Complaint Review: CIRCUIT CITY

If you payed with a credit card then you actually have your signature on what would be a legally binding contract. If you payed with cash or check then you also have bound yourself into all terms stated on the reciept. You must understand your rights as a consumer and Circuit City's rights as a supplier. I don't agree with everything that the company does but this is a prime example of why our country is in so much debt people don't know what they are getting themselves into.

I work for circuit city stores and I was just reading about the incident at the Glen Burnie Circuit City and the restocking fee, I just wanted to say the policy had just went into effect and Vic Weidman just wanted to rip you off. He is a very poor store manager and will do anything to rip of the customers just to make budget. I work for the Catonsville location and he just recently came to work there. We have lost more customers than you can imagine because of him, not to mention employees, whom he makes miserable. If I were you I suggest calling the corporate office I know I have and I even work there. Thanks, :-)

I used to work for Circuit City, they are too focused on policy and preserving the sale and not the customer. They are structured on every detail of the store complete with set plan o grams for every peg hook of merchandise in the store. I am now a store manager of an HH Gregg. One thing we stress at HH Gregg is one sale is nothing compared to a customer for life. Our return policy is 10 days. That is our policy, but I have approved returns on a digital camera that was almost a year old. No big deal, we can afford it. This is not the norm, but my store does over a million dollars in business a month, I think we can handle returning a $300 camera without closing up shop. Mine is a business of customer service. I have all the best salespeople from circuit city (when they fired them a year ago.) Circuit city is closing stores and will probably be completely be out of business in five years.

Just to make a point regarding the restocking fee, it's there for a reason. As stated above, Circuit City does not rent merchandise (nor does any other major retailer such as Best Buy, Wal-Mart, CompUsa, and so on).

I hate having to sell products with a restocking fee, but I can understand it when it's the Monday after the Superbowl and we have three returns on big screen plasma televisions. The reason? Oh, I didn't like it.

What about during Mardi Gras when we have 20+ digital cameras/camcorders come back. Again: I didn't like it.

The company loses money every time that happens since we usually can't return the product to the manufacturer and we definitely can't sell an opened, used product at full price. What happens? They go on sale as "open box" at a loss to the company.

It's just like those who complain about not being able to return movies/music/software. If people didn't burn it and return it, we wouldn't have to restrict returns. Same goes for a restocking fee: if there weren't cheap and dishonest people who uy the item for a major event with every intent of returning it at full price, we wouldn't need to impose a restocking fee on our customers who truly wanted it but didn't care for it.

You bought an item from a store without understanding or asking about the return policy. The return policy *is* posted at customer service. If you are not sharp enough to ask about or read the large return policy sign- then buyer beware! Retail stores do everything within power to inform customers of return/exchange policies.

Short of tackling customers as they walk in the door("Hey, return our stuff after you bought it!"), they provide written guidelines. These guidelines are often posted at the customer service desk as well as printed on every customer receipt. I have also heard of a little thing called the internet. This may sound crazy but this WWW thing allows you to actually research the policies(purchases,returns(!),etc.) of select companies! WOW!!! A couple keystrokes and you are suddenly somewhat smarter.

I guess I'm done-

Oh wait!
Lisa- please focus on the more positive aspects of your life. Circuit City is not worth having a heart attack over. You purchased an item without researching return policies- LET IT GO!!!!!
As for your poor eyesight- if you cannot read a register sign 2 feet in front of you, you are not able to read any sign posted within the store. Why would this be the company's fault? Should the return policy be burned onto your retina as you enter the store? Just wondering....

You bought an item from a store without understanding or asking about the return policy. The return policy *is* posted at customer service. If you are not sharp enough to ask about or read the large return policy sign- then buyer beware! Retail stores do everything within power to inform customers of return/exchange policies. Short of tackling customers as they walk in the door("Hey, return our stuff after you bought it!"), they provide written guidelines.

These guidelines are often posted at the customer service desk as well as printed on every customer receipt. I have also heard of a little thing called the internet. This may sound crazy but this WWW thing allows you to actually research the policies(purchases,returns(!),etc.) of select companies! WOW!!! A couple keystrokes and you are suddenly somewhat smarter.

I guess I'm done-

Oh wait!
Lisa- please focus on the more positive aspects of your life. Circuit City is not worth having a heart attack over. You purchased an item without researching return policies- LET IT GO!!!!!

