back to article Dixons hits back at McAfee's £30m antivirus sueball: Your AV didn't work on Windows 10S

Brit retailer Dixons has lashed back at McAfee's £30m High Court broadside, saying it was entitled to promote rival antivirus (AV) tech from Symantec if McAfee's software wouldn't work on Windows 10S devices. Not only was McAfee trying to punt AV onto devices it simply wouldn't run on, Dixons argued in legal filings seen by …

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  2. Snorlax Silver badge

    Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

    "Dixons hits back at McAfee's £30m antivirus sueball: Your AV didn't work on Windows 10S"

    Nothing works on Windows 10S.

    Luckily it's easy (and free) to convert to Windows 10 Pro, or "switch out of S mode" as Microsoft describes it. Anyway, Windows Defender is fine IMHO.

    Weird thing about this is that DSG employees were obviously trying to install the AV software manually to "add value" (i.e. squeeze a few more quid out of the consumer), as laptop makers wouldn't ship a laptop with non-working AV.

    The fact that DSG tampers with new laptops to install their crapware has always annoyed me, and is reason number 763 why I wouldn't buy as much as a USB key from them...

    1. iron Silver badge

      Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

      I wouldn't buy a bag of crisps from DSG or McAfee, let alone a computer product.

    2. Halfmad

      Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

      Years ago my parents wanted a laptop. I went online and spec'd them one as any dutiful son would. Even gave them 3 options.

      They went to PCW, first I knew about it was when I visited and my Dad said it was a "bit slow". When I saw the laptop I asked where he got it, when he told me I just groaned.

      Silly me though I assumed it would be all the crapware that was bogging it down - not entirely. It was one of the slowest HDDs I'd ever seen, far too little RAM for Windows 8 and running on a very "low power" AKA useless CPU.

      Sadly by that point they couldn't return it as they'd had it too long and didn't want to cause a fuss. They did however never ignore my advice again and I built my Dad a gaming PC a few years later.. nothing like seeing a 70 year old playing Skyrim!

      1. Test Man

        Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

        I also have experienced this. Namely parents asking for advice, advice dutifully given, advice summarily ignored and random awfulpc purchase from shitstoreltd concluded the whole exercise.

        1. Tom 38

          Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

          The most annoying thing is that you still have to support the POS that they bought without telling you. I spent 3 months struggling with a landfill HP Stream laptop that my lady friend bought from PC World - non expandable 32GB primary storage, with W10 and Office installed it had <1GB free space, every windows update would use all that space and then fail to install as there wasn't enough free space.

          "Why did you buy it?"

          "Its a nice blue colour, and the guy at the store said it was perfect for office and web"

          "Let me take it back, its not fit for purpose"

          "Oh no, I don't want to make a fuss"

          Bought her a proper Dell refurb for £50 more.

          1. imanidiot Silver badge
            Facepalm

            Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

            "Oh no, I don't want to make a fuss"

            The proper reply: "That's why I'm offering that I take it back. I have no such compunctions"

          2. Snorlax Silver badge
            Devil

            Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

            "I spent 3 months struggling with a landfill HP Stream laptop that my lady friend bought from PC World - non expandable 32GB primary storage, with W10 and Office installed it had <1GB free space, every windows update would use all that space and then fail to install as there wasn't enough free space."

            Those HP Stream things are a steaming heap of shit. Same goes for the Lenovo ideaPad 110s.

            Even worse than Intel Atom netbooks from a decade ago. Designed by Beelzebub himself.

            1. hammarbtyp

              Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

              Even worse than Intel Atom netbooks from a decade ago. Designed by Beelzebub himself.

              while I agree with the general consensus of DSG and the minions who work for, I still have my PC world branded intel atom netbook, which I drag out now and again.

