Microcenter – the Anti Best Buy/Fry’s/Circuit City

Today something weird happened. I walked into a computer store, made a purchase, and left feeling satisfied. To top it all off, I was helped by professional staff and even personally greeted by the manager. By now you’ll obviously know that this could never have been a Best Buy, Fry’s or Circuit City.

A friend of mine wanted an EEE PC, and he wanted XP on it. So after reading my article he asked me to pick one up for him. Of course, since it’s a product people actually want, you’ll never find it at one of the big three. So I made the trek to my local Micro Center (sadly, a 30 mile drive).

I knew something was different when they actually had the EEE PC in stock, and in the color/model I needed. Then things got weird; the sales girl (I’ll call her "J") knew what she was talking about, tried to upsell me some accessories without pushing too hard, and of course tried to sell the additional warranty.

But for the first time in ages, someone tried to sell a protection plan without lying to me (**cough Best Buy***). I’ve heard Best Buy staff promise that their protection plan will cover anything that could ever happen to the machine, explain how the battery will be dead in a year, and how the screen will eventually break. They stop short of claiming that not buying their plan will support terrorism and kill baby seals.

"J" then walked me up to the pickup desk, waited with me while someone got the EEE PC from the back, and shook my hand thanking me for my business. She handed me her card and told me that if I ever had any other questions, to call her.

Once she left (and I had paid), the store manager came over and introduced himself. Thanking me, and also handing me his card.

When I got out of the store it took me a few minutes to figure out what the hell just happened. I had walked into a computer store, and actually got good service. It really had been a long time since that had happened…