- 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 |  Hemel Hempstead, United Kingdom |
| Key people | Per Bjørgås (Group Managing Director, UK and
International Electricals Division since January 2006)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) |
| Slogan | The Best Of Both Worlds (also "Internet prices to take home today") |
| 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.
History
In November 1991, RP 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.
The company employs in excess of 5,000 people[citation needed].
PC World today
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 Southampton, Newcastle (Silverlink), 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.
Criticisms
PC World has attracted criticism in a number of areas. Common complaints include:
- Failure to honor statutory responsibilities under the Sale of Goods Act (see controversies below)
- Lack of genuine computer knowledge amongst staff [1][2]
- Sales-oriented culture that pressurises staff into promoting more expensive goods, regardless of suitability, and often with misleading or incorrect information (see false advertising below)
- Aggressive promotion of extended warranties (also known as insurance and support packages)
- Poor after sales service, especially if an extended warranty is not purchased
- Customers are required to use out-sourced, national rate telephone support for hardware issues or premium rate (£1.50/minute, except for set-up which is £1/minute) telephone support for software issues, unless an extended warranty has been purchased.
- Lack of choice or availability of individual computer components, rendering the store of limited value to more computer savvy consumers
- Overpriced goods when compared with equivalent independent retailer or on-line prices, for all but out-of-the box PC systems
- Disparity in pricing between PC World stores, the PC World website and other shops owned by the Dixons group.
- 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.[citation needed]
Similar criticisms have been aimed at other retailers in the DSG group (including Dixons and Currys).
In 2006 PC World attempted to get away from its reputation for having sales staff on commission who would therefore use high pressure sales tactics with its "One Team" marketing campaign [3]. This involved adverts in major newspapers claiming staff no longer received commission, however this claim is misleading. Staff now receive commission based on the performance of the entire store as a whole, meaning their pay is still directly linked to performance.
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. The computer had been taken in for repair as it had become unable to display .JPEG images. During the course of the repair, the technician accessed Glitter's image files to test the software and discovered the images.
In 2005, after 56 complaints from TV viewers, PC World was forced to remove an advert that gave misinformation about wireless networking. [4] There have also been numerous other complaints over ads, particularly regarding goods advertised but not actually available in the stores. [5] [6]
On the 26th of March 2007, The Register reported [7] that PC World had
repaired a customers laptop, under the terms of an extended warranty, with a second hand
hard drive. The drive contained images of
On the 12th of September 2007, PC World reportedly refused to repair a customers laptop with a manufacturing defect under warranty because the operating system had been changed from Windows Vista to Linux [8]. Such a change could not have resulted in the physical problems 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 also reported on 20th of September 2007 that PC World told a customer that the bag he had bought was "incompatible with Mac laptops" and that the 17" bag was too small for the 17" laptop [9]
External links
- The official PC World website
- The official PC World Business Portal Page website
- "The Connected Home" website
- Customer feedback on PC World, at Ciao.co.uk
- The Tech Guys (The new name for Mastercare, PC Service Call, and Press F1 stores)
See also
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