              Why not get a full laptop you ask? Well its good enough, its got a reasonable keyboard, got full size RJ-45 connector and is generally pretty expandable and happily supports any OS you would like to put on it. Perfect for wireshark traces, serial terminal. Best of all is it is the perfect size when you want to hook something up to a piece of kit

              Ok It would be nice to have a it more grunt, but in truth there is nothing on the market that really ticks all the boxes at present in this sort of form factor. You either have the full size laptops which are just to unweidly, or things like chromebooks which do not support the range of apps I need

            2. NogginTheNog

              Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

              "Even worse than Intel Atom netbooks from a decade ago."

              Netbooks were a neat idea smothered by Microsoft who quickly arm-twisted the manufacturers into installing Windows on them.

              1. Snorlax Silver badge

                Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

                "Netbooks were a neat idea smothered by Microsoft who quickly arm-twisted the manufacturers into installing Windows on them."

                No, they were shite. Every last hateful one of them.

                Windows wasn't the problem.

                Some were available with linux preinstalled but the target market, consumers, couldn't be bothered dicking around with obscure linux distros.

          3. jake Silver badge

            Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

            "Oh no, I don't want to make a fuss"

            I don't want you to make a fuss, either. That's why we're taking it back now, before you start bitching about it every time you try to use it.

          4. Bogbody

            Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

            I too struggled with one of those, bought "'cos it looked nice". Rendered junk by Win10's "Creators Update" -- not enough (non upgradeable) storage to hold an update and a running (!!!) copy of Win 10.

            My suggestion of " Just use it for surfing? Try Linux Mint on it" was met with a blank stare ...... they paid up and took it away as it was....

            Turned down the opertunity of "repairing" the next one that came along as they too would not consider trying Mint.

        2. Franco

          Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

          "I also have experienced this. Namely parents asking for advice, advice dutifully given, advice summarily ignored and random awfulpc purchase from shitstoreltd concluded the whole exercise."

          I've had that too but lesson has been learnt after the last time they ignored me.

          My Mum wanted a new smart TV and I recommended several options, all of which were available with free delivery from various places. She went and bought instead a "Bauhn" TV from Aldi as it was £25 cheaper. It had 2 left feet, took 4 weeks to get the correct pair so it could be put on the TV stand, the remote has a range of approximately 2", the USB port doesn't recognise most drives and the brand is not recognised by any other brand so she can't program any other remote to control any part of it.

          This experience and my inability to not smirk when she has problems with it have taught her that saving £25 isn't always a good thing.

          1. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

            Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

            You could try a "One For All" remote, some of which can learn individually every button from your existing remote. I've done that for a too-often-dropped remote. But first make sure that it isn't just suffering from poor batteries... also, try not to get daylight or bright domestic lighting on the device's infrared receiving sensor.

            1. Franco

              Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

              Tried it, didn't work. Even the remotes that can cycle through all their codes and try them all don't work on this POS!

            2. Gio Ciampa

              Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

              Ah yes ... One For All and its "works with every brand" promise...

              ...until you read the small print which adds the "every brand that uses IR remotes" caveat...

              (which my Sharp Aquos doesn't ... no prizes for guessing how I discovered this anomaly...)

              1. Mark Morgan

                Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

                I too feel your pain with the Sharp Aquos there. And the least said about Sharp's Aquos Net+ smart (not smart at all) software the better. Smart software so bad I bought an Amazon Firestick to do the smarts and from which I can't then control the TV volume using the Firestick remote as TV uses an RF rather than IR remote.

                It also says a lot that the newer and higher up the range Sharp Aquos models don't use their own shoddy Net+ OS but use Google's Android TV OS.

                Worst TV I've ever bought, serves me right for trying to save a few quid.

              2. Robert Carnegie Silver badge
                Joke

                Sharp Aquos

                Water pistol? :-)

            3. KBeee
              Happy

              Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

              Some early TV remotes were sonic instead of IR. A friend of mine bought a second hand (CRT) TV that he could change chanels on by sniffing violently through his nose.

        3. ArrZarr Silver badge
          Joke

          Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

          Think of it as payback for when you were a teenager.

