Circuit City Something Fishy at Circuit City Arlington Texas
Went to Circuit City today to purchase the Acer Aspire AS4720-4721 laptop. The price at the store was $629. I had to tell the sales rep that I saw it on their website for $539.99. He then told me they could price match. He told me that I needed to upgrade to 2 gigs since it would be too slow. Told me it would cost about $100 plus $39 in labor. Then told me I should just buy the AS5520-5912, which was $679. Said that it would be the same as upgrading and save me some time. What he failed to mention was that that model was selling online for $549.99. Just $10 more than the other one. Not knowing this, I went ahead and purchased the first one and told him I'd upgrade some other day. I asked him about the return policy. Its 14 days. And also, if the box is opened theres a 15% restocking fee. Something about the whole experience just didn't feel right. So when I returned home, I went straight online to double check everything. I didn't open the box. When I went online, sure enough the model he was trying to sell me for $679 was on sale for $549.99. I called up customer service. They told me they had it available at the store and I could get it for $549.99. I returned the one I purchased and asked for the other one. First rep had left. New rep came out with the new one but the box had been opened. He said if I wanted it I'd have to pay just an extra $30 for it for the extra work that had been done on it. He called it "Quick Start". I said WHAT? It's been opened. I want a new one. He said they didn't have any other one left, but the one he had in his hand. He said it was better than new because they worked on it and made it faster. Said that all the advertisements like on new unopened ones were gone. All the stuff he told me to convince me to get it made no sense at all. So I just left. Went home to check their website. Sure enough it says that they have it available at that store ready for pickup. I call the store again. They said the one they have is the opened one. He said he'd go check to see if they had any other ones that haven't been opened in the back. I was on the phone a good 5 minutes. He got back on to tell me he's having someone go look right now. After 5 MINUTES?? I waited another 5 minutes then just hung up. I mean, how long does it take to check if something is available. This was the most frustrating experience I've ever had with a computer purchase. I'm not going to try with them anymore. Even though the price is $100 cheaper than Wal-mart, its for opened merchandise. They will sell you opened merchandise for $30 more than unopened merchandise. CRAZY! Oh and then they charge you %15 restocking fee on items returned that have been opened. That would have been $82!! That's just not good business to me. And another thing, the laptop I wanted to get couldn't be ordered online. It was for in-store pickup only. So there is no guarantee a new unopened one will be available at their store even though the website says it is. Something VERY fishy!!! It's not even just one rep but seems to be all of them. Best bet for everyone, just don't even bother stepping into their store. I just glad I was smart enough not to open the box and check things firsts. Still have all my money. WHEW!
ImNotStupid
Arlington, Texas
U.S.A.
3 Updates & Rebuttals
Anonymous
Richmond,Virginia,
U.S.A.
CC Web Associate Response
#4UPDATE Employee
Tue, May 27, 2008
I am an associate with Circuit City and I work on the web sales side.
I will say first, I apologize for your trouble. The store associate should have looked online first.
It is possible the web was showing one available and the only one available was the open boxed item. It is the stores responsibility to update their inventory.
I am glad you were able to get your money back as well.
Just for future reference, it's best to call the web sales team first. We guarentee the lowest price and if the store happens to have it cheaper, they owe you the difference.
I hope you give us at Circuit City another shot!
Timo
Marlton,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
Concerning all three issues...
#4UPDATE EX-employee responds
Tue, May 20, 2008
no love for the company, but as a former employee, i can probably clear up what the associates failed to do.
the website price matching is a "seat of the pants" kind of thing. the reason the prices are usually cheaper online is because they are able to compare prices with competitors and revise it much faster.... doing so instore usually requires an actual employee to go out and look around. that said, 99% of the web prices are matchable in store: if they refuse or give you crap, just purchase it on the website for "in store pickup"
now, on to the laptop. the "opened" one was preloaded with additonal software, which does NOT come on it from the manufacturer. in order to do so, the box obviously must be opened, regardless of the fact that the product has not seen any actual nor display use.
that said, the inventory system for it is garbage. if they were to put a separate availability listing for direct and preloaded, they would be able to say the customer was at fault: however, since they don't, it's understandable to feel denied or deceived. in any case, such situations you can usually get a special order, where you would be able to purchase the product off of the next shipment, and be notified when one arrives at the store to pick up.
finally, for the price guarantee, there are a few fine print exclusions. the biggest one is the stocking issue: its to protect the company from blowout/black friday specials/etc etc, such as the magnavox you mentioned. many times the management will be willing to work with you on that one, even though they're not obligated... however, they're forced to draw the line in the sand if it goes at or below the store's cost of the product.
if you're careful, you can bag a good deal with it from time to time. sadly, its not as much of a blanket statement as many people think from its advertised wording.
Renegade69
Naples,Florida,
U.S.A.
Circuit City's Website is a bigtime scam
#4Consumer Comment
Sat, May 10, 2008
I was pricing TV's today ( 05/10/08) on their website. a 32 inch Magnavox Flat screen LCD ( Item # 32MF337B, UPC # 609585126893) is $599.99 on their website, BUT when you go to their store the exact same TV is $799.99.
Plus they don't honor their bull***t "unbeatable price guarantee". I had a dated receipt from Wal Mart for the same identical TV for $399.00. But the salesman Shaun went to his manager and comes back and says " We can't sell you the TV for that price, it is LESS then what we bought it for" LOL. Guess he wasn't happy that he got little to no commission off of it and didn't want to bother with it. Teenage goofball salesman. Shouldn't matter WTF their profit margin is. Shouldn't the customer be the happy one walking out the door? the one that will reutrn because he got a good deal and good service?
I would've bought it at Wal Mart but they were out of stock, it is a 2007 model and they are discontinuing it ( the new Model is 32MF338B, 2008 edition, same TV) and I can't seem to find it at any of the other 5 local Wal Marts. It was a price rollback everyone jumped on. Wish I knew sooner, didn't realize how much of a scam Circuit City is with their items. 200 buck difference from store to website. And their "unbeatable price guarantee" is BS as well. They don't honor other competitors prices like they advertise. It is a joke. I doubt I will ever shop there again. What a bunch of shysters to deal with.