Complaint Review: Circuit City - Springfield Virginia

To the above poster, as a CSA Lead you should lose your job. I would love to have your store number and get you fired. You give CC a bad name. It clearly states on the back of a receipt what the return policy is. If the item is returned within 14-days of purchase DEFECTIVE, there is NO RESTOCKING FEE! DID YOU EVEN LOOK AT YOUR E-LEARNINGS? You dont even know your job and your a supervisor? Pathetic. But the restocking fee is there because we have to pay to ship it off and/or mark the product down 10-15%. And it does happen to be on a HUGE 8FT board behind the CSA Counter.

First of all, I'm a CSA Lead and when we do computer returns, we charge 15% whether defective or just don't like unless the customer buys something of equal or greater value. There are MANY items that the fee correponds to because, in a lot of situations, the company who produced the product will charge the Circuit City money for sending it back. You should have made SURE you're purchase was exactly what you wanted. You sound like you know a bit about computers, so you should have asked more questions ... NOT Circuit City's fault ...

Circuit City has had restocking fees on laptops for at least the past 15 years. Not only are all the details clearly spelled out on the receipt, but they are also clearly posted in the computer department and at the customer service desk where the computer is picked up after purchase. It is hilarious that people continue to claim that they "didn't see it" or "no one ever told them" about it -- but ONLY when they want to return something and not pay the fee. You never hear people who bought a laptop and intend to keep it say that they never saw the fee. Hmmm... interesting.... For guys like the original poster, what will it take for you to understand a return policy before making a major purchase like a computer? Methinks that the majority of these people DO know the return policy, but are trying to deny this information as a means of getting out of paying the restocking fee. Y'know this kind of people ... the ones who believe rules apply to everyone BUT themselves...

Circuit City has had restocking fees on laptops for at least the past 15 years. Not only are all the details clearly spelled out on the receipt, but they are also clearly posted in the computer department and at the customer service desk where the computer is picked up after purchase. It is hilarious that people continue to claim that they "didn't see it" or "no one ever told them" about it -- but ONLY when they want to return something and not pay the fee. You never hear people who bought a laptop and intend to keep it say that they never saw the fee. Hmmm... interesting.... For guys like the original poster, what will it take for you to understand a return policy before making a major purchase like a computer? Methinks that the majority of these people DO know the return policy, but are trying to deny this information as a means of getting out of paying the restocking fee. Y'know this kind of people ... the ones who believe rules apply to everyone BUT themselves...

Circuit City has had restocking fees on laptops for at least the past 15 years. Not only are all the details clearly spelled out on the receipt, but they are also clearly posted in the computer department and at the customer service desk where the computer is picked up after purchase. It is hilarious that people continue to claim that they "didn't see it" or "no one ever told them" about it -- but ONLY when they want to return something and not pay the fee. You never hear people who bought a laptop and intend to keep it say that they never saw the fee. Hmmm... interesting.... For guys like the original poster, what will it take for you to understand a return policy before making a major purchase like a computer? Methinks that the majority of these people DO know the return policy, but are trying to deny this information as a means of getting out of paying the restocking fee. Y'know this kind of people ... the ones who believe rules apply to everyone BUT themselves...

Re-stocking fees on electronics are something charged at all major retailers and have been for some time. For someone to claim they knew nothing of it just means they are a totally uninformed purchaser, and when he found a better deal online he tried to stick it to CC.

Enoch, I cant speak for walmart, but I know for a FACT that Circuit City absolutly does not sell open(unsealed) products as new. And once opened the markdown is 10-15%. If your PC was defective, then there would have been no restocking fee. We, circuit city, MUST lower the price of this unit because it is not new, theres nothing wrong with it, but it has been opened, and it can not be sold as new. So, You get 85% of your money back and we knock 15% off of the price because someone has used this item before. It wouldnt be fair to charge full price on something that is clearly not NEW. A flat fee does not make sense because we cant take just 50 bucks off of a 6500 dollar TV because its been opened, if its not new the discount must be bigger.

Im a CSA at cc, when we take back open computers they are sold as open box or if they are defective they go to service. CIRCUIT CITY DOES NOT SELL OPEN ITEMS AS BRAND NEW!

There's a WalMart thread with someone complaining about buting a USED item that was sold as NEW. Gee, and to read some of these, it's just as good, so why not sell USED stuff as NEW? Maybe the person at WalMart just "sampled" the item...that was also used as an excuse in another thread.

You have any backup for such a statement?

The laptop will be repackaged and sold as new by circuit city.

Maybe you didnt notice this either but the laptop has an intergrated TV tuner. Infact that laptop is designed to be a media center and nothing more.

Guys, guys. While I agree that restocking bs is not great and that even this guys point is proper. Pretty much most places have restocking fees. You should always assume that they do. I am 48 and Ive known that for 39 years. I also tend to attempt to avoid such places, but fortunately the places I do shop have restocking fees that start after a bit (such as days later). None of the places I shop at have a same day restock fee. But then I also am smart enough to verify what the product has before I buy. I personally would never buy a computer with XP HOME or XP MEDIA or WINME or older (unless its garagesale)... If it has something other than Linux or XPPRO, it will be immediately reformated with my extra XP PRO cd's. Fact is, it is very much like cars, that once you walk out the door with a product, its value is diminished immediately (especially monitors & pc & laptops).

