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PC World

dafunk

I went there on Saturday to price some laptops just on the off chance that what I had in mind would be the same price as shopping online and the staff in there were appallingly bad. I thought they'd be fawning all over the customer in the hope of getting some commission but not a chance. There was nowhere near enough floor staff and the ones that were there had no interest in helping me (one guy said "Sorry, I have to wash my hands so I can't help you(!)) and the ones that I cornered and asked questions to didn't seem to know the first thing about computers. I wasn't even asking particularly complicated questions but none of them* seemed to have even the basic knowledge my grandmother has, thought that would be a pre-requisite of the job.....

Bad bad bad PC World. Won't ever waste my time in there again. I'm sort of ranting really but my question is , is there a decent computer shop in Galway?

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PopeBuckfastXVI

dafunk wrote: »

is there a decent computer shop in Galway?

I don't think so.

I bought a desktop in PC World a few years back, just happened to have the exact spec I wanted, so I didn't have to bother them with questions.

I recently bought a laptop from laptopsdirect.ie, great price, fast delivery.

JohnCleary

My definition of PC World is "You pay peanuts, you get monkeys". IMHO the people on the floor are (supposed to be) sales people, not techies. I'm not saying that this is right, there should be at least 1/2 people dedicated to techie talk on the floor, but who in their right mind would do that kind of job, when after spending X mins with a customer explaining about the spec of a machine only to have some sales fella swoop them away, make the sale and get commission? BTW, think they only get commission for selling accessories etc and not actual machines?

I go in there for a gawk when i'm bored but that's about it

kinetic

You cant blame the staff,there probably on sxxxe pay anyway.

I bought a laptop 18 months ago a(a basic model) and like a flute i paid €180 for the extended warranty and insurance.

I broke it a while back and rang the help line on a monday morning and they told me a courier would pick it up.By thursday no courier had arrived,so i rang and complained.They were not helpful on the phone so i brought it into the store and they sent it off.
I had no laptop for nearly 4 weeks, so the moral of the story is if you are buying a cheap model DONT pay for the insurance just replace it.

Das Kitty

But surely to be able sell a technical item you should at least have a small bit of technical knowledge about it?

If you went into a bakery and asked for a roll fresh out of the oven and the person behind the counter said "what's an oven?" you'd walk out.

biko

I think the way to go is to
- Know what you want/need
- Don't trust sales people
- Get it in a shop, just give them specs or look for it yourself
- Get it online

JohnCleary

Das Kitty wrote: »

But surely to be able sell a technical item you should at least have a small bit of technical knowledge about it?

If you went into a bakery and asked for a roll fresh out of the oven and the person behind the counter said "what's an oven?" you'd walk out.

Same could be said for car salesmen. They're just reading what's on the sheet

I'm not saying I disagree with you, I agree 100% but that's life :rolleyes:

Das Kitty

Too right.

I would be ashamed of my life if I were working in a sales position and hadn't a notion about what I was selling. I'd probably win The Apprentice though.

thecivvie

kinetic wrote: »

I had no laptop for nearly 4 weeks, so the moral of the story is if you are buying a cheap model DONT pay for the insurance just replace it.

I bought a laptop and took out the insurance, Laptop went back 6 months before the extended warranty was due to run out and they could not locate the part missing so sent me a voucher for the original price paid

Wife happy as she got a decent laptop, again with extended warranty

Robbo

Das Kitty wrote: »

I'd probably win The Apprentice though.

Are yis a battler dough? We're lukin for wurriders.

brianthebard

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

I don't think so.

I bought a desktop in PC World a few years back, just happened to have the exact spec I wanted, so I didn't have to bother them with questions.

Yeah if you know what you are looking for its fine, I got a laptop for 549, same price as one on dell I was looking at but with a gig of ram extra.

Das Kitty wrote: »

But surely to be able sell a technical item you should at least have a small bit of technical knowledge about it?

If you went into a bakery and asked for a roll fresh out of the oven and the person behind the counter said "what's an oven?" you'd walk out.

