Fry's Electronics... when is it coming to Seattle?
C George Lu
I heard a rumor back in December. Is it true? When?
C George Lu
Andrew Chiang
On 6 Mar 1997 08:46:13 GMT, C George Lu <cg...@smartt.com> wrote:
> I heard a rumor back in December. Is it true? When?
>
I remember seeing an article awhile back when Tandy decided to close
their Incredible Universe stores, they were planning to sell 6 of
their stores to Fry's Electronics.
The only thing is that, the closest Incredible Universe to Seattle is
in Auburn, which is fairly far away (about 40 minutes by car if I
remember correctly)...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andrew Chiang 5th year Computer Science
and...@seas.ucla.edu "Real programmers don't document. If it
http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~andrewc was hard to write, it should be hard
to understand."
Bruce Lane
On 6 Mar 1997 08:46:13 GMT, C George Lu <cg...@smartt.com> wrote:
>> I heard a rumor back in December. Is it true? When?
Dear God, I hope not! The original rumor was that Fry's was going to
buy out Incredible Universe's space in the Stupor Mall.
I can say, with confidence, that this fell through (if, indeed, there
was ever any truth to it), but Fry's will soon be (if they've not already)
establishing themselves a presence at Wilsonville, Oregon in the old I.U.
site there.
Let me save you the trouble of asking why I'm so down on Fly's. I grew
up in the Bay Area, less than an hour's drive from the Fly's store in
Fremont. In 15 years time, thanks to my interest in ham radio, electronics
in general, and computers, I gained knowledge of just about every surplus
electronics store, and major new equipment stores, within a 50 mile radius
of Berkeley.
Fry's was, of course, included in that area. Unfortunately, both
myself and my friends in the field found them to be a major
disappointment. I will freely admit that I have not entered a Fly's store
for at least three years but, in the time I was living in the Bay Area, it
was my understanding that they regularly practiced such tactics as:
* Bait-and-switch: Lure you in with an ad for a product they never
had, then try to push you to a higher-priced item.
* Re-shrinkwrapping returns, defective or not, missing pieces or not,
and placing them right back on the sales shelves -- at full retail price.
* Misinformation and ignorance: You could ask the same question of
five different sales 'droids and get five different answers, none of which
would be wholly accurate (or even honest in some cases).
* Being generally overpriced and undervalued, with lousy customer
service overall.
As the final crusher, it is also my understanding that at least one
Fly's store has earned a consistent 'Unsatisfactory' rating from the local
BBB. I believe it was the Sunnyvale, CA store, though I do not have
confirmation of this.
Granted, my impressions are dated. I am also aware that Washington's
consumer protection laws are pretty strict, more so than California. If
Fly's does establish a foothold up here, and they try to keep going as
they have in the past, their management is in for a nasty surprise.
And I'll be laughing all the way to the Bay Area, on one of my
electronics scrounging trips, if it happens. ;-)
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Andrew Chiang
On 7 Mar 1997 08:14:26 GMT, C George Lu <cg...@smartt.comREMOVE_THIS>
wrote:
[snip]
>> * Bait-and-switch: Lure you in with an ad for a product they
>> never had, then try to push you to a higher-priced item.
I have to agree on that.
>
> I've seen it. You're right. But, I haven't fallen for that trick
>for anything more than a $5 purchase or a $5 difference since I was 17.
> Do your homework first and you'll be okay.
>
>> * Re-shrinkwrapping returns, defective or not, missing pieces
>> or not, and placing them right back on the sales shelves --
>> at full retail price.
>
> I've seen that too. But, the re-shrunk stuff is marked as
>re-packaged from what I've seen. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I
>wouldn't touch those either. I'd want a 20% discount or more **and**
>inventory the contents. That's only if I urgently need it. My own
>rules.
>
Everytime I've seen returned stuff, it does have a sticker on it
saying that...
>> * Misinformation and ignorance: You could ask the same
>> question of five different sales 'droids and get five
>> different answers, none of which would be wholly
>> accurate (or even honest in some cases).
>
> You're right again. Some of the staff must be the weakest techno
>people in the world. But, that's the same at every large store. I see
>it at Computer City, Future Shop, Comp USA...
>
I have to agree with that assessment. A lot of the time, their sales
people know absolutely nothing, and don't even know what they carry...
>> * Being generally overpriced and undervalued, with lousy
>> customer service overall.
