exec and present him the problem.  Even if he delegates it, your problem now has the chief exec's finger prints all over it.  It's amazing how they focus the mind.

I even tried it with Clara when they suddenly decided my phone number wasn't valid for some scheme they had.  Got me 2 months free connection for the difficulties they caused me.

[God's own fruit machine]

Any more opinions on MESH computers? Mostly good reviews on here, but as I said that one site of reviews has them marked hella down for customer service...

I'm writing this on a Mesh so here are my thoughts:

The computer itself is fine and was pretty good value (this was about two years ago and I haven't checked their prices since)
It took a while to arrive, but I think that was more to do with the dodgy delivery company than Mesh themselves
When the flat panel monitor broke customer services dealt with it very well. They got a new one out to me pretty darn quick.

[Utter Shit]

Too much conflicting evidence! ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

To be honest, I'm torn between this Mesh one and this Dell one (drop that £620 to £479 when I fuck the Support Service off, saving £141)...opinions?

[grundie]

Plus I really hate the fact they treat you like a criminal by having an umpire by the exit. I took a component in with me in plain view to establish compatibility with someone in the shop/back of the boxes, rather than having it in my pocket and looking like I'm nicking something when i replace it later, and had to convince them on the way out that they don't even sell that dusty board at this time, let alone in the shop.

Oh god yes, thats what really pisses me off about PC World. Plus, they have that pedastal thing that a guard stands on and overlooks the whole store.

I bought a load of components in PC World once, at the time it was the only place in the local area that sold what I wanted. On the way out the guard wanted to seach my bag to make sure what I bought tallied up with the receipt. I said he couldn't on the grounds that I was denying him permission to handle my property. He protested, but I just walked out. The really irritating thing about this was that this was happening to everyone who was buying stuff, not just me. Hardly good customer service.

[Frinky]

Oh god yes, thats what really pisses me off about PC World. Plus, they have that pedastal thing that a guard stands on and overlooks the whole store.

Say what you like about it, I had a fucking riot on that pedestal.

[chav]

I bought an end-ofsthesrange Panasonic DVD Recorder in Asda "Living" (i.e. not food). It was in a clearance and I excitedly pointed at the ticket, only to find that there were none on the lhelf, only the display model. Still, no matter, as I enquired about the possibility of buying it without a box or whatever. Quizzical, non-helpful looks at first but they were soon reversed when they got the very helpful young chap who remarkably held some senior position in "electricals". He agreed to sell me the unit, at cheaper than the clearance price. He went in the back and had a good rummage for any bits he could find. He waited patiently as the till monkey failed to work out how to override the price. He ended up doing it himself. And as I left, bargain in hand, he even had the forethought to remind me to bring it back if there were any problems, even though it was a display model that I was taking a gamble on. That was a month or two ago, and I'm still v. pleased with the purchase.

The moral of this waffle? Well, not all "big-store" purchases are troublesome, but more importantly don't write off the big supermarkets when on the hunt for something. Their support probably beats Dixons et al - no quibble refunds and all that. And yes, for PC equipment, do not use Dixons Group under any circumstance, you deserve everything you get. In fact they're probably not worth it for anything over a tenner.

Also, it helps to live near Micro Direct

[Cerys]

Great experience in town today.  I needed a female-female SVHS connector.  Abercolour Computers didn't have one, but the blokey suggested a couple of other places in town.  One of these was on a first floor, and the other was up a long hill.  The aforementioned blokey offered to go and get the connector himself when he knocked off work.  I thanked him profusely, but decided to head up there myself.  The second place, PC Solutions (heh) didn't have one ... but phoned up Radio Shack (the one up a flight of stairs) to see if they'd got one, and asked the blokey there to meet me outside.  When I arrived there he was waiting outside with the required item, change in case I paid with a tenner (I did), and a big grin.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - sometimes people can just be lovely.

[Tokyo Sexwhale]

And then you sued them because of the lack of wheelchair access.....?

[Rats]

Tiny are shite, they use the cheapest crapiest components they can get away with. I bought one off my friend for peanuts when he was buying a new computer and it wasn't even worth that. I opened it up one day to stick an extra drive in or something and there was nowhere to put it, everything was bloody glued in place too. Your best bet is to buy all the bits and put it together yourself. I'm shit stupid and I managed it. PC world's prices are a joke, I wanted some extra usb ports on my old computer, had a look on ebuyer and they were going for like a fiver or something. My dad was going up to shops anyway so I hopped in the car, pc world wanted 30 quid for the cunt! Ebuyer are really good, some people, Timmay I remember being one of them, have complained about poor customer service but I've never had any problems with them, got a few faulty drives, sent them back and got replacements really quick.

[Ambient Sheep]

Customer: I've got the exact money here. Why don't I put it on the counter, walk away with the aerial, and you can sort it out later?

Manager: I can't let you do that. You see, it's out of stock.

I just told this story to Torty, and she says she would have picked it up, said "Well, if it's out of stock, then it can't be sitting in my hand, can it?", and walked out of the shop with it.

She'd probably get away with it as well.  Someone like me or you probably wouldn't.