PC World (retailer)

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This article is about PC World, the UK computer retailer. For the British magazine, Personal Computer World, see Personal Computer World.
PC World
Type Part of DSG International plc
Founded November 1991
Headquarters Flag of the United Kingdom Hemel Hempstead, United Kingdom
Key people Per Bjørgås (Group Managing Director, UK and International Electricals Division since January 2006)
Basil Keelan (Operations Manager)[1]
Keith Jones (Managing Director, PC World since April 2005),
Jerry Roest (Managing Director, PC World Business since 2006)
Industry Retail
Products Information technology
Revenue n/a (see DSG International plc for group revenue.)
Employees 5,528 (2005)
Website http://www.pcworld.co.uk/
http://www.pcwb.com/

PC World is one of Britain's largest chains of mass-market computer superstores. It is part of DSG International plc ("Dixons Stores Group"). PC World operates under the brand name PC City in Spain, France, Italy and Sweden.

Contents

[edit] History

In November 1991, Vision Technology Group Ltd opened the first PC World store in Croydon. When Dixons Group plc (now DSG International) purchased the chain in 1993, there were four PC World stores in existence. There followed a period of expansion as more stores were opened across the country. This expansion was partly driven by a series of acquisitions beginning with DN Computer Services plc in 1996, followed by Byte Computer Superstores Ltd in 1998 and, more recently, Micro Warehouse in June 2004.

PC World Business was launched in September 1997 in the UK. Since March 2001, PC World Business has been based in Bury, Greater Manchester and has its own management team.

[edit] PC World today

The outside of the new Southampton Central PC World store in December 2006. The new logo is clearly visible.
The outside of the new Southampton Central PC World store in December 2006. The new logo is clearly visible.
The old logo of PC World on the Kingston Park store
The old logo of PC World on the Kingston Park store

As of March 2006, there are 163 PC World stores in the UK and Ireland. Sales in 2004/2005 (including PC World Business) were £1,695 million.

The stores offer ranges of consumer-oriented PCs, laptops and peripherals, including DSG stores' own-brand Advent and PC Line. Stores also have a "PC Clinic", which offers advice and services. Some stores also have a "Component Centre" area, which contains more basic PC components such as motherboards, hard drives and cases. Most UK stores have a branch of "The Tech Guys", and also offer consultation to business customers.

In September 2006, PC World UK assumed management control of its French subsidiary. PC World in the UK is also due to undergo a style change at the beginning of 2008, including a new logo, staff uniforms and store layouts as part of its image re-branding programme. The changes have been trialled at the Brentford, Colchester, Portsmouth and the brand new Bournemouth, Southampton, Isle of Wight, Enfield, Burnley and relocated North Shields branches.

In late 2006, PC World launched "The Connected Home", selling PC based home entertainment systems and installation services.

During Easter 2007, PC World launched a magazine advertising many of it's services and products. It is called "Magazine" and published by futureplus. The magazine is free to collect from any PC World store, and comes out every quarter.

On Thursday 13th December 2007 it was announced that PC World will be selling Dell PCs in their stores. This one of many moves Dell are making to sell their Desktops and Laptops to a wider market. This also includes Dell selling their XPS systems in many HMV stores across the UK.

[edit] Criticisms

PC World has attracted criticism in a number of areas. Common complaints include:

  • Failure to honour statutory responsibilities under the Sale of Goods Act (see controversies below)
  • Sales-oriented culture that pressurises staff into promoting more expensive goods, regardless of suitability, occasionally with misleading or incorrect information and the use of bait-and-switch (see false advertising below)
  • Promotion of goods with misleading or incorrect information (see false advertising below)
  • Aggressive promotion of extended warranties (also known as insurance and support packages)[2]
  • Poor after sales service, especially if an extended warranty is not purchased
  • Customers are required to use out-sourced, local rate telephone support for hardware issues or premium rate telephone lines (£1/minute, except for set-up which is 75p/minute) for software issues, unless an extended warranty has been purchased [3][4]
  • Lack of choice or availability of individual computer components, rendering the store of limited value to more computer savvy consumers[citation needed]
  • Overpriced goods when compared with equivalent independent retailer or on-line prices, for all but out-of-the box PC systems[citation needed]
  • Disparity in pricing between PC World stores, the PC World website and other shops owned by the Dixons group [5]
  • The use of low-priced lures to sell high margin items, for example cheap ink-jet printers but expensive printer cables and ink
  • Complaints of repairs not being completed (see controversies section)
  • Overcharging for repairs and lack of technical competence among technicians [6]

Similar criticisms have been aimed at other retailers in the DSG group (including Dixons and Currys).

