I have bought many motherboard-cpu combinations from
Fry's and, upon reflection, I realize I have had problems
with *every* one of them. Sometimes I have to return
them, but if the problem is not too serious I just live
with it. I wonder if I am the only one who has such
problems. Most recent example is a MB whose sound level
was way too low. I just stuck in a pci card.


What is your experience?

On Sep 13, 11:43*am, root wrote:
I have bought many motherboard-cpu combinations from
Fry's and, upon reflection, I realize I have had problems
with *every* one of them. Sometimes I have to return
them, but if the problem is not too serious I just live
with it. I wonder if I am the only one who has such
problems. Most recent example is a MB whose sound level
was way too low. I just stuck in a pci card.

What is your experience?

I've bought at least 6 board / processor sets and have had problems
with one of them and looking back on the one, it's entirely possible I
was doing something dumb and the board itself was fine. I'm not going
to buy another Maxtor drive though. Gee, I should go over today as
they have a 1500 gig Segate drive for $105.

Keep in mind the only questions you should ever ask a Fry's guy is
"what aisle is ??? on? " or "do you have more of these?".

G²

root wrote:

I have bought many motherboard-cpu combinations from
Fry's and, upon reflection, I realize I have had problems
with *every* one of them. Sometimes I have to return
them, but if the problem is not too serious I just live
with it. I wonder if I am the only one who has such
problems. Most recent example is a MB whose sound level
was way too low. I just stuck in a pci card.


What is your experience?
Are you implying that they maybe sending you returned garbage?

No, can it be?

Do you honestly believe that a merchant would do that to you?

Ha , Ha.

wrote:

On Sep 13, 11:43 am, root wrote:
I have bought many motherboard-cpu combinations from
Fry's and, upon reflection, I realize I have had problems
with *every* one of them. Sometimes I have to return
them, but if the problem is not too serious I just live
with it. I wonder if I am the only one who has such
problems. Most recent example is a MB whose sound level
was way too low. I just stuck in a pci card.

What is your experience?

I've bought at least 6 board / processor sets and have had problems
with one of them and looking back on the one, it's entirely possible I
was doing something dumb and the board itself was fine. I'm not going
to buy another Maxtor drive though. Gee, I should go over today as
they have a 1500 gig Segate drive for $105.

Keep in mind the only questions you should ever ask a Fry's guy is
"what aisle is ??? on? " or "do you have more of these?".

G²
You must remember, he comments on the onboard sound being low, I hope he
does realize that most integrated MB sound, requires amplified speakers.

On Sun, 13 Sep 2009 18:43:39 +0000 (UTC), root
wrote:

I have bought many motherboard-cpu combinations from
Fry's and, upon reflection, I realize I have had problems
with *every* one of them. Sometimes I have to return
them, but if the problem is not too serious I just live
with it. I wonder if I am the only one who has such
problems. Most recent example is a MB whose sound level
was way too low. I just stuck in a pci card.

What is your experience?

Fry's was selling ECS motherboards up until about Feb 2009. They've
switched to Biostar, which I guess is an improvement if you like
bottom of the line motheboards. I have various friends, and friends
of friends, who buy these kits at Fry's, and then come to me asking
for help with various issues. Oddly, it's not the same problem every
time. The usual are blown ports, broken connectrs, bogus drivers,
slow performance, and static damaged processors. I've seen several
boards that were not identified on the manufacturer's site because
they were surplus from OEM system builders. I haven't seen any of the
Biostar motherboards. My guess is that Fry's hasn't had enough time
to recycle the returns back onto the shelves.

I guess you've seen this:
http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=13794
It's no coincidence that Fry's switched from ECS to Biostar. This
person also had setup a shell company, that acted as a middle man on
wholesale motherboard purchases. They marked up ECS board prices and
pocketed the difference. He may have possibly recycled returns but
that's not certain. Since he also authorized the purchases for Fry's,
it was easy to do.

Find a better source for your boards.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

In article ,
Jeff Liebermann wrote:

Find a better source for your boards.

Or, at least, be reasonably cautious about what brand and model you
are buying.

