PC World Computer Repairs

[chiefengineer]

You have been warned...

 

http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2006/11/09/pcworld_fails_fixing_test/

 

Jeremy

[Fandaz]

A great find and it's so truthful. Half of the people that work at PCW dont have a clue. When it comes to RIP OFF they are the best.

Best to avoid them.

[masterthief]

I wouldn't say half, I would say all.

[Guest dontgetitsorted_SUETHEM!!]

i love a good laugh.

 

ok some facts. yep the pcworld sales staff should stick to selling and never do repairs. but the repair centre, pcclinic, techguys, whomever aint that bad.

 

facts about the which report. out of the 100+ pcworld stores which visited 20 of the worst culperates.

out of these 20 worsed store. 15 of them fixed the issue while customer waited and most did not charge a fee.

 

the last 5 where the ones which the figures were based upon. software issue like missing a windows file could be easily rectified with a checkdisk/r command.

 

some PC's cant get into dos prompt due to built in operating system to allow this. so will require a windows CD especially if there no floppy to put a old faithful MSDOS floppy in.

 

so out of over 100 stores only 5 had charges in excess of £70. let me guess they were not the 10 pc's with the simple missing cable faults. and required the customer purchase a USB floppy or copy of windows ontop of labour charge to remedy the issue as maybe the customer not have a copy of windows on hand for store to use

 

who knows but 5 out of 100 aint bad

[demon_x_slash]

[reidnet]

LLF demon... Nice one m8..

[olly18uk]

I think a lot of people reading regarding PC repairs are a little bit sceptical. I am aware that in some stores the Tech Guys knowledge and skills will all vary, however i know for a fact in my local store the tech guys are very very knowledgeable and wouldnt make such minor mistakes.

[WOW Geek]

There are only about 12 stores in the whole chain who are proper qualified Pc engineers rest are just ex sales staff.

[fred_2009]

i count 10 stores within 70 miles of me with qualified staff. meaning they do not come from sales back ground.

 

ex PC repairers: 3 years + in repairs

degree level repairers

nvq level repairers

software support staff

IT Technicians

Networking technicials.

 

the lsit goes on but in 10 out of the 160 stores near me.. i must live in a luxery part of the country. south west by the way.

 

so where are the other 2 stores out of the 150 stores left with 3years + repair experience.

[gyzmo]

dittoed!

[fred_2009]

i can see why no one likes you [edit]

 

anyone with any other advice then small claims small claims small claims.. to you, you seem to take it personal

 

i guess you are in the legal department or get sort of excitement about sending people the court route.

 

you do realise that simple phone calls to people qualified to point you in the right direction is alot quicker then wasting a day off + more to go to court because of good old zit face steve.

 

customers want solutions not hassle.

 

phone calls are less hassle then ur following advise.

1. go to store, demand a repair or replacement instore

2. knowing they dont repair instore write a snotty letter to head office

3. date it 7 -14 days from you posting it. knowing with royal mail and weekends it will waste a couple of those days to reach them and a couple of those days to reply back. add the weekend. does not give customer service staff much time does it.

 

4. send second letter informing them that you are taking court action

5. file a small claims.

6. hope for the best

 

now then my advise is simple and does not involve threats, wasting petrol or parking tickets to go to file. or days off work to sort it out. does not even involve a first class stamp,

 

1. call customer service department and ask them this:

i have a product XXXX bought xx/xx/xx which has failed who is best to deal with it.

 

or try this

i have been instore and informed that they dont deal with issues instore who would be best to deal with it.

 

use saynoto0870.com to get local rate numbers. local rate are 3p per minute maximum and with bt are free evening and weekends. so call them after 6pm and even if it takes over an hour still works out cheaper and faster then a single first class stamp.

 

instead of informing people to go to [edit] and then use that as excuse to go to court. how about informing people to mass email protest customer service departments of companies to improve training.

 

oh but you wont.. i mean, improving [edit] knowledge so you cant use him as an excuse to go court.. you dont want that. you love court. its your second home!

 

now offer some proper advise alternative routes. a wise old man said that more then one road leads to the same place.

 

a fixed product without having to pay out anything first off is what people want.

not a courtcase with the hope the store will buckle and cough up the costs.

[gyzmo]

I'll just ditto my last post on this thread to save myself the time and hassle of dignifying the above post. Actually, on second thoughts.......

 

1. couldn't give a monkeys whether anyone likes me or not. I think my reputation comments speak for themselves.

2. You have just rehashed the same old diatribe you normally spout whilst comlpetely ignoring what other people say.

3. I do not encourage epeople to "run to court". That is a last resort, hence my posts advise on giving the seller the opportunity to correct the situation. Legal recourse is a right and one thta should only be used as a last resort. You fail to ignore the required actions between something going wrong and commencing court action.

 

I'm not going to correct you on what you ave said as it has been done countless times before. Why don't you just give up?

 

At least have the courage to use the same login name rather than setting up different ones in a useless attempt to disguise yourself, you cheese eating surrender monkey. Go and play tag on the motorway.

[GuidoT]

Please keep it civilised.

 

If you are unable to, then please do not post.

