# Carbon Computing Ottawa Closed



## MBPlover (Oct 22, 2006)

Did anyone notice that Carbon Computing in Ottawa closed down? I was in Westboro this weekend and would usually go there to buy iPad/iPhone accessories.

When I walked up the front door and saw that it was vacant, I was shocked. Does anyone know why they closed down? I always tried to support them and would go there over the Apple Store at Rideau/Bayshore.

I always found the staff friendly.


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## Kosh (May 27, 2002)

Is this their new location? They moved a few months back. From what I see on the net, I assume Richmond is their new location, since Wellington was their old location (both locations appear on the net).

I swear I got an email from them just within the past month or so.


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## Kosh (May 27, 2002)

Woah, it does look like they closed. The Carbon Computing website, says the Ottawa store closed in July.


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## MBPlover (Oct 22, 2006)

Kosh said:


> Is this their new location? They moved a few months back. From what I see on the net, I assume Richmond is their new location, since Wellington was their old location (both locations appear on the net).
> 
> I swear I got an email from them just within the past month or so.


Yes, this was their new location, right off Churchhill. I was so surprised when I saw the sign saying they closed. I remember one of the clerks saying they moved out of the Mechanicsville area (which I actually preferred more; better layout, bigger store) to a higher traffic area, off Churchhill.

I felt sad when I saw that sign though. It doesn't seem like Ottawa has a lot of Apple independent shops.


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

I have found places like Carbon increasingly redundant. Nothing against them, but any time I want something they're offering on their web site, it seems they need to order it in and it will take a week. I can order these items myself and have them delivered to my home. Those items that are regularly in stock are sold at a huge price premium. In many cases, the staff, although friendly, doesn't understand the technology I'm interested in any better than I do. That leaves me to research purchases on the Internet. I love going to a brick-and-mortar store to browse and ask questions, but I don't see the point if there are few products to see, and no real experts to speak to.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

Completely unsurprising.


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Their web site seems pretty clear and where to go: 

Locations | Carbon Computing

Ottawa Sales and Service Options | Carbon Computing


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

It's pretty feeble to say--"We've still got you covered"--and then explain that you mean the Apple web site.


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## IllusionX (Mar 10, 2009)

I'm not surprised these stores close down. It is very hard to stay competitive with larger stores/franchises around. 
OEM express had such faith. 


I often find ncix and canada computers are able to sell at a much lower prices than distributors such as supercom (now synnex) and ingrammicro.


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## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

A$$holes. I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did.

http://www.ehmac.ca/anything-mac/83678-mba-hinge-issue-fyi-1000-error-carbon.html


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

looool 3years later and still on that witchhunt eh? 

i dont know how many times it needs to be said..humans are humans...they make mistakes. if the person you spoke to at the shop wasn't aware of the REP for those hinges that would probably have been ~ the right price for that repair *showing apparent physical damage* at that time. in 2010 apple's lower part pricing wasn't an option on parts showing any sort of damage which, to the unaware/uneducated/ignorant, an MBA hinge issue would appear to be


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

I'd still be cheesed after three years over a potential $1,000 error.


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## greydoggie (Apr 21, 2009)

Wow I didn't know that. Too bad. I never went to their new location. One thing I didn't like about them is they didn't have all their products on their website. Even if you couldn't buy stuff online from them at least you could see how much they wanted for things.
Then again, the last time i wanted to get something from them they never had it in stock, Apple Store no problem.


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## IllusionX (Mar 10, 2009)

greydoggie said:


> Then again, the last time i wanted to get something from them they never had it in stock, Apple Store no problem.


That's the problem with smaller stores. They cannot afford to stock up, especially on things that won't sell within a week.
That's why bigger franchises usually have their own warehouse, so they can have better pricing based on volume they sell. So, if anything no in stock, they can have it shipped from the warehouse.


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

greydoggie said:


> Wow I didn't know that. Too bad. I never went to their new location. One thing I didn't like about them is they didn't have all their products on their website. Even if you couldn't buy stuff online from them at least you could see how much they wanted for things.


You're right--only a small percentage of the items they DO carry appear to be listed on the web site. I'm tired of any place that wants me to "CALL" for price info. Certainly, the days of, "I'll order it for you and have it in the store in a week" are over. If it's going to be delivered, I want it delivered to my residence.

Last year, I needed a video card for my MacPro. None of the Toronto resellers listed an item or price, and none of them had one in stock either. I couldn't wait a week to have one delivered to a store. When craigslist and kijiji replace your local Apple reseller for convenience, the retail world has changed dramatically.


