pc world Whateverhappens

Murdoch2345

Esqui wrote: »

Quite true. I'd never use sneaky tactics on people, and I still do pretty well. Might be because I actually use the things I sell, and not just read off the training material.

It's quite interesting you take this stance, hinting towards discrediting the individual sales person. The truth of the matter is that all the problems stem from management. I'm very knowledgeable about technology, but i was actually discouraged from sharing this knowledge with customers as the majority of which, according to our trainer (a guy from DSGi HQ) are completely ignorant. Again, it was stressed to us at interview that we didn't need any background in either sales or indeed any technical/product knowledge... so It's hardly surprising the result is staff that simply read off the cards or training material.

I'd never use sneaky tactics either, but the culture of KPIs based solely on profit margins and targets and offering of discounts provided customers "take everything" lends itself to this corrupt, outdated sales culture.

Esqui

Oh no, I agree that management pressure is huge part. I think we're quite lucky in our store not to have so much pressure - for example, our regional manager allows us to set our own, realistic attachment targets - and it's a pressure off us, as there are no crazy targets to reach. Other stores and other areas aren't so lucky, and they do have the "achieve these targets or you'll lose your job" approach - though I think this is a lot less common compared to, say, a year ago.

I have never seen any of my team lie or trick people into buying anything, and if they did I would be very angry. Like you say, it's outmoded and not welcome any more. But the way my store works still makes money. OK, we're not top of the league, but there doesn't have to be a trade-off between achieving targets and being honest. One of my colleagues often says "I can give them all the facts about whateverhappens, but I can't make them have it if they don't want it" and still comes up with good figures.

Incidentally, the field has been widened somewhat recently, and the targets are no longer as strict. For example, the main focus is on total margin from attachments; with the individual items expected to follow behind accordingly. It is a business, and it exists to make money; but as I see it, there are many different ways to do that.

I've not been discouraged from sharing knowledge I've learnt outside of work, but some of the time, it is much too technical for some people. You can learn all the features of products and have no prior knowledge, but there really is no substitute for experience.

Murdoch2345

Yeah, I agree with you completely Esqui. Honestly that's the only complaint I have about working with DSGi is the fact unrealistic targets seem to force certain sales staff into a grey area, where they will pretty much say / do anything to get people signed into attachments. Personally I will use a completely honest approach, then If my stats aren't good enough I will subsequently let management know exactly how these figures are being met by the other sales staff. And I'm sure they will agree it's not good for the long term future of the company to obtain good "solution" targets at that cost.

Esqui

I would anyway. If one of your colleagues is lying/doing underhand things, it's worth letting the management know, for two reasons. Firstly, it's only going to cause problems further down the line when customers come back in and query the charges on their account. Secondly, it gives the impression of slimy, underhand salespeople, that is exactly what you, I, and probably the company want to get away from.
And you'll find, as I do, that honesty generally works out better.

merched50

Hi - I'm wondering if you guys who obviously work at PC World can advise please on the likelihood of a laptop lasting 3 years without some kind of aftercare cover. I was in the store yesterday looking at a laptop for my daughter's 18th and it doesn't look as though it's available anywhere else (Packard Bell). The cover seems expensive, but what are the chances of a student computer lasting that long with nothing going wrong ? And is there any alternative insurance ?
Any comments or advice appreciated, as long as they don't criticise my grammar or spelling. Thanks.

oldone_2

merched50 wrote: »

Hi - I'm wondering if you guys who obviously work at PC World can advise please on the likelihood of a laptop lasting 3 years without some kind of aftercare cover. I was in the store yesterday looking at a laptop for my daughter's 18th and it doesn't look as though it's available anywhere else (Packard Bell). The cover seems expensive, but what are the chances of a student computer lasting that long with nothing going wrong ? And is there any alternative insurance ?
Any comments or advice appreciated, as long as they don't criticise my grammar or spelling. Thanks.

There are plenty of other places to buy laptops. My starting point would be the internet, reading up on the various models on your shortlist.
Dell for example, use proprietary (and cheap) parts, which means if anything goes wrong the only place you can get spares is from Dell. and at a price.

