Our Mystery Shopper was looking to purchase a high specification LCD Monitor. They were looking for the best monitor, in the stores opinion, for gaming, watching HD movies and why they should purchase it? Price wasn’t a major consideration, but the monitor needed give good value for money.
Castle Computers
I entered the smallish, clean and tidy store to see different computer’s and peripherals in glass cabinets dotted around, one staff member was on the phone behind the counter, “I won’t keep you 1 minute.” he told me. He was smartly dressed with an own branded Castle Computers shirt that had “Matt” embroidered in the top right hand corner of the shirt.
I looked around the store and less than 1 minute later Matt approached me asking how he could help. I told Matt that I wanted an LCD monitor; he asked what I would be using it more for and I explained it was for gaming and watching HD movies. Using what looked like a stock list Matt quickly viewed the monitors available and then made the following recommendations.
First Matt pointed out a 22” AMW Multimedia VGA HDMI DVI, costing £162.15, “This is VGA, DVI and HDMI.” I was very surprised as it was the 2nd cheapest monitor the store stocked; I could see that Matt was not just trying to sell me the top of the range model which I wouldn’t need. “Is that going to be the best for what I need? I would prefer quality over price” I asked. “In that case I would recommend one of the two Viewsonic models” Matt said pointing to the sheet showing me the 22” Viewsonic VX2260WM 2 MS LCD Multimedia Wide Screen Monitor DVI/HDMI 1080 costing £213.28 and the 24” Viewsonic VX2433WM 2 MS LCD Multimedia Wide Screen Monitor DVI/HDMI 1080 costing £241.02. “The resolution is 1080 so that will be high definition so better picture quality, you also get a really good 3 year warranty with the Viewsonic ones as well.” I asked him if I could see one but unfortunately they did not have any demo models on the shop floor, Matt did give me the sheet to take home with me. As I was on my way out an older gentleman came through the back door with Derek embroidered on his Castle Computer’s shirt and shouted “Goodbye.”
I was happy with the overall customer service from Matt, he was friendly and helpful enough giving some good recommendations. It was a bit disappointing that I could not see or touch a model to see what it’s like though.
8/10
Staples
I entered the warehouse styled store, stacked from floor to ceiling with various products. I peered down the aisles looking for the computer section, as I wandered to the area I could see as I passed the counter area two staff members behind it serving customers while another was on the phone.
I walked over to the PC section and started to look at the monitors; I had only been there for a couple of minutes before a man with ‘Andrew’ on his name badge approached smiling and asked what he could do to help.
After I told him what I wanted he pointed to the 19” LG M1994D for £159.87, saving £20 and then pointed to the 22” LG M2294 model for £199.28 saving £25. “These 2 models have both got inbuilt Freeview and HDMI.” I could see that he was reading this from the ticket as when I asked what the resolution was he again read all the ticket information and told me he didn’t know.
I asked Andrew if there was any literature I could take with me with the details on and was told that there wasn’t anything, “I’m just going to write down the information so I don’t forget.” I told him. Before I had found a pen Andrew said, “If you need anything else let me know.” and with that walked away.
I was far from blown away by the customer service or product range that Staples offered, overall the service was friendly but I could tell that more product training was needed by the staff members. I walked away feeling that I did not get enough information on the products recommended.
5/10
Comet
On entering this Comet store I noticed it felt more closed in than other Comet stores which tend to have a larger floor space on entry. I saw a small counter area to my left with a lady serving a customer. I noticed Stephen heading back to behind the till area, he looked in my direction “How can I help you?” he asked. I told him what I was looking for and he walked me to the back of the store where selections of monitors were displayed.
Stephen pointed to the 22” HP 2159M “That would be the best for you.” he said triumphantly but gave me no reasons or any other type of information. “Why is that?” I pushed after a while, he then pointed to a sticker which said HDMI in the top left corner, “Its HDMI so it’ll be better quality resolution.” I asked if it was 1080 “I don’t think so,” he started to read the ticket information “Oh yes it is, it’s 1920 x 1080, this is the best monitor for the price, the next size up, the 24”, it’s exactly the same but bigger and it’s £329.99 and the resolution is actually better on the 22” screen for almost half of the price.”
I asked if there was any literature I could take home with me, I was told straight away that there was nothing available then Stephen said “We’ve got a Computing Buyer’s Guide but they won’t be in it.” He then walked over to the end gondola grabbed a booklet flicking through it, “Oh, they are in here!” and passed me it open on the page with monitors. I took it and thanked him. After looking at the page he left out for me I began to look at the other monitors on display. Stephen stood there, silently, this made me feel a bit uncomfortable so I thanked him for his time and left.
I was happy with the overall recommendation for my needs but felt that more training was needed for store staff on both product knowledge and selling skills. The product range was decent with quite a variety all on display on two bays.
