SCAN — Local services in Birkirkara

The shopping experience at Scan has gone back up. I say this with intentionality. Here is why.

The oldies will remember shopping at a tiny hole of a shop and it was fast, efficient, personal.

With increased business, Scan rightfully upped the ante, moving to bigger premises. There were improvements but the personal touch was lost. We survived without that, as long as it was fast and efficient. Who needs personal attention, in this doom-scrolling and fast food world?

Then came the last iteration when it came to premises, staffing, website and general operations. And it has been tricky for Scan, to say the least.

The premises are undeniably the best it ever had. The staff, website and general operations have been the constant change. There was a phase in the new premises where these components needed oil and TLC, so much so that I stopped shopping at Scan. Q-Collect was something that, in my opinion, was not working as efficiently as it could be. The time between placing the order, receiving the email that the order was ready to collect, and actually exiting the store with the order in hand was too much. If I could get a product off an international online store with expedited shipping, albeit at a higher cost, I would always favour that option.

And here is 2025, where I decided to give Scan another shot.

It had what I needed. The website is snappy. The checkout fast. I received the email to collect the same day I placed the order.

The gentleman at the Q collect station was spot on, competent, courteous. There was an air of "personal" again, even though the interaction was brief. I was in and out in 10 minutes, only because there was another client being served at the Q collect station.

So, I can say that the experience in 2025 was back to almost the highest levels experienced in Scan's humble beginnings. You cannot really compare, but it is the best we can hope to have in this capitalist society.

Kudos to the whole...

I don't recommend buying from Scan unless you want to be scammed. I bought an item which broke after 8 months of being used, since it was still under warranty I went to the servicing department hoping to get it fixed or replaced as is normal practice. I was told the fault or damage was caused by myself, which is totally untrue and unfounded, it is a scapegoat to avoid taking responsibility of replacing or fixing this device, so basically the warranty doesn't cover any fault, because they will in a biased manner tell you that it is not a manufacturing problem but a problem you caused. A stupid narrative because had I broken it I would have said so, I wouldn't buy something, to purposely break it and this clearly shows the staff is told to shift the blame on the consumer rather than actually help. I further confirmed the device was faulty because I took it to a different technician which confirmed the product is indeed faulty and what I was told by the Scan "technician" is incorrect and only one could come to a type of conclusion on opening up the device, because what the Scan "technician" told me was not even the problem affecting this device, it was something inside, which I could not have tempered with. So as an individual who has bought multiple items from Scan through the years, as of recent as last Christmas where I spent €900 + plus and previous years, laptops etc , so I was a good customer I will not return to this shop. I will take my hard earned money elsewhere. I Do Not Recommend buying from this shop, because if something is faulty they will point the finger at you and say you caused damage hence warranty doesn't cover your issue....

I would like to begin by saying that, overall, I have been pleased with my experience as a customer. However, I am writing to draw your attention to a matter that I consider particularly important for small business customers like me.

As a sole operator, my business depends heavily on reliable computer equipment. Unlike larger companies, it is challenging for me to maintain spare devices or redundancy in the event of emergencies or downtime.

Previously, I appreciated being able to pay a fee for priority servicing when urgent issues occurred. Unfortunately, when I recently required urgent maintenance work, I was informed that this priority option had been discontinued. I was told the waiting time could be a couple of weeks.

I then tried to purchase a new device to minimise downtime, but the specific model I needed was only available with a delay. While I was grateful that SCAN expedited the delivery as much as possible, I still faced a notable wait and could only obtain a 2023 model, not the 2024 version.

This situation caused disruption to my operations and created difficulties in meeting my clients' needs.

Suggestions for Improvement

I would appreciate it if SCAN could consider reintroducing an option for urgent servicing or prioritized support, evidently, against payment.

Secondly, if there is a way to offer faster access to the latest models for business clients (not just gamers!) with critical needs, that would be extremely helpful. Again, I am prepared to pay for such a...