Fry's Electronics? Let's Talk Quality, or How To Lose a $1,000 Sale! (Dec 2, 2011)

It's too bad that the store itself has got some learning to do.

I went to look at some Wi-Fi radios that were on display. None of them worked. Can't they set up some kind of Wi-Fi router nearby so we can figger out how to tune in some of the stations?

Tried to listen to some HD radios there. No luck. The place needs an antenna installed outside and hook them up to the radios inside so we can tune them in. The store is located in a valley, blocking most of all of the radio signals.

Are there any digtial video recorders on display that people could play with to see how it works? It's not hooked up to cable or outside antenna, unfortunately, so how can we see how they work before we buy them?

Tried to look for computers. Looking for some that have USB 3.0 jacks. Most on display still had 2.0, which was acceptable, but with 3.0 replacing Firewire and eSata, it's the way to go. Frieds has a wide selection of desktop and laptop computers, compared to others. Wal-Mart had a half dozen laptops and two desktops, none of which I could find displayed. Target has two laptops but NO desktops. Bust Buy in La Mesa had a paltry four desktops today, compared to some two dozen it once had in 2000, but a dozen or so laptops.

I went to look for a laptop. Most had features I wanted, but lacked an SD card slot for camera shots, a Line-In jack for hooking up the stereo, and a DVI output for the monitor. Many had the analog video output, but a few had HDMI jacks, which needed an HDMI to DVI converter so I could use the digital monitor. One on display had a Solid State drive built in, but they were sold out. I looked and settled for a laptop with advanced features. Problems arose since then before I even got out my credit card. A salesman at Fried's gave me the scare tactic of buying a service contract costing $300 for three years, but not renewable annually. That was sort of a deal breaker. My current computer in its fifth year is just beginning to break down. Most computers last four years anyway before needing to have a hard drive replaced as the first problem to arise. He kept giving me the talk about computers made in China and costly service calls to India and all that jazz. He wrote out the ticket and told me to take it to the clerks.

I took it to a cashier clerk, but at the same time, another man walked to the same clerk I was arriving at. The cashier chose the other guy to serve first. I decided to go to another clerk to make a purchase, but the other clerk was too busy for me. So I decided to just "f" it and cancel the purchase. I don't like being treated like a cattle as Fried's did to me.

That's how to lose a $1,000 sale.