NOW this story isn’t just because all the YourThurrock video-journalists are mac-addicts. It has to be said that we have always found the staff at Apple, Lakeside so helpful.
YourThurrock is coming up to its first birthday but it wouldn’t have been possible without the advice and teaching of the Apple team at Lakeside.
Every week, we pop along to their one-to-one lessons to learn the finer arts of Final Cut. Some members of staff are faster than others but one thing is agreed that the patience and damn fine teaching methods have helped us greatly.
Here’s the Story
“Shoppers seeking advice when buying a new computer should avoid certain well-known stores, according to a survey.
PC World received a 42 per cent customer score in the study by Which? Computing, while Currys and Comet fared little better with 45 per cent, with Staples only managing 51 per cent.
Customer score is based on a combination of overall satisfaction and endorsement – the likelihood of purchasers recommending the supplier to a friend.
Apple topped the table, with customers awarding its retail outlets an overall satisfaction score of 88 per cent.
‘The worst’: PC World was lambasted for its customer service in a survey
A spokeswoman for the magazine said: ‘Although there are only a small number of Apple shops across the UK, they were praised for providing customers with all the information required, and for the availability of sales staff.’
High street retailer John Lewis was also a favourite amongst computer buyers, scoring 84 per cent.
Sarah Kidner, editor of Which? Computing, said: ‘Disappointingly, the shops that most people would probably turn to when buying a computer performed badly in terms of customer service.
‘A computer is often a costly purchase, so make sure you get good advice and information before splashing out.’
DSGi, the company which owns PC World and Currys, said: ‘We are extremely disappointed with these results, especially as we have a programme in place which focuses the entire business on the customer and on improving customer service.
‘All store staff have been through a specially developed training programme which is updated regularly to ensure they focus on customers and their individual needs.
‘We realise there remains much to do, but we have already made promising progress in delivering enhanced training and new service initiatives that meet customers’ evolving needs: in-store, on-line and after-sales.
‘We’re not there yet, but we are committed to getting there and we hope this will be reflected in future reports.’
I work in the IT industry and have done so for the past 15 years and I wholeheartedly agree with the reports views on PC World, Comet & Curry’s, whilst these are good retail stores to purchace IT equipment their aftersales service leaves a lot to be desired, on several occasions they have given incorrect advice for repairs and tend to overcharge for work that they undertake, which sometimes can be done even by the novice PC user.
Sometimes it is worth shopping around and visiting the smaller IT outlets that are around as these tend to be ran by people with more knowledge of IT than the salesmen in the large retail outlets.