But if the customer walks in an says I'd like a roll out of that square...heat...box...what would you do? That's what the majority of pc world customers are like, so there's really nothing to gain from having someone who can tell you the spec of a machine work there.

Krieg

Ive been to PC world many times (mostly window shopping) and I would never buy a full system there. Mainly because of price, though

I don't begrudge all the sales staff. From my own experience with the staff, One guy in there knows his stuff and won't feed you BS. The rest of them seem to know only the basic stuff (bar 1 of them who knows f*** all and has been working there long enough). But thats fine, Computers can be very complicated things and the growth in advances (moores law bla bla..) , I'm not going to blame them for not knowing the very detailed stuff, even though its probably required given the job description

JohnCleary wrote:

BTW, think they only get commission for selling accessories etc and not actual machines?

I'm pretty sure they get commission from the systems. My sister wanted a new pc a while back. She insisted on trying PC world, I tagged along to make sure she didn't get swindled (I'm no expert with computers and consider myself an amateur, but I know crap when I see it). The sales assistant kept insisting that she needed a bigger more expensive pc than the one she was looking at and when she chose 1 she liked and was considering of buying, the little runt kept trying to force the insurance on her (Which was WAY overpriced). Thankfully she left it in the end.
From the way the SS was in that situation, makes me think they do get commission.

To answer OP's question: No, not in my experience, buy online. Oddly enough Ive been hearing good things about the 2 guys (can't remember the name of it) beside McSwiggans. I had a quick look one day and I thought the laptops were a tad over priced, but people have told me they are very helpful and know their stuff.

AvrilLavigne

It seems that Maplin has all the knowledgeable sales staff in Wellpark Retail Park. You would be better off going there for all your PC related questions!

TerrorFirmer

I don't really buy into the 'pay peanuts get monkeys' outlook though. Sure there's no end of tech-literate people looking for jobs - especially the last while. I applied for a job there once - making great emphasis to state that I was big into computers, built them regularly, knew them inside out, and so on - nothing. Went in a while later and saw some new staff, one of which gave me a blank stare when I asked if a certain machine had a pci-e slot....looked at the spec....and said something about 'only usb'. I said but it has an xpress200 board they all have pci-e slots and he simply said something like 'well this one doesn't'. It did. A quick look through the fan grill - clear as day.

I just feel dreadful for the people who go in there relying on these staff to talk them through computers.

I have to say most of their 'tech' people are useless as well, maybe they know how to replace parts/build machines through experience alone but it doesn't necessarily mean that they know anything about what they're dealing with. I had one of them - one of their most experienced staff apparently - tell me my video card (purchased there) failing was a sign of an outdated bios and when I argued this was utter wild nonsense the manager adopted a snobby 'well clearly he knows more then you' attitude and suggested I didn't know what I was talking about. One particular manager in there is the most laughable excuse for an employee I've ever encountered. However I think most of it is probably due to their training rather then own initiative. The amount of them that reel off the same, most outrageously untrue things to snare you into a bigger purchase are staggering. If I knew nothing about computers I'd have gotten the PC World info as follows, overheard when I'm in there (which is often, I work next door)

- Dual cores aren't very good for games, you need a quad core
- 7300Gt is the best AGP card available.
- Only high end gaming machines have PCI-E Slots
- Video cards overheating is a classic sign of outdated bios
- Only Mini-disc has line-in, not MP3 players. (???)
- 512mb 8400GS is way faster then 256mb HD3850 because of bigger memory
- 8500GT SLI is one of the fastest graphics solutions available
- My favorite: Integrated graphics are programed to crash games to stop games being played on them!

A few times I've wanted to intervene in anger but eventually didn't. Anyone know knows anything about computers will know all the above are not just untrue but so amazing detached from the truth it's borderline fairytale.

On the plus side however their prices are getting much better. Sorting out the staff wouldn't be any sort of a problem at all. There are any amount of people looking for jobs who happen to be well clued in on tech stuff.

Maplins are generally much more clued in but their prices are really bad so....

CrowdedHouse

AvrilLavigne wrote: »

It seems that Maplin has all the knowledgeable sales staff in Wellpark Retail Park.