My guess is that Frys (like most mass-market merchants) puts together
"deal" combo packages to hit specific low-price points, knowing that
consumers are often very price-sensitive. As a result of this
approach, the components in these "deal" packages tend to be cheaply
built, and not terribly robust. Even if Fry's weren't recycling
consumer-returned components (which they do - they're usually marked
as such with a small discount, but I imagine that some aren't properly
marked) the reliability of the combo packages isn't great.

Cheap is often very expensive.

I think you're better off selecting specific models and components
from the higher-tier manufacturers *before* you go into the store...
build your own system design rather than depending on whatever package
Fry's is tossing together this week. If Fry's happens to have them
(and I wouldn't bet on it) and you're willing to trust that the
specific one you pick off the shelf is actually new and not a return,
it's probably OK to buy from them... you know you can return 'em if
you aren't happy.

I tend to prefer to mail-order the components I want (I've used
NewEgg.com several times with good results) - the chances seem better
that I can actually find what I want in-stock, rather than having to
call around to six different Fry's stores and get put on hold for eons
before being allowed to talk to a salesdroid to find out whether their
computer says it's in-stock and whether there's actually one on the
shelf.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

I'm lucky. There's a "computer row" not far from Microsoft. I can go to
Northwest Hard Drives and know that I'll get knowledgable service at a
reasonable price. My current machine was purchased over eight years ago from
them, and it's still perking along fine.

Try to find a speciality shop. Fry's is nice for parts, and for components
if you know what you want, but I wouldn't depend on them for any "real"
assistance. (The other day I asked for wire-wrap wire, and the guy wanted to
sell me connectors.)

"Jamie" t wrote in message
...
| root wrote:
|
| I have bought many motherboard-cpu combinations from
| Fry's and, upon reflection, I realize I have had problems
| with *every* one of them. Sometimes I have to return
| them, but if the problem is not too serious I just live
| with it. I wonder if I am the only one who has such
| problems. Most recent example is a MB whose sound level
| was way too low. I just stuck in a pci card.
|
|
| What is your experience?
| Are you implying that they maybe sending you returned garbage?
|
| No, can it be?
|
| Do you honestly believe that a merchant would do that to you?
|
| Ha , Ha.

Well, with Fry's, whenever I've returned something, even unopened, they open
it, check that all the stuff is there and then slap a returned sticker on it
and that generally winds up back on the shelf at a discounted price. At
least you can tell if it's been returned. I recently returned a set of noise
cancelling earphones that were defective - they accepted what I said and put
a return to vendor sticker on the package.

root wrote:
I have bought many motherboard-cpu combinations from
Fry's and, upon reflection, I realize I have had problems
with *every* one of them. Sometimes I have to return
them, but if the problem is not too serious I just live
with it. I wonder if I am the only one who has such
problems. Most recent example is a MB whose sound level
was way too low. I just stuck in a pci card.


What is your experience?

http://www.newegg.com/

--
1PW

On Sun, 13 Sep 2009 14:22:48 -0700, "iws" wrote:

Well, with Fry's, whenever I've returned something, even unopened, they open
it, check that all the stuff is there and then slap a returned sticker on it
and that generally winds up back on the shelf at a discounted price.

I once bought a rather pricey video card that had been returned. I
had no way to inspect the contents at the store. When I arrived home,
instead of the expensive video card, a cheap junk commodity video card
had been substituted. The previous buyer of the card had done the
swap, and the expert Fry's staff could not recognize the difference
between the pricey card and the cheap junk commodity card when it was
returned. Caveat Emptor.

I've also bought returns where something important was missing. For
example, an ATI All-in-Wonder card, that included a fancy cable the
connector box. The card was present and accounted for, but not the
cable. The Fry's employee that accepted the return could have looked
at the contents listed on the outside of the box, but I suspect that
would have been asking to much.

In both cases, complaining to Fry's produced sympathy, and nothing
else.

I have other Fry's horror stories, both first and 2nd hand, but you
can find those all over the web. The above are simply two problems
I've experienced with repackaged merchandise.

At
least you can tell if it's been returned. I recently returned a set of noise
cancelling earphones that were defective - they accepted what I said and put
a return to vendor sticker on the package.

