I don't work for them, but did interview with them back in September (part time uni job).
The management guy, who was very decent it had to be said, pretty much had a natter with me about computing, customer service, and seemed to like me. Then he got down to business, discussed the (low) wage and asked me straight out if it was a problem - I said not, as any money would help, and it'd keep me occupied. Then it got to the worst bit - discussing sales policy.
Earlier on in the chat, I had said that, where possible, I wouldn't just advise customers to buy a PC from us, that I would also write down some websites for free (legal) software to set themselves up, to save the company more problems in the future, and to make a happier customer more likely to return. The likes of AVG, Google Earth, Picasa, and so on. I was told straight out that if I were employed it is company line to push Norton anti-virus and system tools, and to aim for a 50-75% conversion rate on extended warranties. The free software thing was absolutely not on, either. I'm not against extended warranties - although a profit centre for the store, they can also save the customer money. But I am against Norton, because it has been proven to damage computers. Equally, I know of no cheap alternatives to Earth or Picasa that PC World sell, hence mentioning them. I wanted to take issue with this, but not by attacking the policy.
So, when he asked me point blank if I had a problem with pushing either of these, I compromised, and said that if I raised the topic of either and the customer showed willing I would happily continue. If I was met with a brick wall I would leave it. After saying that, I found myself involuntarily saying: "That isn't the answer that's going to get me a job, but it is the truth."
Needless to say, I didn't hear back.
I appreciated the fact that the interview was straight, he made no attempt to deceive me about the realities of retail, profit margins on software vs hardware, and so on. That kind of caveat wasn't something I was prepared to do in what essentially is my spare time - if I was more willing I'd probably have got the job. The money would have been nice, but I could afford to keep my integrity for one more year until student life is over.
