Mystery shopper is visiting the Merry Hill Shopping Centre in Dudley to find the best laptop capable of editing and storing summer holiday photos.
HMV
This store was a big HMV store. The music playing was not too loud and everything was neatly displayed. The store was predominately filled with DVD’s & CD’s and I couldn’t immediately see where the laptops were located.
I asked a member of staff if they sell laptops, he said he wasn’t sure. We walked over towards the electronics area to find speakers, Blu-Ray players and laptops. I was quite surprised the member of staff didn’t know that they had them, interesting.
Now these laptops were all classed as netbooks because, as the POS stated, they had a screen no bigger than 12.1 inches. After explaining to the staff member what I was in store looking for, he told me that he didn’t know too much about the netbooks and he would get someone else to talk to me.
The second member of staff was really enthusiastic; he really wanted to help me. He began by attempting to access a netbook with a password but was unsuccessful four times before he too had to go and find someone.
After explaining again what I required the third staff member recommended the Samsung NC20, Microsoft Windows XP, Via Nano U2250, 1GB memory, 160GB hard drive & Bluetooth, priced at 329.99. I don’t think he had much of a choice as this is the only one they had labelled as ‘high spec’. He told me that it would be ideal, I wasn’t so sure.
He went onto inform me that different colours were available and how you get a free carry case with them, but did not sell the key features and benefits which would allow me to carry out my initial purpose for purchase. As a potential purchaser, this would have been the minimum requirement that I would have been looking for.
Overall I found the customer service was great they really wanted to help me as much as they could but further training is required to instil customer confidence in the sales process. Unfortunately the limited range of products meant a real solution to my request could not be delivered.
The new electronics venture for HMV shows great potential with staff who are engaging, a fantastic store display and the possibility of integrating many of the areas within the store, its just not quite there yet.
6/10
Marks & Spencers
The Marks & Spencer’s Home store is the required destination if you are looking for technology products. (Usefully sited near the standard M&S store)
The store was clean and tidy as expected although not as big as I thought it would be. As I entered the laptop section a female staff member was cashing up so I waited patiently for some attention. I continued to wait for about 10 minutes and as I could clearly see that no-one was going to help me I decided to ask her for assistance. She looked a bit distressed at my request and immediately called a male staff member over to help.
I informed him that I was looking for a laptop good enough for editing photos and storing my growing catalogue of images. The selection of laptops was not large although all were more fitting of my requirements than any netbook I had been recommended so far today.
I was recommended the Sony VGN-NS2OE, 15.4” screen, Intel Pentium Dual Core processor T3400, 3GB memory, 250GB & vista, priced at £489.00. The level of detail described to me was a bit light on features and I wasn’t sold the product. It felt more like someone telling me the facts rather than selling me the dream.
Overall, it was a disappointing visit. I was not really asked about my needs and wants, any further than the initial explanation I gave. I received a recommendation which did suit me and it was delivered clearly, but it was an obvious choice given the limited product range. If I was knowledgeable in PC specification then I would have potentially purchased the product, but as a person with limited knowledge I would have not had enough information to part with nearly £500.
6/10
Currys Digital
The store is easy to find with the bright red signage clear to see. Inside the displays were clean and well laid out with products arranged in groups. As I entered the store I noted that members of Staff were grouped together; they did seem notice me approach the laptop section, but did not immediately engage me.
After 5 to 10 minutes loitering the laptop section and playing with the equipment I went to track down some help. I spoke to a man called Chris who began by asking a very bizarre question “Are you paying with cash or do you require a finance agreement?” When I asked why he just said he “He needed to know”.
Chris went on to assess my requirements, he asked me what I was looking for and I explained the reasons I was in store. Chris moved us along the display to a particular laptop and said that this was the best choice for me; it was the Acer Aspire 7535G ZM-82. (Specification detail – 17.3” widescreen, 4GB memory, 500GB hard drive, ATI 512mb graphics, Windows Vista Home Premium & AMD Turion x2 Ultra Processor ZM82, priced at £599.99)
Not a bad choice I thought, but is there anything else? I waited expecting to be made aware of an alternative option but nothing came. Chris did not ask any further questions or even show me a more expensive sell-up option. The range displayed in store was good with plenty of possibilities to move to, but as with a number of other stores visited he only recommended one product.
I let him know I needed time to think about my purchase he just said “Right” and walked off which I thought was quite rude. I had clearly disappointed him and he didn’t want to know.
