The many hidden advantages in buying local

By ARTHUR VIDRO
What It’s Worth
A big city I grew up a short distance from had a law dictating that pothole repairs and other street fixes be performed by whoever submitted the lowest bid. But to submit the lowest bid, the winning firm often had to use subpar materials, so the fix wouldn’t last very long.

Local law prevented the city from paying for a more expensive repair, even if such a repair would be of superior quality — perhaps it would last years or decades instead of mere months and thus, in the long run, would have cost the city less.

Now let’s apply that lesson to home electronics, where local laws don’t dictate where to buy.

At the start of 2018, I set out to buy a computer.

I already had a desktop computer I was happy with, but I was losing out on freelance editing jobs because the old computer does not allow for certain features that I eventually found myself needing, primarily something called Track Changes, available as part of the Microsoft Windows Office Suite.

This feature could not be installed onto my desktop (which disallows Microsoft and Apple software), so a new computer was needed to supplement the reliable desktop.

I decided a notebook computer would be the right size so I started to look around. But I didn’t look far, because I stopped and thought things through.

One can order computers and other electronic gizmos over the Internet and perhaps save money on the purchase price. One can go to a big store such as Staples in West Lebanon or WalMart here in Claremont and get a pretty good deal.

But I tried to think long term. I didn’t want to be paying for the equivalent of fixing the same pothole every other month.

The purchase price is only one factor. I knew that my being a computer amateur meant I could have considerable trouble installing the Office Suite on my own, and I would be much happier having the new computer placed in my hands with the needed software already installed.

Plus, I dislike the idea of acquiring software over the Internet. Sure, a computer whiz would be fine making such a purchase. But I’m no such whiz, and I’d rather not pay to receive software and then realize I am unable to install it properly. Plus, I didn’t want to pay Microsoft annual fees for leasing their Office Suite software (which is what happens when you buy it from them over the Internet); I wanted to pay in full just once, and own the rights to use it forever.

As well as the product, I would need old-fashioned customer service — preferably face-to-face service where all parties are in the same room.

Perhaps such service is available in West Lebanon at Best Buy, which has something called a Geek Squad, but that’s farther than I care to travel.

So I quickly decided on Esscor Electronics, which sells and repairs computers here in Claremont. Esscor, established in 2005, expanded into the retail business in 2007, and moved in 2009 from Pleasant Street to its current location on Second Street, according to founder and owner Steve Spetelunas.

I may (or may not) have paid more for the notebook computer at Esscor, but they were happy to install the packaged Office Suite that they sold to me — neither an easy nor a quick task, so I was happy to leave the details to experts. Then they walked me through the steps of getting familiar with using the darned computer. A talented chap named Zakri Archer did the initial installing and training, but others at Esscor have helped me too.

Within a month I was back at the shop, for the entire Office Suite had disappeared from the computer. Turns out an update had been interrupted (perhaps by my shutting off or pushing a button on the darned computer). But I had a warranty, and they cheerfully re-installed the software the same day I brought it in.

Another time or two a problem surfaced that was way out of my league and I worriedly returned to Esscor, which always quickly and easily made the fix — and without charging me!

I use the notebook computer about twice a month, solely for projects I can’t do on the desktop. Such as anything requiring Track Changes. Or when I’m hired to trim someone’s story down to meet a certain word limit (my desktop lacks a Word Count feature).

Though I use the notebook computer sparingly, I need it to function correctly when I do turn to it.

Last month, though, all the files on my notebook computer developed the measles. Or that’s what it looked like to me. Red dots had appeared between all the words in every story in every folder. Plus, the paragraph symbol was all over every page. The screen pages no longer resembled nicely typed sheets of paper. My brain can’t get comfortable unless it’s working on real paper or at least something resembling a sheet of paper.

This time I went to Esscor with a little urgency, for I was only 72 hours from a deadline to edit somebody’s story.  Could it be fixed?

Turned out it was a five-second fix, something (from the store’s point of view) too simple even to charge for. Yes, they told me to put my checkbook away. I gave Zak a small tip anyway, for putting me back in the saddle.

Point is, I can’t imagine such service being performed at a big box store.  Sure, superstores are happy to sell to you, and often at a lower price, but (for whatever reason) they’re not staffed with the skilled experts that work at Esscor and, I imagine, at Best Buy’s Geek Squad.

There’s more than sticker price to consider when making a purchase. There’s the cost of ownership.  There’s the cost of repairs. There’s the cost of not being able to use the darned device while it has the measles or some other ailment, or your special software has disappeared from it, and you’re waiting weeks for a possible repair because you bought the device on-line from a place far away and now you have to ship the device to that faraway place so they can look at it.

Buying the notebook computer and special software at a superstore might (or might not) have saved me money on the initial purchase; but when you factor in all the service I’ve received, and the time that service has saved me, and all the worry and stress that service has spared me, I have ended up with far bigger savings by making my purchase at the little Esscor shop in Claremont.

Lesson to be learned: The lowest price is not always the best purchase.

 

If you have consumerism questions, send them to Arthur Vidro care of this newspaper, which publishes his column every weekend.