While losing business to online traders, we still value our local technology shop as the place to buy. The service is good, there’s often something on special offer and the advice, while always worth checking against magazine reviews, is easy to interact with. Prices tend to be higher than online, but there’s no harm in seeing how close they can get to what you want to pay. Allowing a margin for the service, and that you can walk out with goods is one way to go.

Online shopping is superb if you know what you want. It’s great if ever there’s a rare item, a spare part or a something that, by and large, your local shop might never stock. But there’s no knowing what kind of service you’ll get when you pop into a new online shop. Some manage to meet expectations 

We'd go back to these places :

• www.ebuyer.com for computer bits and pieces. Buying items that are out of stock delays the order - you have no choice in this. Otherwise a very efficient outfit.
• www.theoverclockingstore.co.uk for computer bits and pieces and hard to find custom PC goods
• www.amazon.co.uk for books, discs and anything
• www.panasonic.co.uk for spares and extras
• www.premier-presentations.co.uk based in Newport, Wales selling projectors and screens
• www.viking-direct.co.uk - remarkably efficient office supplier with one of the most forgiving shopping trolley systems
• www.maplin.co.uk - very efficient gadget shop and one of the few doing free delivery

We usually make allowances for the fact that customer service isn't every firm's strong point. But not always. Places we're less likely to go back to:

• www.argos.co.uk - delivery on time issues; if an item in your shopping basket goes out of stock, it’s delivered without.
• ww.cclcomputers.co.uk – response time one week
• ww.nomatica.com – delivery issues; delivered an overseas model (wrong power supply) without warning.
• Morgan Computers: This is a place to buy equipment that’s fallen out of fashion but still serviceable. If you go with a knowledgeable friend you can do well and with mail order, and at the Birmingham and Manchester branches we do well. At their branch in New Oxford Street, London we find mediocre to poor service, contempt for customers and slow repairs under guarantee - ours taking 6 months.
• Shyamtronics, Tottenham Court Road, London: Very useful shop to pick up notebook computers that are past their sell by date but still very serviceable. They may have a batch of IBM Thinkpads or Toshiba’s and the prices are a few hundred pounds lower than usual. We came away with a good deal though we were missing a hard drive caddy the dealer said we could get elsewhere but we were never able to find it. Nor were we able, as suggested, to register a three-year guarantee for a laptop with the original manufacturer. I gave up trying - thank goodness it was a good one. We also bought a hard drive which failed after 14 months, but Shyamtronics refused to honour its 3-year guarantee beyond twelve months*. I half-like Deepak the MD who trying to earn an honest crust but you get the impression that if you're not in the shop to spend money, and you need a hand, you aren't getting one here. By all means buy if the price is right but buy with the caution that you get what you pay for and no more. 

• *Peter C writes: Your criticism of Shyamtronics failure to honour a 3 year warranty on a laptop hardrive is unfair. Nobody but nobody (not even the manufacturer) warranties a 2.5" hardrive for more than a year. This is not always clearly understood. The 3 year warranty (the IBM one, at least) is worldwide, and has lightning fast turnaround. I've had my disagreements with deepak in the past but ALL my customers get sent to him for a new laptop; IBM, 3 year worldwide warranty (which is rarely needed). Best

  *Roger says in reply: If i were making that comment in 2005, when offering service on machinery has slipped to a mediocre level, I'd agree that my note is unfair. The hard drive was an up-market Hitachi model warranted for 3 years. After getting nowhere in the shop, I contacted Hitachi who said repeatedly that even though they themselves would replace the unit, they wouldn't directly handle the claim and I should therefore go back to the shop. Not having the cooperation of the shop I was somewhat stuck at this point. Several calls later Hitachi agreed to deal with it. Maybe the situation isn't unique to the shop but I had an anxious time resolving it.  

And begging indulgence, our curses go out to the following:  

• Aston Green Audi - Service garage, Slough. How many phone calls does it take to change a cam belt? At Aston Green they're breaking all records by hitting the 50 mark. Make no mistake, here is a modern switchboard, modern trained staff and it takes 50 calls to get your car fixed. Or half-fixed. Does anyone here know what's going on? Don't know sir, I'll call you back. Why doesn't it work anymore? Don't know sir, maybe we put the engine back together wrong. And they had: a pulley belt was put on backwards.
• Questions Publishing - aka Interactive Magazine, Management Today, Questions Magazine. Have serious problem in paying your bills. Stone walling, pretending to deal with things...the usual. Take them to court, it's the only way, said a former editor of their magazine. Settled a February '96 bill in Dec '97. Festering turkey. 
• Waterstone's / WHS / Dillons - no problem with the book shops but head office are bad people to do business with. Lament the end of the small bookshops - do support them with big text book orders if you can, or try Blackwell's or Holt Jackson or the ASE.    
• Magnet Kitchens - good kitchens but appalling service. Next time it's straight to John Lewis. They offered £250 compensation in Feb 97 but took 18 months to send it.
• Hackney Council - phone any department and try to find anyone civil. Try parking or better try the Council Tax handy payment line. Easy? Wot? Innit not.