holy shit what a place

I had always heard that Fry's was a great store and when I moved to Tucson I was absolutely delighted to see that there were several Fry's

I was hugely disappointed to find out they were low to moderate end grocery stores (two of which have since closed)

but the electronics version was pretty cool

I hate them. Utterly.

1) be careful what you buy -- even (re-)shrink wrapped may be returns

2) customer (non-)service are assholes.

3) I hate these stores.

I happily pay extra if necessary to avoid buying anything from that place. Haven't been to one in 20 years. Good riddance for all a care.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
I hate them. Utterly.

1) be careful what you buy -- even (re-)shrink wrapped may be returns

2) customer (non-)service are assholes.

3) I hate these stores.

I happily pay extra if necessary to avoid buying anything from that place. Haven't been to one in 20 years. Good riddance for all a care.

+1 good place to get ripped off.

quote:

Originally posted by jbcummings:

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
I hate them. Utterly.

1) be careful what you buy -- even (re-)shrink wrapped may be returns

2) customer (non-)service are assholes.

3) I hate these stores.

I happily pay extra if necessary to avoid buying anything from that place. Haven't been to one in 20 years. Good riddance for all a care.

+1 good place to get ripped off.

^^^What they noted above applies to the San Diego store.

What the place is good for, IMO, is the vast quantity allow the shopper to do a side-by-side comparison.

Yep...kinda reminds me of some LGSs that I avoid!

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:

quote:

Originally posted by jbcummings:

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
I hate them. Utterly.

1) be careful what you buy -- even (re-)shrink wrapped may be returns
Had this happen to me and it very clear it was a return; was a major hassle getting a refund...see #2

2) customer (non-)service are assholes.
Enough said.

3) I hate these stores.
Kinda fun to visit but you're better off buying online -- #1 & #2

I happily pay extra if necessary to avoid buying anything from that place. Haven't been to one in 20 years. Good riddance for all a care.

+1 good place to get ripped off.

^^^What they noted above applies to the San Diego store.

What the place is good for, IMO, is the vast quantity allow the shopper to do a side-by-side comparison.

I like them, been using them for years. Their prices are usually solid, and they price match Amazon and other online retailers.

I just inspect the packaging carefully. And, of course, their return policy is decent.... which is why there's so many opened boxes on the shelves.

All the complaints listed so far are 100% valid, but I still wish I had a Fry's close by. There are times when you just need one component that you need to pop over and get, or don't want to wait for shipping, and the selection is huge. There are great deals to be had at times.

Like many things, if you know what you're getting yourself in to and are aware of the potential pitfalls, then you'll be fine.

I did notice an awful lot of 'open' boxes on the shelves

I guess it like any other place - caveat emptor - but if you know what you're looking at and know what its worth, its nice to have a one-stop place for hobbyist electronics

Closest store to Tucson is in Glendale. Is that the store you visited?

We have one here in Austin, TX and I thought the place was great when it first opened long ago, but I very rarely ever go there anymore. The last time I went was a few years ago when comparing prices for a new computer for my wife. I probably should go check them out again to see what they have, but you do have to be careful of what you buy as they do carry some crappy stuff in addition to good stuff.

Fry's used to be awesome 12 to 15 years ago. Still used them '05 to '09, but it was just for stuff I was too impatient to purchase online or didn't quite know what I wanted.

The Internet (New Egg, Amazon, etc) has really taken its toll on the place, and now they're saving money by not cleaning, not keeping the shelves organized, seemed to have dimmed the lighting, etc. Seem to have a lot of dead inventory of obsolete crap they're unlikely to ever sell.

quote:

Originally posted by ridgerat:
Closest store to Tucson is in Glendale. Is that the store you visited?

no - I happened to stumble across it here in Vegas - I was at Staples getting materials for tomorrow's exams and saw the sign on the other side of the street

Assholes selectively price match. MCM and Newark had better prices on Raspberry Pis. Fry's refused to price match them. I was in a San Diego store. It was dump like Atlanta and El Segundo (LA). Never will shop Fry's again.