Our Mystery Shopper is out and about in Liverpool and wants to improve their online First Person Shooter statistics and is looking for some gaming peripherals to help beat the best. We are looking for the best equipment to improve scores on the likes of Call of Duty, etc. This could be gaming mice and keyboards, headphones or speakers or even special chairs.
PC World
As I wandered around the store looking for PC peripherals I spotted a staff member talking to the Apple rep. When he finished, I asked him if he could help me. I explained that I wanted to get my boyfriend something for Christmas, he is as big PC gamer and loves his first person shooters like Call of Duty and I wanted a present that would make his gaming experience better. We were stood right by the console section with gaming chairs in front of the XBOX 360 and PS3 demo PODs, so I asked him if I could get one for the PC. “These chairs are only for the XBOX 360, PS3 and the Wii, you can’t get them for the PC, if you go and see the Techies they’ll be better as I am more a console man myself” he pointed to The Tech Guys counter.
Three customers were stood in front of me all with laptop problems. I waited for 10 minutes before I reached the desk and Sarah asked how she could help. I explained my plight again “That’s more for the sales guys” was her reply; I told her that I had already spoken to one of the sales guys and they told me to come here. “Oh, well we do have PC gaming accessories over there” She said pointing to three 1m bays. Nicely merchandised in front of me was headsets, gaming pads, flight simulation controls, gaming wheels and joysticks. Left to my own devices I browsed the plethora of gaming accessories. One of the bays was dedicated to ‘Steel Series’ which, according to the display, is professional gaming gear. There were five different types of headsets ranging from £29.99 for the Steel Series E3136 to the Full Size USB Headset costing £69.99.
The huge variety of options available from Logitech to Microsoft soon began to confuse me, so I once again went for help. A staff member in the middle of the store was located and I told him what I wanted and that I would appreciate it if he could recommend something for me, as I was unsure what was the best product.
He walked over to the bay with me and went straight for the Steel Series Full Size USB Gaming Headset priced at £69.99; “This is the best one we have for the PC, Steel Series creates products just for PC gaming, so the quality is excellent and there is a soundcard which creates a virtual surround sound 7.1” I asked him if there was any literature I could take with me, “You’d be better off looking online on our website, you will get all of the information on that.”
I thanked him for his time and began to read the back of the box, it told me that this headset ensured soundscape, specification and comfort for long gaming sessions, there was a separate microphone for MP3 players which creates virtual surround sound 7.1.
There was a great variety of PC Gaming peripherals to choose from, but I felt let down by the customer service I received. The store group prides itself on being experts, but without determination and persistence to get an answer I would of left none the wiser.
5/10
Curry’s
Locating the required section proved to be a bit harder than I expected in a largely open plan store. To aid my hunt I located a sales person working in the ink cartridge sections who happily led me to the PC peripheral bays. On my left I had PC headsets, whilst the right displayed webcams, joysticks, keyboards and mice. “I’ll just find someone who can help you, Tony would be the best person to see, and he is a big gamer.” Two minutes later I heard a message on the tannoy for Tony, the woman returned to tell me that he was just with another customer but he knew I was waiting for him in this section.
While I was waiting for Tony another young girl approached asking if I needed help and then over five minutes later Tony approached with a big smile, asking how he could help. I reiterated my needs, “You could get him a nice headset and gaming pad, does he use a pad?” I told him that he just uses his keyboard “Oh that’s old school, we have XBOX 360 controllers that you can use for PC’s through a USB which I can show you.” I asked him for advice on a good headset and was told that Logitech was the best.
Tony picked up the Logitech PC Headset 120 priced £9.99 which was half price and the Logitech 980445-0914 Premium Clearchat Notebook Headset priced £39.99, which was the most expensive one, “Either of these would be good” Tony then took me to the consoles and showed me the XBOX 360 Official wired controller priced £24.99. “If you look on the back of the game it will tell you if you can use this, unfortunately we don’t have Call of Duty on PC so I can’t check for you but PC World may if you wanted to get it today.”
