goin to CA soon, to be a CC tychoon

general Fry's has several "policies" in place (or used to, I haven't been in that crap-hole for years) that fall under that category. They have shrink-wrap machines at every location and often re-wrap returns to re-sell as new - even those reported as defective by the customer returning them! (Hearsay from an ex-employee followed up by observing stacks of items that, to me anyway, were obviously re-wrapped) They deliberately make returns difficult so that people who buy recycled junk often won't bother to try getting their money back. If they do, the item's usually just head back to the shelves anyway. (Again, told to me by an ex-employee who I consider reliable) I remember purchasing RAM for an old P-III there once. The first SIMMS were bad so I brought them back. They tossed them on a tester at the returns desk (which took 45 minutes to get to) and told me "Yup, they're bad." Not one, not two, not even three, but ALL FOUR that I purchased were defective. The returns clerk put them in a large parts bin already full of similar items and, I'm fairly certain, eventually put that bin back in the stock area. I asked if I could do an exchange and test the replacements before I left and was told that store policy prohibited that. . . !!! I consider those things to be theft. The fact that I haven't met a Fry's employee who wasn't a drooling idiot (my friend was obviously too bright for the place! :) and the fact that the store always seemed to be out of the single thing you came in for always bothered me as well. One fun thing to try, by the way: When the Fry's bonehead at the guarded exit tries to search your bag, just walk on by. As it turns out they can't legally search your property (which the bag is the moment you pay for it) unless they have some reasonable belief that you are stealing. If they don't have this and detain you it is the equivalent of false arrest. I'm not alone, by the way: http://www.nonmundane.org/~dspisak/frys/frys.html http://www.accesscom.com/~dave6592/ http://billzhouse.com/rants/frys.html http://www.doofus.org/frys/ ("What Fry's won't tell you is that you do not have to let them inspect your bags. In fact, it is illegal for Fry's to detain you to search your property without first charging you with shoplifting.") http://archive.salon.com/21st/feature/1998/05/cov_21feature2.html ("And the horror stories are not just anecdotal. Most of Fry's Silicon Valley stores have "unsatisfactory" records with the Santa Clara Better Business Bureau for not responding to complaints -- although they do appear to resolve complaints reported to the Santa Clara County district attorney.") The list goes on, I just wish Fry's wouldn't. Erik Klein www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum The Vintage Computer Forum -----Original Message----- From: cctalk-admin(a)classiccmp.org [mailto:cctalk-admin@classiccmp.org] On Behalf Of Mail List Sent: Saturday, June 07, 2003 9:40 PM To: cctalk(a)classiccmp.org Subject: RE: goin to CA soon, to be a CC tychoon Erik, Why do you suggest that Fry's is "effectively stealing from the general public." At 03:42 PM 6/7/03 -0700, you wrote: out a later I me