Overall, the store had a good range of laptops but the customer service was not to my expectations. I wouldn’t dream of shopping in a place where customer service didn’t take centre stage; I found the experience very disappointing.
4/10
Currys
On entry the laptop area I required was visible and nicely arranged, displays were well labelled, products were ‘out of box’ and units were powered up. The only let down to my initial store impression was when walking in the staff did not smile when I made eye contact.
I must have been walking around the laptop areas for about twenty minutes before I finally went to see if there was someone available to help. I asked a lady behind the customer desk who went on the tannoy to request a staff member to come over to the laptop section. After waiting for a further seven minutes I asked for some more customer service at the front desk, a tannoy announcement followed as before.
Finally someone came over; he smiled and asked how he could help. I explained to James what l was looking for and stood ready for more probing sales enquiries to ascertain my requirements. Unfortunately James didn’t really seem very interested, he lifted an arm and pointed to the laptop which he thought would be ideal for me. The one he was standing next to. Now that’s product placement I thought.
He recommended the HP 15.6” widescreen, AMD Turion Processor RM 74 (Didn’t explain what it does, just that it is fast), 4GB memory, 320GB hard drive, ATI 512MB graphics card and it was running Vista.
By the end of my experience in store I was less than satisfied, I hadn’t been asked any additional questions to fully thrash out my expected use of the laptop and only one product had been recommended. I appreciate stores are busy but having to wait for so long to be served meant I really needed to be made to feel special by the staff member to drive me to buy. This never came and I left not really feeling as valued as I think I should have.
5/10
Comet
As soon as I walked in I was greeted by the remains of chewing gum on the floor, it looked unwelcoming and I was quite shocked that it was allowed to remain. The laptops are situated at the front of the store which was easy to spot and were all displayed out of the box and powered.
At the time of the visit the store was like the Marie Celeste with no staff visible on the shop floor. I did several laps of the store and could only see a lady serving a customer in a glass room and another member of staff helping a man with a camera. Where were the rest of the staff I remember asking myself?
When the member of staff finished with the camera customer, I sighed loudly to gain his attention. It turned out he was not the correct member of staff for my request and he arranged for Ash Patel to come and speak to me.
I explained to Ash (Clearly stated on his name badge) what I was looking for and he asked questions on how big screen I wanted, storage space, dedicated graphics card etc…He recommended two laptops with confidence. Firstly, a Toshiba 17.3” – L550113 screen, dedicated 512MB card, 500GB, Intel core duo processor & 4GB memory, priced at 699.99. Secondly a Toshiba 16” widescreen – A350-12J, dedicated 512MB card, 250GB, Intel core Duo 2 T6400 & 4GB memory, priced at 599.99
They both met my needs and desires; I would have like a demo, but unfortunately was not offered one, which was a shame although this was replicated in all stores visited I visited on that day. Overall, I found that the customer service was good, but I had to wait to get it.
7/10
PC World
This store was nice and bright when I walked through the door which was refreshing compared to the two previous Comet and Currys stores.
I could clearly see the laptops from the entrance and they were all neatly displayed, but some of the shelves were dirty and the screens required a wipe. I didn’t have to walk around for long before I was approached by a member of staff who asked me if I required assistance. He couldn’t help me with my request; I presume it was because he didn’t know about laptops, so he called someone over for me.
I was greeted by a gentleman called Nad, he smiled as he spoke to me. He asked me what I was looking for; why I wanted it and what I would like to have with it, as possible extras. He was very thorough with the questions.
He walked around the laptops to make sure that he found one that he thought would be appropriate for me. He finally found one and went on to detail the specifications. It was a Acer Aspire 17.3” widescreen, AMD Turion X2 Ultra dual core mobile ZM-82, Vista, 512MB dedicated card, 4GB memory, 500GB hard drive & webcam, priced at £599.99. He told me that would be fantastic to edit pictures and store them. Interestingly this is the same model that the Currys Digital staff member selected but the experience could not be more different.
He also recommended me a Corel Paintshop Pro Photo X 2 (Ultimate version), priced at £58.28. I was very impressed, Nad was recommending me everything all under one roof, this is very convenient.
Overall I thought the experience was great, he ascertained my needs and wants and made sure that he recommended me the right laptop and a package that he thought might suit me. I left feeling that Nad was knowledgeable and that he had made a considered recommendation and not taken the obvious or easy option.
9/10
PC Retail Mystery Shop Oct 09 – Best laptop for editing and storing photos