Maplin Galway

behy

Any one been in maplin galway this week. Is it just me or do they know anything about what they sell in there. I wanted to buy a pro sound speaker. ( I know there **** but they are cheap) asked the guy (who I think was an assissant manager, a red neck anyway) what wattage the speaker was and he looked at me :eek: and said " you dont plug them into the power they'll be fine for ya" this aint the first story about dumb maplins anyone want to share there not so great experiences.

JohnCleary

Defo wasnt the assistant manager.
His name is Daryl, and hes a legend. Really nice guy and tbh hes the only one in there who has a remote clue what hes at.

Everyone else in there are nothing but sales assistants, that place needs technical assistants

Steoob

hey im only in galway for one more day wheres the maplin? i never knew there was one in galway?

JohnCleary

Wellpark retail park (beside the EYE cinema)

danniemcq

behy wrote:

Any one been in maplin galway this week. Is it just me or do they know anything about what they sell in there. I wanted to buy a pro sound speaker. ( I know there **** but they are cheap) asked the guy (who I think was an assissant manager, a red neck anyway) what wattage the speaker was and he looked at me :eek: and said " you dont plug them into the power they'll be fine for ya" this aint the first story about dumb maplins anyone want to share there not so great experiences.

yeah they are pretty rubbish for selling stuff in there. i went in lookin for power cables and it took them about 10 minutes to get everything sorted but on the plus side they have everything you could ever need really (and with PC world just across the way you'll def find what you are lookin for) just be sure you know what you are lookin for and the compatability and you'll be grand.

dwayneburke

danniemcq wrote:

yeah they are pretty rubbish for selling stuff in there. i went in lookin for power cables and it took them about 10 minutes to get everything sorted but on the plus side they have everything you could ever need really (and with PC world just across the way you'll def find what you are lookin for) just be sure you know what you are lookin for and the compatability and you'll be grand.

I agree just go and research what u need beforehand and you will be fine...dont ask for advice just buy it!!!

There is however 1 guy in there that is excellent.....a brown haired guy...knows his stuff and he has been there since it pretty much opened...and is always way too helpful to people (found this to my cost cause i was waiting to be served ) :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

JohnCleary

dwayneburke wrote:

I agree just go and research what u need beforehand and you will be fine...dont ask for advice just buy it!!!

There is however 1 guy in there that is excellent.....a brown haired guy...knows his stuff and he has been there since it pretty much opened...and is always way too helpful to people (found this to my cost cause i was waiting to be served ) :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Yup, an oldish guy compared to the rest of the staff there. Very good with electronics, as far as the standard in there goes.

That place needs staff like me...
Wonder what the pays like in there?

mike65

At least you've got a Maplins! Do they carry the full catalogue or just a "greatest hits" collection?

Mike.

JohnCleary

mike65 wrote:

At least you've got a Maplins! Do they carry the full catalogue or just a "greatest hits" collection?

Mike.

Full catalouge lad, and the stock count is great, theres always a few of a product in stock, and if they dont they always have them ordered in within a few working days

danniemcq

JohnCleary wrote:

Full catalouge lad, and the stock count is great, theres always a few of a product in stock, and if they dont they always have them ordered in within a few working days

not always a few days, my mates waitin on dvd's from weeks back

behy

dwayneburke wrote:

I agree just go and research what u need beforehand and you will be fine...dont ask for advice just buy it!!!

There is however 1 guy in there that is excellent.....a brown haired guy...knows his stuff and he has been there since it pretty much opened...and is always way too helpful to people (found this to my cost cause i was waiting to be served ) :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Theres one or two in there thats it Daryl is ok and the brown haired guy is probably Vinnie hes the branch manager and to be fair knows his stuff and always helps out. they could do with another 10 of these guys!!! The rest are rubbish.

paconnors

one complaint i have about maplins that their website doesent have prices in euro, wonder will this ever happen as the have shops in the Republic, has anybody else got any views about this

Inspector Gadget

That's always the way in a place like that though. They don't pay enough to attract anyone with a clue for very long, so there's usually only one (sometimes, rarely, two) people that have a clue and are paid enough to keep them there.

