Yes we always slate there prices and so forth. But was quite impressed today with them. They are starting to get corsair and coolermaster cases in store now also they had the k60 and m65 mouse in stock. There customer service was also quite good. Had to do some retail therapy today as I did not go to brands hatch so have been sulking all day.
Napkins I reckon is a good place to go if you're not sure what you need. Still prefer ordering off eBay though from Hong Kong!
With their buying power they could easily bloody a few noses with PC parts if they start taking it seriously.
Let's face it though guys, for an "electronics retail chain" their stock and range of electronic components is a joke... I have more passive components in stock here than the largest one in the country (which, inconveniently, happens to be ~50 miles away in Belfast).
Disclaimer - I work for them, my opinions are my own and not the companies, yadda yadda yadda... Yup, shiny new ranges coming in. Some staff are not as knowledgeable as others, but try having a (nice) word with a manager, if they don't know there's a problem, they can't fix it. That said, staff usually have a particular section that they have an in depth knowledge of. The guy (or girl) that knows the in's and out's of the PA stuff may not have more than a basic knowledge of PC's or components. The service, irrespective of knowledge, should be good. It's what makes us stand out. Unicorn - We do have a decent stock (at least in my store, that's my area of geekiness) but we can't carry everything in every store. if it doesn't sell well, then there are other things competing for that space. We should be able to get most things. It is however, really hard to hire staff that actually know WTF they are talking about in this area.
This is generally true without a doubt. but when they stick a PC peripheral or component on sale it actually becomes alone of the cheapest option. Plus it offers the benefit of stores all over the place with stock.
Same with PC World. They used to be really overpriced in the past but recently I have noticed that they stock a lot more quality bits & bobs and prices are more in line with the likes of Scan and ebuyer.. sometimes even beating them by a few quid. I bought a pair of Corsair Vengence 1500 headphones. Scan price £75, PC World £70. About time they realised they need to reduce prices to compete. My local Maplin is depressing though. Most of the PC hardware is pretty out of date.
I got me a Coolermaster Elite120 from them recently, was 98p cheaper than scan . Will make a fine start to a media PC
Maplin is expensive, agreed. However, 3pm on a Sunday and you're desperately in need of a thingummy or a doohickey - you just know they are going to have one in stock.
Went to maplins yesterday and asked for 10m of Cat5e Cable. After 20 minutes waiting and watching the shop assistant count the metres out and specifically said i needed 1x10m length. I was handed 2x 5m lenghts. After another 10 minute wait I eventually got what I needed. The staff in there just do not care. I will never be going back again. I'd rather risk it on ebay.
I've found this too. Nabbed a set of Logitech Z506's for £59.99 the other week, £72 at the online retailers.
