Insider Pages Reviews for Fry's Electronics

4 Stars: Great place to shop (by Jean-Philippe P.)

Jean-Philippe P. — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:08:00 GMT

Bought a PC desktop tower and was pleasantly surprised to find a very knowledgeable salesperson. He was able to tell us the difference between different fans sizes and cooling systems (air or water), what to look out for and where to find accessories online. I have had some less-than-stellar experiences in the past but this one was very good.

1 Stars: had to pay them to return the faulty battery (by mukesh j.)

mukesh j. — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:32:00 GMT

Be very careful while buying anything at this store. I had to pay them $25 transaction fee in order to return a faulty laptop batter which could hold charge for only 5 minutes. On top of that they only gave me the rest of the money as store credit (though I don't feel like every going back to a Fry's store). They even suggested me that I should have brought my laptop to the store so that I could test the battery before buying it.

Not a bad business model where you can make $25 for each bad product you sell. Must be better than the margin on a good product :(

4 Stars: Great place for parts and finished goods (by Karen M.)

Karen M. — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 19:53:00 GMT

Fry's is one of those places that's 5 stars if you know what you want and 2/3 stars if you need help.

Fry's value lies in its large selection of electronics and component parts. Normal street prices are nothing special if you're just walking off the street to check them out. Where they excel is on their frequent sales, and in this case pricing can be excellent.

Their returns policy has been more liberal from their early days. I've not had any issues with returning anything in the last couple years whether I bought it cheaper elsewhere or I simply didn't want it. Just be sure to include complete undamaged packaging and receipt.

PROS: Plenty locations in Bay Area. Very competitive sale prices.
CONS: Tough to find knowledgable service unless you locate a manager.

2 Stars: Why's This Place So Popular? (by Paul C.)

Paul C. — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 15:21:00 GMT

When I first moved out to the Bay Area, all my geek friends went on and on about Fry's and how great it was, and jumped at any chance to make a trip down here. I went once or twice, and it was an impressively large store that caters to geeks; for the electronics hobbyist, it definitely has a good selection, better than your average Radio Shack.

For a while, it seemed like their big thing was that they were cheap. Sure, you had to put up with horrific customer service, and quite often you'd find what you bought was actually an opened box, missing some things that were not returned, and then re-shrink-wrapped and sold (which I'm not even sure is *legal*), but they were cheap, and often it was worth the risk.

But that's not even true anymore. I've found better deals on unopened stuff at Best Buy than at Fry's -- and Fry's seems to not be stocking name brand computer hardware anymore, for whatever reason. So now I'm really not certain what the draw is.

They do occasionally have some good deals; they'll often do "overstock" sales, where you can get new video games or DVDs dirt cheap, but is that really such a big win?

At least parking is fairly plentiful.

PROS: Easy parking, good selection of harder-to-find parts, some good sales
CONS: Horrible customer service, no longer as competitively priced

1 Stars: Always horrible (by Lindsay J.)

Lindsay J. — Mon, 15 May 2006 17:17:00 GMT

No matter how hard I try to avoid Fry's- every once in awhile I simply have to go there- and the lack of customer service, and poor selection drive me crazy and I swear I won't ever return!

2 Stars: Frys Electronics (by michael o.)

michael o. — Sat, 13 May 2006 14:51:00 GMT

We no longer make electronics purchases at Fry's. On two occasions we were unable to return products that did not work up to par. On another purchase we were not able to redeem a $20 mail in rebate.

3 Stars: Decent in a pinch (by David C.)

David C. — Fri, 12 May 2006 11:47:00 GMT

If you are searching for help - don't go to Frys. What a bunch of nimrods. If you know exactly what you want but it's going to cost over $100, probably worth searching online.

But if you know exactly the $2 item you need, you can't find a better store.

Shall I tell you about the time I bought a hard drive there and found a different (and broken) drive in the resealed box? The upshot? I was essentially told I could not return the drive since it was different. See? I must have done it. A call to the manager and a threat to call the police managed some results. You'd think they'd have a database to figure out who their customers had been and the history. Nice work, Frys.