Having said that, I've yet to find that person in PC World across the road, though the bitter looking grey-haired guy who works in the PC repair place behind the perspex might be the boy :rolleyes:

Gadget

Inspector Gadget

mikegannon wrote:

one complaint i have about maplins that their website doesent have prices in euro, wonder will this ever happen as the have shops in the Republic, has anybody else got any views about this

Unfortunately, neither do Argos (to point out another British chain store who are increasingly present "over here"), who are longer-established, and have a (much) larger shop network. I reckon I shouldn't hold my breath, if I were you.

Gadget

JackieChan

I've always found Maplins prices to be the UK price with the Euro conversion applied.Similar to Argos.
So if you see the cost in sterling you can make an accurate calculation of what it will be in euros.

po0k

Inspector Gadget wrote:

Having said that, I've yet to find that person in PC World across the road, though the bitter looking grey-haired guy who works in the PC repair place behind the perspex might be the boy :rolleyes:

Gadget

I wonder why

johnnyboy4711

bought a car mp3 stereo,worked for a week cd got stuck in it!
took it out,brought it back to maplin,waited a month no info,but the best part is that anything other than blank cds for example,if in need of repair,Has to be sent to their workshop in UK.
Anyhu,went in week after week same old story "its on the way,and so on" finally snapped and they did not have a replacement instore so the credited my laser card.
BOTTOM LINE Totally RUBBISH!!!
might be a little cheaper but not worth the headache!!!
anything the sell should be available elsewhere online in ireland with full support!

ARGINITE

johnnyboy4711 wrote:

BOTTOM LINE Totally RUBBISH!!!

The first right thing I have read on this thread.
They are totally rubbish, no other way to put it. Regarding service, prices and the employees. Ever since I left the place has gone down hill:D

timeout

I thought it went up hill since you left

Asok

better than that shower of tinkers pc world hire

JohnCleary

Asok wrote:

better than that shower of tinkers pc world hire

Its a pitty that PC world hire Sales Staff, and not technical staff. I was in a rush for a MB one day so resorted to PC world. When I asked a lad "where aer your motherboards", I got the reply "Whats a motherboard"

bindybandy

Thing is unless you are really into computers etc it can be hard to take in all the knowledge about them especially Maplin where they stock an enormous range of stuff. I'm into pc's for years and even I find it can be hard to keep up with the pace of technology. They don't pay their staff enough to attract the "geeks" basically. They get better paid jobs in computing etc elsewhere if they are lucky. The few times I've used Maplin thought they have been knowledgeable and one memeber really helped me out by telling me about catridgeworld here in Galway. Saved me a fortune that place!

timeout

JohnCleary wrote:

Its a pitty that PC world hire Sales Staff, and not technical staff. I was in a rush for a MB one day so resorted to PC world. When I asked a lad "where aer your motherboards", I got the reply "Whats a motherboard"

You probably asked a cleaner or something, they all look alike with those shirts has happened to me a few times!

ARGINITE

timeout wrote:

You probably asked a cleaner or something

I taught all the cleaners had to stay in the little glass room on the right as you go in the door till the store was closed

timeout

Did you not read earlier that the glass room is where all the smart workers are, so in essence the cleaners are the smartest people in the place????

ARGINITE

complex floor, tastes good already!

whyconnect

Just wondering who trains the people in computer shops?

I got NTL broadband in my home so i needed a router for it, so i went in to PC world where (after some searching) i managed to get a sales person, he assured me that the BT ADSL router that they have would do the trick, having checked the price of it i discovered that i need more cash, the sales person told me that the nearest ATM was in Statoil on the college road (why isnt there one in the retail park?!), so off i went walking and i passed by Maplins.

