# London Drugs



## rogueToe (Dec 13, 2002)

If anyone has bought a Mac from London Drugs, I would be interested in knowing what kind of experience they had -- especially regarding service, guarantees and general knowledge of the product. Were they able to fix any problems, for example? The choices for Macs here in Kamloops are London Drugs or Future Shop

Mark


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## oryxbiker (Nov 29, 2001)

I would recommend london drugs. There staff are generally smarter than future shop and they usually have the whole selection of macs in stock and on display. Futureshop is luck to have an iMac on display.


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## RicktheChemist (Jul 18, 2001)

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## MacNutt (Jan 16, 2002)

You're not "coming down with something" at all Scott.....I have dealt with PosterBoy at London Drugs, and I have bought things from him. It was a good experience. No complaints at all. He had all the right stuff waiting for me and I was in and out within fifteen minutes....even though he was not actually there that day. It was his day _off_...but he had arranged it all in advance and it still went well. as soon as I walked in they all knew my name and were very helpful.

Now that's _service_!

I highly recommend London Drugs and I would like to state that, despite their obscenely low prices, they still seem to be able to deliver excellent personal service. The sort of attention that one would not expect from a place that offered the best price in town.

Especially if a guy like PosterBoy is helping you with your purchase.  

Just my thoughts, and my personal experience, on this. For what it's worth.

BTW...."the staff are generally smarter than Futureshop"...have you actually 
_read_ any of PB's posts here? This guy knows what's happening! No sh*t sherlock.


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## PosterBoy (Jan 22, 2002)

Wow, thanks for the praises. Really, I try to treat everyone the same way. Customer Service is what it is all about at LD, from day one orientation all you hear about is Customer Service. Training consists of three days, the first of which is four videos and 6 speeches about customer service.

Not only that, but we do know more than the Average FS employee. But then again, so does the average safeway employee.










--PB


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## timmer (Aug 10, 2002)

Bought my iMac at the London drugs, first at the Davie location. It was a Ruby one which I really liked but there was something wrong with the sound so I replaced it with an indigo. Davie st. didn't have anymore as they were selling off stock to make room for the new line, which if I remember correctly has the "flower power' iMac in it. Anyway, LD offered to have a new Imac shipped to the store from where ever they could find one for me. The found one one on the other side of town and I just went and picked it up. Excellent. I am in the store at least once a week picking up odds and ends. 
Never once had a problem there. As for future shop, I won't even go into one if I can avoid it. VERY bad experience. And correct me if I am wrong but Future shop is now US owned, Best buy I believe? LD is Canadian, Posterboy, back me up here if you will. 
Good luck


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## jfpoole (Sep 26, 2002)

timmer wrote:
"As for future shop, I won't even go into one if I can avoid it. VERY bad experience. And correct me if I am wrong but Future shop is now US owned, Best buy I believe?"

Yup. Best Buy bought out Future Shop a while ago (I'm guessing sometime in the last couple of years, but I'm not sure). 

My shopping experiences at Future Shop haven't been too bad overall, but most of the employees could rightfully be called "drones". I was rather surprised when a Future Shop employee told me "You don't want a NetMD player, you want an iPod. First Avenue[1] sells them and they're just down the road".

[1] One of the Apple dealers in W'loo.


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## RicktheChemist (Jul 18, 2001)

.


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## Chealion (Jan 16, 2001)

Hmm since the average Safeway employee knows more then a Future Shop employee, could it be possible that an American could know more then a Future Shop employee? 








Sorry, I' m bad and couldn't resist the little down with America rib.


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## timmer (Aug 10, 2002)

Yup. Best Buy bought out Future Shop a while ago (I'm guessing sometime in the last couple of years, but I'm not sure). 

Yeah I thought so, about two years ago and if I remember correctly it was owned by a man in North Vancouver for about twenty years. Quite an accomplishment really. built if from the ground up. 

For what it's worth. 

Have a good one!!


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## PosterBoy (Jan 22, 2002)

Best buy bought FS just under two years ago, and all the currently-being-built Future Shops (like the one at Granville and Robson) are probably going to be Best Buys.

LD was started by a man named Sam Bass in Vancouver in 1945. During his time, a few stores were opened and in addition to drugs and convenience items, cameras and photographics equipment were added to the product line up.

In 1968 he sold LD to the American owned Daylin Corporation which operated the chain for the next 13 years. the chain grew and expanded into Alberta.

In 1976 the BC owned and operated H.Y. Louie Corporation bought the chain. LD is wholly owned by the H.Y. Louie Corp. Since the they bought it the chain has added (in order) Photofinishing, Computers, AVS and Insurance (BC Only on that last one so far) to the product lineup, and now has over 60 stores open in BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

HY Louie also owns a share in IGA and operates TLD Computers (a warranty repair center) and their latest endevour is London Air, a private airline (which they started so that they could pay off and write off the jet they bought).