ROFL :pac:

JohnCleary

Terror - You're obviously into your gaming. While a lot of stuff you mentioned would make people cringe it's such common knowledge, in fairness with gaming hardware can be very unique and specific - Christ the staff are prob on less than 10eur/hour - Do you honestly expect them know know such specifics for 10eur/hour ??

Simple rule of thumb tbh... if you need to buy something from PC World, research, check it's in stock, go in, buy, leave

leninbenjamin

JohnCleary wrote: »

Do you honestly expect them know know such specifics for 10eur/hour ??

yes. they sell the damn things. Would you buy off a baker if they couldn't tell you what grain they put in their bread? it's bread and butter stuff (sorry) for someone in their position.

for the record, gaming hardware isn't anymore complicated btw. it's like being able to tell the difference between a Civic and an Accord frankly... whether all these guys are able to tell you is the equivalent of 'one has bigger wheels than the other'.

TerrorFirmer

JohnCleary wrote: »

Terror - You're obviously into your gaming. While a lot of stuff you mentioned would make people cringe it's such common knowledge, in fairness with gaming hardware can be very unique and specific - Christ the staff are prob on less than 10eur/hour - Do you honestly expect them know know such specifics for 10eur/hour ??

It's not about the lack of knowledge, it's the outright lies - what they don't know, they just make up on the spot to suit themselves. That's what pisses me off no end. If someone said 'Look I'm not sure I'll ask/find out' then grand. But they don't. They'll tell you what you want to hear or what they want you to think - regardless of how untrue, impossible, or even believable it is!

The things I've heard that I listed, I heard them being said in a voice that suggested they were the pro's in their field. It's to lead people to believe they do know what they're talking about. Again if they said 'Hang on I'll check' or 'I'll get someone else for you' - no problem. Sure everyone can't know everything about everything in a given store....but in PC World they do - whether they actually do or not.

JohnCleary

leninbenjamin wrote: »

yes. they sell the damn things. Would you buy off a baker if they couldn't tell you what grain they put in their bread? it's bread and butter stuff (sorry) for someone in their position.

gaming hardware isn't complicated btw. it's like being able to tell the difference between a Civic and an Accord frankly...

I'm not eating the computer equipment though :pac:

Usually (not always I know) a baker see's his job as a vocation, it's his passion. PC World staff? They're just looking for a source to fund their porn/Dutch Gold

leninbenjamin

JohnCleary wrote: »

I'm not eating the computer equipment though :pac:

Usually (not always I know) a baker see's his job as a vocation, it's his passion. PC World staff? They're just looking for a source to fund their porn/Dutch Gold

bah, stop being so pedantic. I was trying to make use simile for illustrative purposes!

perhaps it's wrong to expect it of the employees i guess, but the management at least should make sure that these guys know what they are doing.

redshoulder

A couple of years ago, went in to by a agp graphics card, a geforce 6600 to replace my geforce ti4600. They gave me a a 6200. So I went back to them and it took me a while to explain to them that I got the wrong card. They seemed to think they were right. It even had the 6200 stamp at the back of the card. I eventually convinced them and got a refund.
So my advice is to stay away from PC World if you don't know much about computers. Its okay for media etc, also their graphics cards they have in stock now are ancient and overpriced.

TerrorFirmer

I wouldn't say they're ancient by any stretch - right now in stock they have the HD3870, 8800GT, 9600GT, 9600GSO, 9500GT, GTX 260, and some of the lower end new HD4xand Geforce 9 series cards. Sure they've got a few older ones but all in all while the prices aren't overly great (some prices are actually pretty good) they do have an up to date selection.

redshoulder

Last time I checked, They either had a 7300gt or a 9500gt around €90.
Also maplins aren't that great either. A powercolor 4670 for €150. Which a simaler version can be bought in komplett for €80

brianthebard

leninbenjamin wrote: »

yes. they sell the damn things. Would you buy off a baker if they couldn't tell you what grain they put in their bread? it's bread and butter stuff (sorry) for someone in their position.

for the record, gaming hardware isn't anymore complicated btw. it's like being able to tell the difference between a Civic and an Accord frankly... whether all these guys are able to tell you is the equivalent of 'one has bigger wheels than the other'.

