Nobody Cares about Tech Support

Argent Stonecutter

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I like ed better than vi at first too. vi is basically a subset of teco.
 

Casey Pelous

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Something I meant to ask back when I reported on my build -- has anyone been to Fry's Electronics lately?

Our (Renton) store used to be an absolute riot of activity, especially on weekends. I needed to go pick up a couple of DisplayPort-> VGA adapters on a Sunday and figured with lockdown/WFH and WA's current "25% store capacity" rule, there'd be a line out the door.

I could not have been more wrong. Not only was there no line, there were almost zero cars in the parking lot, there was not a customer in sight in the store, nor any of their usual multitude of salespeople. Most of the lights were even off. It was pretty much one woman at the cash register, who found my pickup order quite quickly and had me out of there quite briskly.

Curious, I checked on line to see what sort of delay there was on home deliveries.

TWO WEEKS!

WTF??? I figured, they are either doing an astonishing volume of biz via home delivery, or their stock is so depleted they have to get everything from .... somewhere else. Either some warehouse or vendors ....

A bit more snooping revealed that as of just before the pandemic, they are operating strictly on consignment -- they no longer own much inventory. I can't imagine why a tech distributor would want to put stuff out on consignment when the same stuff is flying out the doors of Amazon, Newegg, and Best Buy at the speed of light.

This may turn out to be one of those business school cases on "how to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory."
 
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Argent Stonecutter

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Yeh, Frys has been increasingly empty and understocked for at least a year. They're also closing stores. I'm practically in walking distance of a Frys and I'm having to go to Microcenter 10 miles away to get stuff. I ordered a couple of spare batteries for UPSen because Frys didn't have any when I last had one go dead.
 
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Yeh, Frys has been increasingly empty and understocked for at least a year. They're also closing stores. I'm practically in walking distance of a Frys and I'm having to go to Microcenter 10 miles away to get stuff. I ordered a couple of spare batteries for UPSen because Frys didn't have any when I last had one go dead.
The closest Microcenter to me is 1000 miles away (Portland to S California).
 

Katheryne Helendale

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Yeh, Frys has been increasingly empty and understocked for at least a year. They're also closing stores. I'm practically in walking distance of a Frys and I'm having to go to Microcenter 10 miles away to get stuff. I ordered a couple of spare batteries for UPSen because Frys didn't have any when I last had one go dead.
This is sad. One of my favorite weekend activities when I lived in San Diego was to roam the local Fry's and basically window-shop, though sometimes I'd come out of there with the parts to build another computer or somesuch.

Unfortunately, where I live now, the nearest Fry's is about a three-hour drive away.
 
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Unfortunately, where I live now, the nearest Fry's is about a three-hour drive away.
When they opened the Frys here long ago, they demanded to see government id for anyone to simply enter the store. I showed it to them but was offended by that and never went back. It is rather difficult for me to get to anyway without a car.
 

Katheryne Helendale

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When they opened the Frys here long ago, they demanded to see government id for anyone to simply enter the store. I showed it to them but was offended by that and never went back. It is rather difficult for me to get to anyway without a car.
Government ID to enter the store? Oh, wow! I'd never heard of that before! Could be a policy they once had in its younger years, but I've never had to show ID to get in. Weird.
 
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Katheryne Helendale

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Government ID to enter the store? Oh, wow! I'd never heard of that before! Could be a policy they once had in its younger years, but I've never had to show ID to get in. Weird.
I had a discussion about this with my husband, and he got me to thinking that I might be misremembering things. Certainly, the last few times I've been to the San Diego or Ventura Fry's stores, I didn't have to show ID, but I'm thinking that back when we moved to San Diego in 2004, we most probably did.

I think you were right, Essence, and I apologize for calling you on it.
 
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I had a discussion about this with my husband, and he got me to thinking that I might be misremembering things. Certainly, the last few times I've been to the San Diego or Ventura Fry's stores, I didn't have to show ID, but I'm thinking that back when we moved to San Diego in 2004, we most probably did.

I think you were right, Essence, and I apologize for calling you on it.
Actually my memory was a little hazy too. Now after reading up on their history I remember it was Incredible Universe which was owned by Tandy / Radio Shack who did that. They got bought by Frys a few years later which still stands at that location.
 
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