PC World Review

Overall Rating

I purchased a Compaq laptop and PC Performance cover at PC World towards the end of December 2008. Just over three months after I purchased the laptop a clicking noise started to come from the rear left of the laptop when being opened this caused the case to start cracking along the seam at the rear of the laptop and when closed the two parts of the laptop no longer sat square on each other and the front left corner sat up when closed. Although the laptop still worked this quite clearly was not supposed to happen and would only get worse through continued use. I then followed the procedure on the literature given to me at the time of purchase and the person at the call centre took my details and said to me that a company called Teleplan would contact me and arrange a pick up by courier and once repaired deliver it back and the whole process would take approximately 7 to 10 working days. As this period had now passed I contacted Teleplan for a update to be told that nothing was showing up on their computer screen after a discussion I was told that they had the laptop but it had probably not been looked at yet as they were busy and had staff off sick. Not happy I contacted PC World customer service who followed this up and called me back they then confirmed that the laptop had not been looked at. I asked them about a replacement to be told that the manufacturers warranty would only do this after 28 days but said that this type of damage was not covered by the manufacturers warranty and that the PC Performance plan would only replace the item if not repaired after six weeks.

1. The laptop was not damaged it came apart under normal use but had it been damaged I would have owned up as when I purchased the PC Performance cover I was told that it covered accidental damage.

2. As this type of problem is not covered by this manufacturers warranty had I not purchased the PC Performance cover it looks like I would have been left with a laptop that is falling apart or a large repair bill worth looking before buying any product.

3. 7 to 10 working days if you cannot meet the timescale don ' t make the promise.

4. I have sent PC World customer service a email to put my concerns in writing to which they have not replied.

In all a very unpleasant experience over the years I have purchased two desk top pc ' s, a laptop and various other products including printers, furniture and countless other pc accessories from PC World. And when I had a problem with the first desk top after nearly a year someone came to the house and repaired it. While I have always found that in my opinion the PC World staff were more interested in trying to sell me insurance for the product than the product itself I have put up with this as the price of the product is normally competitive but now I will be taking my business elsewhere even if it costs a bit more for the product after all you get what you pay for.

In the current climate you think that a company would look after it ' s customers after all a happy customer will come back. A bit of work to be done here as the customer service and after sales are very poor and better communication and repair updates to the customer are also required.

As for repairing company ' s used some kind of repair targets and performance management requires to be put in place to achieve the best possible targets and customer satisfaction.