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Jump to: navigation, search This article is about PC World, the UK computer retailer. For the British magazine, Personal Computer World, see Personal Computer World.PC World
In November 1991, Vision Technology Group Ltd opened the first PC World store in Croydon. When Dixons Group plc (now DSG International plc) 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. This is a separate area of the company which is a leading specialist provider of IT solutions to business and the public sector. 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] and supplies products and services to more than one third of all UK businesses and public sector organisations.
The outside of the new Southampton Central PC World store in December 2006. The new logo is clearly visible.
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 superstores offer ranges of consumer-oriented PCs, laptops, printers, software, peripheral, accessories & Game Consoles And Games from major brands, as well as many PC Line (DSG stores' own-brand) products.
All stores 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.
PC World stores also offer consultation to business customers.
Every PC World store can trade under GCAT Terms & Conditions until September 2006. Beginning in May 2006, all PC World Stores will be able to trade under the new government framework agreement, Catalist.
From September 2006, PC World UK will assume management control of its French subsidiary. PC World in the UK is also due to undergo a style change in the beginning of 2008 after the Christmas trading period, including a new logo, staff uniforms and store layouts as part of its image re-branding programme. The new changes have been trialled at the Brentford, Colchester, Portsmouth and the brand new Southampton, Newcastle (Silverlink), Isle of Wight and Enfield branches of PC World.
Collect@Store is the online reservation service currently provided by PC World via their website. Provided an item is eligible for Collect@Store (as not all are) and in stock at the chosen branch, the customer can reserve it for collection instead of having it delivered by post. Items can be reserved until the end of the next working day. They are charged at the Internet price, which may be cheaper than the in-store price.
In late 2006, PC World launched The Connected Home which aims to sell new technology and services to customers based on media centre/home entertainment PCs. The packages include optional widescreen LCD and plasma televisions, projectors and screens, amplifiers and speaker systems as well as computers and networking.
PC World has attracted criticism in a number of areas. Common complaints include:
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 (8p/minute peak, 4p off-peak) for hardware issues or premium rate (£1.00/minute, except for set-up which is 75p/minute) telephone support for software issues
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
The use of low-priced lures to sell high margin items, for example cheap ink-jet printers but expensive printer cables and ink.
Similar criticisms have been aimed at other retailers in the DSG group (including Dixons and Currys).
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. This triggered a debate over how the images were discovered[citation needed], as 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. [3] There have also been numerous other complaints over ads, particularly regarding goods advertised but not actually available in the stores. [4][5]
On the 26th of March 2007, The Register reported [6] that PC World had repaired a customers laptop, under the terms of an extended warranty, with a second handhard drive. The drive contained images of bestiality, which the customer claimed "popped up" on screen whilst his 11 year old son was playing a game. PC World spokesperson Hamish Thomson admitted that "it is not uncommon" for a second-hand part to be used in a PC World repair.
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