[wishysgb]

At a point in my life I liked that place but that was a very brief moment. I saw they did everything wrong, they staff wasn't knowledgeable and you wouldn't expect them to be at minimum wage. The isles I cared about most, the electronics component and the test equipment isles were always shitty, if I bought something it would never get restocked again.

[BeetleB]

Sad to hear these stories. For me, Fry's was the opposite. I wouldn't call them experts, but they were more knowledgeable than the competition (Best Buy, etc). Also, no other place in this city that has some of the components they would sell. Now the only option is to buy online.

[geocrasher]

To be fair, "more knowledgeable than Best Buy" is a pretty low bar. In desperation I went to a Best Buy looking for a SATA controller (circa 2004) and they said "The controllers are over here..." and took me to the game pads and joy sticks.

[aatharuv]

I can beat that.

A couple of years ago, I'd asked where their UPS's were (I'd bought one from a Best Buy more than 10 years back so I knew they had stocked them) and they told me there was a Fedex near by.

[geocrasher]

L O L !

That's hysterical. Thanks for sharing it!

[mark-r]

The last time I went to Best Buy I wanted a laptop. Found a good one but there weren't any out on the floor, so I waited forever for a salesperson to help. They went into the back room and came back out, saying it was an older model that was no longer available but I could have the replacement model if I wanted. I asked to see that model and they said sorry, we don't have a display unit. I whipped out my phone and quickly found out that Micro Center had it in stock, on sale for $50 less. Couldn't get out of there fast enough.

[BeetleB]

Yeah, I too had an annoying case where the Best Buy salesperson pretty much said he wouldn't help me find the product that their web site claimed was in stock. He just pointed me to the aisle and said "If we have it, it's there" - ignoring my remarks about it not being in that aisle.

So I went online, ordered it for pickup, and simply came back a few hours later and picked it up.

I needed it the following day so I couldn't rely on an online purchase with shipping.

[mark-r]

In my case I had a local Micro Center store, so I didn't have to wait for shipping. It was just an inconvenient drive.

[BeetleB]

> To be fair, "more knowledgeable than Best Buy" is a pretty low bar.

Now that Fry's is gone, Best Buy is the only option in town. So yes, it's a low bar, but it is the only bar here.

[radium3d]

Yet now online has no product in stock either, just like Fry's.