Oh hell, is this what the world is coming to?

[Buddahaid]

[Jimbuna]

I believe there is a growing emphasis on buying a new replacement as opposed to repair on a rapidly growing list of everyday items.

I know that a breakdown in any of my household items (tv, washer, fridge etc. etc.) that is is not blatantly obvious and easy to repair leads me to the quick decision to simply replace new.

[vienna]

Originally Posted by Onkel Neal

Really? You must be much younger than me. In the 90s computer stores were everywhere; Circuit City, Radio Shack, CompUSA, Computer City, Incredible Universe.... and you could always count on support stock like tool kits, internals, and adapters. I guess Fry's is all that's left of the old world of computers.

Even Fry's is getting king of sparse on a lot of the items you used to be able to depend on them having in stock; I was helping someone do a rebuild on a couple of old PCs and needed to replace some of the old fittings; there are three Fry's in our area and we had to go to all three before we found what had, up until then, been fairly stock items. It's the same with the big box hardware stores like Home Depot, or OSH; went looking for a small ball-peen hammer I needed quickly and none of the big boxes carried them anymore; I was lucky there was a small, independent hardware store here in Hollywood and they had several in stock. I think ValoWay has it right: if the brick and mortars, particularly the big ones, don't think something is going to be an 'everyday purchase', they just don't bother stocking them...



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[Catfish]

I am astonished that you can even change the battery, lots of Apple hardware and almost all newer mobile phones do not 'allow' that.
"Life circle terminated" or how those glowing apostles of sustainability call that Yes, i hate that, too.

edit: is that device in the o. post a Dell or Apple? (MacBook?)

[ikalugin]

You can't enjoy the good (capitalism) without the bad (consumerism or over production crisis - you pick).

[Rockin Robbins]

It's amazing. People are learning that if you go to a store you can get what they want to sell you. If you want to find what you want to buy go to the Internet.

Like you say, it wasn't always that way, so it's not a limitation that stores can't overcome. But shopper by shopper, stores are teaching us that we don't really want to go there. They blame it on the Internet. But they are teaching their customers that their business isn't wanted.

For something like that I'd put a padlock on my wallet to avoid impulse purchases and hazard a trip to Harbor Freight. They have mondo computer toolkits of great quality for just about nothing.

[Platapus]

I would not consider Best Buy to be anything other than an electronic appliance store.

I would have recommended checking out the small local computer repair businesses as they would be more likely to have the specialized tools for sale, or they might let you borrow one.

But at Best Buy you are buying a box. What is inside that box is a mystery to the employees.

[mapuc]

That depends on what is broken among a persons stuff.

Let take me-I have discovered that my battery to my new computer is bad-It wouldn't charge *, Should I buy a new computer because my batteri is bad ? Off course not-A new computer cost a lot more than a battery substitut.

* I have done as I was told-Remove the battery, let the computer be without its battery for about 30 minutes, then press the start button for 30 sek.(with out the battery and power supply) put the battery back, put the power supply back and the battery should start to recharge again.

Markus

[Jeff-Groves]

Originally Posted by ikalugin

But then I am too lazy to even zero my rifles,

I don't trust anyone to zero mine!

[ikalugin]

Originally Posted by Jeff-Groves

I don't trust anyone to zero mine!

You can trust a well payed proffesional to do almost anything for you.

The issue is that where do you stop? Repairing your PC? Zeroing your rifle? Socialising your wife? (declaimer I am not married)

[vienna]

Originally Posted by ikalugin

You can trust a well payed proffesional to do almost anything for you.

...

Well-paid as opposed to well-qualified? Price does not always equate to quality...



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[ikalugin]

Originally Posted by vienna

Well-paid as opposed to well-qualified? Price does not always equate to quality...



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Well-qualified is implied. If a person is well-qualified and proffesional he would do his work well if he is also well payed to do it.

[vienna]

Originally Posted by ikalugin

Well-qualified is implied. If a person is well-qualified and proffesional he would do his work well if he is also well payed to do it.

Oh, I don't know; I've worked with an awful lot of 'well-qualified', 'professional' people over the decades in a wide variety of fields and it is surprising just how many of them are not all they are cracked up to be; it is easy to find incompetency at any price, and the higher the price, the higher, it seems, the risk. Sometimes it can be in the simplest of transactions: a long time ago, I had a problem with the electrical system in one of my cars; I took it to a few of the 'well-qualified' and 'professional' service shops where some of them even hooked up the car to complex diagnostics devices and the result was they could not find the problem; a drinking acquaintance of mine suggested I take the car to, as he put it, "a guy I know"; I drove out to a place in the boondocks and found the garage; it looked like a location out of the film Deliverance; a very taciturn fellow emerged from a shed and asked what I wanted; I told him about the problem and he went back in the shed, came back with a multi-meter, opened the hood, took some readings, closed the hood and told me to wait; he climbed into his truck and drove away; about 45 minutes later, he came back with a part that he then installed in the car; the problem was resolved and, to top it off, he charged me at a rate about a third of the other places who couldn't even resolve the problem. Now, the other places were major chains or well-regarded 'professional' establishments with beaucoup certificates and documentation of just how 'well-qualified' they were, yet the guy with the ramshackle garage was the one with the experience, know-how, and just common sense to get the job done. Sometimes you don't get what you think you were paying for...



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[Commander Wallace]

In my experience, Best Buy is not in the business to help you at all. They will lie to you if it means they can sell you something you don't need or want.

I took a laptop computer in to Best Buy while purchasing another upscale unit from them as well. I needed a charger for the other unit that was 4 years old. I was told my older unit was out of commission and they would be happy to " take it and dispose of it " for me. There was nothing wrong with my older unit other than it needed a battery charger of the proper voltage and configuration.

It amazed me their " tech " people had the degree of clairvoyance to know that my unit was internally trashed even though it never powered up in the store and they were not able to see it run or not. As I said, my older unit still works well and I use it a great deal. There is no point in complaining to Best Buy as their people are trained to " rip " you off every chance they get.

As far as tools, Any outlet that deals in tools will have every tool imaginable. I know when I go, I tend to look at tools for hours I'm told. You just have to know where to look.

[vienna]

True that. Several years ago, a local newscast ran a story on an investigation they did on the subject of people being ripped off by less than honest or ethical computer techs. They had an expert from the state's consumer fraud department, on camera, disable a desktop PC by loosening up a cable connected to the boot drive. The reporters then took the PC to various repair services offered by places like Best Buy, etc. They recorded al the transactions on hidden cameras they took along. All of the repair places gave mostly widely varying 'diagnoses', ranging from such things as needing a new hard drive, motherboard, power supply, etc.; a couple even gave the same sort of "you'll need to buy a new PC, this one's dead" response you got in your case. One of the places they went to was a little, independent "mom & pop" storefront shop in a strip mall. The owner of the shop opened the case, immediately found the loose cable, reattached it and closed up the case. When the reporters asked how much the repair cost, the owner replied there was no charge at all. They then revealed to the owner the true nature of why they were there and that he was on TV. The owner was surprised and a bit bewildered as was his wife. When the reporter asked why he hadn't tried to "up sell" or even charge them for the repair, he said the repair wasn't any trouble at all and he thought it wouldn't be fair to charge for something so minor. When the footage was broadcast, the newscasters praised the guy's honesty and ethics and made sure the shop's name and address was prominently displayed...

...and the other bigger stores who tried to make a profit mountain out of a mole hill? They were mentioned by name also, and, oddly, their representatives were "unavailable for comment" when the reporters sought to ask why their operations were run in such a manner...



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