Most large electronics stores and online vendors have enough clout to
force the manufacturer to accept all returns. Costco and Best Buy
both do that. When something is returned by the customer, it goes
back to the manufacturer or distributor. However, this is only
functional with high priced hardware, where the exercise is
financially worth the effort. You can usually find the returns marked
as "remanufactured", "reconditioned", or "refurbished". Dealing with
and reselling the returns has turned into a rather substantial
industry. It's a large enough business that most computah
manufactories have their own online outlet stores:
http://www.delloutlet.com
www.shopping.hp.com/outlet
http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/bstorelist.to?coid=-29405
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchCatalog?outlet=true&langId=-1&storeId=10151&docname=ShoppingArea%2FCatalogSect ion%2FOutletSubsection%2FOutletDisplay_Generic3.js p&N=4294961692&catalogId=10551&categoryId=16160
etc.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

I once bought a rather pricey video card that had been returned.
I had no way to inspect the contents at the store. When I got
home, instead of the expensive video card, a cheap junk
commodity video card had been substituted. The previous buyer
had done the swap, and the expert Fry's staff could not recognize
the difference between the pricey card and the cheap junk
commodity card when it was returned. Caveat Emptor.

Wasn't he one of the worst Roman tyrants?

Had it been marked as returned?

I appreciate the warning. I generally buy only DVDs/BDs and parts at Fry's.
I'll keep this in mind if and when I buy anything "nice". Thanks.

William Sommerwerck wrote:

I once bought a rather pricey video card that had been returned.
I had no way to inspect the contents at the store. When I got
home, instead of the expensive video card, a cheap junk
commodity video card had been substituted. The previous buyer
had done the swap, and the expert Fry's staff could not recognize
the difference between the pricey card and the cheap junk
commodity card when it was returned. Caveat Emptor.


Wasn't he one of the worst Roman tyrants?

Had it been marked as returned?

I appreciate the warning. I generally buy only DVDs/BDs and parts at Fry's.
I'll keep this in mind if and when I buy anything "nice". Thanks.


Kind of reminds me of when my son bought a wireless dual logitech
keyboard and mouse for $99 from Best Buy.

Got it home and open it..

There laid the contents.

Standard Key board with it's cord ripped out.

Standard Mouse (ball type), with it's cord ripped out.

On top of that, both these items looked brand new, as if some one
may have just bought a new computer and switched them. This store does
on sight upgrades so something tells me a salesman give some one a nice
mouse and keyboard for their cheap desktop they just purchased..

Taking it back was a horror show.. It was going to turn into a legal
battle because I was not going to allow Best Buy to take my kid's $99
from them. They tried like hell to just push me away after they already
told my kid to get lost when he present the package with the contents as
he received it.

I guess the call my wife made and me taking down names of the
managers of the store plus calling head quarters from that store kind of
told them I wasn't going to stop.

I was in the right, I knew it, I had them. I was going for it and
smelling as I was writing managers name down. She finally made a
phone call and then they decided it was in their best interest to give
me a new package. And I did open it at the store to make sure the
contents was there.
Strange thing about this though, I made a suggestion that I thought
this took place in the store since they do upgrades there. I notice one
employee was staying clear of this little gathering at the service desk..
All the others were looking at the contents and could not believe what
they saw how ever, the manager did notice this one employ kind of high
tailed it to the back of the store just as I said that as I look rite at
him!.

Before I left to go to the store, I had already Email head quarters
of the even because of what they did to my son, I was going to take care of
it, even if it meant legal battles.

I didn't get a response until I got back home, when I read it, all it
said was about this rock hard policy about customer returns..
Essentially, the way it was worded, its your tough **** if you get screwed!

I replied back indicating that their store manager did the right thing
by replacing the items and to never call me or reply back to me any
more and I was going do my shopping else where, where they took better
care of their customers and were a little more responsible for their own
dirty laundry with in instead of making the customers pay for it.

