There is a dearth of electrical retailers on our High
Streets these days. The Electricity Showrooms (not to be confused with the
trendy bar/restaurant in Shoreditch), Powerhouse and Comet have all gone, and
while there are a few independent traders, when it comes to stores selling white goods,
televisions and computers, Britain's retail parks are dominated by one name -
Currys PC World. And I hate Currys PC World, or more specifically, I hate the
Currys store on the Eastern Avenue in Romford, which has now incorporated PC
World and Carphone Warehouse.
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| No fridges or PCs on sale here. |
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| And the demise of Comet has limited competition, and choice. |
PC World stores may be anonymous barns selling a fairly
narrow range of middle of the road PCs, but I've generally found them OK in a
'you know what you're getting' sort of way, and I never had any complaints
about the PC World that was, until recently, separate from the Currys in
Romford. Similarly I've not had bad experiences in any other Currys stores, but
now that PC World have moved in to the Romford store, I hope that I never have
to set foot in there again.
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| PC World, Romford - as was. |
I cannot now remember the reason for our first run in with
Currys. It was many years ago and we had to return a faulty product - it might
have been an MP3 player, although not an iPod - and we were made to feel, as
seems to be case in most experiences with this store, not only wrong, but an
inconvenience, and idiots. The next experience came when I went to buy a new
camera for my daughter. Just a simple, compact, digital camera. The sales
assistant wanted to sell me the extended warranty; I didn't want it. He
persisted, I continued to refuse and yet he still wanted to try to sell it to
me. "Mention it once more and I will walk out without buying the camera,"
I told him. His arrogance, or maybe it was stupidity, knowing no bounds, he
again tried to convince me to buy a warranty: I walked out.
Then when I went there to buy a cheap DVD player for my
other daughter I was made to feel like a cretinous cheapskate for not buying a
top of the range Blu-ray machine. I went to Tesco instead, got what I wanted
without being judged and got Clubcard points to boot. Next on the list was the
visit to return a set of cordless landline phones because one was not charging
properly (if you are wondering why I persist in buying things from Currys in
light of experience, it is a question I often ask myself and I have no answer
really). The assistant changed them, but could not do so without a little bit
of attitude. "Course, you shouldn't leave these plugged in all the time,
that's what ruins the battery," he said - I was surprised he didn't suffix
his remarks with 'chief' or 'squire,' he certainly didn't say 'sir' - a
statement that, for a cordless phone is such arrant nonsense when the manual
actually says that the phone should be left plugged in all the time. I can only
presume that there is so little job satisfaction to be had working there that
the only way the staff can get any pleasure is by baiting the customers. And I
am clearly not alone, there are several unfavourable reviews of the store
online.
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| I hate this store with a will. |
In contrast, while I wouldn't say they were perfect, the PC
World store generally had helpful staff. They efficiently repaired our desktop
computer and a laptop (the latter had a cracked screen, the faults with the
former were many and various) and I had no problem shopping there.
My most recent visit was intended to be just a reccie[1];
I had nothing to return and absolutely no intention of buying anything - unless
they were literally giving away the item I wanted - and that was just as well
because the experience was, as per usual frustrating. We had already been to
Currys PC World in Lakeside to look at computers - ours is on its last legs -
and having given it some consideration, wanted to have another look. So rather
than go to Lakeside again, we decided to go to PC World in Romford...which had
moved into Currys. The first thing that was frustrating was that in comparison
with the range at Lakeside, or what the range would have been if PC World were
still a standalone store, the choice was very limited. Secondly, while most of
the machines came with wireless keyboards and mouses,[2]
none of these were connected, meaning that actually trying out any of them
(apart from the touch screen machines, where some functionality could be
tested) was impossible. So we tried to enlist some help from an assistant, who
unsurprisingly was of no assistance whatever. She disappeared in search of a
colleague, at which point we decided that she would probably either return with
an excuse that none of the machines were capable of connecting, or just as
likely, with a colleague who would know no more than she and who would make
exactly the same point. So we left.
The reason for our wanting a new PC is that our eight year
old machine is positively decrepit. If switched off for any length of time -
for instance while we go away on holiday, or just for a long weekend - it shows a painful reluctance to work properly
once it is switched on again. After switching it on it will often lock up
completely, such that the mouse stops responding, the keyboard stops responding
- even the on/off switch stops responding - leaving one with only unplugging it
from the mains as a means of hard booting it. Often it will spontaneously
reboot, sometimes in the middle of typing something. I have launched Startup
Repair with monotonous regularity and more than once restored the damn thing to
its factory settings, all to no avail, since just when complacency sets in and
it seems that it is working properly, it reboots or - and this is really common
- displays the dreaded blue screen of death.
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| Bad... |
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| ...worse. |
Having walked out of Currys PC World we went to John Lewis,
where a very helpful and knowledgeable chap sold us a PC which - as far as I
can tell - meets our requirements. And he was able to let us test it out
because unlike in PC World, the mouses and keyboards were connected. And as for
the extended warranty, which I am sure PC World would have tried to sell with
more enthusiasm than is decent, there was no hard sell, and since it was just
£20 to extend the free, two year guarantee to three years with the added bonus
of accidental damage cover for the whole 36 months, it was a simple decision,
especially since I'd just spent about that amount in Caffe Nero without demur.
And, unlike PC World, there was also no hard sell of Norton Ant-Virus or
Microsoft Office, both of which I already have - not that that would stop
Currys.
At present the new PC is still in its box, and I am not so
complacent that I think I will be able to unpack it and install it seamlessly
and without any issues, nor that there won't be some point in the lifetime of
the machine that I have to run Startup Repair, restore it to its factory
settings or take it back to the retailer. My consolation is that I didn't have
to deal with Currys, and won't have to, and if I ever mention the possibility
of shopping in that store again, you have my permission to physically restrain
me.
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