      2. jason 7

        Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

        Yeah I get this from customers. They ask I spend time coming up with the best bang for the buck and tell them.

        Then one of two things happen -

        They buy some other random piece of shit cos it 'was in pink'.

        or

        "We lost the list you sent us!"

        F*ck off!

      3. Robredz

        Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

        And why not, bet more than a few 70 year olds wuld love Assetto Corsa, and new incarnations of Doom.

    3. Huw D

      Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

      "Luckily it's easy (and free) to convert to Windows 10 Pro"

      Depends on the 10s Device.

      All the Surface Go devices I've had to do the switch on had Windows 10 Home as the base OS. In fact from MS themselves "The Surface Go is perfect for all your daily tasks, giving you laptop performance, tablet portability and a stunning touchscreen with the power of Windows 10 Home in S mode. Surface Go Signature Type Cover and Surface Pen sold separately."

      So you still need to pay to upgrade to 10 Pro for certain devices.

      1. Snorlax Silver badge

        Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

        "So you still need to pay to upgrade to 10 Pro for certain devices."

        I've switched nearly 100 Windows 10S devices over the last year for a client - without charge.

        What can I say? Surface Go sucks? Should have bought an iPad?

        5 minutes on eBay should turn up a Windows key for less than the price of a pint.

        edit...it appears the problem is fixed by updating the Microsoft Store app

        1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
          Joke

          Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

          "5 minutes on eBay should turn up a Windows key for less than the price of a pint."

          The Windows key usually comes free with the keyboard.

    4. obiwanconobi

      Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

      As someone who has worked at DSG (Currys PC World) before, I am not surprised they simply just did not sell McAfee anyway knowing it would not work.

      I eventually quit the job when a supervisor advised a customer she HAD to buy a 64gb usb stick for a "Recovery Media", anything less would simply 'not work'.

      I kicked off, told her she could made do with an 8gb one and left after a manager threatened me.

  3. James 29

    I for various reasons had to get a laptop from that insidious place

    First thing when opening the box was to create a USB stick to erase the factory/DSG crap and install a vanilla copy of Windows

    1. JimmyPage Silver badge
      Linux

      install a vanilla copy of Windows

      Why ?

      For home use, there's nothing I need Windows for - and haven't for nearly a decade.

      And any occasional annoyance I have with sorting the right Linux app for the job is far outweighed by the fact I haven't (and am not ....) paying for it, and it's not spaffing goodness-knows-what back to MS.

      I long gave up on the idea of Desktop Linux in business. But really can't understand anyone who works in IT not using it at home.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

        I don't use Linux because I discovered Freebsd!

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

          Great story bro.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

            I've never used Linux but I know I don't like it.

            1. Snorlax Silver badge

              Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

              That's the spirit. Have an upvote

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

              I've never met you but I know I don't like you.

      2. IsJustabloke
        WTF?

        Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

        I don't use it because it's my choice not to.

      3. Just Enough

        Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

        Congratulations JimmyPage!

        You have unlocked the "Inform everyone I use Linux in a discussion about Windows" achievement. You can now level up to patronising others in Linux discussions about your preferred flavour of Linux.

        1. Robert Helpmann??
          Childcatcher

          Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

          You have unlocked the "Inform everyone I use Linux in a discussion about Windows" achievement.

          Actually, I think he has to do it 9 more times before the achievement is unlocked, but nobody tell him that!

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

          I wonder if he's a vegan too?

          Oh, silly me, he'd have mentioned that first.

      4. Snorlax Silver badge
        Windows

        Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

        Cool story bro.

        Reminds me of a joke I heard once:

        - How do you know if someone runs linux?

        - Who cares?

        1. DryBones

          Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

          Do vegans use Linux?

          1. bean520
            Linux

            Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

            They have to use a specific distribution that allows them to feel smug and superior.

