PC World Repair lol

[john182rs]

Does anyone else take their computer/laptop to PCW to be fixed or repaired?

Ive only taken it there as i have some months of a plan thing that is covering it, yet ive been told it will take them 3 weeks to fix my laptop?


Does anyone on here work inside the department of fixings for PCWorld?

 

[Cookie]

You'd be better off with a local computer shop, most of the time

 

[Adam.]

lawl

 

[Silent_Scone]

Their turn around has always been s**t, even more so since they ditched employing A+ and MCSE qualified staff to keep costs down, and let the sales staff do the repairs..

Sooner DSG goes under the sooner companies that give a damn / have a clue can hop in

 

[Snakey]

You be lucky to get the right one back tbh

 

[STRBramley]

I would never take my PC to PC World to be repaired.

My friend took his a few years back and when I opened it up because it was making a noise I found that they had used a wood screw instead of a normal fan bolt. So the wood screw had snapped all of the blades off of the fan.

 

[john182rs]

Well my last problem with them was not being able to get a genuine HP battery for the laptop, i could not use an alternate branded one because none of them worked in the laptop, kept showing error and telling me to change the battery.

When i took it back to them and stated the trading standards act for keeping spare parts for items they sell upto 5 years after its sale, they spent 3 weeks trying to find a genuine battery from all over the globe, then hey presto they gave me a brand new laptop that was worth more than my old one.

So for the sake of £100 per year insurance cover from them, in 3 years time (£300) when you can not get a genuine part for it. Another new laptop thank you very much to the value of £1000.

 

[Cookie]

LOLwarranty. They saw you coming!

What's wrong with it anyway?

 

[sbridgey]

I used to work for currys, s**te company to work for, they tried to tell us how amazing their repair service was and how amazing the warranty was, how amazing norton is, and why a customer should spend £1000 on a hdmi cable (i had a minor argument with the manager over that one).

 

[jenic]

Sooner DSG goes under the sooner companies that give a damn / have a clue can hop in

+1


My mums friend just bought a laptop from PCWorld, got sold over priced anti virus, then got charged quite a lot extra to set up the laptop and install her anti virus software.

Told her in future to just get it to me

But yeh, after working for the company, I wouldn't let them anywhere near my computer. In my store, the 'specialist' who had the first attempt at fixing stuff was the warehouse guy, who knew nothing about computers.

 

[Jimb0]

I'd rather cut my own balls off than take anything to PC world for repair.

From my days of gaming and IRC, the number of horror stories I've heard beggars believe.

Upgrading the memory, forcing the wrong type of RAM in, breaking the motherboard and then trying to bill for all ​the new parts.. - PC went in with the CD drive not working..

 

[Gally]

Never would I buy a computer related item from there. Ever.

What a bunch of utter tards!

 

[jenic]

Never would I buy a computer related item from there. Ever.

What a bunch of utter tards!

Bit harsh, they are alright to buy from if the price is right. After all its all the same in the box

 

[sbridgey]

Bit harsh, they are alright to buy from if the price is right. After all its all the same in the box

+1

 

[Gally]

Bit harsh, they are alright to buy from if the price is right. After all its all the same in the box

I bought my Tv from Curry's/Pc world. Great service etc. I still would never buy a computer related product from them. Nothing but lies as demonstrated above.

The guy was trying to tell my Mum and Dad their warranty may be invalid if they didn't take a certain anti-virus. Ie if they get a virus they may not fixc it because the computer wasn't protected by x anti-virus.

That was a fun conversation when I went back in! His boss got told a few home truths aswell. Utter tards. There are some fine chaps in these stores sadly half of them are like car salesmen!

 

[Gray]

Their turn around has always been s**t, even more so since they ditched employing A+ and MCSE qualified staff to keep costs down, and let the sales staff do the repairs..

Sooner DSG goes under the sooner companies that give a damn / have a clue can hop in

+1


My mums friend just bought a laptop from PCWorld, got sold over priced anti virus, then got charged quite a lot extra to set up the laptop and install her anti virus software.

