PC World IMHO are not very nice

[wakeupandsmellthecoffee]

I went in today to get DS his birthday pressie. We told the assistant what we wanted to buy. The make and model as we had been in the shop previously. We then went home to do a bit of research and decided this was the right spec for what he needed.
A small laptop to take into school as he is doing AS levels. The school laptops are never availed when you need one plus he is allowed to type notes in class. This was the right size and price. £199
He basically insinuated that this model was not up to the job.
I explained he only needed it for Word
He then said it would run poorly after a year and get sluggish
He also told us that it was not compatible to run with another system we have (Windows )
He then suggested I maybe think of buying another model while walking towards it and me following him not quite realising what's happening.
I felt like a rubbish parent for not buying my DS the better model
I pointed out it was over double the price of what I could afford to pay
£450
He then asked if I had thought of doing a repayment plan
I then told home we were leaving before I said something I regretted
We then went to another where we bought it and they confirmed he was talking lies
So PC World will not get my business ever again

[araiba]

salesmen gonna salesman

[greenfolder]

Mmmm. I hate that type of poor salesmanship. Designed to imply that the customer is stupid and can easily be tricked into buying something twice the price at 39 percent Apr. And get a guarantee for £150. Well done for voting with your feet.

[TrinityForce]

Ok - can you firstly link to the first laptop so we can see it? and then to the one he suggested.

It sounds (to me, who likes techy shit) that he's trying to stop you making a £200 mistake that you can't afford.

Or, he could be being a salesman and an arse.

[LIZS]

He's after the commission on the finance. Pc world are part of Currys/Dixons etc

[thelonelyhamster]

I'm not surprised at your experience. :(
They tried to tell me I couldn't buy the PC I wanted (had researched, chosen the right PC for my budget and as it happened PC World had it cheapest) without also committing to some kind of service package at ££ per month.

I told them repeatedly that I just wanted the computer, and when the sales assistant finally admitted that I didn't actually have to take the extra contract I went BALLISTIC, both at her and then her manager.

I've also never been in again... and the computer is still running fine almost 7 years later, with no need for it to have ever been near any kind of techy service people!

[bridgetoc]

That's what some sales people do Wake. You did the right thing....

[wakeupandsmellthecoffee]

It was the fact he lied that what's annoyed me the most I think

[wakeupandsmellthecoffee]

I also told him it was only to type up word documents

[coldcanary]

Not surprising at all. DH (extremely techy) had a right ding dong with our local branch a while back due to the obnoxious behaviour of one of the sales staff. They outright lied to him, talked over my head when I had asked a question and directed the answer to DH as though I hadn't even spoken then tried to bounce us into various extras for an item we had already decided not to buy due to the Arseholes we were dealing with. We walked out without buying anything and complained. Didn't even get a reply.

[HixieRice]

Ditto hamster they almost wouldn't let us leave without the bullshit insurance, I got really angry and won't go back (even though I'm trying to use Amazon less)

[wakeupandsmellthecoffee]

There should be a mumsnet list of shops with diabolical service
I'm putting PC World at top of the list so far
Please add your own
In fact someone should start a thread on rubbish service.

[wasonthelist]

I was banned from Currys (same chain) for trying to buy something at the price it said on the shelf, rather than the higher price it scanned at. I wasn't ranting or anything - perfectly polite, but the manager came over and told me to leave.

[OurBlanche]

Ah yes! They do the triple whammy a lot:

1. That won't do what you want it to/won't work with what you have got - I mean, a laptop that won't take Windows? Microsoft would have kittens!
   

1. Insist you get the extended warranty/service contract - do I hell. I have used my best teacher voice and told a salesman in Curry's that if he didn't just ring the bloody thing through we would simply leave... I was fair, I counted down from 3... we walked. We were chased by a manager and told I was rude!!
   

1. Talk to the man cos the little woman doesn't understand - DH takes over at this point. "Don't talk to me mate, she's the techy one. I bake bread and knit jumpers" But he can only do it once before he gets angry and we walk... usually with a manager in tow telling us we are being unreasonable.
   

DH sent the CEO an email this year, totting up how much money they have lost from us alone because of this. We got a lovely response from him.... only kidding we never heard back

[SingingSands]

Combined with the shit service and hard sell, when DH finally managed to get the laptop he wanted for his dad's birthday he had his credit card cloned in our local PC World. Was about 5 years ago now but we've never been back. Unsurprisingly.

[chelle792]

DH and I are leading our own little two person boycott of currys/pc world. They are awful. I actually argued with the salesman in there because he added protection insurance to the purchase even though I'd told him about five times 'no thankyou'

[AnneElliott]

They are awful. Currys told us that the microwave my aunt was buying gif us, would explode in a year and therefore we needed to buy the insurance

I told them that Panasinic needed to know what Currys were saying about their products. Have not been back since and that was 18 years ago!

Vote with your feet and go elsewhere.

[StealthPolarBear]

Did the explain why they had the £199 piece of shit for sale?

[Unicow]

It's the bollocks way they train them and it doesn't even bloody work. I used to work for PC world. I sold based on need. I refused to upsell if not necessary or sell people shit they don't need. I was frequently the top sales person in terms of volume and had positive feedback from customers.

My manager told me I was the worst salesperson because I didn't sell enough of the shitty overpriced cover they offer ( that they don't even honour. I had it on my pc and they told me they couldn't find the fault. DH knew what the fault was and told them what it was and what to look for, they still refused to fix it) I left at that point because I refused to compromise my integrity for a job in a shitty company. We use them only if absolutely necessary and we tell them what we want and if they give us excessive sales crap we walk out.

[WriteforFun1]

OP they did similar to me but I was expecting a hard sell as I heard about that

What I thought was ridiculous was the lie they told me about the item I wanted to buy

I told the salesman bluntly that I knew he was lying, I was only buying there because I had vouchers and please could he just sort out the purchase.

He was very annoyed but there wasn't much he could do, he knew he was lying as well!! Such a stupid tactic.

[StickTheDMWhereTheSunDontShine]

Were you buying a chrome book?

Best thing to do with currys/pcworld is order online and go and pick it up. Sidestep the bullshit.

When he was younger and cockier, DH used to enjoy popping into PCworld and asking the sales guys questions he knew they couldn't answer. Noting complicated, just stuff like this pc description says it has 16MB graphics, but is that onboard graphics or a separate card with dedicated memory? They never knew the answer to basic stuff like that.

[BrassMonk]

Pc world is the only shop I have walked out of. I already knew which one I wanted and asked the sales assistant to get one for me. He started the hard sale (warranty, word, nothing I wanted or needed) as I repeatedly said I didn't want any of those things and could he please just get me the computer I had asked for? i had enough and told him I wasn't buying anything from him and started to leave. Only then did he attempt to go and get it!

Never been back.

[wakeupandsmellthecoffee]

I was thinking of emailing head office but it sounds like they don't reply to complaints anyway.

[Heatherjayne1972]

How they are still in business is beyond me !
rubbish service rubbish customer care the 'helpline' staff were useless and hung up on me several times
Just a poor poor company