            Mines the one running Vegux 18.10

      5. Peter2 Silver badge

        Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

        I long gave up on the idea of Desktop Linux in business. But really can't understand anyone who works in IT not using it at home.

        Because after a day/week dealing with IT headaches at work IT staff tend towards installing what they are most familiar with in a bulletproof configuration so they never ever have to do any support work on their own home equipment. Ever.

        1. Evil Harry
          Thumb Up

          Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

          "Because after a day/week dealing with IT headaches at work IT staff tend towards installing what they are most familiar with in a bulletproof configuration so they never ever have to do any support work on their own home equipment. Ever."

          I know Cisco CCIE's who run crappy, ISP provided routers at home for this exact reason!

          Have an upvote sir.

          1. Korev Silver badge
            Devil

            Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

            I know Cisco CCIE's who run crappy, ISP provided routers at home for this exact reason!

            My day job is mostly HPC, I spent last night partially recovering my Ubiquiti setup which had borked itself again. After a while I started to wonder if I shouldn't just pull out my old Netgear "Nighthawk" or even take the ISP "router" out of bridge mode (enabling WiFi etc) and do something more interesting instead...

        2. Snorlax Silver badge
          Thumb Up

          Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

          "Because after a day/week dealing with IT headaches at work IT staff tend towards installing what they are most familiar with in a bulletproof configuration so they never ever have to do any support work on their own home equipment. Ever."

          My mechanic once told me never to buy a car from a mechanic, for the same reason.

          1. Korev Silver badge

            Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

            I'm always amused how bad hairdressers' hair often is for the same reason...

            1. Wilseus

              Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

              Yep, my ex wife's father was a painter and decorator and his house was a total shit tip.

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

              "I'm always amused how bad hairdressers' hair often is for the same reason..."

              Like tattoo artists, hairdressers spend their lives making others look better knowing they can never actually do it for themselves.

        3. Baldrickk

          Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

          Probably because they have a gaming machine and unfortunately, gaming on Linux still has its hurdles to get past.

      6. bean520
        Linux

        Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

        But you're clearly not using Arch...

        ...if you were, you'd tell us.

      7. Franco

        Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

        "But really can't understand anyone who works in IT not using it at home."

        IT != Linux Support. I spend my days fixing kit running Microsoft OSs, I'm not using something else at home just because.

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

          "I spend my days fixing kit running Microsoft OSs,"

          Shame that Redmond can't produce an OS that doesn't require constant maintenance. On the bright(???) side, I guess you're employed ...

          "I'm not using something else at home just because."

          I run a non-Redmond OS not "just because", but rather because it just works and I very rarely have any need to fix it.

          1. Korev Silver badge

            Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

            I've had to recover Macs and Linux installs too.

          2. ArrZarr Silver badge
            Unhappy

            Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

            I'm really glad for you that your use case for your PC at home just works on Linux,

            I'll also be really glad for you not to assume that Linux doesn't have gaping flaws in the applications that support it, notably in the gaming scene where everything on PC is built for Windows first, with OSX and Linux being a very late afterthought.

            I'm sure that you can get these games to work on Linux, but that isn't the "just works" experience that anybody who has been dealing with problems all day wants.

          3. NogginTheNog
            FAIL

            Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

            Shame that Redmond can't produce an OS that doesn't require constant maintenance.

            Yes 'cos Linux never has any issues. Every time I run 'yum update' on my CentOS servers and it lists a few dozen package updates, that's just to keep the mirrors servers busy right?

            1. Baldrickk

              Re: install a vanilla copy of Windows

              they all get updates. *nix updates are generally a lot less painful to go through though.

    2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
      Coat

      "install a vanilla copy of Windows"

      I prefer the chocolate one. With sprinkles.

  4. Not also known as SC
    Meh

    "...they were able to take full advantage of a subsidy offered by Microsoft to hardware manufacturers selling hardware running 10S,"

    Microsoft have so much faith in 10S that they have to give a bigger bribe to manufacturers to include it than they obviously give for Windows 10 Home?

