Why I Hate Fry's Electronics (Part I)

In January of 2006, as a treat to myself for all my hard work, I went to Fry's and purchased a 50" Super Cool television. Everything was great with it until this past November when the screen started looking, well funny. Everything had a yellowish undertone to it. This continually got worse and in December I called Fry's to request service on my TV, all proud of myself since I had the foresight to purchase the extended warranty. Sure it was a bit pricey, but so was the TV. So I call Fry's, and get sure no problem, we have opened a service request for you and someone will contact you within three business days. A few days later, I get a call from an outside company (not Fry's) that is contracted with Fry's to do all of their in-home repairs. They ask me about the problem that I am having and immediately know what the issue is, I need to have my "optical engine" replaced. I give them the model and serial number of my TV and they tell me that as soon as they have the authorization from Fry's, they will come out and replace it for me. Great, I think to myself, couldn't be easier. Man was I wrong!

The holidays have come and gone and I realize, I still have a television with a yellow picture which is now looking green also. I call the nice contract company, and they are super nice and tell me that my repair request was submitted to Fry's and they have not approved it as of yet. The nice woman states that she is going to contact Fry's on the other line to verify that it was received. About three minutes later, after listening to horrendous elevator music that was so loud it made my head hurt, the nice woman comes back on the phone, and says: "Ma'am, I am sorry for the hold time, I spoke with Fry's and verified that they did receive our repair request. Unfortunately, the request has still not been approved". Strange I think to myself, and I ask her if it normally takes some time. She said it normally can take up to ten days, but asked me to please call them directly since the approval has not been received as of yet. No problem, I thank her and am off to call Fry's.

This is where all the problems and headaches started. My first call to Fry's, told me that it needed to be approved by the store manager, who was conveniently not in the store at the time, but promised a call would be returned. So I wait two days and call back asking if maybe the store manager is out of the office on vacation since I haven't gotten a call back. The nice and clueless woman directs me to service, where I am told that no, it doesn't have to be approved by the store manager it has to be approved by the home office. I ask when the home office was contacted and they conveniently had no record of it. I ask to speak with the manager (of service, not the store manager that is never in the store) and he tells me (apparently reading from the same screen the previous idiot read from) that the request was forward to the one person (yes, that is right, only one) in the home office that is responsible for approving those requests on January 2nd. I ask for a number to reach said one person and they are not able to provide that. Although, the person that I was speaking to (service manager) assured me that he would email him and get back to me the next day. So the next day comes and goes and I call the service manager back who has no recollection of ever talking to me. I know this is shocking, but true. I refreshed his memory and he plugged some numbers into his computer and said that he had not heard back from the one person that is responsible for authorizing this repair. I ask to speak with his manager. I get yet another service manager who is super sorry and calling the one person at the home office and getting back to me. I explained that the "other" service manager was calling him and was getting back to me and I still hadn't heard from him. He assured me that "one person in the home office" would definitely respond to him and assured me further that I would hear back from him. This was on Monday.

A note to my readers . . . honestly, I don't mean to sounds like an obnoxious bitch, but I have far more important things to do than call Fry's every freaking day. Today (Thursday) I call Fry's back. After hanging up and calling back 4x since I was left on hold for him more than five minutes each time (super bad customer service), I finally get through to the the service manager who made promises that he didn't keep (super bad customer service) and remind him of why I am calling. Amazingly enough, he remembers why I am calling (those stupid little CRTs are just so helpful) and tells me (after putting me on hold three times) that not only does that "one person in the home office" have to approve the request but the request also has to be approved by Sony since the part is costly. Curious, I ask him how much the part costs, and he does not know. For all we know it is a $25 part. Again, I ask for a way to contact "one person in the home office" who apparently now also has to receive approval from Sony, and I get a, I am sorry, but I am not able to provide that information. This person that I am speaking with identifies himself and the person in charge directly beneath the store manager (who is never in the store) and promises me that I will hear back from him by tomorrow afternoon. I explain to him (calmly which is amazing at this point) my frustration with this whole process. He tells me (rudely I might add) that his hands our tied and he has no choice but to follow the procedure that he has been instructed on. I ask him, what he does when he sees (clearly) as a manager (directly under the one never in the store) that a process or procedure is not working and a customer is extremely unhappy and ready to hand the whole matter to an attorney? The response. . . I get and bunch of, um, well, I, . . . All I can tell you is that I will get back to you with an answer my tomorrow as promised.

So here I am, Thursday evening, wanting to go home and just crash on the couch and watch some television and can't. Sure, this is not the only TV in the house but that is not the point.

Looking at Fry's website, what do I find: Fry's goal is fast, friendly, courteous customer service! What a load of crap!

Bottom line, Fry's and their customer service suck! Don't buy anything from Fry's!! I really think that it is time for an email to Randy Fry, president of Fry's Electronics.