So i popped in to check if they had a router, the guy i was talking to, (he may have been a manager), said that computers werent his strong point (which was fine) so he passed me on to one of his computer people, (oldish looking guy, around 27-28 assistant manager), i told him what i needed, he asked me who the broadband provider was, told him NTL, and i said that PC world were selling me a BT ADSL router.

He informed me that it wouldnt work as it was a different connection on it. he pointed a wireless router out and said it will work for me and went thru the setup with me and what to look out for and if i should have any problems to give them a call, very kind of him i thaught, as i was paying for it another Maplin Staff member (he has spikey mohag hair) was going thru broadband settings on the phone to someone. the lads in there seem to know their stuff.

Needless to say pc world didnt get my money and the router is still going strong, even had a wireless card in it for my laptop!

I have been in there a few time since and the only thing i have to fault the store on is that there isnt enough staff on, all the guys are held up, helping out the likes of me!!!!!:)

cardoor

ARGINITE wrote:

I taught all the cleaners had to stay in the little glass room on the right as you go in the door till the store was closed

Don't be silly; they are not waiting behind the glass for the store to close. There on the phone. I have a picture of one of them here.

mike65

whyconnect wrote:

(oldish looking guy, around 27-28 assistant manager)

ROFL! Quote of the Day.

Mike.

fozzle

Indeed, feckin kiddie boarders!

I've never been to Maplins but I can vouch for PC World hiring idiots. They do it all over the country. My mum's a science teacher and she got stuff in PC World to set up a camera on her microscope with a feed up onto an overhead projector and onto a screen. She soke to one of the head guys, between them they figured it out and that was grand. A couple of months later she went in to get the same stuff for another teacher and was told it was an impossible system to create - she could have the camera or the projector working but not both, which rather defeats the purpose. So she had to go to her lab, get the serial numbers off all the equipment and go around the shop and find all the components herself, and then spent 15 minutes failing to explain how it works to the assistant. Now there's service.

Sam Vimes

JohnCleary wrote:

Full catalouge lad, and the stock count is great, theres always a few of a product in stock, and if they dont they always have them ordered in within a few working days

the stock count is not great. nothing in the special offers catalog is ever in stock and it can take weeks to a few months sometimes to get stuff

paconnors wrote:

one complaint i have about maplins that their website doesent have prices in euro, wonder will this ever happen as the have shops in the Republic, has anybody else got any views about this

they don't have prices in euro and if you do the conversion the uk website is usually about 10% cheaper. on one or two things its more expensive but almost always cheaper

bindybandy wrote:

Thing is unless you are really into computers etc it can be hard to take in all the knowledge about them especially Maplin where they stock an enormous range of stuff. I'm into pc's for years and even I find it can be hard to keep up with the pace of technology. They don't pay their staff enough to attract the "geeks" basically. They get better paid jobs in computing etc elsewhere if they are lucky. The few times I've used Maplin thought they have been knowledgeable and one memeber really helped me out by telling me about catridgeworld here in Galway. Saved me a fortune that place!

this is true. they provide zero training for their staff other than a presentation of one or two products once a month. the staff are basically working on the knowledge they have when they start working there and there's no internet access in the place so they have no way to check anything. they have computers, sound systems, car accessories, toys, gps systems and thousands of miscellaneous itmes. basically anything electronic can be sold in the place, even a coat and gloves with wires running through them for heating. no one could be expected to keep up with it all for 9 euro an hour, and with no internet access its impossible to do it anyway.

whyconnect wrote:

Just wondering who trains the people in computer shops?

as i said above, i can't speak for pc world, but in maplin they don't train them at all. they take people in off the street and give them a name badge that says technical sales

DRakE

Draaaaaging up old posts ;D

danniemcq

surly it's better than startin a new one with all the same points in it again

forbairt

gotta admit .. I'm well happy with pc world ...
Great service on a disk that died on me in there lads seemed to know what they were at as well .. this was the service repair guys not the sales staff who I'd never talk to ..