I then asked Tony if there was some information I could take with me and was told that he could print off the online specs for me, which I thanked him for. Upon reading the specs I realised that the more expensive handset was designed specifically for notebook users, while the cheaper Logitech headset was ideal for multi-player gaming. Both had noise-cancelling microphones and behind the head design.
Compared to PC World the product range was smaller but the overall service was a lot friendlier with a few recommendations given.
7/10
Comet
The PC peripherals were quite easily located, after browsing the range for five minutes I looked for assistance and found two staff members talking about point of sale. I politely interrupted and asked for help, “Give me 5 minutes and wait until someone is free to help, I will send them right over to you” came the abrupt answer. 2 minutes later the same man approached me, “I’ve asked and the wireless headsets are probably the best but they all pretty much do the same, does your boyfriend play for long periods of time?” I told him that he did, “Maybe the padded ones would be more comfortable for him?”
He picked up two different models the “HP Premium Stereo Headset” priced £29.99 and the deluxe multi-media LH-758 priced £6.99. I asked him why one was a lot cheaper than the other “That’s a good question.” And with that he disappeared again, he came back after a couple of minutes and told me that the more expensive one was better for gaming with better volume control and bass, which is important for the explosions.
I asked for some literature and was told that it was best to go online to the Comet website as all of the information would be on there. He promptly left me to jot down the ticket information instead of going home with some print outs.
The level of customer service experienced was not what I expected, the store wasn’t particularly busy, whilst I was visiting and to be told to wait by the same person who eventually served me was very odd. A recommendation was made but it required a third party to answer my questions and confidence in the decision was not evident.
4/10
Computer Plus Ltd
This store was situated on Liverpool docklands on a Brunswick Business Park with a large, free car park for customers.
A big glass cabinet with PC Gaming headsets on dummy heads was displayed inside the doorway. A price list detailed the product models, the Trust MC-1200 High Sensitive Desktop Goose-Neck Microphone, £5.69; Dynamode HD-66USB Headset with Microphone priced £14.95 and a Trust USB Headset HS-4200 High Quality with detachable Mic, £24.73. As I looked at the products a man behind the counter on the phone shouted across “I won’t be long.”
When he had finished I told him what I wanted, “This store caters more for businesses and professionals but if you can tell me exactly what you want we can order it in for you.” I asked him for some advice on gaming for the PC but unfortunately I was told that he was not a great gamer and he didn’t know.
He did give me a leaflet with all of the prices of the items they sold from mice, hard drives, keyboards, modems, software, digital cameras and webcams. This was a bit disappointing as there was nothing there geared towards gaming and not much advice on the topic given either.
5/10
Currys Digital
I approached the Currys Digital store in the heart of Liverpool City Centre to a collage of money off deals posters in the window. I found the PC peripherals with ease and was approached by a staff member within five minutes of beginning my search.
I explained my search to the sales assistant and was told that a wired mouse was what I needed. “You need a quick response when playing games and wireless ones take just a bit longer sometimes.” He also told me that I should be aiming for at least 32 dots per square inch for accuracy as he passed me the Microsoft Optical 1000 Mouse priced at £16.99.
“This Logitech 980445-0914 Premium Clearchat Notebook Headset priced £37.99 is the best headset we have for gaming but the cheaper Logitech Clearchat Comfort may be better depending on whether you want padded ear pieces.”
I asked for some literature to take home with me and was told they had none left in store but if I visited the Curry’s website I would be able to find all of the information I needed. I thanked him for his time and left the store.
This was not the largest product range I had seen but it was the most confident and interesting recommendation I received.
8/10
Summary
I was surprised by my experiences across the stores visited; the level of service I received depended greatly on the person I spoke to despite the gaming sector becoming one of the more important aspects of a store. In terms of staff knowledge PC Gaming seemed to be lagging behind the more common consoles; new headsets were a preferred choice in many stores but there seemed to be little reasoning behind the choice given the multitude of accessories available.
I suspect on a different day the results could have differed greatly, the product range in PC World was unmatched but the staff knowledge did little to make a convincing sale. In complete contrast Currys Digital had a smaller range but a much more assured sales person with a genuine interest and enthusiasm.
PC Retail Feb 2010 – Best Peripherals for PC Gaming