The Live Wire



Press Release

Owners recommend an Apple a day

14 September 2006

Apple, Dell and Sony are the brands of desktop computer people are most likely to recommend to a friend, says Computing Which?

While owners rated all these brands highly for reliability, Apple stood apart because it also did well for customer support. Disappointingly, only around a quarter of Dell and Sony owners said they were satisfied with their customer service*.

At the bottom end of the scale, a mere 14 per cent of people who own Advent computers, sold by Currys Digital and PC World, would definitely recommend them.

While Acer customers have good reason to be happy with their laptops - nine in ten have not required a repair since January 2003 - they're far from pleased with the customer support it offers. It scored amongst the lowest ** for satisfaction in this area.

John Lewis scored the highest of the retailers for overall satisfaction with its support service, with 62 per cent of people rating it as very good. It was closely followed by local independent stores, at 60 per cent.

For overall service when actually buying a computer, local independents topped the table. Almost half*** of their customers described the service as 'very good', compared to about one in eight**** of PC Worlds's customers.

Jessica Ross, editor, Computing Which?, said:
"Apple continues to keep its customers happy by making computers they can rely on. Computers are an absolute necessity for many people now, so it's a major inconvenience when they break down.

"Expensive helplines take a toll on your pocket as well as your time. It would be good to see leading manufacturers following the example of independent stores by offering their customers a better service."

Notes to editors

For further information, a PDF of the full report or an interview, contact Nicole Sheinman.

Research

Computing Which? carried out a survey among 6,846 readers in May this year, asking them about the reliability of their computers, the quality of after-sales support, recommended brands and retailer satisfaction. When evaluating support services Computing Which? looked at telephone and online support.

Footnotes

* 25 per cent and 23 per cent respectively
**11 per cent
***46 per cent
****12 per cent

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