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Apple good, PC World bad in Which? retail survey

by Scott Bicheno on 27 May 2010, 16:15

Tags: PC World (LON:DXNS), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), John Lewis

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Polar opposites

UK consumer advice mag Which? has published the results of a survey in which it asked its readers about their relative satisfaction with 100 retailers.

The findings reveals that, while the likes of Apple and John Lewis continue be perceived highly, DSGi chains like PC World and Currys still have a mountain to climb.

Questions regarding customer satisfaction and willingness to recommend the store were asked and the answers condensed into an index. On the whole, electronics retailers fared quite well.

The Apple store just missed out on the top spot, but was ranked third, while John Lewis, which counts electronics among its strengths, was close behind at number five. Furthermore, the top indie category was electronics.

Electronics retailers were also heavily represented at the bottom of the list, however, thanks to DSGi. Currys was 95th, PC World 97th and Currys Digital - the rebranded Dixons stores - were joint bottom with another UK high street institution: WH Smith.

"We know people appreciate good customer service so retailers need to realise that ‘Who cares, wins'," said Which? chief exec Peter Vicary-Smith. "Some stores are clearly giving their customers what they want, so why settle for lousy service?  We urge shoppers to vote with their feet and stamp it out."

 

 



HEXUS Forums :: 7 Comments

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Good to see Richersounds up there, they have always impressed me thoroughly! :)
Who believes which? Surveys now a days?. Im confused how Apple manage to get high up on the scoring because tbh they are terrible where i am, i go in and am bombarded and just walk out :P.

Cant dis morrisons though! That is my neighbor, I never had a problem with Morrisons support an example would be that their cheap cooked ham was WAY too salty and was hard to consume, went down and they gave me another one with no fuss. Their self scanning service for some reason stole my money ~£5 but after telling the staff member by the machine he promptly sorted it for me within 2 minutes (he had to open the machine etc).

The thing with these surveys is that everyone has their own opinions, im not saying they arent valid its just off set alot of the time. Customer service too me is getting a relatively unbiased support, generally when I go in say O2 or Apple (not often!) they will flog how much better they are vs X Y and Z, however stores like B&Q i go in asking would this material be suitable for certain application and am told yes or no (with alternative) and most of the time, they tell me that a competitor is cheaper! I do tend to research pricing before i go instore so its nice to know im not getting lied to :D.

Richersounds is also a great retailer, so its not suprising they are joint first with their helpful staff/competitive pricing and the best is their warranty! So cheap and useful, if you dont use it then you are refunded it which too me is just a nice gesture.

I dont know where this post is going…. ive just had “good” experiences with the retailers that actually are further down the ratings. Would be nice if Which? Said where the locations where, because voters from say London could have voted PC world as utter ****e but then people in Plymouth could have voted very postively and so it means that staff are to blame, I.E would be much better guide to people… I dont have an IKEA near me so that shop is useless lol.
Hicks12
Who believes which? Surveys now a days?

Have to agree. As an ex-Which? subscriber I decided to leave because the reports ended up being so dumbed down and generic they were effectively meaningless. Also, they make very little effort to actually verify claims that retailers/manufacturers make about their products and services.
Good job I wasn't on the survey. Looking through the list the only ones that would be ranked highly of the places i've been to would be Asda, Toys R Us and Schuh (when they have my dunlops). As for the others, any shop which has someone come and ask me if i'm alright or whatever gets immediately ranked down in my books. Same for shops which have 3 products in a massive floor space or 3 inches of floor space and a massive amount of products. The rest are a rip off, don't have any sort of decent selection in their respective products or are just full of chumps (staff and customers).
Hicks12
Who believes which? Surveys now a days?.
I have only ever read *one* Which? survey before, on ISPs, and it had O2 taking the most awards, and TalkTalk somewhere in the bottom (except for the meaningless ‘ease of understanding the bills’ or something like that). Given that it corresponds to my own experience, it lends credibility for me.

Besides, it doesn't surprise me at all that Apple Stores are well ranked despite never setting foot in one in this country (yet several times in Tokyo). Like it, hate it, if the survey are based on customers, the ‘Apple factor’ will probably play a hand in raising the score.

And that's ignoring genuine instances of customer satisfaction which I know exists too. And if I am also wondering how the questionnaire questions were formed. The one of the ISP had many more tables and ‘customer score’ is just really vague.