…or so says Which Magazine anyway in their latest report.
In fact the report is pretty scathing stuff with nearly a third of retailers being rated as very poor in terms of their staff knowledge.
The ‘secret shopper’ assignment by the consumer organisation Which?, tested big retailers like such as Currys, Comet, Richer Sounds and John Lewis, as well as some independent stores, and found that:
“Almost one third of the 154 visits by undercover Which? researchers to branches of Comet, Currys, John Lewis, Richer Sounds and local independents, were rated as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ for knowledge by our experts.”
John Lewis were reckoned to be the best, which doesn’t surprise us really as they do seem to put service ahead of price, and Richer Sounds were close behind. Comet and Currys didn’t fare well at all and not one visit to these chains was marked as ‘excellent’.
Some of these findings shouldn’t be that surprising though really. In terms of knowledge about specific devices, there is no way that staff in larger stores can know everything about a product. But – they should know the basics about them, and be able to answer higher level customers questions.
Currys and Comet stock huge ranges of electrical products – from televisions to tumble dryers to toasters – so unless you happen to be lucky enough to get the shop floor expert on the device you’re interested in, you could be left confused. If you look at things this way, it is actually quite surprising that Richer Sounds, whose product range is a lot narrower, and much more specialised, didn’t do better.
Anyway, at least while the High Street stores are struggling to answer your questions, Home Cinema Buyer is here to help you make the right choices. Do your research here, and then buy online for the best price – the best of both worlds. And we also promise we’ll never try to sell you a five year extended warranty on a £10 toaster either.