Most of this info can be found on the LD Website.

--PB


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## lotus (Jun 29, 2002)

jfpoole, I noticed you mentioned First Avenue and I was wondering if you have ever had any service work done there? What did you think of their service? They did some work on my old 6100 and literally killed it and I had to have someone else repair it.Just curious if maybe it was just a bad day for them.


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## rogueToe (Dec 13, 2002)

The discussion so far confirms what I thought from the beginning -- best to avoid Future Shop. The last time I was there, I saw a long lineup at the customer service counter, with one poor guy standing there holding a computer. I could just picture myself standing for half an hour, gripping my new iMac by the neck, wondering what on Earth possessed me to buy it at FS.

The unfortunate thing is that a local dealer used to carry Macs. They've since moved to selling cheap PCs exclusively. It's too bad because I would gladly have bought another Mac from them. You could tell they knew what they were doing.

So It looks like I'll take a chance on LD. Maybe I can talk them into throwing in some extra RAM for free ...


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## jfpoole (Sep 26, 2002)

lotus wrote:
"I was wondering if you have ever had any service work done there? What did you think of their service?"

Um, I'm indifferent; I had an AirPort card installed when I purchased my TiBook, and later on I had to bring the TiBook back in to fix a problem that was caused when my AirPort card was installed.


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## MacNutt (Jan 16, 2002)

My last thoughts on this...

I don't _ever_ recall having a totally satisfying experience in any Futureshop or BestBuy (I used to live in the USA)

On the other hand...I don't ever recall having a _bad_ experience in any London Drugs. Very helpful and knowlegeable staff and the best deals in town. What's not to like?

I am in a London Drugs store for something or other at least every other week. I haven't been in a Future shop since early in 2002. One compells you...one repels you.

Just my thoughts on this.


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## gordguide (Jan 13, 2001)

My personal feelings on retailers is that if they stock the product and try to be helpful, I go with them. My problem with Apple products is that even the authorized dealers stock basically nothing.
I bought my last computer (easily the largest Mac purchase I ever made) from a store in Edmonton, from an eMail inquiry. I had first returned to the same store I had bought my G4/400 from, but left when I discovered not a single Mac on display. I also visited 3 other so-called Apple Resellers and found no product there either.
All London Drugs had to do to get my business is to be in my town and stock the product. They do, so they will get first chance at all my future business.
There's nothing inherently wrong with Future Shop, Best Buy, etc but they are no place for shopping. They are places for purchasing. A consumer who goes there for advice, after sales support, etc is setting themselves up for a bad experience, sooner or later.
If you can do your own research and are comfortable with your decisions, Future Shop and the like are fine. If you need any hand-holding at all, are relying on them for product recommendation or assessing of your needs, or aren't completely comfortable with the manufacturer's service or warranty, you are in the wrong building.

I once sold literally millions of dollars of retail electronics at my own business; I know more than enough to set my bull**** detector on "high".
Not stocking product because you want to pick and choose only the high margin/quick turnaround items generates no sypmpathy from me. If you are a dealer for a line, stock the damn product. It's an everything or nothing deal; if the whole line doesn't sit well with you then sell something else.


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## Brainstrained (Jan 15, 2002)

No LD out here. We had an "Apple reseller" (one Mac on display, nothing else) but he closed up earlier this year. Now the closest is a Future Shop an hour down the highway.

So I prefer to buy mail order or wait until I visit the in-laws in Ottawa. Actually the wife visits the family, I try to spend as much time shopping and trying out the newest Macs at B.Mac on Merivale.

It makes visiting the in-laws worthwhile.

It would be nice if LD started to move east.


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## PosterBoy (Jan 22, 2002)

Slowly but surely. LD is just moving into Saskatchewan, and will likely move further east as the get esablished.

As to LD stock, while we have no problems (usually) with HP, Compaq, Sony, or Toshiba, Apple generally ships stock to us very slowly. Or actually, that is wrong, once they start shipping something it comes in steady supply, they just ship new stuff to us dead last.

We didn't get the 15" LCD iMacs (any model) until after the local Apple Only resellers had basically all of their wait lists satisfied.
Same with the 17" iMacs. 

As a result, we lost many thousands of dollars in sales because people got fed up and bought them elsewhere.

But once they do start sending products, they almost send too much. Usually, they send enough to cover all of our backorders, which we no longer need by the time we get them....

This is my only really big gripe with Apple at the moment.

--PB


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## james_squared (May 3, 2002)

Hello,

London Drugs was actually the store we missed the most when we lived in Guelph.

James


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