Where in the World can you buy a PC?

Having worked in retail for five years, I know that not everything runs smoothly.







These days, a customer expects to walk into an electrical store, have sales staff fall at their feet before they have stepped on the doormat, expect to speak to an expert on the subject in question and they expect the whole logistical system to work like clockwork.

It doesn’t work like that.

Staff budgets are tighter than a lap dancer’s thong, experts won’t work for £5.20 per hour and retail logistics departments are run by buffoons sat behind a desk from 9 until 5 – that and DHL.

The time has come lately for my brother to require a laptop computer to assist in the completion of his A Levels and hopefully, subsequent university course. So yesterday we spend a good while searching various websites for laptop deals, reviews and prices. After finally concluding our search and picking a certain Compaq unit, I set off for the local PC World superstore, brother in tow.
On our arrival the laptop of choice is inconspicuous by it’s absence. After having to wait ten minutes for a sales advisor, we are told that said laptop is indeed out of stock but there was one at PC World in Burnley. Not thrilled by the prospect of a 120 mile round trip across the M62, we asked him to check Currys (all part of Dixons International). We were told that Currys at Birstall, less than five minutes down the road had two, ready and waiting to unleash their 1.7 GHz processing power.
So a trip to Birstall and again, it proves fruitless. They do indeed have two computers in store, but one is obviously the display model whilst the other happens to be in ‘un-saleable’ condition. At this point, most people would start shouting various expletives, obscenitys and "minimum wage monkeys" at the sales assistant in the vain attempt that he'd say "Oh wait - I'll magic one from thin air!" but I'm more understanding. The guys in both shops were doing their best, they'd just been let down by some muppet getting paid a lot more than they were who hadn't done his job properly.

Disappointed but not yet defeated we cross the road and head to Comet.
In here we find an even better system. It’s 2GB of RAM as opposed to the Compaq’s measly 1GB and it’s got twice the graphics power of the Compaq’s 128MB offering at the same price.
Again we here the line ‘not-in-stock’ but there are some at Huddersfield. Desperate times call for desperate measures so tomorrow I’ll be making the half hour trip. Unfortunately the said laptop also happens to be a Comet exclusive (according to Pricerunner anyway) so I can’t do the ‘sod you then’ thing and take my brothers not-so-hard-earned elsewhere.

This is what happens when you let a small group of powerful retailers take hold of the market. The problem is that the more powerful the business, it usually means the more idiotic are the people running it.