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## keebler27 (Jan 5, 2007)

Macfury said:


> You're right--only a small percentage of the items they DO carry appear to be listed on the web site. I'm tired of any place that wants me to "CALL" for price info. Certainly, the days of, "I'll order it for you and have it in the store in a week" are over. If it's going to be delivered, I want it delivered to my residence.
> 
> Last year, I needed a video card for my MacPro. None of the Toronto resellers listed an item or price, and none of them had one in stock either. I couldn't wait a week to have one delivered to a store. When craigslist and kijiji replace your local Apple reseller for convenience, the retail world has changed dramatically.


Mac, you've raised some excellent points. With internet shopping, local Apple stores and low percentage points from Apple to the independents, it must be hard to stay open.

The retail space has changed much like the newspaper industry imho. Stores will have to be competitive by offering other services, which CC did (classes etc..). 

I can understand why they didn't keep much in stock, but in the end, it was the Achilles heel. I too wanted to order a few things and it was going to take a week. It doesn't sound like much, but I recently ordered a new headcam from a motorcycle store (not that I ride a bike) and it was there the next day. 

Not sure why CC doesn't have that buying power, but I was impressed by the Honda Powersports shop in Kanata for that reason.

Cheers,
Keebler


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

You better believe it's hard from some of what my eldest son tells me.

He owns and runs his Apple stores in Whitehorse and the Yukon.
MEADIAsolutions - Apple Authorized Service, Support and Sales for the North

And I believe they are sometimes restricted from purchasing stock etc. from some sellers, which makes things even harder. Especially if and when the prices and delivery are better. Very frustrating for both the seller and buyer.


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

keebler27 said:


> It doesn't sound like much, but I recently ordered a new headcam from a motorcycle store (not that I ride a bike) and it was there the next day.


That's worth a lot! I bought a camera flash online recently that also arrived the following morning. If you can deliver that fast, I won't even bother going to the store!


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

Macfury said:


> You're right--only a small percentage of the items they DO carry appear to be listed on the web site. I'm tired of any place that wants me to "CALL" for price info. Certainly, the days of, "I'll order it for you and have it in the store in a week" are over. If it's going to be delivered, I want it delivered to my residence.
> 
> Last year, I needed a video card for my MacPro. *None of the Toronto resellers listed an item or price, and none of them had one in stock either. *I couldn't wait a week to have one delivered to a store. When craigslist and kijiji replace your local Apple reseller for convenience, the retail world has changed dramatically.


lol why would any reseller keep stock on a niche item $269 video card they're going to make $20 on when they could, for the same $$, buy 12 ipad cases they'll make $20 on **each**?


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## monokitty (Jan 26, 2002)

broad said:


> lol why would any reseller keep stock on a niche item $269 video card they're going to make $20 on when they could, for the same $$, buy 12 ipad cases they'll make $20 on **each**?


This. A video card that only one person wants per year is not worth keeping in stock. I can't remember the last time we sold one -- only a couple over the past several years. A Mac Pro video card is not something one should expect to be in stock locally.


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

broad said:


> lol why would any reseller keep stock on a niche item $269 video card they're going to make $20 on when they could, for the same $$, buy 12 ipad cases they'll make $20 on **each**?


Why sell anything but iPad cases? Who needs video cards anyway?


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## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

broad said:


> looool 3years later and still on that witchhunt eh?
> 
> i dont know how many times it needs to be said..humans are humans...they make mistakes. if the person you spoke to at the shop wasn't aware of the REP for those hinges that would probably have been ~ the right price for that repair *showing apparent physical damage* at that time. in 2010 apple's lower part pricing wasn't an option on parts showing any sort of damage which, to the unaware/uneducated/ignorant, an MBA hinge issue would appear to be


I think the point is that 

the shop SHOULD have been aware of the REP for the problem. As an an AASP it was their job to be aware!
they were asked at the time to check and essentially refused. In faxt the request was made a nimber of times during the incident, so there really was no excuse.

Of course humans make mistakes, but in this case they had multiple chances to correct it and flat refused.

So the shop has met the end that Darwin dictates for such businesses. Good!


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

Macfury said:


> Why sell anything but iPad cases? Who needs video cards anyway?


Why sell anything but windows machines? Who needs a Mac anyway?


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

broad said:


> Why sell anything but windows machines? Who needs a Mac anyway?


Maybe you can make higher margins on a Windows machine. Plenty of video cards available for rhem at point-of-sale too!


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

rgray said:


> I think the point is that
> 
> the shop SHOULD have been aware of the REP for the problem. As an an AASP it was their job to be aware!
> they were asked at the time to check and essentially refused. In faxt the request was made a nimber of times during the incident, so there really was no excuse.
> ...


At the end of the day if you had paid a g for a repair that was covered by an REP you could have claimed it back from apple with your documentation. Every REP I've ever seen from apple has always, ALWAYS said "if you previously have paid for a repair for ______________ contact apple you may be eligible for a refund". The hinge issue was no different....


