Streetwise

I went to Streetwise when my Macbook failed. it was four years old (I'd bought it from Streetwise, as I had the one before that) and I knew I needed a new machine.

I only wanted a basic Macbook, and extended warranty (I'm hard on laptops).

The person who talked to me was pleasant, but when it came time to talking about price, there was no movement away from RRP - at all, not one cent. The mantra was "We're not a big reseller, and we can't discount."

I was a bit nonplussed, but tried to find a way where we could still do a deal, but where i wouldn't feel that I'd paid too much.

The previous time I had bought a machine from Streetwise, they transferred the data from my old Mac to the new one for $60. So I asked - if I buy the Macbook at $1349 RRP and I buy extended warranty at $270 RRP, will you throw in the cost of transferring the data?

- No, sorry. You'll have to talk to the service people to get an idea of the price.

I didn't want to walk, but I did. I bought my machine with 10% discount elsewhere (so saving $135) and went to a high street computer repair shop to transfer the data - it cost me $25, another $35 saved (I'm guessing - I didn't check the current price with the Streetwise service people).

I can't imagine most people would share my experience of a non-negotiating sales person, or at least I hope they don't - if you're in the market for a new Apple product, I still suggest you try them. I figure maybe I had such an unsatisfying experience because the person who talked to me had no authority to negotiate. Sad, though.