"Jeff Liebermann" wrote in message
...
| On Sun, 13 Sep 2009 14:22:48 -0700, "iws" wrote:
|
| Well, with Fry's, whenever I've returned something, even unopened, they
open
| it, check that all the stuff is there and then slap a returned sticker on
it
| and that generally winds up back on the shelf at a discounted price.
|
| I once bought a rather pricey video card that had been returned.

Well, that's your first mistake isn't it? I never buy returned stuff from
Fry's unless it's all that's available and I'm desperate. The one time I can
recall doing that, I opened it up in the store to make sure the right items
were all there.
I
| had no way to inspect the contents at the store.

Sorry, I'd insist on doing it at the cash register on such an item.

When I arrived home,
| instead of the expensive video card, a cheap junk commodity video card
| had been substituted. The previous buyer of the card had done the
| swap, and the expert Fry's staff could not recognize the difference
| between the pricey card and the cheap junk commodity card when it was
| returned. Caveat Emptor.
|
| I've also bought returns where something important was missing. For
| example, an ATI All-in-Wonder card, that included a fancy cable the
| connector box. The card was present and accounted for, but not the
| cable. The Fry's employee that accepted the return could have looked
| at the contents listed on the outside of the box, but I suspect that
| would have been asking to much.
|
| In both cases, complaining to Fry's produced sympathy, and nothing
| else.

So they claim you made the switch when you returned it?

| I have other Fry's horror stories, both first and 2nd hand, but you
| can find those all over the web. The above are simply two problems
| I've experienced with repackaged merchandise.

That's why you should avoid returned stuff. BTW, I've never had a problem
returning stuff to Fry's and I do it fairly frequently.
|
| At
| least you can tell if it's been returned. I recently returned a set of
noise
| cancelling earphones that were defective - they accepted what I said and
put
| a return to vendor sticker on the package.
|
| Most large electronics stores and online vendors have enough clout to
| force the manufacturer to accept all returns. Costco and Best Buy
| both do that. When something is returned by the customer, it goes
| back to the manufacturer or distributor. However, this is only
| functional with high priced hardware, where the exercise is
| financially worth the effort. You can usually find the returns marked
| as "remanufactured", "reconditioned", or "refurbished". Dealing with
| and reselling the returns has turned into a rather substantial
| industry. It's a large enough business that most computah
| manufactories have their own online outlet stores:
| http://www.delloutlet.com
| www.shopping.hp.com/outlet
| http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/bstorelist.to?coid=-29405
|
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SearchCatalog?outlet=true&langId=-1&storeId=10151&docname=ShoppingArea%2FCatalogSect ion%2FOutletSubsection%2FOutletDisplay_Generic3.js p&N=4294961692&catalogId=10551&categoryId=16160
| etc.
|
| --
| Jeff Liebermann
| 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
| Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
| Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
| I once bought a rather pricey video card that had been returned.
| I had no way to inspect the contents at the store. When I got
| home, instead of the expensive video card, a cheap junk
| commodity video card had been substituted. The previous buyer
| had done the swap, and the expert Fry's staff could not recognize
| the difference between the pricey card and the cheap junk
| commodity card when it was returned. Caveat Emptor.
|
| Wasn't he one of the worst Roman tyrants?
|
| Had it been marked as returned?

That's one of the nice things about Fry's - you can tell that something's
been returned because it has a sticker showing that and usually a discounted
price.

|
| I appreciate the warning. I generally buy only DVDs/BDs and parts at
Fry's.
| I'll keep this in mind if and when I buy anything "nice". Thanks.
|
I know it's fashionable to dump on Fry's but their sale prices are usually
pretty good and their personnel are no more clueless than what you'll find
at the competition (Best Buy, etc.) I bought my 61" TV there at a price
unmatched even online. Delivery and setup went without a hitch. Their price
match works too although I've only ever used it for stuff I've bought at
Fry's that subsequently went on sale. And their ads along with those of the
grocery chains, the daily crossword, and sodoku are the only reasons I
continue to get a daily newspaper!