[patdavies]

i can see why no one likes you gyzmo

 

 

I like you gyzmo.

 

I find your posts erudite and informative

[gyzmo]

Why, thank you Pat, I like you too!

 

Other supportive comments such as PatDavies' are more than welcome, but don't feel put out!

[fred_2009]

yes the world is black and white.. 2 options.. black.. white.

 

meaning there is more then one option, more then one avenue.

 

again you pretend to give small claims as a last resort and yet i do not see you give alternatives before small claims.

 

you only proceed to push consumers down one single avenue and then straight onto small claims valley.

 

its like you buy something in a shop and believe you can demand a repair from the painter in the shop. simply because he is an employee of the shop.

 

shops have avenues, experts and departments that deal with repairs. you simply advise them the slowest route to get it fixed.

 

yes [edit] as a employee should take your piece of equipment and pass it onto a relevant department who can fix it.

 

but you fail to open your mind to the possible hassle and time wasting of using [edit].

 

a laptop is never repaired in a PCWorld, Comet, Argos, Tesco store so why waste your petrol.

 

id find out their repair centre details and contact them as they are part of the same entity etc.

 

you are unwilling to advise consumers to become informed about the possibility that their laptop does not have to sit in a store for a week before it gets sent off for repair.

 

you are unwilling to inform consumers that [edit] does not know the meaning of the word water ingress, let alone how to test for it.

 

you simply want to send them on the long road to small claims.

 

atleast give consumers more then one option before small claims. go on use your reputable intelliagence to help the uninformed.

 

just because you keep mentioning one single route does not make you god of knowledge. so offer advise on alternatives.

 

we are in the real world where retailers dont have time to train their staff to your expert level and also have enough staff instore spare to serve at same time. also to pay those so many staff on shop floor and training rooms of the country for the same amount as 2 people in a webstore warehouse to keep costs down so that product prices are equal to web prices.

 

retailers find it hard to compete against online shops because there simply is less staff involved in dealing with online sales. so if you, with your reputable intelliagence can find a way to get retailers to get staff to be trained to a legal level such as your own, and without it affecting prices of products. infact finding a method to lower prices to web store prices. then i will personally call you a genius for sorting out the retail industry.

 

until then, we live in the real world where staff dont know about retail law because it wont be them that will be sued. plus they dont have time to learn.

 

so offer advise to consumers that will not involve head banging against a wall, stressing at [edit] and then waiting weeks while it sits on a bench waiting to be sent away.

 

there is nothing wrong with finding out who the company repairers are and dealing with it direct. there is nothing wrong with contacting customer services / HQ and getting informed or using them as a reference when approaching [edit].

 

so there must only be one reason you dismiss informing consumers of faster, less stressful routes. and that is you love the court system

[patdavies]

I think that fred_2009 might need to take his PC back - upper case doesn't seem to be working:o

[gyzmo]

Neither does his brain....

 

Can we first stop all references to "zit face Steve" - it's highly annjoying (and somewhat disparaging to those who suffer from acne.

 

On the subject of alternatives - you seem to have completely skipped the part where I said that the store should be given every opportunity to rectify the situation.

 

And then you miss the entire point of this issue. It is the law that governs the contract. It is the law that places responsibilities and duties on the SELLER WITH WHOM THE CONTRACT IS WITH - NOT SOMEONE ELSE.

 

If the seller will not fulfill their obligations, then it is for the Courts to ensure the law is applied.

 

I do not want people to go to the courts ideally. I want seller to adhere to the law and not shirk their responsibilities. If the seller does not have proper staffing or procedures to fulfill their duties then that is a problem for the seller to address and NOT for the consumer to have to go out of their way to obtain their legal entitlements.

 

That's the last I am going to say on the matter. Fred 2009 / RPOV or whatever else you are calling yourself can continue to post whatever diatribe you wish.

 

It will simply be followed by Demon's rather funny but tragically true health warning.

[ForestChav]

Lol...

[spikeachu]

i count 10 stores within 70 miles of me with qualified staff. meaning they do not come from sales back ground.

 

Don't you have better things to do than travel upto 70 miles to various PC World stores asking the technicians about their qualifications?

 

The truth is, the mid - highly qualified people don't work for PC World because retail environments aren't where the money is. If they do find themselves there, it's a stop-gap until another offer comes in.

[fred_2009]

great advice gyzmo. take your laptop to a department that dont repair laptops.

 

when you realise they dont repair laptops write a letter stating your unhappiness and demanding action within 14 days.

 

knowing letters take 3 weeks for replies.

 

no letter after 14 days write second letter stating your actions to take them to court, allowing them just 7 days to reply.

 

again knowing letters take 3 weeks for replies.

 

why not make a phonecall.. it wont take 14-21 days to make a phonecall to get a reply.... does it??

 

ok now the practical side of your advice petrol £1 minimum.

stamp, paper, ink 50p minimum

 

hour to write and post letter - £5 minimum

14 day wait - with faulty laptop still on ur kitchen table

 

hour to write and post letter - £5 minimum

7 day wait (21days now) - with faulty laptop still on ur kitchen table

 

letter finally returns with vouchers for XXX amount for new laptop.