As for your poor eyesight- if you cannot read a register sign 2 feet in front of you, you are not able to read any sign posted within the store. Why would this be the company's fault? Should the return policy be burned onto your retina as you enter the store? Just wondering....

I understand that you do not want customers to buy a device or product then return it on the last day possible to recieve a refund, however I believe there are fair exceptions to this which are being ignored. Additionally once you have the reciept that says there is a 15% restocking fee, it is too late to decide you don't want it.

Anyways on with what I feel is a reasonable exception. I too recently purchased a digital camera as a gift for my mother who is nearly 50. She has troubles seeing and this particular digital camera has a fairly decent display but the indicators are small making it very difficult for her to see what she is doing.

And you may say I had a chance to see the device in action, but the Sales Represenative that day said that the current demo model was dead and I wouldn't be able to see it. Once she opened the box and tried to use the camera she was unable to see it well enough to use it properly. Upon trying to return the camera the CSR's refused to believe that the demo wasn't working and all they had to do was get batteries ( which was a lie).

They also could not prove the package had been opened as this particular box had no tape seal so therefore they had either sold me an open box, or wanted their 15% so bad they weren't going to listen to me. There were no other models that were in stock that were any better for her eyes.

I don't think that a 100% satisfaction gurantee is an appropriate quote for this chain, Maybe "100 % Satisfaction, if the item doesn't cost more than $100" Would be more appropriate. Again once you have the reciept it is too late to read the policy then, maybe a signature before hand would be more reasonable, or maybe just do away with the 15% restocking fee.

I understand that you do not want customers to buy a device or product then return it on the last day possible to recieve a refund, however I believe there are fair exceptions to this which are being ignored. Additionally once you have the reciept that says there is a 15% restocking fee, it is too late to decide you don't want it.

Anyways on with what I feel is a reasonable exception. I too recently purchased a digital camera as a gift for my mother who is nearly 50. She has troubles seeing and this particular digital camera has a fairly decent display but the indicators are small making it very difficult for her to see what she is doing.

And you may say I had a chance to see the device in action, but the Sales Represenative that day said that the current demo model was dead and I wouldn't be able to see it. Once she opened the box and tried to use the camera she was unable to see it well enough to use it properly. Upon trying to return the camera the CSR's refused to believe that the demo wasn't working and all they had to do was get batteries ( which was a lie).

They also could not prove the package had been opened as this particular box had no tape seal so therefore they had either sold me an open box, or wanted their 15% so bad they weren't going to listen to me. There were no other models that were in stock that were any better for her eyes.

I don't think that a 100% satisfaction gurantee is an appropriate quote for this chain, Maybe "100 % Satisfaction, if the item doesn't cost more than $100" Would be more appropriate. Again once you have the reciept it is too late to read the policy then, maybe a signature before hand would be more reasonable, or maybe just do away with the 15% restocking fee.

I understand that you do not want customers to buy a device or product then return it on the last day possible to recieve a refund, however I believe there are fair exceptions to this which are being ignored. Additionally once you have the reciept that says there is a 15% restocking fee, it is too late to decide you don't want it.

Anyways on with what I feel is a reasonable exception. I too recently purchased a digital camera as a gift for my mother who is nearly 50. She has troubles seeing and this particular digital camera has a fairly decent display but the indicators are small making it very difficult for her to see what she is doing.

And you may say I had a chance to see the device in action, but the Sales Represenative that day said that the current demo model was dead and I wouldn't be able to see it. Once she opened the box and tried to use the camera she was unable to see it well enough to use it properly. Upon trying to return the camera the CSR's refused to believe that the demo wasn't working and all they had to do was get batteries ( which was a lie).

They also could not prove the package had been opened as this particular box had no tape seal so therefore they had either sold me an open box, or wanted their 15% so bad they weren't going to listen to me. There were no other models that were in stock that were any better for her eyes.

I don't think that a 100% satisfaction gurantee is an appropriate quote for this chain, Maybe "100 % Satisfaction, if the item doesn't cost more than $100" Would be more appropriate. Again once you have the reciept it is too late to read the policy then, maybe a signature before hand would be more reasonable, or maybe just do away with the 15% restocking fee.

