PC superstore suffers breakdown over Linux notebook

PC World's shop floor management and the PR machine behind the retail behemoth's marketing strategy appear not to be on the same page when it comes to customer satisfaction.

You may recall our report last week about how a PC World customer, known to us only as Tikka, had been refused a hardware repair to his broken, still under warranty, Acer laptop because he had installed Linux on the machine.

Following a conversation between The Register and a PC World spokesman it appeared as though the "misunderstanding" would be resolved with the store promising to track down Tikka and provide a full repair to the faulty hinge on his laptop.

But sadly, we have learned that the saga continues to rumble on.

Tikka contacted us this morning to confirm that he still hadn't heard from PC World. In fact, he decided to return to the store at the centre of the row in Colliers Wood and speak to its manager to find out what was going on.

But despite pointing out that PC World's PR team had promised a repair, according to Tikka, the store's manager, Mr G Tank, refused to budge and insisted that the laptop's warranty had indeed been voided by the installation of Linux.

Tikka told El Reg: "After reading your report I went back to PC World, armed with my rights, the statement, and a friend with a video recorder (cell phone).

"I went back expecting this to all be resolved and AGAIN I was refused repair."

He added that he is now seeking a full refund from the computer retail juggernaut.

Unfortunately, PC World is not returning our calls despite several attempts to get its side of the story. Bless 'em, perhaps the firm has simply ran out of appropriate car engine analogies for us today. ®