>
> I would disagree with you here. I don't know which surplus or
>discount stores you've run across. But, for me, Fry's prices are
>fantastic. Not every item in their inventory carries the greatest
>prices, of course. In general, nothing I've come across has such a
>massive selection and hot pricing. I ignore all cold prices.
>
Their prices aren't very good on stuff that's not on sale. Example, I
just recently bought a WD AC32500 for a friend at a local clone store
that has pretty good prices for $239. It was at Fry's for $269! All
their prices for CD-R blanks are way too high... If the item is on
sale, sometimes, it's at a very good price.
> Customer service? I don't really expect any. All I really want
>is a --CLEAR-- return policy.
>
>> As the final crusher, it is also my understanding that at least
>>one Fly's store has earned a consistent 'Unsatisfactory' rating from
>>the local BBB. I believe it was the Sunnyvale, CA store, though I do
>>not have confirmation of this.
>>
>> Granted, my impressions are dated. I am also aware that
>>Washington's consumer protection laws are pretty strict, more so than
>>California. If Fly's does establish a foothold up here, and they try
>>to keep going as they have in the past, their management is in for a
>>nasty surprise.
>>
>> And I'll be laughing all the way to the Bay Area, on one of my
>>electronics scrounging trips, if it happens. ;-)
>
> My experience with Fry's has been very limited. I enjoy going to
>one whenever I visit my brother in San Jose. I feel like a kid in a
>candy store. I know. What a geeky thing to say :)) The truth is, in
>Vancouver, B.C., there's nothing close!!! I was looking forward to
>having a Fry's a mere 2.5-hour's drive away.
>
I've personally been to the Campbell, Fremont, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale,
and Manhattan Beach stores. I would say my impressions pretty much
hold true across all their stores that I've been too...
> I've seen a few ads from the Seattle area. After the 1.385
>currency exchange, your prices down there are not that hot. I would
>think you'd like to see Fry's there for the competition, if nothing
>else. My eyeball Dec96 comparisons shows Fry's has **lower** prices on
>a lot of **hot hot** items. I bought a Quantum TM33200S in Dec96 that
>carried a hot price 3 or 4 weeks ahead of almost everyone else on the
>West Coast.
>
One thing that's really bugged me is that I've sometimes had to wait
FOREVER at the register (I'm not including the time to wait in line).
This has happened twice so far.... the most recent time, I bought a
cordless phone, Brita water filter, and some RAM (as a separate
transaction). I wanted to pay by credit card for the 1st 2 items, and
check for the last one. After the stupid cashier futzed around, went
away to check the price on something that rang up lower than what was
on the box (because they forgot to change it on the box), and went
thru a whole long process to verify my check... I gave up and paid for
the RAM by credit card as well. How much time was I waiting at the
register? 35 minutes!!!
BTW, for a pretty funny description (that's also pretty true) of them,
see http://www.crl.com/~jnelson/nauseam/verbage/seven.htm.
On a positive note, they do have one of the largest selections of
computer and electronics stuff and are usually cheaper than places
like CompUSA, Computer City, Egghead, Electronics Boutique, and
Software Etc...
C George Lu
On 07Mar97 05:39:24 GMT kyr...@wizards.net (Bruce Lane) wrote:
>On 6 Mar 1997 08:46:13 GMT, C George Lu <cg...@smartt.com> wrote:
>
>> I heard a rumor back in December. Is it true? When?
>
> Dear God, I hope not! The original rumor was that Fry's was
>going to buy out Incredible Universe's space in the Stupor Mall.
>
> I can say, with confidence, that this fell through (if, indeed,
>there was ever any truth to it), but Fry's will soon be (if they've
>not already) establishing themselves a presence at Wilsonville, Oregon
>in the old I.U. site there.
>
> Let me save you the trouble of asking why I'm so down on Fly's.
>I grew up in the Bay Area, less than an hour's drive from the Fly's
>store in Fremont. In 15 years time, thanks to my interest in ham
>radio, electronics in general, and computers, I gained knowledge of
>just about every surplus electronics store, and major new equipment
>stores, within a 50 mile radius of Berkeley.
>
> Fry's was, of course, included in that area. Unfortunately,
>both myself and my friends in the field found them to be a major
>disappointment. I will freely admit that I have not entered a Fly's
>store for at least three years but, in the time I was living in the
>Bay Area, it was my understanding that they regularly practiced such
>tactics as:
>
> never had, then try to push you to a higher-priced item.
