Currys & PC World don't want my custom

dfh

So how do you differentiate between the person who ties up a salesman for hours and the kind of person who wants 2 simple questions answered and they'll then be off to the till very happy? Was it because I was female that the salesman thought I'd ask a million questions, was it because I asked to feel the weight of the laptop or was it because I didn't ask any technical questions so he thought they were to follow?

There is no need to play the sexist card now.

caz2703

dfh wrote: »

So how do you differentiate between the person who ties up a salesman for hours and the kind of person who wants 2 simple questions answered and they'll then be off to the till very happy? Was it because I was female that the salesman thought I'd ask a million questions, was it because I asked to feel the weight of the laptop or was it because I didn't ask any technical questions so he thought they were to follow?

There is no need to play the sexist card now.

And why not? I'm asking for a simple explanation as to why any salesperson, commission based or not, should treat customers with such contempt. Had my husband done the talking maybe they would have had a sale but I'm sure they couldn't care less about losing a few hundred quid.

As for the attitude, that was aimed squarely on the manager with whom I knew I wouldn't be dealing as he made it quite clear the previous day that he "didn't do customers". If I'd known that the salesman could read minds so he knew I was being generous with my 2nd chance attitude I would have asked him for the lottery numbers while I was there.

mrcow

Well done on your lucky escape.

They are a bunch of muppets.

If that's your experience of presales customer care - can you even begin to imagine what the aftersales care is like?! Absolutely shocking customer service. And tbh - a lot of them have no clue what they are talking about.

And no - I don't want an extended warranty! (No matter how much commission you earn from it).

I went in there pre-Christmas to by a Macbook Pro (only because it was snowing and they are the closest shop to me - I never normally set foot in the place). Big mistake. The guy was tripping over himself to sell me a warranty before he'd even got the computer out. Pity for him that their useless stock system doesn't work either - as they had none of the machines that were showing as available actually in stock! The idiot man even then tried to still sell me the computer and get me to collect it from the next town! Er - thanks, but no, you numpty.

I went to John Lewis and bought it there instead. Excellent customer service. And they had it in stock too. Plus no pushing on me with useless warranties or add-ons.

Jakg

caz2703 wrote: »

So how do you differentiate between the person who ties up a salesman for hours and the kind of person who wants 2 simple questions answered and they'll then be off to the till very happy? Was it because I was female that the salesman thought I'd ask a million questions, was it because I asked to feel the weight of the laptop or was it because I didn't ask any technical questions so he thought they were to follow?

Because you didnt just ask 2 simple questions... you asked about the weight, he told you, you then wanted to FEEL the weight. This IS a problem as it takes quite a while to find keys, move laptops, deal with alarms etc. This is the exact reason why the weight is stated on the demo the PC's are running!

caz2703 wrote: »

And why not? I'm asking for a simple explanation as to why any salesperson, commission based or not, should treat customers with such contempt. Had my husband done the talking maybe they would have had a sale but I'm sure they couldn't care less about losing a few hundred quid.

Please stop trying to pull the sex card.

caz2703 wrote: »

I worked in IT for 10+ years (albeit mainly as a programmer) so I know roughly what I'm talking about

Which is why you stated:

caz2703 wrote: »

(fail - one was back lit, one wasn't)

I'd like to point out again you called the sales guy a "numpty" because he didn't point out the reflective coating on the screen, belitting his own knowledge and then at the same time telling us that the difference was actually that one had no backlight... 10 years of experience in "IT" is not going to save this.

Whiteknight

caz2703 wrote: »

Thankfully haven't gotten as far as buying anything from Currys or PC World as both stores lost out on a £300-£400 sale due to their appalling staff.

In Currys I approached a member of staff walking towards me and politely said "excuse me". I was immediately smacked down with "I'm with a customer". I stood there stunned and he repeated what he'd said with an even more annoyed tone. At that point I said I'd take my custom elsewhere and walked out.

Unfortunately PC World are no better. I was in today to give them a 2nd chance after a rather rude 'floor manager' simply waved me off after stating his pay grade and pointed me in the direction of Dumb and Dumber at the other side of the store yesterday. Today I asked could I have the battery put into the laptop to check the weight to which I was told the weight was shown on screen and the actual batteries were out back and they couldn't get them. Silly me then asked would it be possible to get 2 similar models of laptop put side by side to see what the difference in the screen was. Numpty sales guy said the screens were identical (fail - one was back lit, one wasn't), then he said it would take 10 minutes to move one of the laptops because of the security tags and as they were rushed off their feet in the sale (the store was almost empty) he couldn't do it. I explained that for the sake of 10 minutes he'd be losing a sale so he asked the same 'floor manager' I dealt with yesterday who presumably told the guy to tell me where to go as I was told straight out that no, they wouldn't move a laptop.