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

Macfury said:


> Maybe you can make higher margins on a Windows machine. Plenty of video cards available for rhem at point-of-sale too!


Pm-r? Is that you??


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

broad said:


> At the end of the day if you had paid a g for a repair that was covered by an REP you could have claimed it back from apple with your documentation...


That's really cold comfort.


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

broad said:


> Pm-r? Is that you??


Apple reseller, is that you?


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## greydoggie (Apr 21, 2009)

Macfury said:


> You're right--only a small percentage of the items they DO carry appear to be listed on the web site. I'm tired of any place that wants me to "CALL" for price info. Certainly, the days of, "I'll order it for you and have it in the store in a week" are over. If it's going to be delivered, I want it delivered to my residence.


There are a bunch of smaller computer stores around here and for some things like media and cables they have a better selection and at better prices then the big stores. But you're not going to know that if it's not listed on their website. And the small stores is usually where I buy stuff like that. But if they don't have something listed I'm not going to waste my time driving to one or calling them just to find out they don't have it when the next store does show it on their website. Same with external hard drives, I have several of them and none of them were bought from Best Buy or Future Shop.


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## heavyall (Nov 2, 2012)

In the age of internet commerce, brick and mortar retailers of all stripes have to work much harder to keep customers coming in. The problem is, far too many of them take the opposite approach -- they decide not to even bother stocking whatever it is you might need. You can order that? Good for you, so can I.

What you need to be, is the place other people are going to order FROM when their local guy doesn't carry what you need. Sure you might only sell one video card a year if it sits in the back, and you wait. Have an online store, list that inventory on eBay, etc. Open yourself to a much larger customer pool.

I had a very interesting experience with a local book store recently. I found an out of print book I had been looking for for a long time on ebay. I bought it, not realizing that the seller was local. They sent me an email, letting me know they noticed we were in the same city, and if I wanted to avoid shipping charges, I can just pick it up in person. They also sent me a link to the database of their entire store inventory, in which I found several more related items that they had in stock. I placed those items in my cart, then went down to the store, where the books were already waiting for me behind the counter!!! This is a store that understands how to serve local customers in the internet marketplace!


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## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

broad said:


> At the end of the day if you had paid a g for a repair that was covered by an REP you could have claimed it back from apple with your documentation. Every REP I've ever seen from apple has always, ALWAYS said "if you previously have paid for a repair for ______________ contact apple you may be eligible for a refund". The hinge issue was no different....


No one from Carbon ever made such a statement to me in this matter. It was either pay or too effing bad...... 

I would have to know, or come into knowledge of an REP, which as a customer I have limited resources to do, and besides I had already accessed a source that should have known, namely Carbon a supposed AASP, and made multiple requests. Their response was a multiple flat denials. What was I supposed to do?

No matter how you try to spin it, *broad* , this was Carbon's fault not mine.

The reality is that it doesn't matter what any other store says/does or what policy unknown to me mght be. In THAT store at THAT moment what happened is as described and is/was unacceptable.

I never went back and made sure my clients, students, friends, aquaintances and associates didn't either.


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

rgray said:


> I never went back and made sure my clients, students, friends, aquaintances and associates didn't either.


But just think--if you had simply paid $1,000 to have the repair performed, there was a chance you might have been able to claim it back from Apple! Now there's egg on_ your_ face!


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

heavyall said:


> What you need to be, is the place other people are going to order FROM when their local guy doesn't carry what you need. Sure you might only sell one video card a year if it sits in the back, and you wait.


If you can't stock _one_ card in Canada's largest Apple market because it represents too much financial risk to the company, then perhaps you should get out of the Apple business.


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

rgray said:


> No one from Carbon ever made such a statement to me in this matter. It was either pay or too effing bad......
> 
> I would have to know, or come into knowledge of an REP, which as a customer I have limited resources to do, and besides I had already accessed a source that should have known, namely Carbon a supposed AASP, and made multiple requests. Their response was a multiple flat denials. What was I supposed to do?
> 
> ...


I never denied it was carbons fault. Obviously an error was made. The error was admitted, owned and dealt with according to what ehmax (who worked there at the time) said. My point is simply that one error on the part of one (possibly part time) tech (we really don't know the whole story) is hardly enough brush to paint the entire organization as "as$holes"


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

Macfury said:


> That's really cold comfort.


Its not supsed to be cold comfort, it's simply pointing out that there are safety measures in place to deal with people who, for whatever reason, "slip through the cracks" in these situations... like he almost did.


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

broad said:


> Its not supsed to be cold comfort, it's simply pointing out that there are safety measures in place to deal with people who, for whatever reason, "slip through the cracks" in these situations... like he almost did.


One wonders if the same human error might have prevented him from knowing he could claim that thou from Apple...


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

But, you know, let's face facts: Carbon was no CPUsed or Midtown Digital or whatever. Not in the same galaxy.


