PC World - Dixons Group

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propertynewbie

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Hi all,

the brother was offered a position as a sales assistant in the new PC world in Galway, he asked me what I thought and to be honest I dont know anyone who wever worked in one ?

Anyone have any experience ?

from what he told me, you start on a basic of 7.5 per hour, over a 39 hr week. Then there is a commissioned based on top of it - done in monthly arrears and is made on a percentage (2-4%) of the profit that the company makes on items ?

they are starting at the start of Nov and he needs to let them know today/tomorrow, they send you to one of the Dublin stores for 2 weeks training also.

anyone have any thoughts, its a bit of a dilemma for him as it would mean he would have to move back home, this would save him on rent, but he isnt 100% sure, as he knows not much more about the company than the above ??
 
What precisely is the question? Is this a "good" place to work? Is this a reasonable offer? Something else?
 
I suppose what he wants to know is; is it a good place to work!

- and does anyone have any experience in there with regards the pay, i.e. the commission etc - which I suppose largely depends on the individual!
 
..

is the 2 to 4% commission paid on the individual on items he personally sells in the store ?
 
dixons

I work in the industry and dixons would be considered very tough to work for. All sales staff retain their jobs based on their ability achiever their sales targets, which are mostly warranty driven.
They will usually drop staff during the probation period if it appears they don't fit the mould or have any hesitation selling warranties
 
dixons

Thanks Bob

He is starting with them on Monday, what do you mean by 'which are mostly warranty driven.'

thanks
 
dixons

> what do you mean by 'which are mostly warranty driven.'

I presume that this refers to the flogging of product replacment warranty/insurance policies which stores like this often "encourage" their sales staff to give the hard sell to punters. Generally such policies include hefty commissions so presumably some of this goes to the sales assistants?
 
dixons

most major retailers make very little profit margin on selling goods but make serious margin on selling warranty/breakdown insurance. The sales staff are trained endlessly that selling goods won't keep them in a job only by selling warranties.
 
Re: dixons

Needless to say, the kind of warranties we are talking about are a very bad investment for punters. I'd never be able to bring myself to sell one and keep a straight face. But then again I'm not a salesman!
 
Re: dixons

Needless to say, the kind of warranties we are talking about are a very bad investment for punters.
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Not necessarily - I just got a brand, spanking new laptop for €500 as the warranty paid out €1150 for my nearly-3-year-old laptop which had developed a recurring fault.

They will usually drop the cost of the warranty by about 25% with a gentle nudge.
 
Re: dixons

If you look at the statistics behind extended warantees you'll see why they're bad for punters.

The most likely time something will fail is either in the first year (covered by normal warantee), or at the end of its life (joke)

White goods, electronics etc. rarely fail in the extra two years you're getting. Manufacturers know roughly the life expectancy of their goods, 8-10 years for washing machines for example.

Looks like you were lucky Rainyday.
You could also say that lottery tickets are a good buy. Well they are if you win.
 
Re: dixons

You could use the same logic to persuade everyone NOT to buy house insurance, or life insurance or any consumer good, in fact - Just because the supplier makes a profit doesn't make it an inherently bad purchase.
 
Re: dixons

Just because the supplier makes a profit, doesn't make it a bad purchase.

What makes extended warantees different is the risk distribution. With houses etc, it's a fairly even distribution. The risk is the same after 3 years as it is after 20 years.

For white goods & consumer electronics the risk dips after a year, and then steadily goes up as the components wear out. I'm sure there must be a graph to illustrate this somewhere on the internet.

Homer Simpson - "oooh! - Extended guarantee, I can't lose!"
 
Re: dixons

For white goods & consumer electronics the risk dips after a year, and then steadily goes up as the components wear out. I'm sure there must be a graph to illustrate this somewhere on the internet.
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Again, this doesn't conclusively prove anything. The 3 year warranty provides security at a cost. It is an individual decision as to whether that security is worth the cost or not.

Homer Simpson - "oooh! - Extended guarantee, I can't lose!"
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Just because Homer did it, doesn't inherently make it a bad idea. For example, Homer spends a lot of time sitting on the couch drinking beer & watching TV.
 
Re: dixons

Of course it's up to the consumer to gauge the risk & return. I've decided not to insure myself against being abducted by aliens, for a premium of €1000/day.

Again, this doesn't conclusively prove anything.
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What did you want proof of? - that it's a bad deal? Well that's pretty subjective. Is buying a can of fizzy orange for €600 a bad deal? - some people mightn't think so. You can't really get 'proofs' when dealing with statistics.

White goods are far more likely to fail in the first year or years 3+ than they are in years 2&3.

Failures in first year are probably manufacturing faults. Failures in years 3+ are probably components wearing out.
 
Re: dixons

White goods are far more likely to fail in the first year or years 3+ than they are in years 2&3.
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Show me the data.

And don't forget that in my case a) It was a laptop, which is not a white good, and b) the cover provided included phone support (used a few times over the 3 year cover), theft and accidental damage - as well as the repair/replace service.
 
Re: dixons

And don't forget that in my case a) It was a laptop, which is not a white good
I won't forget this.

and b) the cover provided included phone support (used a few times over the 3 year cover), theft and accidental damage - as well as the repair/replace service.
This is the first time you've mentioned this!

If we can stick to the issue of 'are extended warrantees a bit of a rip off?', that would be great. I don't think I'd be able to find a study that encompasses all the above.
 
Re: dixons

I'd never buy that kind of report. It is always a little bit out of date in year 1 and starts getting really out of date after year 3. It is never a good idea to buy reports like this. The producers of the reports make loads of money out of them, so they must be a really bad idea.
 
Re: dixons

Rainyday, I've devoted over an hour trying to find a relevant data set (foolish me!).

Before I continue my search, I would like to know what you intend doing with this data?
 
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