Discount retailer Wal-Mart has teamed up with Dell in an effort to offer PC repair services at “Solution Stations” located in 15 stores in the Dallas area. Thus far the retail giant is claiming that it is only a pilot effort and that there are no intentions to expand it beyond the current trial at the moment, but it seems reasonable that they will expand it if they get some traction. The service competes with Best Buy and Circuit City offerings and has basically the same goals – make money off the services side where margins are generally higher than on the hardware sales.
Not surprisingly, a lot of the reaction to this announcement has been negative, focusing on the low quality of service that Wal-Mart seems to provide in their other “technical” efforts, like auto repair. Plus, it seems pretty likely that their support approach will be similar to that of their direct competitors – pop in the “magic” CD and hope that the scan it performs solves all the problems. If not, wipe the system and start from scratch. You didn’t really need that data, did you? Sure, I’m biased, but why not? Either way, be careful with your system, and make sure that you understand what the technician is doing with it. If you don’t and if they can’t explain it to you, you’re probably in a bad situation.
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