Maplin ... I've had good experiences with as well .. it all depends on which of the staff you get in these places ... some of them are muppets ... some of them are great

monument

Inspector Gadget wrote:

Unfortunately, neither do Argos

Maybe they've changed since you posted that... http://www.argos.ie/

Inge Binge

edit... didn't read monument's post

kc66

JackieChan wrote:

I've always found Maplins prices to be the UK price with the Euro conversion applied.Similar to Argos.
So if you see the cost in sterling you can make an accurate calculation of what it will be in euros.

I looked up a projector screen recently- £200 on website ~ €290
Went into shop to order it and it was around €350/€360.
Big rip off there.
It was similar with other products

po0k

It wouldn't be much better if it was Peats.

patsyh

as hopeless as most of them are in there, its still a very handy shop

grimskull_99

As for the many above members that have posted blogs about maplin galway, and after reading them all I want to set the record straight, for customers and for ex staff members alike.

1), you cant slate of a staff member for not knowing what you are blabbling on about, they might have just started in the job that day/week.

2), we dont have the entire catalogue and technical knowledge downloaded into our brains, so when you come in and ask "do you have that thing that i need to connect to my yoke!" .....dont be surprised when we give you a blank look back.

3), if you worked in the shop (managerial level) you will know that there is 101 things to do every day, thats just on the managerial-admin side of things THAT HAS to be done, no matter what, so if you get a staff member that "is hopeless" that is because he-she is doing the jobs that are allocated to him-her in that day, which has to be done before he-she goes home...that is the way in the stores in the west of Ireland.

4), yes they shud have a euro website, but they dont, but to calculate all of the WEEE legislation, fee, PRF charges, along with the sterling-euro conversion rates (they change every day) you might wonder why.

5) yes... they dont pay their staff enough for the sh!t they put up with everyday... customer coming in not having a receipt (all receipt have an EPOS code with is needed to complete all refunds)..not knowing when they bought the item (*some time about 5 weeks ago*)...this does not help the situation. Also if you go to http://www.oasis.gov.ie/consumer_affairs/consumer_rights_and_protection/consumers_and_the_law_in_ireland.html?search=consumer+law
you will learn what your rights are and are not....so save the "I KNOW WHAT MY RIGHTS ARE AND I'M NOT LEAVING HERE WITHOUT A REFUND"!

6) As the saying goes, if you ask a stupid question, you get a stupid answer....and I quote "where does the paper go into this keyboard?" or for the lady that wanted to return the wireless network card because she cudnt get the internet on the beach like the Dell ad said she could!

7) As for Commander Vimes ...i hear ya... I totally understand where you are coming from...... If every customer that came into us worked for Maplin would give us a 4 week paid holiday to California for the sh1t we put up with, Radioshack in the USA are 100000000 times better than that place.

8) As for customer service....you are entitled to good customer service, our hands are tied to sending the item back to the UK to the Service Centre, that is procedure, we cant change it, If the item was returned to the store within 28 days of purchase (with receipt, original packaging, not torn to peices) then you are entitled to a full refund. We get sh1t from both sides of the fence, our head office, and from customers so cut us some slack, you wudnt like it if we went into your job and fu(ked you out of it because you were following the rules of your company and by breaking the rules you can get fired, which is more important, your job or customer service?? Remember we all have bills to pay.

9) The staff are good, each to their own area of interest, everyone cant know everything in the shop, theres over 14,000 I dont think that NUIG has an I.T/electronics/consumer law/Electronic engineering/sound and vision/automotive electrics/TV and radio engineering course last I checked.

10) when you do visit the shop because you have nothing else to do in your sunday and you browse around, picking up products, looking at them, wanting to buy them but you know that you cant because your partner will kill you for it, please put it back in the same place you found it, it takes someone 20 mins to straighten up the shop after you come in and mess it up!

