Path: utzoo!yunexus!geac!syntron!jtsv16!uunet!lll-winken!ubvax!ames!killer!elg From: elg@killer.DALLAS.TX.US (Eric Green) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Amiga dealers Message-ID: <5959@killer.DALLAS.TX.US> Date: 30 Oct 88 19:14:44 GMT Article-I.D.: killer.5959 References: <26615@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> Organization: The Unix(R) Connection, Dallas, Texas Lines: 39 in article <26615@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>, carlson@betelgeuse.uucp (Richard L. Carlson) says: > There have been several articles over the past few months arguing to support > your local dealer. But in spite of the extra support I would expect to > receive from a dealer, I have *never* bought hardware or software (well, > except for blank floppies) from my local dealer. > > Why? Well, out of the four dealers I've been involved with (three in my > "permanent" home town, and one at my current location), *none* has projected > an eagerness to help me when I walked in the store, an impression that I was > an important and valued customer, or even an indication that they really > knew anything non-superficial about the Amiga machines they're supposed to > be selling. If they sell other brands of computers, chances are that they recieve the majority of their income from business contracts. It is becoming almost impossible to support a computer store on walk-in business alone, and, in fact, in many instances, walk-in business is an almost trivial part of their total income. Needless to say, the temptation to dismiss walk-in business as a nuisance becomes strong in such a situation. The only time you might see them really get enthusiastic about walk-ins is if it's someone in a conservative business suit who looks like a middle manager (i.e., NOT your typical Amiga customer). Even so, you might not get anywhere. For example, my boss and I went into the local Macintosh dealership to look at the Mac II. He was in suit and tie, and I, as techie(Typical Amiga Owner), was of course in jeans and jogging shoes. He got prompt attention, especially when he let it be known that he was thinking about 20 or 30 of the beasties. BUT, the sales person had been on the job for a whole 2 weeks, and knew even less about the Mac II than I did. After a whole 30 minutes of getting nowhere, we turned around and left. I guess I should have insisted on talking to their techie, but I wasn't enthused enough about Macs to bother.... -- Eric Lee Green ..!{ames,decwrl,mit-eddie,osu-cis}!killer!elg Snail Mail P.O. Box 92191 Lafayette, LA 70509 It's understandable that Mike Dukakis thinks he can walk on water. He's used to walking on Boston harbor.