Microsoft is closing all of its stores

Well, I can drive 2.75 hours one way and it is worth it but, not very often.

I would argue that it's still not worth the trip (unless you place a monetary value on the experience).

The closest MC to me is 110 miles/2 hours (220 miles or about 4 hours round trip) and the IRS vehicle reimbursement rate is $0.575 in 2020. Meaning it "costs" me $126.50 to drive to MC and back. Plus tolls from my location to the closest MC ($10.20 each way = $20.40). Meaning the true cost to me is $146.90. Even if you just use a gas calculation instead of the IRS mileage rate, my 4Runner costs me $0.155 per mile on average to operate, so $34.10 + $20.40 in tolls = $54.50.

So at a bare minimum, I have to know that I'm going to save at least $54.50, before I even get in the car to make it worth my while. And that's not accounting for wear and tear on the vehicle or the cost of my time driving 220 miles. And as a result, I just buy CPUs and motherboards from Amazon or NE (or used ones from the forums).
 
I visited the Microsoft store in San Francisco, it was pretty nice actually. Obviously they were trying to bite off Apple, but it was a good attempt.

Definitely a fan of the Surface line, IMO they innovated more than Apple with that product (and Apple has since bit off them).

Lol...

Hows that eGPU working out for you on your surface?
How's your external NVME array for high performance storage working out?
Hows that 10gbe adapter working for you?

The Surface line is quite literally incapable of high performance computing like a Macbook Pro or Dell XPS is.

Hard to say that they innovated when the total combined I/O speed of every single port on any surface laptop is less than a single TB3 port offered on a Dell XPS or Macbook Pro. And the Macbok Pro has FOUR of them.

But I guess the hinge that always breaks is cool. Literally have a dead one sitting on my desk that failed 1 month out of warranty and Microsoft won't do shit about it except tell me to try my luck in a local store instead of paying a $250 fee for them to look at it. Except then they closed all their stores.
 
I would argue that it's still not worth the trip (unless you place a monetary value on the experience).

The closest MC to me is 110 miles/2 hours (220 miles or about 4 hours round trip) and the IRS vehicle reimbursement rate is $0.575 in 2020. Meaning it "costs" me $126.50 to drive to MC and back. Plus tolls from my location to the closest MC ($10.20 each way = $20.40). Meaning the true cost to me is $146.90. Even if you just use a gas calculation instead of the IRS mileage rate, my 4Runner costs me $0.155 per mile on average to operate, so $34.10 + $20.40 in tolls = $54.50.

So at a bare minimum, I have to know that I'm going to save at least $54.50, before I even get in the car to make it worth my while. And that's not accounting for wear and tear on the vehicle or the cost of my time driving 220 miles. And as a result, I just buy CPUs and motherboards from Amazon or NE (or used ones from the forums).

Do you do this same calculation when you go on vacation? :D
 
Well, go luck with 2 days nowadays. Besides, I do not shop Amazon because of the way in which they treat their employees, which is to say, extremely poorly.
So you don’t shop at any major retailer and buy no major brands?
 
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So you don’t shop at any major retailer and buy no major brands?

So, how many other major retailers have their employees pissing in bottles, among other things? In America, they are being treated like it is a third world country.
 
Well, I didn't want to get into it but ManofGod may be correct here. Amazon is one of the worst major companies in how they treat their employees (meaning the people in the warehouse, not the people that make the website).

I mean, you can try to avoid it but it's sort of like trying to be vegetarian and you still want to eat meat even knowing how it is made.

I even buy on ebay sometimes to try to support small business and they all do Amazon arbitrage now, basically selling the item on ebay a few dollars more, then buying it on Amazon as a gift and sending it to me. You can't win.
 
So, how many other major retailers have their employees pissing in bottles, among other things? In America, they are being treated like it is a third world country.
You have a lot of research to do. Let me point you to Walmart and allow you to enlighten yourself.
 
Do you do this same calculation when you go on vacation? :D

No, but I did note that, "Unless you place a monetary value on the experience" implying that some people (yourself might be included in this) might value the experience in spite of the costs. I've been to MCs before. They are a fun place to visit, and I wish one was closer to me.

And vacation is a hard comparison because I can literally buy the same parts from Amazon/NE as I can from MC. I can't literally have the same experience at Disney World and camping at a state park ;).
 
You have a lot of research to do. Let me point you to Walmart and allow you to enlighten yourself.

I don't shop there either because of the way the treat their employees, so, your point? Check mate, I would say.
 
I'm a Prime member too. I don't know exactly how it works, or if there is an algorithm, I always assumed it just had to do with what you chose for the return reason in the drop down.
 
I'm a Prime member too. I don't know exactly how it works, or if there is an algorithm, I always assumed it just had to do with what you chose for the return reason in the drop down.

I returned something the other day with a very honest, "I don't want the item anymore." And they took it back with no questions asked and gave me the full refund as long as I took it to a UPS Store. I would have had something deducted (like $2.50 or something) if they issued me a label and I printed it myself.
 
Wait MS had stores?
Yeah, and they were nice.

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I don't shop there either because of the way the treat their employees, so, your point? Check mate, I would say.

No your wife/sig other does it for you?

