back to article Dixons warns of tough Christmas

Dixons Retail Group - better known as PC World - has warned of a tough and competitive Christmas season. Tech retailers, along with the rest of the High Street, are heavily reliant on the big boost given by Christmas to bring in the profits. Dixons said sales in the first half of the year had been flat, or up one per cent, at …

COMMENTS

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  1. Tim Almond
    Go

    Hopefully...

    This is more of a reflection of the public finally grasping that PC World is a horrible place to buy anything for your computer. Uncompetitively priced, staffed by the worst sort of pushy staff and delivering bad after-sales service.

    Since my Tesco started selling printer cartridges, I have no reason to go there now.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      strangely

      last time i went into pc world i was looking for a BD drive. i was happy to pay a bit extra to not have to wait for delivery, take days off work etc... I couldn't find a staff member to ask if they had any for love nor money, in the end i gave up looking and left.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    My Christmas list...

    All I want for Christmas is for these B**tards to go under.

    I'd happily forego a Christmas gift of my two front teeth* - the ones the Dixons salesman pulled out to persuade me to accept an extended warranty the one and only time I went there...

    * Song reference.

    1. Craig Newbury

      Really??

      So you want 40,000 people to loose their jobs at christmas.

      What an asshole.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    never has an old saying been so true

    you can't polish a turd

    1. Shingo Tamai

      Put some lipstick on it.

      But a turd with lipstick is still a turd. :)

    2. clarknova
      Joke

      You can't polish a turd....

      ...but you can roll it in glitter.

      Hope they go under, they only cater for the uneducated masses. Anybody with a brain doesn't shop there unless it's a last resort. As has already been mooted, this is likely to be more a reflection that people are shopping elsewhere.

  4. Stu
    Pirate

    Huh

    Easily solved DSG...

    ...just lower your extortionate prices a bit.

    Don't try and convince us that you can't do it!

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Good

    Went to my local PC World when they re-opened after a refit. Waited for 20 minutes for someone to serve me - they kept walking past looking busy. Then left. Won't go again. They deserve to fail.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Excuses

    I suspect DSG's management are secretly delighted by the economic problems in the UK - it gives them a ready-made excuse for their poor performance.

    I'm sure the "tough" conditions would be alleviated if they just reduced their prices to genuinely "competitive" levels.

  7. JPrescott

    Didnt see this one coming...

    Not being funny but they dont have IT literate people to enhance and interact with customers, you have salesmen selling the latest crap that people dont actually need. A bad reputation all round and its all been brought on by yourselves...

  8. Drefsab

    meh

    The problem is their prices, I went in there the other day and had a look at a newly redone store, they had graphics cards 2 generations behind the one I just bought last week for over twice the price I paid for my new card.

    Everything was significantly higher priced than what I could get when buying online so is it hardly surprising that more and more people are doing just that?

  9. Me Again
    FAIL

    Price. That's all

    Was looking for a TV last week for a Christmas gift; having got an idea from the net about what's what, the reality is that PC World is perfect for the intermediate buying steps - look, feel, touch, examine and have a jolly good play with it. But then anyone with any sense will nip round the corner to pile em high favourites Richer Sounds to buy the thing for £90 less.

    Maybe they'll learn one day. Even old codgers have learnt to shop around, and charging a chunk extra for something you can pick up for less than half a mile away is rank stupidity on their part. Is it any wonder they're struggling?

  10. John King 1
    FAIL

    PC Museum

    I asked a salesman in PC World around this time last year if they had any Freesat boxes to which he said it was impossible to get free satelite TV and that I would have to have a SKY subscription. This was also confirmed by the head salesman there who gave me a look like I was mad.

    A few months ago I went in to look at the graphics cards. I wanted one of those nVidea GTX460 jobs that had come out 2 months earlier. The choice was pitiful and so out of date. They had ones that were as quarter as powerful as the GTX460 but for more money.

    I do like popping in there once every couple of months mainly for a laugh as their shelves seem more like a museum these days.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Hahaha

    I used their pre-ordering system once to get my ASUS. Towards the end of the day I turned up to pick up my order, which no-one had looked at. I had to hand my copy of the order to the salespratt who then walked around the store trying to find the items. He then came back to ask what colour EEE PC I wanted, to which I pointed to the word 'Blue' on the order. He then basically flat-out denied most of the provisions of the Sale Of Goods Act in trying to sell an extended warranty which I had already said I would not be buying. And I then got a parking ticket after walking off that particular estate to buy some other stuff, only returning after they and their neighbours had closed. Another time I pre-ordered an LCD photo-frame, reserving at the on-line price. I left the house only to get a phone call to say they'd just sold the last one so I couldn't have it.

    How on Earth are these idiots still going? It would certainly make my Christmas to hear the whole group had gone under.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Haha!

    Seriously they need to get their act together and get some up to date kit in their stores at decent prices. Also they need some ttrained staff not just salesman (and more of them!).

    They had the old WDTV on sale even though the Live version was out for over a year. They have now just recently started selling the Live version. I think they just hang onto old stock trying to shift it before getting new (old) stock in.

  13. neil 15

    Overpriced and dishonourable.

    I once bought a laptop from DSG. It went wonky after 10 months so silly me thought it was under guarantee, Imagine my annoyed look when I was told I would have to pay £150 for them just to look at it, with me paying shipping, so angry I took the opportunity to cancel the works trade account with PC World.

    Just bought a new laptop this week, had a look in the local Currys/PC World to see what was on offer. Got a good idea what was available, then went to John Lewis, paid £100 less for the same thing, and with a 2 year guarantee as standard.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Dixons

    I stopped using Dixons and co. when a TV I wanted to buy mysteriously increased in price by £100 in their Currys outlet. What's the betting it'll be in the January sales at "£100 off"? People don't fall for this rubbish anymore and are more likely to compare prices online instead.

  15. Oldfogey
    FAIL

    Just once in a while .............

    Whenever I want some components (never systems) I check PCWorld online, and everyso often they have a bargain - perhaps mainly because I don't need cutting edge - usually in optical or hard drives.

    So I order it, go in, pick it up from the rack near the door, go to the display and change it for what I actually ordered, go and pay.

    And if the checkout jockey suggests I need a £20 3 year warranty for the £15 item I have just bought, I just say "thanks, but I'm not that dim".

    Of course their Tech Guys are always good for a laugh if they've got a customer;

    "My computers running slow!"

    " Well you need a bigger hard disk and more memory"

    Unfortunately the majority of the population have no idea what they are doing with a computer beyond using it - and that goes for a lot of the kids as well.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Overpriced

    I always recommend to people looking to buy any computer gear to check prices online or go to a small local PC shop as PC World is just far too overpriced and the lack of technical knowledge is outstanding at times.

    However, I do find PC World good for the one thing, if anyone tells me they are going to purchase from PC World, that admission in itself lets me know the persons technical ability and understanding.

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