Redhairedguy

I sympathise... At the end of the day a job is just a job..

Most retail jobs are the exact same... stupid questons... shítty customers who love nothing more than tormenting you, just cause you're wearing a uniform, dodgy pay, etc etc (need I go on?)

So please don't think you're special...

It's the same story with everywhere, from a smoothy bar bringing in a little over a hundred euro a day, to a big ass advertising company making a million quid an hour.

padi89

I think its a good shop for get me by products,quality is very iffy but it does the job and usually ties me over until i can afford something a bit better.
My dealings with the staff are good i have no complaints ,they have helped me out on many occasion with dumb and complicated questions.I wouldnt expect the staff to all be qualified electronics engineers because surely after doing x amount of years in college you will have your sights set higher.
Im sure they have a pretty big turn over off staff too,so its hardly expected for all the staff to be familiar with everything in the store.Im glad its there now,its dead handy.

TerrorFirmer

Thats all well and grand grimskull, and in fairness we've all been in situations where people treat you like crap, BUT

At the end of the day, you shouldn't hire staff that don't at least have some basic knowledge in the field.

I mean its not just maplins, its pc world as well - you wouldn't buy a car off someone who knows nothing about cars, so why should it be any different with PCs, audio or other equipment?

The few times I have had a query in Maplins and/or Pc world, generally the staff were actually knowledgable in fairness - but in the past we've all have idiots telling us 100% mistruths because they don't have a clue.

po0k

To be honest, the only time I bother the staff is if I can't find something myself and may need to order it in, or I'm paying for something.

Expecting your typical PFY, who's just happy to have a job for the summer / semester, to know XYZ stat of ABC product is absurd. But if they're in a job like that, you generally start picking up stuff if you're not already into tech, so it's *kinda* expected that you are familiar with some of the stuff the store stocks.

That said, working in retail sucks, mainly because of the fncking morons you have to deal with on an hourly basis. A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing, often leading to delusions of competence and subject knowledge in the punter. It is not outside the bounds of civility to keep a cluebat at hand.

My biggest gripe with Maplin is the price of some items. I don't expect a bricks&cement store to match online e-tailers due to stock, but they could try to be competetive. The price of alot of items are a few euro over what is reasonable to ask. Hard-drives are a joke.

After all that's been said though, I'm damn glad to have a store like Maplin in Galway. Just ditch the thermaltake range, they suck.

john_g83

Hi just to agree with what a number of people have already mentioned here. I have worked with Daryl in another shop in Galway and have to say from my experience he was extremely helpful to any customer that he got involved with, is extremely knowledgeable and deals with many thankless tasks admirably.

As far as the other staff are concerned it is difficult to know everything about everything, do people realise how many different types of products are in stock there so cut them a break.

I have found the prices are usually lower (sometimes considerably lower) than other retailers in Galway. A couple of weeks ago I picked up a PCI BB modem for €17 which I thought was a steal. I think that compared to the alternatives, mapplin is a very attractive place to shop.

TabulaRasa22

john_g83 wrote:

I think that compared to the alternatives, mapplin is a very attractive place to shop.

I'd say you are 100% correct in that. The staff there have always been helpful and courteous, unlike PC World. I'm going to share my PC world story now, settle back with a cup of coffee...

I went in to buy a laptop, looking for something rock bottom price, so I asked if there were any ex-display units or old stock they wanted to get rid of. A bit of haggling later, they duly bring out the laptop, discounted. So I take it to the counter, and the large and well fed manager there (glasses) wanted to give me a receipt. This was after he went into a back office twice to "consult with the manager" about the discount.

And here is where it got interesting. He wanted my name and address. Now, being a card carrying, published, and participating member of various online rights and privacy organisations, including the FFII (anti software patents group in Europe), I said no, I won't, give me the receipt please. I had actually passed him a few hundred quid for the laptop, it was in his hand at this stage.