Ask someone in dunnes what their bread is made from and see the response. Hold up two loaves and ask which has a higher percentage of grain in it and see what happens. Computers are no longer a specialist market, they are for everyone, and by the same token they can be sold by anyone. My rule of thumb is to have a healthy dislike for any large chain store, know what you want and what you will pay for it, and don't listen to sales pitches. It doesn't have to be any more complicated than you make it, and we all know what PC world is, so I don't understand why people feel the need to complain about it tbh.

TerrorFirmer

When you factor in postage, 90 euro for a 9500GT isn't dreadfully bad considering the normal price for such a card is between 55 and 70 euro excluding postage. They also have a 9600GT OC Edition for 150, which again, is alright considering the closet on Komplett is 116, factor in postage and you're only paying 20 euro for a bricks and mortar which is OK in my book. Their older cards are the worst because they just haven't updated prices, they never seem to do so. A while back there was a 9600 Non-pro - worth about 15 euro 2nd hand - on the shelf for 150 euro.

Maplins occasionally have middling to good offers - currently a 9500GT passive for 67 euro - but all in all their general video card prices are unbelievable. It's normal to see cards 200% their RRP in there, often higher.

Weidii

I had a similar experience in PC world last week. I originally went into maplin looking for a new head for my laptop charger, but they only stocked ther own brand ones (I needed a Belkin) So I mosied on over to PC world and having found the exact charger I have on the shelf I presumed they'd have the heads for them (as they had loads of spare heads stocked in Maplin) I ended up searching for floor staff for ages to ask them where they were and couldn't find anybody, so I headed to customer service and asked the bloke behind the counter, who gave me an impatient look and a cheeky answer to my question (I can't remember exactly how the conversation went, I just remember feeling patronised)

Anyway, I went back to maplin and bought one of their chargers, which was 50eur cheaper than the ones in PC world and I know they'll have a supply of heads for it if anything ever happens to mine again.

Mrs OBumble

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

I don't really buy into the 'pay peanuts get monkeys' outlook though. Sure there's no end of tech-literate people looking for jobs - especially the last while. I applied for a job there once - making great emphasis to state that I was big into computers, built them regularly, knew them inside out, and so on - nothing.

Were you really willing to work there for minimum wage? How much patience would you have for spending all day talking to people who know vastly less about technology than you do, who ask the most inane questions over and over? ("Is it big enough so I can copy the internet onto it, so I don't have to get viruses by being connected?"
--- How long do you think you would have stayed?

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

.... when I argued this was utter wild nonsense the manager adopted a snobby 'well clearly he knows more then you' attitude .... I think most of it is probably due to their training rather then own initiative.

I think this is called being supportive of your staff: even if they do/say something silly, it's pretty bad management to tell them about it in front of the customer.

Yes, there are far better ways he could have handled it (eg refer the issue to a neutral third party who could have said to the staff member "yes, but how can we tell the difference between that an a real hardware failure, how about if we test it in here" or suchlike. But given that the manager is probably paid about 50c/hour more than the staff member, that might be a bit hopeful.

3greenrizla's

Weidii wrote: »

I had a similar experience in PC world last week. I originally went into maplin looking for a new head for my laptop charger, but they only stocked ther own brand ones

I went in about 6 month ago, looking for a charger for the laptop I bought there, they told me to go to website for their sister company.... I ended up going to ebay.

their sister company Curry's is not much better either, I went in there a few years ago looking for a dvd player & asked a sales guy the difference between 2 players (other than brand) there was about a €100 difference in price. the sales rep read me out the signs on the shelf I said "I read that myself, what does that mean?" he went "ummm" and f*ck*d off.

Das Kitty

I asked a lad in Curry's standing behind the camera counter how many Megapixels a certain camera had, he told me 8GB, when I asked him did he mean 8 Megapixels he put on his condescending voice and told me that no he meant 8GB is how much the camera can hold.

The dogs in the street know what a Megapixel value is.