Price matching at PC World

[Glenn]

PC world will now price match ebuyer!!! http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/239974/pc-world-price-match-places-changed/

[Rik]

That's going to be challenging for them, Glenn.

How's the knee, btw?

[Inactive]

Desperate times by the look of things.

[Gary]

Desperate times by the look of things.

From what I read, In they are doing very badly indeed, they have to price match to keep afloat, I purchased a router a while back online, it was about £82. In PC World they wanted £150 at the time People only go into PC World to see what goods look like, then go buy them online these days, and as for the b*llsh*it they try and tell you they said windows Visa Ultimate needed no antivirus as it was erm...ultimate. I think the look on my face said it all, but when I mentioned it was still a 32bit OS and did need one, his eyes seemed to glaze over at "32 bit" oh and he assured me DDR3 memory was not available yet but would be released in 2010, funny that since I use DDR3 already, they really employ some prats in those shops

[Inactive]

they really employ some prats in those shops

That is a certainty Gary.. 

[Rik]

They pay the going rate for them too.

[Gary]

They pay the going rate for them too.

You mean a P45

[Rik]

Naah, they're way too cheapskate, a P22.5.

[Glenn]

Buy one get one free 

[madasahatter]

They pay the going rate for them too.

That's the main problem.

Retailers generally don't pay very well, so a lot of the good staff leaves for higher paid jobs. Also, if you shop on an evening/weekend, you are much more likely to come across staff who are just there to earn a bit of money.

Unfortunately, if retailers paid decent wages to keep the good staff, they'd also have to put their prices up which would make them even less competitive, so in the end there would be no jobs for anybody 

[Rik]

Damned if they do, damned if they don't, eh?

Mind you, John Lewis seem to find a happy compromise.

[Dangerjunkie]

I remember a few years back having a stand up row that ended with me threatening them with Trading Standards when they wouldn't give me the price they advertised on their own website for an item that wasn't marked "web only" because they "don't match website prices." The guy said "go ahead", I did and TS told me that they wouldn't do a thing about it because the company advertising (the web division of PCW) was a different company than the store and therefore the store hadn't broken the law as they hadn't advertised the price they wouldn't honour.

[madasahatter]

Damned if they do, damned if they don't, eh?

That's the retailers lot Rik. Some retailers are much better at finding a compromise than others, but that does very much depend on what market they are in. Working in a clothing store for instance will require much less knowledge than working in a technical place like PC World. Places like John Lewis, even though they have electrical departments, stock a much smaller range of products in that area that somewhere like Currys, so it's much easier for the staff to learn all about the products, and much easier to keep them up to date with range changes etc.

[madasahatter]

I remember a few years back having a stand up row that ended with me threatening them with Trading Standards when they wouldn't give me the price they advertised on their own website for an item that wasn't marked "web only" because they "don't match website prices." The guy said "go ahead", I did and TS told me that they wouldn't do a thing about it because the company advertising (the web division of PCW) was a different company than the store and therefore the store hadn't broken the law as they hadn't advertised the price they wouldn't honour.

To be fair Paul, while they perhaps should have price matched, the fact that they couldn't be forced to is more the fault of the law being an ass.

[Rik]

stock a much smaller range of products in that area that somewhere like Currys, so it's much easier for the staff to learn all about the products, and much easier to keep them up to date with range changes etc.

Which is, perhaps, why customers rate them so highly, staff do, unusually, know what they are talking about.

[madasahatter]

Which is, perhaps, why customers rate them so highly, staff do, unusually, know what they are talking about.

Exactly Rik.

[Sebby]

PC world will now price match ebuyer!!! http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/239974/pc-world-price-match-places-changed/

Useful, I guess, if you want something there and then but don't want to pay extortionate prices!

[vitriol]

I like wandering around in PC world and advising people where to buy cheaper.  Free downloadable alternatives. etc...

[joker]Puts a smile on my face[/joker]












Yes I watched Batman last night.....great movie

[Dazbobaby]

From what I read, In they are doing very badly indeed, they have to price match to keep afloat, I purchased a router a while back online, it was about £82. In PC World they wanted £150 at the time People only go into PC World to see what goods look like, then go buy them online these days, and as for the b*llsh*it they try and tell you they said windows Visa Ultimate needed no antivirus as it was erm...ultimate. I think the look on my face said it all, but when I mentioned it was still a 32bit OS and did need one, his eyes seemed to glaze over at "32 bit" oh and he assured me DDR3 memory was not available yet but would be released in 2010, funny that since I use DDR3 already, they really employ some prats in those shops

I worked in the Leeds branch from 95-03, for my sins
I can tell you that at that time that I started with them, we had a great team, people who knew about the stuff being sold, staff that knew how to deal with customers and technicians who did a great job.
All told, over 25 customer service and technical staff, and we needed every single one, we were incredibly busy, taking huge amounts of money each week, dealing with enquiries, repairs, and serious service issues.
It was great, one of the best periods of my working life, great fun, and great management.
Towards the end, last 3 years or so, we were cut down to just 5 and would take it in turns to have 2months off with stress leave. It was horrendous, being phsycally abused, swore at, spat at and generally man handled, and that was just the management - I KID YOU NOT. Then they opened the doors to customers at 9am and it just got worse.
The policy of DSG was to replace full time staff with part time or key time staff, people who know a great deal to people who just wanted to earn a bit of extra cash. Why? because they work for less!
I used to earn good money for someone unqualified, doing a skilled job, playing with new hardware, getting sent on training, such as Toshiba and Compaq training - to learn how to strip down and repair laptops, getting free tools and equipment and a few days away from work.
In a lot of respects, I miss it, it was a good job, just not the best employer I've worked for.
If they did want me back and were prepared to work to my rules, I'd be back in a heartbeat, but they'll not change now, even when it's too late, they'd try to tough it out and let sheer size of the company intimidate the competition.
Trouble is, people are getting more and more knowledge and experience from their own pc's, finding it's not that difficult or scary to upgrade themselves, money is getting tight and they are left with little choice but to do it themselves. So the only way to get customers back, and get new customers in the process, is to get decent, hard working knowledgeable staff. I'm affraid it's something they won't do.
Oh yeah, their profit margins are something that you would/would'nt believe.

[Rik]

Oh yes we would.

[Gary]

Oh yes we would.

Beat me to it, Rik

[Rik]