"1PW" wrote in message
...
| root wrote:
| I have bought many motherboard-cpu combinations from
| Fry's and, upon reflection, I realize I have had problems
| with *every* one of them. Sometimes I have to return
| them, but if the problem is not too serious I just live
| with it. I wonder if I am the only one who has such
| problems. Most recent example is a MB whose sound level
| was way too low. I just stuck in a pci card.
|
|
| What is your experience?
|
| http://www.newegg.com/
|
Great but it's not a B&M store. Sometimes it's nice to be able to actually
go into a store and check things out in real life.
| 1PW

On Sun, 13 Sep 2009 16:55:43 -0700, "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:

I once bought a rather pricey video card that had been returned.
I had no way to inspect the contents at the store. When I got
home, instead of the expensive video card, a cheap junk
commodity video card had been substituted. The previous buyer
had done the swap, and the expert Fry's staff could not recognize
the difference between the pricey card and the cheap junk
commodity card when it was returned. Caveat Emptor.

Wasn't he one of the worst Roman tyrants?

There's a little more to Caveat Emptor than the usual "Let the Sucker
Beware". RTFP (read the fine print):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caveat_emptor

Had it been marked as returned?

Yep. Marked and sealed, so I couldn't look inside. I was tempted to
rip it open when I got to the cashier, but didn't.

I appreciate the warning. I generally buy only DVDs/BDs and parts at Fry's.
I'll keep this in mind if and when I buy anything "nice". Thanks.

Unfortunately, that's the risk one takes when buying something that's
obviously been resealed and inspected by the dealer, rather than
having the same thing done by the manufacturer, who presumably will
retest the product and make sure the nothing is missing. Also, I
can't realy blame Fry's for the board swap, as they were as much the
victim as I was.




--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Unfortunately, that's the risk one takes when buying something that's
obviously been resealed and inspected by the dealer, rather than
having the same thing done by the manufacturer, who presumably will
retest the product and make sure the nothing is missing. Also, I
can't realy blame Fry's for the board swap, as they were as much the
victim as I was.

If Fry's was a victim, it was its own victim. Any business that doesn't
carefully check returned items deserves what it gets. Unfortunately, what
they got was passed on to you.

On Sun, 13 Sep 2009 16:38:53 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

On Sun, 13 Sep 2009 14:22:48 -0700, "iws" wrote:

Well, with Fry's, whenever I've returned something, even unopened, they open
it, check that all the stuff is there and then slap a returned sticker on it
and that generally winds up back on the shelf at a discounted price.

I once bought a rather pricey video card that had been returned. I
had no way to inspect the contents at the store.

Did you ask? (a manager). I always do so, have not bee refused by any
store yet. It is both a reasonable and prudent thing to do.

When I arrived home,
instead of the expensive video card, a cheap junk commodity video card
had been substituted.

On Mon, 14 Sep 2009 07:21:13 -0400, PeterD wrote:

On Sun, 13 Sep 2009 16:38:53 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

On Sun, 13 Sep 2009 14:22:48 -0700, "iws" wrote:

Well, with Fry's, whenever I've returned something, even unopened, they open
it, check that all the stuff is there and then slap a returned sticker on it
and that generally winds up back on the shelf at a discounted price.

I once bought a rather pricey video card that had been returned. I
had no way to inspect the contents at the store.

Did you ask? (a manager).

Nope.

I always do so, have not bee refused by any
store yet. It is both a reasonable and prudent thing to do.

I probably could have asked. I could also have opened the box at the
cashier. I might even have opened it after I passed the door guard in
the parking lot. Plenty of lost oportunities to prevent a problem.
However, I didn't and I don't recall why. Somehow, I think it a bit
odd that I would be expected to do so. I can see that it would be my
responsibility that something would be suitable for a purpose, but
it's Fry's responsibility that it be complete, intact, and correct.

http://www.complaintsboard.com/bycompany/fry039s-electronics-a5207/bydate.html


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On Mon, 14 Sep 2009 09:47:36 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

On Mon, 14 Sep 2009 07:21:13 -0400, PeterD wrote:

On Sun, 13 Sep 2009 16:38:53 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

On Sun, 13 Sep 2009 14:22:48 -0700, "iws" wrote:

Well, with Fry's, whenever I've returned something, even unopened, they open
it, check that all the stuff is there and then slap a returned sticker on it
and that generally winds up back on the shelf at a discounted price.