How about these: Kmart, Sears, Ross, CVS, Books a Million, Office Max/Staples, Autozone....hell never mind where DO you shop? Thats probably easier but I guarantee you they are probably just as bad as Amazon you just never heard about it because they dont get the press.
 
No your wife/sig other does it for you?

How about these: Kmart, Sears, Ross, CVS, Books a Million, Office Max/Staples, Autozone....hell never mind where DO you shop? Thats probably easier but I guarantee you they are probably just as bad as Amazon you just never heard about it because they dont get the press.

That's not to mention where the products come from. Walmart/Amazon employees are treated like royalty compared to the chinese who make the stuff.
 
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Yeah, and they were nice.

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Honestly I *never* saw one in my entire life. A quick google says there's a few near DC but on the other side of where I normally haunt. Interesting.

That's not to mention where the products come from. Walmart/Amazon employees are treated like royalty compared to the chinese who make the stuff.

That was my next point to bring up. Can you say Kraft-Heinz? Man I love that ketchup but the horror stories Ive heard from some of their employees...
 
I returned something the other day with a very honest, "I don't want the item anymore." And they took it back with no questions asked and gave me the full refund as long as I took it to a UPS Store. I would have had something deducted (like $2.50 or something) if they issued me a label and I printed it myself.
Ah, that makes sense. I always print the label since the drop-off is down-stairs for me but the nearest UPS Store I'd have to walk a mile.
 
No your wife/sig other does it for you?

How about these: Kmart, Sears, Ross, CVS, Books a Million, Office Max/Staples, Autozone....hell never mind where DO you shop? Thats probably easier but I guarantee you they are probably just as bad as Amazon you just never heard about it because they dont get the press.

I find my information not from the press, at all.
 
That's not to mention where the products come from. Walmart/Amazon employees are treated like royalty compared to the chinese who make the stuff.

That is not saying much now, is it. It is a shame we could not keep this on topic but to be honest, what is there to say about the Microsoft Brick and Mortar stores that have not already been said. :)
 
Good for you. But you didn't answer the question.

Yes, it is good for me, thanks. :) Where I do shop are places you almost never heard of and to be honest, are not really any of your business, anyways. As for the Microsoft Store, they have not sold anything from there that I have been interested in since the XBox One X, where they had a release party and was kind of cool.
 
The Denver store has been dead for years. Basically not long after they first opened. They had the large tabletop surface, surface demos, and a nice PC VR setup (which Karen offspring kept breaking), but I never saw anyone looking at much else.
I don't think they knew what they were supposed to be. Their software section was always 100% retail price. Their PC's and accessories were cheaper elsewhere...often in the same same mall. It was like Apple without exclusivity.
 
Brand specific electronics stores are lame. Very few people are brand loyal on their computers, printers, etc. There may be some niche followings, but niche isn't easy to do in this age of online commerce

It wasn't really brand specific other than being windows, at least not the last time I went into one. They sold their surface stuff but also sold higher end notebooks from other vendors and at the time unlike best buy the ones they sold were clean of the extra bloatware a normal big box store pc came with. I want to say they called them signature machines. When they started doing it a few years ago it actually was a nice change of pace.
 
Been to a few over the years. Actually had decent crowds. I recall when one was new the crowd was almost as big as at the Apple store. But I assume few bought anything there. Apple stores always have people buying something, the MS stores were more or less places people who were stuck at the mall went to waste time in. Which is fine, but Microsoft just can't project brand image for anything consumer related. So ultimately, probably just a waste of money for no real gain.

Which is too bad because if I got stuck in a mall, a crappy MS store is probably more interesting than most other stores even if I'm not buying anything.
 
Unless something has changed recently, you can return stuff for free. I bought some software from Amazon. A week later it was discounted, so i bought it and returned the original order. As I recall, I had to take it to the UPS Store. I can't remember if I Preprinted the label or you had to take it there and let them print the label (only 1 version was free....probably the latter).

Maybe it's different in the states. For Canadians you at least have to say its broken or you have to pay return shipping.
 
Can't blame them
Their hardware is boring as hell
Return policy is good, though
 
Amazon does make you pay for the shipping back if you don't like the item, they only cover 100% if it's broken.
This made me laugh since in my experience everybody lies about the reason for return so they can get free return shipping. eBay its the same problem.

Amazon has created this learned behavior, since there's no penalty for claiming a perfectly good product that a buyer rented free for 29 days and wants to return is "defective/doesn't work" or "not as described".

This is also why BestBuy and Costco tightened returned windows from what they once were - too many shitheads abusing returns for free rentals.
 
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This made me laugh since in my experience everybody lies about the reason for return so they can get free return shipping. eBay its the same problem.

Amazon has created this learned behavior, since there's no penalty for claiming a perfectly good product that a buyer rented free for 29 days and wants to return is "defective/doesn't work" or "not as described".

This is also why BestBuy and Costco tightened returned windows from what they once were - too many shitheads abusing returns for free rentals.

Absolutely. However Amazon has been clamping down on it. Still very loose, but even I got a message a few years back with a warning that they'd close my account down if I did too many returns. This was after a keyboard I ordered never arrived, but showed delivered.
 
Good can't wait till Microsoft moves fully past the days of their copy apple without thinking phase
 
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