I have just seen an article in the Oxford Mail entitled “Watchdog criticises PC World”.
Hy heart leapt as I started reading: “Staff at a computer store in Oxford have been accused of failing to diagnose basic computer problems and overcharging for repairs.”
The PC World branch in Botley Road misdiagnosed a computer with a loose cable as having a corrupted hard disk – and quoted £300 for a repair, according to the consumer organisation Which?
“Staff from its magazine Computing Which? anonymously visited 20 computer stores – including seven PC World stores and 13 independent outlets…”
My experiences with PC World on Botley Road have been so infuriating I actually wrote a Technobile for The Guardian about it in which I ranted: “There is one vital rule to entering such a store: never, under any circumstances, ask a question. The answer will be 30% repetition, 30% wild conjecture and 40% utter gibberish.”
To be fair to PC World in Oxford, they have been much better of late. They replaced an external hard drive for me with no fuss at all. And the technical guy was bordering on friendly. Maybe I feel better about it because I now decide before I go exactly what I want and have a rule to never attempt any more than that. Even buying printer paper can sometimes lead off into terrifying tangents.
Here’s a link to the Which? press release on the report.