I once bought a rather pricey video card that had been returned. I
had no way to inspect the contents at the store.

Did you ask? (a manager).

Nope.

I always do so, have not bee refused by any
store yet. It is both a reasonable and prudent thing to do.

I probably could have asked. I could also have opened the box at the
cashier. I might even have opened it after I passed the door guard in
the parking lot. Plenty of lost oportunities to prevent a problem.
However, I didn't and I don't recall why. Somehow, I think it a bit
odd that I would be expected to do so. I can see that it would be my
responsibility that something would be suitable for a purpose, but
it's Fry's responsibility that it be complete, intact, and correct.

Being right is great, but bottom line if you are the one who looses
out, then right or not it isn't a good idea! g Just yesterday I
opened a box at Home Depot to ensure that it was the right product. No
where on the box did they have specifications! Amazing, a manufacturer
who puts all kinds of advertising on the box, but forgets to put basic
specifications (such as pipe size) on the box!


http://www.complaintsboard.com/bycompany/fry039s-electronics-a5207/bydate.html

"root" wrote in message
...
I have bought many motherboard-cpu combinations from
Fry's and, upon reflection, I realize I have had problems
with *every* one of them. Sometimes I have to return
them, but if the problem is not too serious I just live
with it. I wonder if I am the only one who has such
problems. Most recent example is a MB whose sound level
was way too low. I just stuck in a pci card.


What is your experience?

So far, so good. I have done quite a bit of mental juggling sorting through
stuff available to build systems. You have to inspect and know what
hardware goes together well. I have seen "errors" such as misplaced price
tags and such. I found an Intel Boxed Quad Core/Fan kit sealed in the box
with heat sink compound goo as if it had been pre-tested, but it passed all
tests, so I don't know what that was about.

I have had problems with BestBuy in the past, and I won't touch anything
reboxed from them. Fortunately I have taken open box equipment to their
bench to try before buying and all failed before I lost any money. I
bought memory recently without incident.

Everywhere seems to have a turnover of kids. Never make an assumption that
anyone you buy from knows enough or cares enough to look out for you.

root wrote:

I have bought many motherboard-cpu combinations from
Fry's and, upon reflection, I realize I have had problems
with *every* one of them. Sometimes I have to return
them, but if the problem is not too serious I just live
with it. I wonder if I am the only one who has such
problems. Most recent example is a MB whose sound level
was way too low. I just stuck in a pci card.

What is your experience?

Fry's sells the same mobos everybody else does, except for brands that
are obscure in the US, like Jetway, and quality ranges from Biostar on
the low end (was ECS until a Fry's executive comitted $65M of fraud
against Fry's) to Gigabyte and Intel on the high end. The main
failures with cheaper mobos, regardless of the retailer, are probably
from junk capacitors, as documented at www.BadCaps.net, and there's a
good chance at least one will fail in 1-2 years, sometimes with no
visible warning (no caps bulge on top). But I've had much more
trouble installing driver software, thanks to badly written
installation programs and poor documentation.

The Fry's in Phoenix has been very good about returns, and I've had to
deal with weasel employees only 1-2 times, most recently several
months ago, when I received a mobo with factory-damaged header pins
that the employee tried to blame on me.

..
However, I didn't and I don't recall why. Somehow, I think it a bit
odd that I would be expected to do so. I can see that it would be my
responsibility that something would be suitable for a purpose, but
it's Fry's responsibility that it be complete, intact, and correct.

Being right is great, but bottom line if you are the one who looses
out, then right or not it isn't a good idea! g Just yesterday I
opened a box at Home Depot to ensure that it was the right product. No
where on the box did they have specifications! Amazing, a manufacturer
who puts all kinds of advertising on the box, but forgets to put basic
specifications (such as pipe size) on the box!

It is all our responsibility to do thorough inspections of our purchases and
hold the vendor to his responsibility so they don't make a habit of screwing
customer confidence. If I am prepared to buy, I have no problem with
opening a box right on the floor, especially if the description on the box
is sketchy or doesn't tell me what I ought to know. If I don't buy it,
there is a good reason.