1st off. a lot of what I have read from this are not policy , my store follows policy and in it you will find on EVERY register a copy of our restocking and return policy , as well as the reciepts and as well as customer service ! we have taking every opportunity possible to make people aware . and with anything anyone should choose to do , ( whether spend your $ or drive out of state or anything ) it is up to that individual to find out about the consequences ahead of time . I do when I spend my money . The story about the employee who gets a beating to sell cityadvantage is rediculous,and it's unfortunate that anyone sees this as the way our entire company does business. ( and can you tell me that as an employee you haven't seen countless customers get what they wanted out of that plan ? Do you think the cost of that plan covers our cost on a new big screen or computer ? )Where do any of you think that money we used to repair or replace your product comes from ? The fact about the restocking fee is this, all of you who know little about running a business don't understand that when for 2 years when we dropped restocking fees ( for nobody but our customers ) nobody went on to any of these whining websites to talk about how great we were as one of the only companies to not charge it - and the only customers who came to us because of it were the people who came in only with intent to return it after a vacation or something ! Well we don't rent equipment , we sell it - so if you want to buy something great, buy it ! If it doesn't fit your needs or likes exchange it and you won't be charged a restocking fee! ( we only charge it when the sale is completely lost, and it does not cover our cost of selling it out of the box ! )

The fact is we are here to provide the best goods,selection,and service possible - (unfortunatly you cannot please everyone )and maybe doing what we have to in order to maintain profitability is why we're still here providing goods and services and many others have gone away forever.

You can all draw whatever conclusions you want about our company and it's policies, but maybe it would better for us to start another website about all of the people that we have gone to great limits to help, who are now customers for life! ( you're kidding yourself if you don't think they're out there )

Maybe it's just my store and I'm lucky...in any event, we do not have a problem with the restocking fee. It is clearly posted in about 20 places in the store, as well as printed on the back of every receipt that goes out the door. In my experience, people claim to have 'not known' about the restocking fee, when the fact is that they are just trying to get over on you. Maybe people don't think it is important to read that information on the bottom of the receipt, but it is. Maybe you don't like it...that's fine, but Best Buy and other competitive retailers have the same policy. HH Gregg won't even let you return ANYTHING after seven days from the purchase date. If you would have stood at customer service and screamed at me, I wouldn't have refunded your money for the fee either. It's in your attitude and how you talk to the employees who you are trying to get to do YOU a favor. So, maybe next time it would be wise for you not to stand in the middle of the store screaming at everyone who would listen like a jackass. If you open the product that falls under the restocking fee in the store, ask the associate to comment the ticket to that effect so you don't have this problem. Also, in the future, know that if you are rude to the people at customer service, know that you are increasingly less likely to get what you want done. If someone comes in with something that may be over the return policy, if they are rude, I'm increasingly less likely to return it for them...maybe that's where you went wrong.

I realize lying is common in this society, but the facts are you can return an open item without getting a restocking fee. If they did not return the camera they were not following policy, and you then should have contacted corporate offices in richmond.

good day,

I realize lying is common in this society, but the facts are you can return an open item without getting a restocking fee. If they did not return the camera they were not following policy, and you then should have contacted corporate offices in richmond.

good day,

I realize lying is common in this society, but the facts are you can return an open item without getting a restocking fee. If they did not return the camera they were not following policy, and you then should have contacted corporate offices in richmond.

good day,

I realize lying is common in this society, but the facts are you can return an open item without getting a restocking fee. If they did not return the camera they were not following policy, and you then should have contacted corporate offices in richmond.

good day,

I just wanted to let you know that you are completly in the right on being upset about the retun policy change. I will tell you it has happened within the last few weeks, If I remember right they made the change in the middle of march. Anybody who sells you a product should let you know about it, in addition to pointing it out on the recipt.

So now that I have gotten the nice stuff out of the way. The main reason why ccity has converted to the 15% restocking fee is so they can "be more compeditive with other stores in thier market" in other words best buy. As much as ccity says "were with you" its a joke. I pride myself of being able to answer peoples questions and not giving they a line of crap. I tell people if I dont know the answer, there is no reason to have you spend your money on somthing that just inst what you need.

But when it comes down to it they want us to get you in and get you out. Sure they want us to take your money and make sure that your "happy" but its not true, the store I work at the management is substandard so it doesnt surprise me that they basically told you to f-off. Dont expect much from ccity. Literally we have been told sell as much city advantage to people as you can even if they dont need it or cant afford it or you will be fired, and dont spend too much time with people because you could be ignoring a customer who would buy city advantage from you.

I hate to bag on the place that I work but they dont pay me enough to go out of my way and be dishonest to people. Hope it helps to show what kind of a company ccity is.