Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!hplabs!hpfcso!hpfcdj!r_carlson
From: r_carlson@hpfcdj.HP.COM (Richard_Carlson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Bay area Amiga dealers
Message-ID: <17190001@hpfcdj.HP.COM>
Date: 13 Sep 89 14:26:12 GMT
References: <19447@unix.cis.pitt.edu>
Organization: Hewlett Packard -- Fort Collins, CO
Lines: 39

/ hpfcdj:comp.sys.amiga / gmz@PacBell.COM (Gerry Zeitlin) /  1:04 pm  Sep 12, 1989 /
> I would recommend Winners Circle in Berkeley at 2618 Telegraph,
> 845-4814.  They don't specialize in Amigas, and they are always
> crowded and busy, but those people there who know and handle
> Amigas are VERY knowledgable and won't give you a bum steer.
----------
I was trying to restrain myself, but I just can't let this posting go by
unchallenged :-).

I put up with the Winners Circle people for two years, and eventually reached
the point where I refused to set foot in the door.  They *are* always crowded
and busy (I can handle that), but worse, they always gave me the impression
that they didn't give a darn about me as a customer (that is inexcusable).
Maybe the story would be different if I had been asking about high-priced
hardware rather than software...

Very knowledgable?  Maybe if you ask them the right questions.  They're
batting about .000 with my questions, e.g.

ME: "My 2000 flakes out after being on for a couple of minutes, and I've
   isolated the problem to a crystal oscillator; could I buy a replacement?"
THEM: "That couldn't possibly be the problem---it's probably one of the
   custom chips; but I'll sell you the oscillator anyway."
[The oscillator solved the problem.]

ME: "I'm looking for a drawing program that supports splines."
THEM: Some mumbledeegook about a demo they had seen that included wheels.
[Last I checked, you can draw wheels quite nicely using plain old circles.]

ME: "I would like to buy the 1.3 Enhancer."
THEM: "We're sold out, but should get some in a couple of weeks.  Let me
   get your name and number and put you on the waiting list."
[I never heard anything more from them [but got 1.3 elsewhere].]


So, your mileage may vary, but I would suggest going somewhere else.

-- Richard
...hplabs!hpfcmb!carlson