    1. Wellyboot Silver badge

      It's cheaper than trying to avoid a monopoly investigation through the courts.

    2. Snorlax Silver badge

      "Microsoft have so much faith in 10S that they have to give a bigger bribe to manufacturers to include it than they obviously give for Windows 10 Home?"

      10S was only ever a niche OS they put out on low-end hardware to compete with Chromebooks in the education market.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    McAfee Vs Symantec

    It's like picking your favourite terminal illness.

    Why couldn't Dixon's recommend a decent AV package?

    I don't align myself with any AV product. I generally research and figure out what is currently the best.

    I also recommend that customers only ever take out a license for a year to allow them to switch it necessary.

    I can't remember the last time (if ever), I recommended Symantec or McAfee.

    1. Winkypop Silver badge
      Coffee/keyboard

      Re: McAfee Vs Symantec

      "It's like picking your favourite terminal illness."

      New keyboard please.

      1. myithingwontcharge

        Re: McAfee Vs Symantec

        "New keyboard please."

        Keyboard? I need a whole new terminal!

    2. Hans Neeson-Bumpsadese Silver badge

      Re: McAfee Vs Symantec

      I've had a couple of machines from PC Dixons Carphone Curry World in the past (not my retailer of choice, but it was a necessary evil under the circumstances).

      They were priced as with or without a year of McAfee A/V. I wasn't bothered about it, so asked for the "without" model. I still ended up getting one with McAfee pre-installed. Happened both times so I don't think it was a stock-picking error - more like they only have one system build. I did briefly consider keeping the free A/V software for a year but in the end just went through the bother of uninstalling it.

    3. TonyJ

      Re: McAfee Vs Symantec

      For the vast majority of users, Defender is fine anyway.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: McAfee Vs Symantec

        Microsoft's investment in Defender will push a lot of companies to exit the endpoint protection market and possibly cause McAfee to ext existence. They won't be missed.

        Symantec's approach seems to be to split itself in two.

        None of this is a bad thing. O.S. providers should be putting security at the forefront of their product, not as an afterthought.

        1. Snorlax Silver badge
          Happy

          Re: McAfee Vs Symantec

          John McAfee, on hearing that Intel was removing his name from its security products:

          "I am now everlastingly grateful to Intel for freeing me from this terrible association with the worst software on the planet. These are not my words, but the words of millions of irate users."

          https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-25631183

          1. jelabarre59

            Re: McAfee Vs Symantec

            John McAfee, on hearing that Intel was removing his name from its security products:

            "I am now everlastingly grateful to Intel for freeing me from this terrible association with the worst software on the planet. These are not my words, but the words of millions of irate users."

            But his video on removing the software is hilarious, albeit **very** NSFW.

            1. Mintyboy

              Re: McAfee Vs Symantec

              I cannot give you enough upvotes on this.

              His other video make interesting watching too lol

    4. Zippy´s Sausage Factory

      Re: McAfee Vs Symantec

      I do remember working at a factory where the users all had Symantec installed.

      Every day people kept bringing their laptops to support because of viruses. Which they used the free version of PC Tools* to clean.

      And that only goes to show why Symantec bought PC Tools, I guess...

    5. James Anderson

      Re: McAfee Vs Symantec

      There is no reason to buy either -- or any other AV. Windows defender is bundled with the OS and is as good as any of the consumer grade commercial offerings. However would advise installing malwarebytes for cleaning up the parts that anti virus software does not reach.

      It looks like a case of Dixons trying to foist expensive crapware on thier victims^h^h^h^h^h^h^hcustomers,

      plus they must have signed some evil pact with McAfee to force only their unnecessary av onto gullable customers.

  6. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Unhappy

    PC World

    {or whatever they call themselves this week}

    I still remember the infamous e-machine that an inexperienced friend bought - it was crap in every respect.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: PC World

      Back in the dawn of time I bought an e-machine It was a good spec machine for the money and was the first family PC (I was a mainframe guy) I came to update the BIOS it failed as the BIOS wasn't licensed in the first place.

