Fry's Electronics
Selling Used and Opened Items as New

Ok, so this is not some much that I feel that I need a resolution to this, this is more to tell my little short story about the Fry's Rip Off experience.

A few days ago I went in to buy a specific motherboard from the Fountain Valley location. After my fiancee and I looked for a few minutes on the the extremely disorganized product shelves we enlisted the help of one of the employees. The guy went to check the computer to see if any were in stock as we were not able to find any. He came back and sort of shrugged and inconclusively stated there weren't any in stock, which basically told me that not only did he not actually look but that he just didn't care. I then began to look at the more expensive, later model of the motherboard they did have in stock when my fiancee found a "returned" model of the one I came in for. It was all taped up and had a discount sticker attached. So we decided to take the chance as the price was about $35 less than the later model and offered almost nothing less than that one either as far as features go.

We grabbed the motherboard and waited for the guy that "helped" us originally to print up some sort of pre-sales receipt... Still have no idea what for though. We then took it up to the check out line and waited about 10 minutes to then be checked by a guy that could barely speak English. I asked him if he could open the motherboard box to check its contents to which he sort of nodded and never did because he could understand what I was saying. I shrugged it off and decided I would check when I got to the car. We finally checked out and of course were accosted by the teenager at the door who wanted to highlight my receipt.

Once at the car, I opened to box and found that the I/O back metal panel was missing, there were a few components thrown in the box that didn't even belong and the motherboard just seemed a little beat up. I thought "why would Fry's put this back on the shelf?" So, annoyed, I walked back in and waited for about 10 minutes in the return line. I watched about 5 customer service people walk around while helping people, managers constantly going to the CS registers to act official while typing in some return code for the CS person and all sorts of other unnecessary things. I finally got a guy to help me. I told him that I had just purchased the board and am now returning it due to parts missing. He opened the box pulled the motherboard out and began to put his hands all over the circuitry. I was shocked... No wonder the board was placed back on the shelf for sale... With people that don't even know how to handle a motherboard doing the returns it makes sense! He then pointed out to me that not only were parts missing but that many of the processor contact pins were bent. I hadn't even noticed that. He then further told me that despite the 15 day return policy, if I had not noticed these things before I left and had waited to bring it back in the next day or two he wasn't sure they would have taken it back at all. I was even more shocked. Regardless, I returned the motherboard and of course was given store credit as they always do at Fry's.

I then went back and grabbed the newer, more expensive motherboard and had the sales guy print me another pre-sales receipt. I then waited in an even longer checkout line that took abut 15 minutes to get through. I made it by the teenage highlighter and to my car about 25 - 30 minuted later where my fiancee was lying down reading her book. I then opened the package only to find that I had just purchased another USED motherboard that they sold to me as new. The SATA cable package was torn open, the seal on the anti-static bag containing the board was opened and not even taped shut and it also appeared as though the 4 pin cover on the 24 pin power connector was missing. After checking to make sure everything at least looked all right I took it home and installed it. I'm happy to say I'm writing this report with my new computer setup with the motherboard. But, I'm so astonished at how shifty one store can be.

Fry's is a horrendously shady store, with horrible CS and wait times. They sell used items and new and everything is unbelievably unorganized and very "warehouse feeling", yet most of their prices are still higher than other stores like Best Buy and Target. I left Fry's that day knowing that I would never be returning and wondering why anyone would even shop there. You don't get a good deal, and they don't even try to make it a good experience. On top of it nearly everything they sell can be found at Target, Walmart or BestBuy. And even though BestBuy's CS isn't very good either it still destroys Fry's.

Ac_slater
foothill ranch, California
U.S.A.

Company: Fry's Electronics
Country: USA
State: California
City: Fountain Valley
Address: 10800 Kalama River Avenue
Phone: 7143784400

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