 

customer unhappy that it not sorted sooner and has cost them 21days of loss, only junk change but still money out of pocket too.

 

now how about informing them to call 0870901 3000 who can arrange a pickup over the phone for next business day and can be arranged for pickup wherever they want. Home, work, or from the store.

 

cost of phonecall. between 7p/12p per minute.

30 minutes = £3.60 at peak. lets make it £7.20 for a delayed on-hold phonecall (an hour)

 

so 1 hour of my time to make a phone call again £5 minimum. but look its booked to be picked up next business day.

 

WOW now thats a solution

 

everything costs money, petrol time, even buying lunch and a cup of coffee so dont start arguing about saying your solution is least cost to customer because i say 21days without laptop is a big cost to me. stress from thinking it will never be dealt with is a big cost to me.

 

if i was told i would get laptop fixed by calling the company repair centre direct and it being shipped away next business day.

 

or

 

if i was told to go to store and argue my rights to an untrained member of staff, who if trained as a legal lecturer, judge or solicitor still would not be able to do repairs instore. and be told i would have to wait inline of a few days till they has time to make a phonecall to the company repair centre.

 

i wonder what i would choose.

[fred_2009]

note to bookworm

 

thanks for your message about making things personal

 

 

i simply come on to state my p.o.v

 

it is others who posts that image stating ignore above poster, bad for health.

 

i think that is personal!!!

 

i am correcting them directly as they do not grasp the concept that the SOGA is NOT limited to one member of staff but a company as a whole.

 

they seems eager to push customers the lengthy avenue only leading into one direction. small claims.

 

they know store staff dont repair products. they know store staff with products over £130 dont swap instore. yet they never advice customers to simple either:

 

goto store asking for them to book a repair with their agents

 

or

 

call the agents themselves.

 

they have on many occassions asked customers to go into store demanding action armed with the statement "i know SOGA" and a aggressive attitude. and then writing to area's of company they personally know wont reply in the timescale they state.

 

block some of there posts will you

 

shops know that personally they are not accountable. but as staff members they have to organise the product to go to the right place to get sorted. they know that a store has a instore healthcheck waiting list which takes priority of repairs as healthcheck customers came first.

 

so the stock will sit their doing nothing for days before phoning the repair centre which the customer can doo directly.

 

pcworld use techguys as a repair centre or as the booking system to ship to manufacturer. so offering customers to call 08709013000 (techguys) is still the customer contacting the company. the left third tentical of the octopus known as dixons group which SOGA contract is with.

[Bookworm]

If you express your point of view, not a problem.

 

If you express a point of view which aims to mislead people as to what their rights are, there's a problem.

 

If you express a point of view which is a direct attack on users, naming them, there's a problem.

 

Your advice, under your different nicks, usually has a lot of false or misleading components, and we have therefore a duty to people who are unaware of their rights to let them know that your posts are misleading, or factually incorrect.

 

If you don't like being corrected, don't post incorrect information. Simple as that.

[Conniff]

Sorry fred, however well intentioned your posts are, they are misleading.

 

goto store asking for them to book a repair with their agents

 

It's not up to the customer to do that. You take it to the shop and explain the fault, thats it full stop. It's totally irrelevent who they use to do the repair, that is up to them. If they have instore techs who can do the repair then all the better, it will be done quicker, maybe even while you wait. If the fault is beyond the capability of the store then they pass it up the chain to someone who can do the repair.

 

If (say) the hard drive is defective, it is up to the seller to replace that hard drive and claim back from the manufacturer not yours.

The purchasers total responsibility is to take it to the store they purchased it from and expect to get it back from that store repaired and working.

 

call the agents themselves

 

There again - NO - it is up to the seller to do that not you.

 

These are the sort of thing that are getting up others noses.

 

A buyers total responsibity is to take it to the shop where he purchased it and get it back from that shop, what happens to it while it is in the shops possession is none of their concern.

[ForestChav]

Sorry fred, however well intentioned your posts are, they are misleading.

 

 

 

It's not up to the customer to do that. You take it to the shop and explain the fault, thats it full stop. It's totally irrelevent who they use to do the repair, that is up to them. If they have instore techs who can do the repair then all the better, it will be done quicker, maybe even while you wait. If the fault is beyond the capability of the store then they pass it up the chain to someone who can do the repair.

 

If (say) the hard drive is defective, it is up to the seller to replace that hard drive and claim back from the manufacturer not yours.

The purchasers total responsibility is to take it to the store they purchased it from and expect to get it back from that store repaired and working.

 

 

 

There again - NO - it is up to the seller to do that not you.

 

These are the sort of thing that are getting up others noses.

 

A buyers total responsibity is to take it to the shop where he purchased it and get it back from that shop, what happens to it while it is in the shops possession is none of their concern.

 

To fulfil SOGA IF a rpoduct is

 

Otherwise what you say is entirely correct but sometimes it is quicker to deal directly with a help line who can book it in for you or even arrange onsite service. Rather than lugging it to a store who then need to phone the same line, get it fixed by the same engineer, then contact you when it's ready.

 

It's all a matter of choice.