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## Oakbridge (Mar 8, 2005)

Macfury said:


> If you can't stock _one_ card in Canada's largest Apple market because it represents too much financial risk to the company, then perhaps you should get out of the Apple business.


You have an incredible knack for making things seem so simplistic, as long as they suit your argument. 

Be realistic here... it's not just one card. For you it is one card, but what about the next user, and the next and the next. For you it might be a video card, others might require an interface card to their Acme Hyper-Sonic Transport.

Do you seriously expect that a bricks and mortar retailer, any retailer, should stock every potential product for your computer?

For most businesses, they are at the mercy of their distributors. Many use multiple distributors and you'd be surprised how many of the Canadian distributors don't stock most items unless they are the current 'hot' item. 

Most stores will get hit with a premium if they order single items. Distributors will usually have an order processing fee and/or a minimum shipping fee. Stores will order on a periodic basis, trying to balance their regular stock orders with the specialty orders. They are not doing this on a daily basis. Stores will not receive shipments each day. 

So based on all of the above, the "we can have it for you in a week" seems pretty reasonable to me. But obviously your way of thinking will make a retailer much more successful.

The MacFuzzy school of business: Tie up capital keeping products in the store on a shelf that might get sold once or twice a year. That's the guaranteed path to success.


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

Oakbridge said:


> Be realistic here... it's not just one card. For you it is one card, but what about the next user, and the next and the next.


You're right. I expect them to sell some RAM and HDs as well.

They can't sell every part available, but I do expect them to sell the three user-serviceable parts that can stop a machine cold if they fail--even if they're for sale at a premium.

For laptops, I would throw in batteries--again, even if they are selling a premium.


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

HowEver said:


> But, you know, let's face facts: Carbon was no CPUsed or Midtown Digital or whatever. Not in the same galaxy.


Don't forget "BeamEcho!"


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

Yes, hard as a I try...



Macfury said:


> Don't forget "BeamEcho!"


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

HowEver said:


> Yes, hard as a I try...


I remember firing them an e-mail asking them what had possessed them to announce switching to such an unfortunate name and someone wrote back saying that my letter "had made the boss sad."


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## Oakbridge (Mar 8, 2005)

Macfury said:


> You're right. I expect them to sell some RAM and HDs as well.
> 
> They can't sell every part available, but I do expect them to sell the three user-serviceable parts that can stop a machine cold if they fail--even if they're for sale at a premium.
> 
> For laptops, I would throw in batteries--again, even if they are selling a premium.


Again I point out that resellers are at the mercy of distributors. As someone who has access to certain parts of the distributors inventories (we are not Apple certified but we can see Kingston RAM for example), you might be shocked to see how often items that most would consider to be 'stock' type items are not in stock. 

Distributors often are at the mercy of manufacturers. Most shipments come from Asia by way of container ship. They can be weeks or even months in transit. 

I agree that resellers should look at their inventory levels for RAM, hard drives, and batteries but I disagree on video cards. The number of potential sales just don't support it any longer. Video cards for the majority of users are not in the same category as batteries, RAM and hard drives. 

Those items are quickly falling into the same category. Users are not replacing these items as often as they once did.


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## Oakbridge (Mar 8, 2005)

HowEver said:


> But, you know, let's face facts: Carbon was no CPUsed or Midtown Digital or whatever. Not in the same galaxy.





Macfury said:


> Don't forget "BeamEcho!"


A customer just had to replace a Mac mini and he was almost insistent on dealing with Midtown. I just shook my head.


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

Oakbridge said:


> Again I point out that resellers are at the mercy of distributors. As someone who has access to certain parts of the distributors inventories (we are not Apple certified but we can see Kingston RAM for example), you might be shocked to see how often items that most would consider to be 'stock' type items are not in stock.
> 
> Distributors often are at the mercy of manufacturers. Most shipments come from Asia by way of container ship. They can be weeks or even months in transit.
> 
> ...


You make some good points here. I notice that you can pick up a functional video card for a Windows machine at a number of outlets in the GTA--Apple's insistence on flashing its cards a certain way makes it impossible to tale advantage of that common stock and that's part of the problem.


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

Oakbridge said:


> A customer just had to replace a Mac mini and he was almost insistent on dealing with Midtown. I just shook my head.


Interestingly, their web site still says CPUsed/Midtown Digital, with BeamEcho a forgotten episode.

One of my favourite comments on the renaming from long ago:



HowEver said:


> I guess they had 2 ways to make people less likely to remember CPUsed, and the name change was less expensive than nuclear fission.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

Aw, thanks.



Macfury said:


> Interestingly, their web site still says CPUsed/Midtown Digital, with BeamEcho a forgotten episode.
> 
> One of my favourite comments on the renaming from long ago:


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