Your article 'Lay down the law' (October edition) seems to have been written based on the premise that many IT retailers set out to be unhelpful, and try to make life difficult for their customers when they are unlucky enough to buy faulty equipment.

I cannot understand why any retailer would wish to behave like that. I run a business (nothing to do with IT retailing), and if a customer has a complaint, then I am grateful they took the trouble to complain rather than simply taking their business elsewhere, and I do everything in my power to put things right for them.

My business will be more successful if my customers are satisfied with my service. It's not rocket science, is it?

Why, then, is it so hard for IT retailers to learn this lesson? It is ironic that on the day I read your article, a piece of kit I'd bought from PC World a few weeks previously developed a fault. As it was a
low value item and had worked initially, I didn't keep the receipt, and the manager of my local PC World used this as an excuse not to replace the item.

Sure, they saved themselves the trouble of replacing my faulty unit, which would have cost them a few pounds, but they have lost a customer forever. Was it worth it? If my local PC World is anything to go by, then the premise of your article appears to be absolutely true. How terribly sad.

Dr Adam Jacobs