"Free" Windows 7 Upgrade @ PC world

macman

Look on the bright side-the OP has sworn never to shop at PCW again!
Like many before...

Oneday77

macman wrote: »

Look on the bright side-the OP has sworn never to shop at PCW again!
Like many before...

Which is a highlight but I bet a lot of retailers have done this. The manufacturers have been ripping the wee with this promo & the handling costs.

surfingjoyner

I accept that I did get a fair bit of money off and if the option was to purchase another PC at £150 more I would not have done so BUT I may have waited to see if I could get a deal elsewhere on a machine with Win 7 and as such my decsion was affected by an ommission of a known fact. I was misled into believing that I was in effect buying a Windows 7 machine and this is what I feel annoyed about.

HP are indeed the ones who are charging this P&P cost and they have come in for a fair bit of stick already over this and have not cahnged thier policy. As has been pointed out PCW are what they are ....

Money_Grabber13579

Yep indeed they are. They're there to make a profit in a very competitive market, with very low margins and unless you do your research before hand, then it's easy to get led up the garden path, so to speak.

Bikertov

Money_Grabber13579 wrote: »

But it doesn't benefit PC World in the slightest. HP is the company that is making the money. And it's not a material fact. The upgrade is still free. There's just a hidden change for postage.

It DOES benefit PCW. No doubt they 'collude' with the manufacturers to give a low 'headline' price to include Windows 7 'free', KNOWING that the manufacturer will cover the cost completely by charging £22 'P&P' In the great bulk buying power of the manufacturers from Microsoft, that probably covers the cost of the software completely. So it IS a charge for the software, just under a misleading label of 'P&P.

So PCW benefit from a sale of a PC with a Windows 7 upgrade 'free' that the purchaser IS paying for. THAT is misleading and a CON.

Money_Grabber13579 wrote: »

And it would appear you're trying to say that if the OP knew there was a £22 charge, they would have paid the extra 150 to get a computer with W7 pre-installed instead? Don't think so....

Not as such, but he could have made an informed choice, or got a better deal elsewhere. Maybe, but maybe not - you don't know. He could have negotiated a bit more off, or got a good deal on another system.

The point is, PCW KNEW there was a cost to the upgrade - called P&P or otherwise - but did not tell the OP. That is what is wrong. PCW are well aware of what is going on, and they are complicit in it, and do bear a responsibility as the retailer who sell the goods.

I am suprised you are all defending them on these sharp practices. They are NOT Money Saving, and are NOT consumer friendly.

Money_Grabber13579

If the OP had done their research, they'd have known there was a P&P charge too.

Almost all manufacturers do this, regardless of where the PC was purchased so I'd like to see your evidence that PC World is getting a cut.

Bikertov

Money_Grabber13579 wrote: »

If the OP had done their research, they'd have known there was a P&P charge too.

Almost all manufacturers do this, regardless of where the PC was purchased so I'd like to see your evidence that PC World is getting a cut.

I never said they were getting a cut, but benefiting by making a sale at a reduced price because an element of the goods (the Window 7 u/g) is being charged for elsewhere under the title of P&P.

And I'm also not saying it is only PCW and HP - I am sure they are all at it.

And should you have to dig so deep to find out about hidden charges ?

It is only because of that sort of thing that this very forum is in existence (OK, it is one of the reasons, but I am sure you all know what I am getting at)

vyle

To be fair to PC world, the staff may not have even known the exact figures for the shipping/handling.

I only found out when selling (not at PC world) because a colleague had done research and made a table with manufacturers/shipping/handling fees.

Even after reading it, I couldn't tell you who charged what, exactly, but it's nothing to do with the shop. I wouldn't expect somebody at a car dealership to be held accountable for the cost of petrol.

Money_Grabber13579

Bikertov wrote: »

I never said they were getting a cut, but benefiting by making a sale at a reduced price because an element of the goods (the Window 7 u/g) is being charged for elsewhere under the title of P&P.

And I'm also not saying it is only PCW and HP - I am sure they are all at it.

And should you have to dig so deep to find out about hidden charges ?

It is only because of that sort of thing that this very forum is in existence (OK, it is one of the reasons, but I am sure you all know what I am getting at)

They aren't benefiting at all from the reduced cost. These will be PC's that were surplus at the time W7 was released so will have been sold at a loss, just to shift them out of their inventories. It will have been PC World that will have taken most of the hit for these sales.

howmuchcaniget

I've downloaded windows 7 from microsoft web site and hey offer to post out the disk in case the download fails or you would like a hard copy and they charged postage of only £9.00