PC World dual core advert

[greencreeper]

When I bought my last printer from PC World, the helpful chap asked if I wanted a USB cable. I did. He brought me a £20 cable that was long enough for me to hang myself with it. And then let's not forget that Mr Glitter was found out becase a PC World tech was rummaging through his hard drive. In this instance, the tech did the public a service - but that doesn't make it right. Also, we had an ex-employee of PC World come to work at my place. After a few months of having to deal with him, I suggested to the management that he should have a psychiatric evaluation, query personality disorder or some social-functioning disorder, such as Aspergers. He was weird in that Christie type of way. And then there's their adverts, which just make your toes curl - feel sorry for the home buyer who hasn't a clue.

[Gareth]

Originally Posted by nffc

You wouldn't buy a car without checking first if it suited your needs. A PC is no different and car salesmen are far far worse than PCW salesmen.

Apples and pears, nffc. A PC can be used for an enormous number of tasks, and some PCs cope far better than others at achieving said tasks. A car, on the other hand, is always used for going from A to B. There's a lot less scope of variation of what you can do with a car... admittedly you can transport different types of goods, or a different number of people, but at the end of the day, a car is used to transport you from one place to another.

As dodgy as 2nd hand car salesman are, if you ask them whether you'd be able to take a Kia Pride off-roading, even the most dodgiest Boycie wouldn't suggest it's gonna be possible. Yet some of the things I've heard from PCW salesmen are comparable to this (playing all games for the next 2 years at the highest settings, on their budget PC...?!? ).

Originally Posted by nffc

the sales assistant was reasonably accurate when I tried to test him with questions! Considering these people are salesmen and not technical that isn't too bad.

Don't mean to have a go at you, nffc, but wouldn't you expect a sales assistant to not just be "reasonably" accurate be completely accurate? We're talking about PCs here, they're not really that complicated, are they? It's not rocket science, after all.

In this case, you were able to filter the bullsh*t from the truth, but put yourself in a different situation... maybe digital cameras aren't your fortÃÃâ€*’© - would you be happy if a sales assistant in a camera shop only told you half-truths purely in order to get a sale?

PC World sales assistants can largely get away with it because it's a consumer product they're selling. When dealing with customers for non-consumer products, i.e. business sales, you'll find that salespeople have to be 100% truthful. Why should it be different for Joe Bloggs on the High Street? Maybe it's because the items being sold are cheaper per se, but for the person buying an item at PC World, that's not much help.

I don't really blame the salespeople - it's PC World that should be hiring technically-oriented salespeople. If my local PC shop can find suitably technical sales people, I'm sure PC World can.

But if you pay peanuts you get monkeys

[greencreeper]

Originally Posted by zinglebarb

But if you pay peanuts you get monkeys

The guy we had was no monkey. Just unstable. I can't imagine him knowing anything at all of use to a buyer. That said, I think he worked as a tech - fixing PCs


I was in there a while ago - wanted a mouse. Woman looked blank so I did the hand movements and said, "clicky clicky". Then she asked what sort Er, an ordinary house mouse? She managed to point me in the right direction.

[punky]

Originally Posted by greencreeper

The guy we had was no monkey. Just unstable. I can't imagine him knowing anything at all of use to a buyer. That said, I think he worked as a tech - fixing PCs


I was in there a while ago - wanted a mouse. Woman looked blank so I did the hand movements and said, "clicky clicky". Then she asked what sort Er, an ordinary house mouse? She managed to point me in the right direction.

I laughed so much I have a headache

[greencreeper]

It's all true Depressing, huh.

I think the main point is that it is possible to sell ethically - provide the buyer with information, explain things they do not understand, and generally assist/guide them in making their choice. A choice that is right for them. PC World sell on the basis of what must be sold (becase it's end of line) or what will earn the most commission. And they do this by exploiting the customer's lack of knowledge.

So to sum up PCW sucks what Nikki wouldnt ,daily lol lol

[Flobajob]

Originally Posted by Robster

I just saw a TV advert for PC World featuring Intel dual core systems and when the "cutomer" asks what dual core means the assistant tells him it lets you "do two things at once, like uploading email while you're downloading tunes!"

This is such a rediculous statement suggesting you can't multitask with single core processors.

But I guess this is what we've come to expect from PC World.

I saw that last night and started ranting at the wife, she gave me a blank stare and told me to shut up.

[Strzelecki]

I left PCW after finishing uni for better things.... much better things! Their adverts always annoyed me, especially as they obviously payed much more for slightly better adverts for The Link. I gues the marketing people in Hemel knew what sort of customers they wanted.

[keithwalton]

After seeing the advert, yes its abit tongue in cheek but certainly nothing to get worked up over

[Toto]

Originally Posted by keithwalton

After seeing the advert, yes its abit tongue in cheek but certainly nothing to get worked up over

Exactly, after all they are talking to couple of students.

Originally Posted by Toto

Exactly, after all they are talking to couple of students.

Oh, I see - the blind leading the bland!

[bobna]

right, after laughing my a$$ off at this thread, and before you all flame me, i work at a pc world store in the clinic and have to put up with all the comments that alot of people have said in this thread daily and i can honestly say i am one of the technicians who actually know what they are doing and yes most of the sales guys don't have a damn clue about what their selling and only read from the little ticket in front of the pc lol, i must get asked about 100 times a day, what does this feature do or what does this mean
i myself have made a complaint about the advert, totaly dissagree with what is being misrepesented in the advert and think it should be corrected to actually explain what dual core's are and do (that's if you can in a 30 sec advert)
oh and just to point out no member of staff is on any commision anymore

Simple advert
Buy a dual core machine there better than the old ones
Job done

[Strzelecki]

Originally Posted by bobna

right, after laughing my a$$ off at this thread, and before you all flame me, i work at a pc world store in the clinic and have to put up with all the comments that alot of people have said in this thread daily and i can honestly say i am one of the technicians who actually know what they are doing and yes most of the sales guys don't have a damn clue about what their selling and only read from the little ticket in front of the pc lol, i must get asked about 100 times a day, what does this feature do or what does this mean
i myself have made a complaint about the advert, totaly dissagree with what is being misrepesented in the advert and think it should be corrected to actually explain what dual core's are and do (that's if you can in a 30 sec advert)
oh and just to point out no member of staff is on any commision anymore

Good on you! I worked as a tech in the clinic until the end of May when I left to do a programing job, it was a Uni time job for me. I can't say I loved working there at all, I don't think I like the retail environment, although I did enjoy working with the people in the clinic, who were generally an knowledgable bunch who never got listened too and got treat like crap most of the time.