If you do purchase from P.C World, or Curries, and want to pay with a debit card, I would use cash instead. A credit card gives you a little bit more protection, but paying cash still gives you adequate protection under current legislation.

For strong student proof build quality I would go for I.B.M. These are the favourite of the corporate world, where a laptop is a business tool and has to work at all times with no excuses.

merched50

It looks as though IBM is now owned by Lenovo but their laptops seem pretty well regarded, just on a quick look ?

Esqui

merched50 wrote: »

Hi - I'm wondering if you guys who obviously work at PC World can advise please on the likelihood of a laptop lasting 3 years without some kind of aftercare cover. I was in the store yesterday looking at a laptop for my daughter's 18th and it doesn't look as though it's available anywhere else (Packard Bell). The cover seems expensive, but what are the chances of a student computer lasting that long with nothing going wrong ? And is there any alternative insurance ?
Any comments or advice appreciated, as long as they don't criticise my grammar or spelling. Thanks.

The laptop will last the same amount of time regardless of cover or not! You can always look around for other types of insurance or support, as you have a year from purchase to take it out.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't be right of me to comment on the cost, so I won't.

Murdoch2345

merched50 wrote: »

Hi - I'm wondering if you guys who obviously work at PC World can advise please on the likelihood of a laptop lasting 3 years without some kind of aftercare cover. I was in the store yesterday looking at a laptop for my daughter's 18th and it doesn't look as though it's available anywhere else (Packard Bell). The cover seems expensive, but what are the chances of a student computer lasting that long with nothing going wrong ? And is there any alternative insurance ?
Any comments or advice appreciated, as long as they don't criticise my grammar or spelling. Thanks.

You want a cheap laptop for a student, my advice is head over to the dell outlet online store... sells refurbished laptops and desktops, most of which are just returns after people fail credit arrangements or decide they've changed their minds... they all come with a one year Dell warranty, and from my experience can be considerably cheaper and are generally "as new". You will also get a copy of the operating system from dell... a nice windows 7 disc... imagine that, curiously enough, if you buy a dell from PC world this will have been removed from the box... In order for people to return with issues that a simple windows repair or restore would solve, yet they can't perform because apparently, PC world customers cannot be trusted with an operating system disc.

Whatever happens isn't worth the money, clearly not, that's why they want us to sell it... it has a huge margin for the company, essentially money for nothing. Products nowadays are fairly reliable, and certainly every single PC or laptop that I've owned, built, or helped friends / family purchase... has lasted 3 years without any component ever breaking down within that time frame. Things like hard-drives and RAM may start to fail after 5-6 years, but by that time they're almost completely worthless and cheap as chips to replace.

Your home insurance may well cover your daughters laptop while she is studying, check into that, if not the accidental damage part of "whatever happens" could well be of use... if she's planning on throwing it around, although it doesn't cover theft.

Remember in the first year, you have a full manufacturers warranty, if the Laptop develops a technical fault within the first year it will be sent to them regardless of whether you bought whateverhappens or not. All the other features of the cover are completely worthless, like free telephone number for any queries (trust me, google any issues you have, you will find the answer much quicker). Or "annual healthcheck" they will defrag your HD, that's it, which does !!!! all.

So in short, are you willing to bet 200 odd quid on the fact that your daughter will "accidentally" write off her laptop in the next 3 years. That's the only real question you need to ask and the only way it'd be worth the money.

Tony_Hemmings

Yet another PC World sucker. Little did I know that I had been targeted as soon as I walked through the doors of my local PC World store. Left the store after purchasing a £800 computer not realising that I had been conned. One month later £7.99 was deducted from my account by a direct debit set up by DSG Retail Group, found out that the £7.99 was a monthly payment for 'whatever happens' insurance. I did not ask for this insurance, it was not discussed, I did not sign a mandate for the direct debit. Why on earth would anyone in their right mind wish to pay near £100 per year for insurance for a brand new product that was covered by a 12 month warranty. I paid £800 cash/card for the computer. The salesman did try to sell me a payment plan that could only have been thought up by the Monty Python team. At a cost of £2000 I could have a new computer to the same spec as the one I had purchased every 2 years. He seemed to think this was a good deal.
My advice. Keep away from PCW, count your fingers prior to leaving the store.