[plug] Good Hardware supplier in Perth

[Craig Ringer]

On Tue, 2005-09-13 at 06:53 +0800, Senectus . wrote:
> The way I see it, these guys are hardware suppliers, not software tech support.

Indeed. Even so, it does help for them to have a clue about the /uses/
of what they're selling. I'm not convinced that knowing about Linux
support is really a reasonable extent of knowledge to expect, though,
when these people deal with thousands of rapidly changing items, Linux
support is its self always in flux, and getting a solid answer about
support for a /single/ device can take hours.

If you want sales people with a detailed knowledge of what they're
selling, I suspect you'd actually have to pay them. And I don't mean in
peanuts. This is not something that hardware retailers seem big on -
because their customer base is so price sensitive, forcing them to keep
prices at rock bottom. When they'll drive 1/2 way across the city for a
$100 part that's $5 cheaper there than at the local outfit, one might
say overwhelmingly price sensitive.

I do think, however, that the sales people can be expected to have some
knowledge of the items they're selling. This is, after all, part of why
one deals with a retailer rather than using a wholesaler like DMA. For
example, it's absolutely absurd for a sales person to sell a motherboard
with an incompatible power supply - at the same time to the same
customer. Surely they should at least ask "Are you planning on using
those together? If so, you'll need the power adaptor, or to buy a
compatible power supply instead." It's common sense.

Then again, with the constant overload and rush these people seem to be
under, it's not surprised they can't even sell you the right part
sometimes. This comes back to my desire for a retailer that's just
a /bit/ less constantly rushed - no sales phone hold time, reliable
courier prep, etc - and consequently just a bit more expensive.

--
Craig Ringer