3 Stars: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (by John B.)

John B. — Sat, 06 May 2006 17:34:00 GMT

Fry's is one of those stores in the Bay Area that you can not live without - but wish you could.

It has a wide variety of EVERYTHING electronic. Multiple vendors, wide range of prices to suite the variety.

Unfortunately, it often seems that I know the store layout and the exact location of where something is located before a sales assistant can figure out who or where they are....

Customer service is very poor. Command of the english language is also lacking which adds to the confusion and the technical uncertianty when advice is absolutely necessary.

PROS: Wide selection, decent pricing, good brand variety
CONS: Customer Service

3 Stars: All Electronics (by 93White-Boys K.)

93White-Boys K. — Tue, 02 May 2006 17:48:00 GMT

Fry's has a very good selection of electronic goods. The prices are competitive. Make sure to check out their specials. They often advertise in the Mercury news.

PROS: Good special buys
CONS: Parking

5 Stars: frys (by Jessica N.)

Jessica N. — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 20:29:00 GMT

Fry's Electronics is a great place to buy all your electronic needs from stereos, to gaming systems, to all your kitchen needs. and their stores are super big too. we can also "test-run" products before we actually buy them.it's great for comparing items and etc. their staff is knowledgeable and their store in neat and very organized so its easy to find what you're looking for. their prices are reasonable and they sell a variety of different brands there.

3 Stars: Good buys, iffy service (by Dan B.)

Dan B. — Wed, 15 Jun 2005 12:01:00 GMT

If you know what you want or see a good deal in the paper, Fry's works. I wouldn't buy something expensive or complicated from them because I never feel that I can trust them. (I prefer to buy PCs online.) But where else can you get spare RAM, a can of pop and a set of ball bearings under one roof? It is a classic...One thing in their favor is their liberal return policy.

4 Stars: Not a bad Fry's (by Matt S.)

Matt S. — Wed, 25 May 2005 16:57:00 GMT

The parking situation is a bit of a problem, but once you're in, the store itself is nice and big. Plus you get the "benefit" of the standard-issue Fry's "service"!

4 Stars: Big on selection! You provide expertise! (by A D.)

A D. — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 15:41:00 GMT

Fry's Electronics is known as a geekk paradise. That's because it carries at least one of almost anything a techie could desire. But it's not the sort of store for someone who isn't technologically savvy, as it is also notorious for no customer service. If you know what you need, then this is the place to get it at a good price. If you require a lot of guidance, then....

4 Stars: Great Prices and Deals (by Brenda T.)

Brenda T. — Sat, 02 Apr 2005 01:35:00 GMT

This place has great deals and offers for electronic things. I go here to buy my computer stuff and the service has always been good and friendly to me. Workers there are dressed appropriately, there are a lot of lines to keep it moving, the items are very easily located and I've never had a problem once ever returning something I wasn't satisfied with. They have offers every week on the papers and the also have a repair shop inside just in case your computer goes haywire on you.

PROS: easily located items, nice workers.
CONS: none.

3 Stars: Western Theme (by Sasha N.)

Sasha N. — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 21:39:00 GMT

This Fry's Electronics is one of the original ones and has a cool western theme. It has changed a lot over the years from being an electronic parts store in the past, that was mainly frequented by computer geeks, to now mainly selling home appliances, consumer electronics, computers, and music, movies and video games. I always go here to look for CD' s because they have wide selection and seldom run out of stock on titles that are very popular, because they keep such a large stock on hand. They have some good deals on consumer electronics and home appliences if you watch the sales, but watch out for the Sales People themselves, they work on comission and it shows, good luck trying to get help in buying a non-pricey item, you pretty much get ignored.

3 Stars: (by Lionel Z.)

Lionel Z. — Fri, 05 Nov 2004 13:05:00 GMT

Small store sitting in a quiet Palo Alto street. Nothing special.

I heard they have recently expanded, maybe it's getting more attractive now.