Fry's Exec Funnelled $65 Million To Himself For Gambling Debts
from the want-to-know-why-Fry's-is-expensive? dept
Silicon Valley folks certainly know Fry's -- the electronics superstore that's probably as well known for its poor customer service as its vast selection. However, apparently a top exec at the company, who had worked his way up over the course of 20 years from a starting job as a floor sales guy has now been arrested for a massive fraud, creating kickbacks from vendors and potentially defrauding the company of over $65 million -- much of it used to pay off gambling debts (apparently he still owes a lot more -- potentially another $100 million from the sound of it) incurred by frequently taking the Fry's corporate jet to Vegas. The guy basically set up a separate front company that he funneled millions of dollars to in the form of exorbitant commissions and kickbacks from vendors. Apparently, while Fry's makes you go to hell and back to justify returning a computer component, its own internal auditing process missed $65 million going out the door.
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Filed Under: ausaf umar siddiqui, fraud
Companies: fry's
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Not one cent
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Re: Not one cent
What happened there is they tried to charge me a higher price at the register than was on the shelf and I called them on it. Naturally, they refused to honor the price. When I went to take a picture of the price with my cellphone, I was met with security.
The illegal activity of this type is so pervasive, I can't help but wonder why they haven't been busted yet.
I'll dance the happy dance the day the Fry brothers go to prison and the entire management staff is looking for handouts on street corners.
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Returns to Fry's
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Re: Returns to Fry's
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Fry's returns
What? I have never had Fry's so much as blink when returning anything. Ever. Their liberal return policy is one of the main reasons I keep going back.
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Well, you must not be paying attention...
Fry's has amongst the worst customer service on the planet. Especially when you consider that they have such a high employee to customer ratio.
Couple that with the dismal treatment when you have a return which includes opening boxes that are clearly sealed as new.
Add in the fact that they have started adding a 15 to 20% restocking charge sticker to some of their merchandise combined with the fact that their off ad pricing is out of sight. Some of their ad pricing is not so good anymore either.
Then finally the crappy treatment that they added when I tried to have an appliance purchase delivered by them which I will never make that mistake again. Even the delivery people indicated that they were about to quit because of the policies that they had to enforce.
Overall, Fry's is a pain and a half to do business with and I have improved by disposition by forgetting that they are in business.
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Re: Well, you must not be paying attention...
That happened after 70% return rates for GPS units after holiday weekends and 80% returns on air conditioners after a one week heat wave in the bay area in '07. After Costco (which similar stocking fees on similar products), Fry's has the most liberal return policy of any major electronics retailer.
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Re: Well, you must not be paying attention...
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Be grateful
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I have never had a problem returning parts to Fry's. It is usually cut & dry. The lines are sometimes an issue, but the same could be (and often times are) said for Best Buy or any retail chain that deals with many people at a time.
Sure, the customer service at Frys Sucks for some, but many people enter Frys claiming to know everything while really only knowing little-to-nothing. Try being one-of-many Fry's Floor-Service-Guy who's job it is to, in two seconds, tell the difference between a customer who expects to setup a home-network as if it was as simple as pushing a button on a microwave... and a guy who actually knows what he is doing and is just looking for a hard-to-find/specialized part that he should have initially just ordered online.
Both customers in this scenario will refuse to admit that they themselves are the problem, and will complain that it is customer service that is bad.
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You know the type... he's usually the one yelling at the clerk for making HIM adhere to policy.
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Just Have to Say
I've never had a problem returning anything to Fry's here in Las Vegas.
I've dealt with my share of insolent, arrogant sales staff, but I've also been served by knowledgeable, helpful and friendly people in the same store.
I've probably cost the company several hundred dollars in time, effort and restock/resale-losses on my returns while using their parts to troubleshoot some nagging problem.
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Not up here
I've been at other Fry's, mostly Palo Alto, and it's not as friendly and the service isn't as good, but that's what you get for living in California! ;-)
I also buy a lot from NewEgg. Although there's never a problem with returns, there often have been problems in delivery by UPS, and doing returns by mailorder is a lot more time-consuming than just popping into Fry's.
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Re: Not up here
Maybe it's something to do with the history of whichever store you use? Ours is one of the ones that used to be part of Incredible Universe.
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WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND
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Re: WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND
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Who extends $100m in credit to a gambler?
What casino was dumb enough to let this guy gamble away $100m on credit? How to they expect to collect it? Perhaps I don't understand because gambling is a dumb waste of money and time to me.
So... do casinos really loan gamblers money?
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Re: Who extends $100m in credit to a gambler?
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Ok. Do you think the term 'High-Roller' was coined in the movie industry and these people do not really exist? Do you think people with very high profit potential for the casino will never get 'red carpet treatment'? Get a clue. Casinos love to loan money to fools easily parted from it.
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fry's
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Re: fry's
That's not just "retared", that's illegal, isn't it?
and the employees were only smarter the customers in how to steal money, but on a whole i liked the store. If you knew what you wanted and avoided sales people like the plague, it was actually an enjoyable experience, even before I started working there.
So other than the stupid employees that must be avoided, and anti-customer, unethical, possibly illegal policies, it's a great store? I'm curious, what would you categorize as a bad shopping experience? If the merchandise actually falls off the shelf and crushes you?
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Re: Re: fry's
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$65 million
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I wonder how much he spent (spends) on cocaine.
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Re:
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Fry's
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Re: Fry's
1. Negotiate golden parachute
2. Run company into the ground to ensure you're fired
3. Collect on parachute
4. (this is the one I don't understand) Get hired for 6-7 digit salary to helm another company
6. Repeat
Why do companies hire CEOs that just came from failures? I don't get it.
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Re: Fry's
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Fry's
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The warning sign
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Fry's Service
The sales people have always treated me well, and answered questions accurately. Often they are very busy and answer quickly, or just point me in the right direction, but they do it nicely. One salesman spent quite a bit of time with me and steered me to a very good deal on a factory refurb desktop.
Upper management must have been pretty dense not to catch such major fraud. It is amazing that it was detected only by chance. This magnitude of theft will ultimately be at the expense of the company and the consumer.
Maybe Fry's should have a "We Caught Him" sale.
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ppppleease!! like it never happens!!
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fry's receipt checking
checking everyone's receipts at the door to make
sure you aren't stealing anything. As an honest
paying customer the practice is demeaning and time
wasting to me. It seems extremely petty to do that
to customers in light of this $65M loss.
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fry's....
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