Told her in future to just get it to me

But yeh, after working for the company, I wouldn't let them anywhere near my computer. In my store, the 'specialist' who had the first attempt at fixing stuff was the warehouse guy, who knew nothing about computers.

+100000000000000

The GF recently brought a laptop from PC world, priced as £499 on the shelf.

Went to the check out... 'that will be £569, its the last laptop we have in, but its been set-up with recovery, anti-virus and set up by our tech team'


Queue me kicking off.....

The dumb bint at the counter spoke to me like I had never seen a laptop before, 'well we do this because people can find it difficult to set laptops up and this helps you'

I then replied... 'so, you are telling my partner she needs to pay an extra £70 for a laptop that some spotty faced half brain has opened, touched, breathed on and installed some s**t software that we did not need, nor ask for'

Her reply was... 'er, erm, I'll get the manager'

After 5 minutes of 'talking' with the manager we walked out with the laptop for £499, with there s**t software included, a switch lid for the laptop and a sleeve / carry bag.

/Rant


Stupid c**ts.

 

[James28]

They try and sell you everything under the kitchen sink because they all work on commission. So they're all going to be desperate to sell you add ons for everything. Including telling "white lies" to convince customers. Because thats where they make most of their money because of the mark ups.

 

[john182rs]

Sorry but if you fall for the lines of "here ya go sir, top of the range all singing and will dance too computer for £999" then thats your fault.

I went in about 4 years ago to buy my first laptop, seen the one i wanted sat on the display thing, spoke to some sales person who told me this that an the other, then they offered me the laptop for £799 and told me it was the only one they had in stock.
So after talking to them for a while, I offered them £700 in cash, with that i got a laptop case, wireless mouse, some extra software too. An i agreed to take out the extra cover thing at 7.99 p/m there an then.

So i walked out with an £800 laptop with a good £75-£100 of extras, all because i agreed to their extra warrenty crap.

Hey ho, less than 12 months later the charger fucked up. So i got a new one free of charge, would have cost me about £50+ for a new one off flea bay.
Within 6 months of that the battery cmos battery packed up, cost me nothing again to get fixed.
With this the main battery then packed up and would not hold charge at all.

I spent a couple of weeks buying alternate make batteries, none of which worked. The computer kept displaying that there was an error with them.
I called HP/Compaq UK, and emailed HP in China, Japan, America, France and so on. To which they all replied they do not have one of them batteries in stock.

I went back to PCW and asked them to source me a genuine HP laptop battery for me, they tried while i was stood there an could not find anything.
The manager at the store said he would find one for me.
Yet 2-3 weeks later he called me to come in to the store, when i met him he said they could not find me a genuine battery and have tried many other batteries to see if they work and got the same error that i did.
With this he let me choose a laptop from the display unit upto the same value i got my last one at.

I picked up one of the new ones but it was £900, claimed for the stress an inconvience to what they have cause that i think £100 compensation is nothing.
With that an a brand new laptop bag to fit the new 17.5" widescreen and a few other bits, I went home happy.

All because i paid their extended warrenty crap that was another £192.

When this one dies, I intendon doing the same, possibly next year tho.

 

[Sym0n]

Where in the world?

 

[Heez]

I bought my Tv from Curry's/Pc world. Great service etc. I still would never buy a computer related product from them. Nothing but lies as demonstrated above.

The guy was trying to tell my Mum and Dad their warranty may be invalid if they didn't take a certain anti-virus. Ie if they get a virus they may not fixc it because the computer wasn't protected by x anti-virus.

That was a fun conversation when I went back in! His boss got told a few home truths aswell. Utter tards. There are some fine chaps in these stores sadly half of them are like car salesmen!

I had that when I needed a new PC asap, I just asked him what the difference was between free AV and X AV and when was software was covered by warranty. If it's hardware it's warranty.

But like above if the product is cheaper there than anywhere else, I'm still going to go there.