Honestly, why are Currys and PC World so determined not to take money off customers?

I've had similar problems with the sales staff in both PC World and Currys but after working in a sales driven environment I can understand why they were not willing to go the extra mile for you.

It's already been mentioned about all the hassle the sales person would have to go through for a sale worth less than £400. They would need to find the two batteries from the warehouse and then disconnect the laptops from the security systems and then place them next to each other so you could compare them both.

And how long would it have taken you to compare them, would you have objected to the sales person hovering around you waiting for you to make a decision.

How long do you think honestly it would have taken the sales person to have made a sale?

metaljester

I used to work in Currys a few years ago and agree with Jakg.

When I was busy (which is unavoidable during this time of year, if you arent selling then your taking a stock count and trying to put stock out to keep up with the rate its being bought) and a customer asks to feel the weight of a laptop, which (when I worked there) would mean:

having to find the security guard
get them to put the keycode to disable the alarm
tear off the sticky alarm contact and unhook the laptop from the metal cable which anchors it to the display (and is very fiddely)
let the customer have a look and no doubt ask a few questions
then go through the same routine hooking it back up to the alarm

This process takes a long time, and if (as you say) there was hardly anyone in the store when you were there, then this was probably a very short window of time to get the shop back into shape for the next wave of customers.

marcowil

metaljester wrote: »

I used to work in Currys a few years ago and agree with Jakg.

When I was busy (which is unavoidable during this time of year, if you arent selling then your taking a stock count and trying to put stock out to keep up with the rate its being bought) and a customer asks to feel the weight of a laptop, which (when I worked there) would mean:

having to find the security guard
get them to put the keycode to disable the alarm
tear off the sticky alarm contact and unhook the laptop from the metal cable which anchors it to the display (and is very fiddely)
let the customer have a look and no doubt ask a few questions
then go through the same routine hooking it back up to the alarm

This process takes a long time, and if (as you say) there was hardly anyone in the store at the time , then this was probably a very short window of time to get the shop back into shape for the next wave of customers.

Or go and get one from the stockroom and allow the customer to examine it with the sales person beside them - oh wait, it's DSG group - the one on show is probably the only one they actually have in stock

metaljester

marcowil wrote: »

Or go and get one from the stockroom and allow the customer to examine it with the sales person beside them - oh wait, it's DSG group - the one on show is probably the only one they actually have in stock

Haha well I take your point, although this would also break the seal on a brand new laptop box, making it no longer brand new.

Would you be happy to buy an expensive brand new laptop only to receive an opened box?

I wouldnt.

redcard

caz2703 wrote: »

Thankfully haven't gotten as far as buying anything from Currys or PC World as both stores lost out on a £300-£400 sale due to their appalling staff.

In Currys I approached a member of staff walking towards me and politely said "excuse me". I was immediately smacked down with "I'm with a customer". I stood there stunned and he repeated what he'd said with an even more annoyed tone. At that point I said I'd take my custom elsewhere and walked out.

Unfortunately PC World are no better. I was in today to give them a 2nd chance after a rather rude 'floor manager' simply waved me off after stating his pay grade and pointed me in the direction of Dumb and Dumber at the other side of the store yesterday. Today I asked could I have the battery put into the laptop to check the weight to which I was told the weight was shown on screen and the actual batteries were out back and they couldn't get them. Silly me then asked would it be possible to get 2 similar models of laptop put side by side to see what the difference in the screen was. Numpty sales guy said the screens were identical (fail - one was back lit, one wasn't), then he said it would take 10 minutes to move one of the laptops because of the security tags and as they were rushed off their feet in the sale (the store was almost empty) he couldn't do it. I explained that for the sake of 10 minutes he'd be losing a sale so he asked the same 'floor manager' I dealt with yesterday who presumably told the guy to tell me where to go as I was told straight out that no, they wouldn't move a laptop.

Honestly, why are Currys and PC World so determined not to take money off customers?

10 years IT experience, husband in IT, regular MSE user.... still shops in PC World!

Wonders never cease.

Jakg

marcowil wrote: »

Or go and get one from the stockroom and allow the customer to examine it with the sales person beside them - oh wait, it's DSG group - the one on show is probably the only one they actually have in stock

"but the box is open, you must give me a discount!" yells the customer trying to buy the last laptop that you have left which you opened for a customer the day before...