      AC due to profound embarrassment.

    2. Niall Mac Caughey
      Facepalm

      Re: PC World

      My ex-wife asked my advice about her new laptop. The last one she had chosen herself from Dixons and two years on, was suffering the consequences, so she gave in and asked for help.

      I gave her a choice of three with my preference at that price being a Dell (9th Gen I7, 16GB, 512 SSD, etc). She duly bought it and asked me to set it up. I noticed that the model and price matched, but it had only 8GB and the earlier processor. She then admitted buying it in Dixons. I would have minded less if I hadn't sent her a link to the thing on the Dell order page!

      When she returned it they told her that her two week cooling-off period only applied if the package hadn't been opened. Fortunately she managed to talk them around. It was educational for both of us as I saw how DSG pad their margins.

    3. bobbear

      Re: PC World

      I've always made my own desktops and in a moment of weakness I offered to make one for my neighbour, (stupid boy, I know...). Thankfully he wanted to go to PC World 'cos he liked the decor, I think, so I suggested a machine that looked the best compromise between excessive price and awful spec. that I could see & suggested that, (note, not 'recommended' - you have to be careful with words..). He came back next day to gleefuly tell me that he'd bought a machine that the salesperson said was "just as good" for £200 less "than the one you recommended", along with a bottom of the skip monitor without any leads and expected me to set it all up for him. That's why I no longer ever give advice on computers..

  7. lglethal Silver badge
    WTF?

    Did I miss something in the article? My reading is that McAffee are suing Dixons for selling PC's without McAffee installed (I assume thats what the missed sales part is about), when McAffee didnt have a suitable product to put on the machines being sold?

    How does that work?

    I can only assume there is a contract between McAffee and Dixons that says something along the lines of McAffee get X % of sales for machines with their product on. But it also sounds like there must have been a contract to state that Dixons have to sell (or i guess try to sell) machines with McAffee on it. But how can McAffee try to enforce that when they didnt have a relevant product?

    I feel like i must be missing something here...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      This is one time when

      I hope the lawyers milk this one to death and take both sides to the cleaners. Could not happen to a better set of companies IMHO.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Flame

      Business.

      That's how it works. This kind of "contractual breach" happens all the time. Lots of companies find clever ways to make your end of the contract impossible for you to fulfill, and make it also your fault!

    3. Mark192

      "Did I miss something in the article?"

      Yes, they had a working product ready in June for the products to be sold in August.

      1. lglethal Silver badge
        Go

        But was that actually enough time to get the product installed prior to shipping to stores? 2 months sounds fine, but lead times on shipping and purchasing are usually significantly longer than that. Changing things, or adding things after shipping is always an expensive and time consuming operation.

  8. Zippy´s Sausage Factory

    I remember trying to buy a portable drive from PC World years ago. I waited for what felt like ten or fifteen minutes in the queue as the single person in front of me took ages for some reason I was trying hard not to be nosy about. Eventually I got fed up and walked out, leaving the drive on the side, only to have a suited salesman try to chase me out of the building for some reason...

    I'm sure he was trying to make a sale as I checked and I hadn't left anything behind. And I'm sure it would have been the security guard coming after me if they thought I'd pinched anything (I hadn't, natch...)

  9. adam payne

    McAfee flung its sueball at Dixons earlier this month, as first reported by the Sunday Times, after the British gadget souk stopped promoting its AV software for use with Windows 10S

    I'm not sure why Mcafee think Dixons should have promoted a product that didn't work. If it didn't work wouldn't that have been bad for the consumers?!?

    1. Flywheel

      Since when has that been a problem (for them) ?

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    McAffee gets everywhere. Last I read he was on a boat somewhere. Whatever next

    1. Flywheel

      Well, since you asked ... The CIA notified of my location at 0606 today, no less.