 

[Dr HMS Derv Destroyer]

Where in the world?

lol seen that one coming.

tbh i have had a new pc from thier, had it two weeks and it broke, took it bk and they guy behind the desk said its not worth gettin it repaired, 5mins later, cam out with a new ' same version ' of my tower pc and had my old hardrive from the other one.

this is the hull branch btw.

now if my pc buggers up, im going to fix it myself. pc world have gone down hill on their repair centre tbh

 

[sbridgey]

that sounds like a reasonable thing to do to me, swapping the hard drives that is

 

[Chapster5]

Dear Dear... PC World

Too many horror stories...

Stick to my local computer shop if my amazing ability at computer repair fails... (I.E Hardware knackared need a new hardware ill go buy it from there fit it myself)

 

[Goodj]

once PC world etc. have all gone bust and everyone's buying everything from DABs and Amazon, there'll be a lovely queue outside of the job centre every day

 

[Darren S]

For every 'horror story' - you forget the ocean of utter spacktards that waltz through the doors, expecting a Cray-powered desktop for under a hundred quid; that's seemingly capable of fixing itself and doing everything you demand of it with the press of a single button.

And no, I don't work there. But some of the amoebas that come into the local store when I've been there shouldn't even be allowed to remember their own name, let alone buy a PC.

D.

 

[James28]

For every 'horror story' - you forget the ocean of utter spacktards that waltz through the doors, expecting a Cray-powered desktop for under a hundred quid; that's seemingly capable of fixing itself and doing everything you demand of it with the press of a single button.

And no, I don't work there. But some of the amoebas that come into the local store when I've been there shouldn't even be allowed to remember their own name, let alone buy a PC.

D.

This. Similar to the whole Halfords staff expected to be F1 mechanics argument.
For Joe Bloggs who don't know a monitor from a keyboard, I'm sure they're perfectly adequate.

As I said, all work on commission, therefore are going to try and push extra accessories. That's how these businesses work.
Obviously its down to you to say no. No matter how persuasive.

 

[bmit]

They try and sell you everything under the kitchen sink because they all work on commission. So they're all going to be desperate to sell you add ons for everything. Including telling "white lies" to convince customers. Because thats where they make most of their money because of the mark ups.

I used to work there whilst at uni.. commission used to be a winner - has been scrapped since about 2007 though.. now they work to targets at get (lowly) team bonuses instead.

You didn't have to lie to people to get a commission worthy sale, I like to think I sent people on their way with exactly what they wanted/needed without being douche bag. Although I was probabaly an exception to the rule..


classic example "you'll need a usb cable to connect your printer to your laptop, but if you can wait for one to arrive from online you'll save about 14 quid"

lots of ppl appreciate being told the truth but will get one there anyway coz they cant be arsed to get one separately.

 

[bmit]

For every 'horror story' - you forget the ocean of utter spacktards that waltz through the doors, expecting a Cray-powered desktop for under a hundred quid; that's seemingly capable of fixing itself and doing everything you demand of it with the press of a single button.

And no, I don't work there. But some of the amoebas that come into the local store when I've been there shouldn't even be allowed to remember their own name, let alone buy a PC.

D.

this. i haven't worked there since I left uni - but remember the "why can't I play call of duty 2 on this 299 laptop with a celeron 256RAM and SIS graphics.. are you trying to con me?"

 

[Gray]

Where in the world?

Peeeee Seeeeee World.

 

[Goodj]

Nobody likes to pay for anything.

But when they do, they'll whack it on the never-never and end up paying twice the RRP.

Is it just a UK thing?

 

[Silent_Scone]

This. Similar to the whole Halfords staff expected to be F1 mechanics argument.
For Joe Bloggs who don't know a monitor from a keyboard, I'm sure they're perfectly adequate.

And the sales staff are never going to be totally up on it, that's fair enough. It's when they get the sales staff to do the repairs it's hilarious. Half the time they will turn you away for laptop repairs which are not under warranty, because they're too useless to fix it themselves. Also selling extras is a bit of a con, but like any industry if you can get away with it then go for it. What I personally think is funny is their warranty is basically their own, but only because they've firstly stripped off the manufacturers warranty...which you are definitely better off with then theirs

 

[Goodj]

Why is selling extras a con?