After a moment of confusion, he said, no, he couldn't, unless I gave him my name, address, and phone number. So heres me, looking at this individual, with hundreds of euros in his hand, not giving me a receipt. He also said I couldn't get a warranty unless I passed over my details.

I repeated myself, and asked, can I get that receipt please. No dice, my money wasn't good enough. PC World store policy trumps the Director for Consumer Affairs, it seems. I mentioned this fact to him, which made him even more adamant that the receipt and warranty would not happen unless he got satisfaction, and my private personal details. It was like watching an overweight, bespectacled tribesman trying not to lose face in front of his tribe.

So, having better things to do than argue with a rising star in the PC world hierarchy, I pulled my money from his clasp, and walked out, leaving him and his discounted laptop there. I did have a good laugh about a year later though, when the oul fella went in looking for a printer, and I tagged along reluctantly. What should have been a simple purchase turned into a two hour long haggle fest, with terrified salespeople dodging me dad as he hunted them throughout the shop, high and low, with a gleam in his eye that spoke of a profitless day. We walked out of there with five reams of paper, three laserjet cartridges, and a new printer. Chunky McMiddle Manager was floating around in the background, but one of the advantages of being in your sixties is that young lads are scared to backchat you.

Pwn3d.

TerrorFirmer

I returned a laptop to pc world, a basic model, sempron processor with onboard ati graphics. Wasn't working as it should have been so I brought it back after 2 days and outlined my complaints to the manager.

Surprisingly he was great and I ended up with a Sony Vaio with a Geforce 6400 card for a mere 200 euro extra (999 euro - absolute steal for a vaio of this spec).

Great guys. Was surprised to say the least, all the staff I spoke to that day seemed to have a good knowledge of PC.

Someone working in PC world with a good knowledge of PCs, its rather sad to have to say that this is rare, but there you go, a good experience I had recently.

sgthighway

Lads - Laptops is my thing. If you want one for everyday use and not into gaming on them by a Dell or HP "Business Notebook".

They will not crash unless their is a serious hardware fault. I am a true believer that there is no such thing as a "Gamer" or "Multimedia" laptop. The processing power isn't good enough. A 1.7Ghz "Business" Laptop is better than the top of the range "Multimedia Laptop".

padi89

TabulaRasa22 wrote:

I did have a good laugh about a year later though, when the oul fella went in looking for a printer, and I tagged along reluctantly. What should have been a simple purchase turned into a two hour long haggle fest, with terrified salespeople dodging me dad as he hunted them throughout the shop, high and low, with a gleam in his eye that spoke of a profitless day. We walked out of there with five reams of paper, three laserjet cartridges, and a new printer. Chunky McMiddle Manager was floating around in the background, but one of the advantages of being in your sixties is that young lads are scared to backchat you.

Pwn3d.

Dont take this the wrong way but i would say the staff were avoiding your dad not because they were "terrified" or "scared" but because they couldnt be arsed dealing with someone for two hours looking for discounts.No offence, he is quiet intitled to bargin and fair play for getting it, but its normally customers like this that get on your nerves.

TerrorFirmer

sgthighway wrote:

A 1.7Ghz "Business" Laptop is better than the top of the range "Multimedia Laptop".

Eh? Business ones tend to be lighter and more mobile due to their nature but no more sturdy in my experience...regardless of who makes them. How can a 1.7ghz "business" laptop (as you call it) be better then a specifically designed multimedia one?

The only real laptop aimed specifically at business only users would be Dells latitiude....the rest are either cheap solutions (dell 1300) or multimedia designed options (6400) or even intensive gaming (xps). All of which can be used for business as well of course, but probably lack the battery life of the latitude.

Come to think of it, your whole post makes no sense? Business laptops never crash but gaming ones do? And what are you saying about processors being strong enough? I don't get that...

sgthighway

Just my opinion. 12 Years experience in maintaining them = the sense.
How long does a battery last in a Notebook with a 17" Screen?