On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:44:42 GMT, "JB" wrote:

It is all our responsibility to do thorough inspections of our purchases and
hold the vendor to his responsibility so they don't make a habit of screwing
customer confidence. If I am prepared to buy, I have no problem with
opening a box right on the floor, especially if the description on the box
is sketchy or doesn't tell me what I ought to know. If I don't buy it,
there is a good reason.

Would you buy a box that someone else has ripped apart? That's why
manufacturers put tamper seals (tape) on their boxes. Seriously... If
you found something you wanted to buy, ripped apart the packaging in
the store, and then replaced it on the shelf, would you expect someone
else to buy it? I wouldn't.

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

Would you buy a box that someone else has ripped apart? That's why
manufacturers put tamper seals (tape) on their boxes. Seriously... If
you found something you wanted to buy, ripped apart the packaging in
the store, and then replaced it on the shelf, would you expect someone
else to buy it? I wouldn't.

The assumption is that one rips it open at the checkout.

On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:18:32 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:44:42 GMT, "JB" wrote:

It is all our responsibility to do thorough inspections of our purchases and
hold the vendor to his responsibility so they don't make a habit of screwing
customer confidence. If I am prepared to buy, I have no problem with
opening a box right on the floor, especially if the description on the box
is sketchy or doesn't tell me what I ought to know. If I don't buy it,
there is a good reason.

Would you buy a box that someone else has ripped apart? That's why
manufacturers put tamper seals (tape) on their boxes. Seriously... If
you found something you wanted to buy, ripped apart the packaging in
the store, and then replaced it on the shelf, would you expect someone
else to buy it? I wouldn't.

The only way to do it is to grab a sales associate and explain the
situation to him (or his manager). I agree it is not a good or proper
thing to just open packages on the floor. I also think that any retail
store that does not have a display item is bound to get just that:
people will open the box!

Oh, and when I got my unit, there were three other choices of
products. Both of the other products had open boxes where someone else
had done the same thing! (And yes, I did take the box I opened, seemed
fair to me.)

iws wrote:
"1PW" wrote in message
...
| root wrote:
| I have bought many motherboard-cpu combinations from
| Fry's and, upon reflection, I realize I have had problems
| with *every* one of them. Sometimes I have to return
| them, but if the problem is not too serious I just live
| with it. I wonder if I am the only one who has such
| problems. Most recent example is a MB whose sound level
| was way too low. I just stuck in a pci card.
|
|
| What is your experience?
|
| http://www.newegg.com/
|
Great but it's not a B&M store. Sometimes it's nice to be able to actually
go into a store and check things out in real life.

Point taken. But, if after you've had a bad experience at Fry's,
Newegg's growing customer satisfaction shouldn't be overlooked.

--
1PW

"PeterD" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 09:18:32 -0700, Jeff Liebermann
wrote:

On Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:44:42 GMT, "JB" wrote:

It is all our responsibility to do thorough inspections of our purchases
and
hold the vendor to his responsibility so they don't make a habit of
screwing
customer confidence. If I am prepared to buy, I have no problem with
opening a box right on the floor, especially if the description on the
box
is sketchy or doesn't tell me what I ought to know. If I don't buy it,
there is a good reason.

Would you buy a box that someone else has ripped apart? That's why
manufacturers put tamper seals (tape) on their boxes. Seriously... If
you found something you wanted to buy, ripped apart the packaging in
the store, and then replaced it on the shelf, would you expect someone
else to buy it? I wouldn't.

No, but at least someone else would be able to see what they are getting
into like me. And yes I have bought opened box when it is the last one.

Case in point. I was looking for a ceiling fan speed switch at the hardware
store. There were 4 different varieties claiming to be what I needed, but
no schematic showing the actual form factor. I asked the sales person who
barely knew what I was talking about, and didn't even know of a couple
others in a different place in the store. So I went out and got my ohmmeter
and proceeded to open each one that claimed to be just what I needed and
found none of them did. I wound up buying one that had the same chain
actuator and disassembling it and reassembling it with the old switch cam.

Now I ask you: How many people actually buy one that is actually correct
for the one application? How many are POed and throw it away? How many
would make 6 trips to try them all and be POed?