I've seen it. You're right. But, I haven't fallen for that trick
for anything more than a $5 purchase or a $5 difference since I was 17.
Do your homework first and you'll be okay.
> * Re-shrinkwrapping returns, defective or not, missing pieces
> or not, and placing them right back on the sales shelves --
> at full retail price.
I've seen that too. But, the re-shrunk stuff is marked as
re-packaged from what I've seen. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I
wouldn't touch those either. I'd want a 20% discount or more **and**
inventory the contents. That's only if I urgently need it. My own
rules.
> * Misinformation and ignorance: You could ask the same
> question of five different sales 'droids and get five
> different answers, none of which would be wholly
> accurate (or even honest in some cases).
You're right again. Some of the staff must be the weakest techno
people in the world. But, that's the same at every large store. I see
it at Computer City, Future Shop, Comp USA...
> * Being generally overpriced and undervalued, with lousy
> customer service overall.
I would disagree with you here. I don't know which surplus or
discount stores you've run across. But, for me, Fry's prices are
fantastic. Not every item in their inventory carries the greatest
prices, of course. In general, nothing I've come across has such a
massive selection and hot pricing. I ignore all cold prices.
Customer service? I don't really expect any. All I really want
is a --CLEAR-- return policy.
> As the final crusher, it is also my understanding that at least
>one Fly's store has earned a consistent 'Unsatisfactory' rating from
>the local BBB. I believe it was the Sunnyvale, CA store, though I do
>not have confirmation of this.
>
> Granted, my impressions are dated. I am also aware that
>Washington's consumer protection laws are pretty strict, more so than
>California. If Fly's does establish a foothold up here, and they try
>to keep going as they have in the past, their management is in for a
>nasty surprise.
>
> And I'll be laughing all the way to the Bay Area, on one of my
>electronics scrounging trips, if it happens. ;-)
My experience with Fry's has been very limited. I enjoy going to
one whenever I visit my brother in San Jose. I feel like a kid in a
candy store. I know. What a geeky thing to say :)) The truth is, in
Vancouver, B.C., there's nothing close!!! I was looking forward to
having a Fry's a mere 2.5-hour's drive away.
I've seen a few ads from the Seattle area. After the 1.385
Line Printer
C George Lu <cg...@smartt.com> writes:
> I heard a rumor back in December. Is it true? When?
If you are lucky, it'll never happen. It's too bad that incompetence is
among the strongest forces in the universe so there is probably little we
can do to stop it.
--
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Mark Johnson
> >
> their Incredible Universe stores, they were planning to sell 6 of
> their stores to Fry's Electronics.
>
> The only thing is that, the closest Incredible Universe to Seattle is
> in Auburn, which is fairly far away (about 40 minutes by car if I
> remember correctly)...
> Andrew Chiang 5th year Computer Science
> and...@seas.ucla.edu "Real programmers don't document. If it
> http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~andrewc was hard to write, it should be hard
> to understand."
Their customer service is really unfriendly especially when you
try to return the product.
Chang-Ping Lee
In article <331febeb...@news.ucla.edu>,
Andrew Chiang <and...@seas.ucla.edu> wrote:
>
>One thing that's really bugged me is that I've sometimes had to wait
>FOREVER at the register (I'm not including the time to wait in line).
>This has happened twice so far.... the most recent time, I bought a
>cordless phone, Brita water filter, and some RAM (as a separate
>transaction). I wanted to pay by credit card for the 1st 2 items, and
>check for the last one. After the stupid cashier futzed around, went
>away to check the price on something that rang up lower than what was
>on the box (because they forgot to change it on the box), and went
>thru a whole long process to verify my check... I gave up and paid for
>the RAM by credit card as well. How much time was I waiting at the
>register? 35 minutes!!!
35 minutes at the register (not including wait in line)
is not bad at all. Try to buy a HD, a short guy with a
pencil on his ear may keep you waiting much longer than
35 minutes.
Check serial number on receipt before you sign (credit
card) or pay. Last time they typed it wrong, I couldn't
get it corrected and had to return it and buy again.
(Nope, I hadn't left the store and come back later.)
In that particular case, it took me more than 1.5 hour
to get a HD.
Not always like this. All in all, it's still okay, and
I still consider it my first choice for PC upgrade.
Chang