7/10
Tesco Extra
This store was a huge warehouse style; on entering I could down the central aisle that the computer section was at the back indicated in large lettering. As I approached the electrical area, the PC section was actually quite small and there were only two monitors on display, both were covered in dust and looked awful sitting on a small shelf.
I looked around trying to get some attention but it was not forth coming so I decided I would have to find assistance instead. I saw an electrical service desk where one lady was serving a man buying a PS3 game, while I was waiting another lady approached me her name badge stating ‘Katrina’. I told her my plight and she walked me over to the two monitors which I had already looked at.
“This is all we have.” she told me, I asked her if they were LCD, “I’m not sure.” she began to turn the screens around and read the back of them as well as the tickets on the monitors themselves. “This one is” she said pointing to the 18” Acer X193HQB for £79.00, this was by far the smallest, dirtiest monitor I had seen. I asked about the 22” LG WZZ34SBN for £139, Katrina told me that she would take the ticket and find out more about it.
After about 5 minutes of waiting she came back “We’ve sold out of those ones anyway, the best thing to do is to get our Tesco Direct catalogue at the front of the store there will be a bigger range in there. We can then order one in store for you.” I thanked Katrina for her time and went to get a catalogue.
After a good 5 minutes of looking I couldn’t find the catalogues so walked to the greeter at the front of the store. He referred me back to where I had just looked so he came with me to show me where they were. I wasn’t going blind as the store had ran out of catalogues and could not tell me when they would get anymore in store.
This was a bit disappointing as this store did not have what I wanted and the advice and recommendations I got could not be fulfilled. The service was friendly enough but I felt as though I had wasted my time. I’m not sure if my opinion would have been changed after looking at the Tesco Direct catalogue but as I left empty handed I would not go to a supermarket to get PC Monitors.
5/10
PC World
This was an average looking PC World and as I walked up the central aisle a staff member was walking towards me, his name badge said “Glynn” and he smiled as he asked how he could help me today.
I told him I wanted an LCD monitor, he told me to follow him, asking a few questions on the way as to my monitor needs and what I would be using it for the most. Finally a positive shopping experience, I really felt as though Glynn was trying to find out my requirements instead of just trying to sell or just make recommendations without seeing what I really want and need personally.
Glynn pointed towards the 22” Widescreen ASUS PG221H for £149.97, with a saving of £50 and the 22” Widescreen HP 2159v for £149.99. He went through the main advantages of both. “The ASUS has HDMI connectivity so even though the resolution is not high definition (1680×1050) the picture will still be great, the HP has got a resolution of 1920 x 1080 but has no HDMI connection, it is only VGA.”
I asked him if there was any literature I could take away with me and was told there wasn’t but he could print off the details for me, he wrote down the numbers and said he wouldn’t be long. Less than 5 minutes had passed before he was back with both print outs. As I was looking at them Glynn told me that due to the 2msec response rate compared to the 5msec response rate of the HP along with the better speakers, (x2 5 watt stereo) which you will notice more when watching your movies, the best choice for me would be the ASUS, plus there was £50 off the price.
Overall this was a very pleasant shopping experience from the layout of the store to the smartly turned out staff. There was no hard sell approach; the conversation was very informative without getting bogged down with too much jargon. There was a good product range as well although I was expecting this from PC World.
9/10
Curry’s
As I walked in to the store a man called Paul was standing not far from the entrance, he smiled, greeted me and asked me what I wanted. I explained my reason for being in store and he shouted Rose over. “Rose can you take this lady to the PC monitors, she wants an LCD monitor” he told her.
Rose led me to a gondola end with six monitors squeezed on it, the only question Rose asked me was what size I wanted so there was little establishment of my requirements. I asked her which ones were LCD; she read the ticket information then walked over to Paul for advice.
Rose came back and told me that the 22” Samsung P2250 and the 22” Samsung T220 were the best ones but gave me no reasons why. I asked her if they were going to be good for playing games and watching HD movies, Rose read the ticket information again and said “You don’t get a HMDI connection but if you go for the one with a higher resolution, you get 1920 x 1080 on the P2250 whereas the T220 only has 1680 x 1050 so it will have a worse picture and sound quality.”
I asked Rose if there was anything I could take with me with this information on it, she told me that she would print it off for me. She re-appeared less than 5 minutes later with the 2 print outs for me, “If you need anything else let me know,” she said and left me looking at the print outs she had just given me.
I was a bit disappointed with the overall product knowledge from Rose; I felt that Paul, the greeter, could have selected a member of staff who knew more about monitors. It was frustrating that Rose has to refer to Paul, who clearly had better product knowledge and yet had passed me on to her. On the plus side, there were more monitors in Curry’s compared to some other stores visited, but my shopping experience fell short and would have not resulted in a sale.
6/10
PC Retail Mystery Shop Sept 09 – Best LCD Monitor or HD Movies & Gaming