  11. Evil Harry

    I stopped buying stuff from PC World in years gone after going in one Sunday morning and realising that all the sales staff were hanging around doing nothing while the poor buggers on the customer service/returns desk were being run ragged.

    1. Korev Silver badge

      I took a bit of Apple kit* bought there** once, the manager couldn't disguise how much she enjoyed telling me they couldn't/wouldn't take it back; the really crap thing is that she came over and stopped a trainee who was actually trying to be helpful. As a contrast I went into an Apple store who couldn't have been more helpful and swapped out without question.

      * The original iPad Pro keyboard had a known fault so Apple swap them out

      ** I asked a friend to pick one up with a UK keyboard and to minimise her effort said grabbing one in an airport would be fine

    2. Is It Me

      They used to be run as two teams with different wage structures, so CS staff got a higher basic wage as they were less likely to get bonuses.

      People used to queue out the door on Sundays to bring things back, sometimes they actually had a reason and had purchased them from a PC World.

      Most management had come up through sales and had no idea of decent CS, even though there own terrible training videos stressed the fact that people who have had a bad experience will tell lots of people when people who have had a good one don't.

      The internal training taught retail law reasonably well, but people were then encouraged to ignore it, like telling people they had to contact the manufacturer directly when the customers rights are with the retailer etc.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The Bundled AV is the first thing I un-install

    I will choose my own AV thanks, I don't appreciate been bombarded with nagware of a piece of **** AV product

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The Bundled AV is the first thing I un-install

      Yeah, everyone who counts does this. What do you want, a party?

  13. DrXym

    I bought a tablet in Currys recently

    They gave me a code for a 12 month trial for McAfee which went straight in the bin.

    1. Korev Silver badge
      Windows

      Re: I bought a tablet in Currys recently

      Where's your BOFH spirit? You could have given that to someone you didn't like...

    2. Baldrickk

      Re: I bought a tablet in Currys recently

      My sister bought a Nexus 7 back in... 2013? Just after Dixons had become Currys.digital. She gave it to me to play around with recently, and dutifully handed over the manuals too, plus the two shrink-wrapped antivirus app boxes that were part of the bundle.

      At least these were given for free.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The last time I went into a DGS store

    Sorry, no; it was too long ago, I am not even sure which decade.

    1. My-Handle

      Re: The last time I went into a DGS store

      I will admit to going into PC World within the last five years or so. They're useful for buying a not-too-uncommon component or consumable that you absolutely can't wait a couple of day for, but other than that...

      I think the last time I was in I was after an HDMI lead. The sales drone insisted that only the gold-plated, premium-priced ones would actually work with a high resolution TV. I listened politely and then told him it was bollocks.

      I also went in on a different day for a can of compressed air. The girl had never heard of it, and when I explained it was for cleaning out the inside of the machine she thought I was talking about antivirus.

  15. Mark192

    FFS

    Working product delivered in June, apparently too late to get it on the products due to be sold in August.

    I appreciate that the lost sales that summer hurt but I'd be more concerned about the lost sales for subsequent years as DSG go with anyone other than McAfee.

    If McAfee's board think that the short term benefits outweigh the long term hit then it's probably time to sell shares.

    Alternatively, perhaps they know something about DSG's long term future...

    1. Is It Me

      Re: FFS

      They seem to think the same way as DSG management, get whatever money can now and don't worry if the customer will ever come back

  16. Piro Silver badge

    But Windows Defender is better, so why would they even push this crap

    1. DrXym

      Because McAfee pays them to push it. The same reason new PCs come preloaded with antivirus crapware. The same reason some phones come preloaded with undeletable versions of Facebook, Twitter, etc.

  17. Captain Badmouth
    Windows

    Crap retailer sells crap o/s with crap antivirus that doesn't work.

    Who new?

    It's enough to drive one to drink.

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