Price. Quality. Service. Pick any two. That’s the formula we’re told to expect when we go shopping. If you want the best price, be prepared to sacrifice on either quality or service. If you want the best quality, it will probably include good service but you’ll have to be prepared to spend more.

I decided our home computer could benefit from more RAM. It came with 512Mb, and I had upgraded it recently by adding another 512Mb, which I bought at my local Staples store. It cost around $60, and I installed it myself, thanks to the excellent online support documentation and instructional videos from HP. The computer’s performance was noticeably enhanced, so when I got a few more bucks together I headed back down to Staples to buy another 1Gb of RAM to top it up to its’ full capacity, 2Gb. When I got to Staples I couldn’t remember exactly what kind of RAM I needed. Naturally there are several types. The sales associate tried to help me out, but I simply couldn’t remember enough information. He said I could buy the RAM and if it wasn’t right, as long as I hadn’t opened the package, I could return it ($130). Problem is, I don’t live near Staples, and it’s not on a bus route, so when I could get back there was hard to guess. I left the store without the RAM, and when I got home I wrote down all the info I needed to get the right RAM.

No problem, on a coffee break at work I went online to search for other local suppliers. If they’re on the internet, I couldn’t find them. Try searching for something like “Kelowna add ram to my computer” and not a single local dealer appears in the top 30 search results, although dealers from Alberta and Ontario do. OK, never mind. I remembered that Northern Computer has a store near me. I looked up their number and gave them a call. I was told all their sales people were busy. They could call me back. I said no thanks. Probably just as well. At the last place I worked, we bought new hard drives from them. Unfortunately for them, they were for a computer networkd security class. The students quickly uncovered the “new” drives we had bought were used, because there was another company’s data buried in the drives. Not cool. Next, I phoned London Drugs. I got transferred to the computer department, and after several minutes on hold, I disconnected. If you’ve seen any London Drugs TV ads lately, you’ve probably seen our friend Melanie Bray. She’s a terrific actor. Hi Mel! Anyway, my Telus mobility plan is not exactly cheap, so I’m not going to stay on hold forever.

So I wasn’t feeling the love from my local dealers, at least the ones I could actually find or remember. I gave up on Kelowna and searched Canada. I quickly found a store in Ontario that had several choices of what I was looking for, and in stock, too. I’d never heard of them, but I’m a 21st century guy, so I typed in my credit card info and ordered it. They shipped it by Purolator. Of course I wasn’t at home when it arrived so they left a note that I could pick it up at their Kelowna depot. Their hours? 9-5, naturally. At least they’re open 10-4 on Saturday. So Saturday I picked up my RAM, got it installed and voila, all is good. The 1Gb came halfway across the country for $60, including shipping. Even with picking it up at the depot, the whole experience was quicker than trying to get it locally, and cost half as much.

The Kelowna dealers couldn’t give me 2 out of 3, or even 1 out of 3. Shopping online, 3 out of 3. Guess who I call next time?