In 2005, a Which? ranked PC World joint last for customer satisfaction. [7]

In 2006 PC World attempted to get away from its reputation for having sales staff on up to 20% commission who would therefore use high pressure sales tactics with its "One Team" marketing campaign [8]. This involved adverts in major newspapers claiming staff no longer received commission, however this claim is misleading. Staff now receive a bonus based on the performance of the entire store as a whole (up to £200[citation needed]), meaning that pay is still linked to performance. The bonus is also based on other non-monetary metrics, such as customer satisfaction. To compensate the 275 highest earners under the old scheme for reduced bonuses, their basic pay was raised by 16% from around £11,000 to around £13,000 per year.[9]

In response to the perception (true or otherwise) that PC World staff are often young and lacking in knowledge and communications skills, in 2007 a set of e-learning courses called "The Power of Knowledge" were completed by 6,000 staff [10] and the results were incorporated into their Christmas bonuses as an incentive for staff to improve their knowledge.

In January 2008 a survey for Which? revealed that PC World was ranked in the bottom 10 retailers in the UK.[11] [12]

[edit] Controversies

In 1997 Gary Glitter took his PC into a branch of PC World in Bristol for repair, where child pornography was found by staff. PC World informed the police, and Glitter was subsequently charged and convicted of possession of child pornography. It is unclear whether the repair work that Glitter's machine required would have necessitated access to the hard drive with images being discovered by accident, or whether PC World staff accessed the contents of the hard drive when they had no legitimate reason to do so, either as a routine activity performed on all customers machines, or performed on Glitter's due to his celebrity status.

In 2005, after 56 complaints from TV viewers, PC World was forced to remove an advert that gave misinformation about wireless networking. [13] There have also been numerous other complaints over ads, particularly regarding goods advertised but not actually available in the stores. [14] [15]

On the 26th of March 2007, The Register reported [16] that PC World had repaired a customer's laptop, under the terms of an extended warranty, with a second hand hard drive. The drive contained images of bestiality, which the customer claimed "popped up" on screen while his 11 year old son was playing a game. PC World spokesman Hamish Thomson admitted that "it is not uncommon" for a second-hand part to be used in a PC World repair.

On the 12th of September 2007, PC World reportedly refused to repair a customer's laptop with a manufacturing defect under warranty because the operating system had been changed from Windows Vista to Linux [17]. Such a change could not have resulted in the physical problems that the laptop was suffering from, however the manager of the London store is quoted as having been told to refuse repairs where the operating system had been changed.

It was reported on 20th of September 2007 that PC World told a customer that the bag he had purchased was "incompatible with Mac laptops" and that the 17" bag was too small for the 17" laptop [18]

[edit] References

  1. ^ All e-mails sent to PC World receive an auto response signed by the above.
  2. ^ Paying too much for reassurance
  3. ^ Out-sourced Premium Rate technical support
  4. ^ Dixons owner arranges outsourcing Deal
  5. ^ Disparity between stores and website
  6. ^ Overpriced Computer Repairs
  7. ^ PC World ranks joint last in survey
  8. ^ PC World move change reputation
  9. ^ Staff pay still performance related
  10. ^ Survey completed by staff
  11. ^ PC World ranks in bottom 10 PC World ranks bottom 10 in survey
  12. ^ Worst shops in Britain
  13. ^ Misleading advert removed
  14. ^ Advert complaint 1
  15. ^ Advert complaint 2
  16. ^ Second hand hard drive used in repair
  17. ^ Repair refusual from operating system change
  18. ^ 17" Laptop to big for 17" bag

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

[edit] See also

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DSG International
Annual revenue: £7,072 million GBP (▲% FY 2006) · Employees: 42,000+  ·
Stock symbol: LSE: DSGI · Website: dsgiplc.com