If you're getting a laptop that you're going to be taking about, what's the harm in offering a bag?
trackpads are waff, so why not get a mouse?
do you have a decent Anti-virus already?
Got office? Or do you use some cheap-ass knock-off?
Oh, and have you got enough DVD's to do a system back-up?

 

[James28]

Selling extras is where these company make all their money.
They don't actually generate much profit from selling of the actual hardware itself.
Think a case they probably buy in bulk at say 5p each, and sell for £20, there's a huge mark up, so bigger profit.

 

[Gally]

Why is selling extras a con?

If you're getting a laptop that you're going to be taking about, what's the harm in offering a bag?
trackpads are waff, so why not get a mouse?
do you have a decent Anti-virus already?
Got office? Or do you use some cheap-ass knock-off?
Oh, and have you got enough DVD's to do a system back-up?

They're selling it on a false pretence, there's a difference. They know the product is crap, they know the customer probably is NOT very techy, ie my Mum and Dad.

Same with car salesmen and Supaguard.

Lies, lies, more lies.

 

[Goodj]

RE: Profit Margins

Yep, that's exactly right.
But it still doesn't mean that people need these things from time to time, and can't always be bothered to piss around with amazon / dabs / whatever.

I've done my time in retail (and training for that matter) but as a person of the world I also understand that sales patter can really boil water, it's not about shoving stuff down people's throats, it's about working out what they're actually trying to do, and making sure they've got everything they need to do it.

Like, say someone comes in wanting a Netbook (yes, unlikely) and then start on about burning CD's. If you were then to put them towards the laptops, they'll think you're trying to con them, wheras, actually, if they walked out with that netbook, they're only going to be back complaining or to buy an external drive anyway, probably at similar overal cost to the laptpo that had better spec anywya.

As long as there's internt forums and keyboard warriors, the uneducated public will ALWAYS think they know better than those who have actually been trained (to any degree). Sure, PC World may not be the sharpest knives in the drawer, but the same applies for the, sadly, dieing out back-street PC stores.

@Gally: Being Scottish, I'm well aware that spending more than is totally nessecary is totally against the culture, but, seriously, Mum is techy?
Maybe one o fthe 21st centruy 16-and-pregnant mums, but mine still calls me up when Java pops up for updating!

 

[bully]

Do people actually shop in PC world? I have seen the ads etc, we aint got one here. I just assumed that most bought online from Dell.

 

[Silent_Scone]

Why is selling extras a con?

If you're getting a laptop that you're going to be taking about, what's the harm in offering a bag?
trackpads are waff, so why not get a mouse?
do you have a decent Anti-virus already?
Got office? Or do you use some cheap-ass knock-off?
Oh, and have you got enough DVD's to do a system back-up?

Key word offering, for one. Take Gray's experience for example...he almost walked out with half a ton of kit he didn't ask for, let alone needed. Also decent anti-virus is an oxymoron, I wouldn't pay good money for any of them. That's not really the problem, like I said if people will go for it...

None of that really matters if you don't overlook what I said earlier, which was that none of their staff are-actually-qualified to repair your computer. AND also more importantly - they don't give a crap about you or your poxy problems...if you're going to take it to someone who might not have MCSE or any hardware background, at least take it to someone who actually gives a s**t whether or not it's working when you get it back.

 

[Goodj]

well, if people are dumb enough to just nod and hand over their money, that's their fault!

And I wasn't broaching the issue of repairs, I was just getting sick of everyone wailing on the high-street retailers.

When the last major chain dies and all that's left is brighthouse, poundland and charity shops, people will miss them.

 

[sbridgey]

Do people actually shop in PC world? I have seen the ads etc, we aint got one here. I just assumed that most bought online from Dell.

Dell suck

PC World don't make the computers so its fine

 

[Silent_Scone]

DELL basically just sells to the lowest bidder for their major components, in this case Foxcon. Considering that, they're not all that bad. Foxcon products are actually not considered to be completely s**te in the industry, where as HP Compaq, Packard Bell etc will stretch to using ECS boards and other low end s**te...

I used to stress test all this crap for bread and butter, so if I say something is s**t, it normally is