Complaint Review: Circuit City - New York New York

Below is a copy of the letter that was sent to Circuit City:

This letter represents my final effort to resolve this issue amicably and is the culmination of hours of frustration and months of unjustified delay. I have never experienced such unprofessional, discourteous, and incompetent customer service.

On December 4, 2005 my sister and I purchased a 51 Hitachi television from Circuit City along with the extended warranty. The light bulb for the television exploded just one year later on December 8, 2006. In order to arrange for a repair, we inquired at Circuit City (80th & Broadway, Store #3680) to talk to someone about how resolve the issue. No one in the store could help us, nor were they willing to arrange for service personnel to inspect the unit in our apartment.

Instead, we were told to call the customer service number. In relating the details of this absurd encounter with your customer service representatives, I hope to not require nearly as much of your time as was wasted of mine and will try to be as brief as possible.

Upon exiting the store that afternoon, I immediately placed the call to the customer service, despite the fact that I was entertaining my mother and her friend during the holiday season while they were in town from Oregon on a short visit. I had originally taken this day off of work to spend with my mother as she only travels to New York once a year, but instead spent over one hour and fifteen minutes on hold with Circuit City customer support.

While I was on hold, my mom started looking up alternative numbers on the internet and then when she finally got through to someone they told her she would have to call the customer service number to which I will let you know she politely declined. Instead, she informed them that I had been on hold for more than an hour and requested that they address our problem immediately.

The individual on the second call obliged and somehow managed to make an appointment with one of your outsourced television repair shops to come take a look at the television the following week. They were unable to come sooner, and we were told, even though we knew it was the light bulb that had burnt out, that they would have to come look at the TV, then schedule a time to come back with a light bulb to install it in the TV if they had the part in stock, if not, they would have to order it first.

The following week a repair person came to look at our unit and he confirmed that we needed a new light bulb. Two days later I received an email from Circuit City informing me that the light bulb had been ordered. I called to ask how long the bulb would take to ship and was told he should have the bulb in two (2) to three (3) days.

The days came and went, so I called your outsourced television repair shop to follow up on the service call. I was told that the bulb was on back order but they should have it the following week. It was then December 22, sixteen days later, and we still had no television. Not only did Christmas pass, but New Years came and went and still no television!

By this point, it was approaching Super Bowl Sunday and my sister and I had planned a party for the event. I repeatedly called your customer service line but never got an answer. Finally, I called the television repair shop and demanded that our unit be repaired that week. After a considerable amount of yelling, the repair shop eventually scheduled an appointment for a repairman to replace the bulb on February 7, 2007 NINE WEEKS after it had burnt out.

As a public relations professional, I find it incredibly disturbing that I had to yell on the phone to Circuit City in order for someone to miraculously find a light bulb and schedule a time to come to my apartment and install it. Customer service should not require that someone scream on the phone to get action.

You may think the story ends here but it does not, on February 17, 2007, just ten (10) days after our light bulb was replaced, the television went black again! Once again, they scheduled someone to come and inspect our television the following week. However, when we called the following week, they told us that no one would be looking at the television, and that they ordered a bulb.

This time however we were assigned a claim number. On our first conversation with the claims agent, Cynthia Peete, she told us to reach out to her if we are told that the light bulb is again on back order and she would make sure to rectify the situation. Subsequently, and unsurprisingly, we were told that the light bulb is on back order and that the expected delivery of the bulb is in two (2) to three (3) months.

So we called the claims agent and left a message, letting her know our predicament and asking her to call. We called our agent every day and left a message for her every day since March 3. When I finally got through to her (March 21st at 8:00 AM), she told me that there was nothing that they could do, it was in the hands of the repair people.

As I continued to speak to her, she said that with this television they have experienced a lot of problems, and she was authorized to offer us a $75 gift card and $50/week for a rented replacement television. Our unit was purchased at a price of $1700. A $75 gift card is laughable considering that it is less than five percent (5%) of the purchase price. Also, considering that we had an inoperable 51 television set in our living room that is impossible for us to move, it is practically impossible to squeeze another rental unit into our Manhattan apartment, an unfeasible solution to say the least.

To add insult to injury, on April 4, 2007, I received an e-mail correspondence from Circuit City informing me that the repair status of our unit was resolved. I replied immediately, informing the nameless sender of the e-mail that the repair was not resolved. I also called Cynthia Peete and left several messages to let her know about the problem, and again, she never returned the calls. The e-mail correspondence is enclosed for your reference. I also attempted to contact the repair shops customer service, again, regarding this e-mail and they informed me that I would need to speak to a manager who was gone for the day.

On April 6, 2007 AID Audio & TV Service Corp. came to our home (another day that we had to take off work to wait for repair). When the repair person arrived he began to replace the bulb and discovered that there was damage the casing for the light bulb and the screw was so badly stripped that held the casing that someone had secured the door with scotch tape! The repair person was shocked and was unable to remove the screw and had to pry the door open from the opposite side to access the light bulb. He replaced the light bulb and when we tried to turn on the TV it again was not working.

On this day (147 days, 21 weeks, after the first instance and 50 days, 7 weeks, after the second instance) they removed our television from our home to take to their shop for repair. We were told it would take, an additional, 9-10 business days for the TV to be repaired. To date the cost of repairs, including the new parts is $1,600 (two $300 light bulbs and $1000 for the additional parts to repair the casing).

It is now May 23, 2007 in the past twenty-seven (28) weeks or 6 (six months) we have had a functioning television for one and a half (1.5) weeks. To put it another way, in the past 195 days, our television we bought from Circuit City WITH an EXTENDED WARANTEE has worked for ten (10) days! We placed a call again today and have been once again told that the part needed to fix the television is on back order and they have no idea when the part will be available.

I have purchased an extended warranty that provides for the repair of this obviously defective unit. I expect Circuit City to rectify this situation immediately. As a public relations professional myself, I find it outrageous that your company, competing against commonly recognized household names in the industry such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart would risk its customer loyalty in such a public manner. Our demands are simple, clear, and as Im sure by now you agree, completely justifiable:

(1)Circuit City must arrange to replace the broken and defective parts within the next ten (10) business days and extend our warranty to cover the cost of the light bulb, motor and casing, for the next five (5) years.

In the alternative, we demand that Circuit City:

(2)Replace, within the next ten (10) business days, our current 51 HD-TV and stand with a new HD-TV of equal size and:

a.Cover the costs of all delivery charges.

b.Cover the costs and arrange for the disposal of our current TV.

c.Cover the costs of placing our new TV on an extended two (2) year-warranty with the option to renew after (2) two years.

In the event that neither of these demands are met in the next ten (10) days, or if a reasonable alternate proposal is not offered to us, we will pursue any and all legal remedies available under the law including, but not limited to recovery for material misrepresentations constituting fraud as well as willful and knowing violations of the New York State Deceptive Practices Act (N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law 349 et seq.) and false advertising (N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law 350).

In addition, if the television is not repaired in the next ten (10) days, I will be contacting the Better Business Bureau and every other customer service and business reporting agency applicable to report this unacceptable, absurd, and untenable situation.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation. We reserve all rights and remedies.

Kelly

New York, New York

U.S.A.

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