Go and buy a car. Take it home and realize that the trunk wasnt big enough and then try and return it. You should probably do some research before you drop $2400 on a laptop. "The raid configuration was such that I'd have had to reinstall the whole unit to configure it for Raid 0 which I thought should've been default. Who buys a performance unit and wants two drives sitting separately with no striping in a raid array?" Gee I dunno, people who want the sercurity of a RAID1. Also it would have been listed on the tag, the box and along the start menu that Media Center was installed, pay attention. Also pay attention to your recipt. I'm looking at a reciept right now and it has a restocking fee listed. And if it points to a website, I dunno, LOOK AT THE FREAKING WEBSITE! CC now needs to sell that laptop minus 20%-30%. How on earth is it fair for the company to pay for your impulse buy?

You got to find out in the privacy of your own home that the machine did not meet your needs. Most people test drive the machines in the store.

It also does not matter what I did in the process of purchasing it. They did not post anywhere that they had a 15% restocking fee. I was looking for a quick purchase but regardless of what went behind me finding the unit I purchased unsatisfactory I am out 433.12 and CircuitCity has made a profit. They also did not at anytime during the sale make me aware of the restocking fee in the event I did not find the product satisfactory. CircuitCity did rip me off and they are evidently ripping others off with impunity. A rip-off is them taking my money and me having nothing to show for it. It is not even about the money for me, it is more about the fact that they are doing this to people who have only a set amount of cash to buy what they want and this company thinks they can get away making a profit and providing nothing in return. This should be illegal. It is not a good business practice and they should be required to post on the receipt the calculated restocking fee in the event of return of an opened product. A reasonable store would have simply worked something out with me and saved themselves and I the trouble. I would've gladly paid them 50-100 dollars to cover any inconvenience but they instead chose to act like a casino rather than an electronics store. Also I want to remphasize that they did not have the restocking fee posted anywhere that I saw and referencing a website when you are in a brick in mortar store DOES NOT qualify as posting your refund policy. How difficult was it for them to point it out? I may have went ahead and bought it anyway and then I would've at least felt like I was treated like a customer and it would've been entirely my fault. It wouldn't have made the restocking fee any more right and anothers stupid mistake doesn't make right your taking advantage or profiting from it.

Evidently you purchsed the computer on an impulse because it "looked good" in the store. Perhaps before you make any major purchase you should have done research into the product. Had you done that, then maybe you would not have purchased that particular unit. But you did purchase the laptop from Circuit City. They have the return policy posted in their stores; it is posted on their website; and it is printed on their reciepts. All in clear language. When you made the purchase from the store, you were agreeing to that policy. Basic business law - they made an offer to sell you something under certain conditions; you agreed to it when you made the purchase. The 15% restocking fee is something that a lot of store do for "opened" items that are returned. When you make a purchase, open the item, and then take it back to the store IT CANNOT BE RESOLD AT THAT POINT - no matter if you did not touch the accessories or not; no matter if you repacked it perfectly. You cannot tell me honestly that you would not mind buying something "new" that has been purchased previously and returned to the store - especially when it comes to a high-end product. Circuit City has to spend money in paying it's employees to take your merchandise back; prepare the paperwork; ship the item back to the factory (where they can determine the condition and then resell it as a "refurbished" unit.) You are causing the store to have additional expenses, so they need to be compensated for it. Whether 15% across the board is fair or not is another debate altogether and I do not like it as well. But the bottom line in this intance is that Circuit City did not really rip you off. You made a poor decision to purchase the laptop without looking at all the features carefully and without doing any research into the product. Perhaps this expensive lesson will ensure that you do that in the future. Additionally, if you do not like and agree with the 15% restocking fee for opened returned items, then don't purchase from them.

It is Circuit City's problem because they did not adequately disclose their fees at the time of purchase. It is clearly geared to allow them not just to recoup the cost of restocking but also allow them to make a rather exorbitant profit. I would think anyone would have a problem with this. A company should not have the right to take money for no service rendered period. They also should be required to make all costs of significant value known directly to the customer at the time of purchase. They certainly have no problem pointing out the costs and risks of not pruchasing the extra warranties plans. As for CircuitCity they do what most retailers do if they don't resell a product directly they return the product to the manufacturer and there is very little cost to them. I don't disagree with them wanting to cover even those minimal costs but a %15 restocking fee is just crazy. I could've been dishonest and just said it is broke and they would've given me a new one. Then I could've returned it without a problem. This was something that a manager actually pointed out. I just expected the normal response that most good companies provide to customers when they are disastisfied with a purchase. I did purchase a notebook online configured the way I like it from xxxxx. I should've did it to begin with but in the end it doesn't change the fact that a company has 433.12 of my money and I have nothing. That is the essence of a ripoff, I know that people seem to have the attitude that if you can get away with it and make a buck then it is ok. I disagree with that idea, I think it is small and shows that a company is not very good at its core when they choose such a draconian tactic to deal with customers especially the ones who spend thousands of dollars a year at their stores. A more simple effective process is the one other retailers use. It is simple effective and fair. Growth oriented companies don't need to rip off or piss off customers to make a profit. I don't understand why CircuitCity has chosen to put itself in risk of a class action lawsuit on this matter. It will happen. sorry, allowing you to give a competitors name would instigate others to just file against their competition, to only come back later to suggest their company your comments on this policy are welcome! CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.

What you should have done was tell them to shove th e restocking fee and kept the laptop, maybe you could have sold it privately, rather than just give circut city 433.00 or how much ever it was, I hate that restocking fee stuff, and also the having to pay, to pay a bill. example: pay the phone company by credit card and they charge you a 5.00 fee, my credit card co. charges 12.95 to process a check. Since when should people have to pay, to pay a bill or have someone put something on a shelf, for God's sake that is stupid, and a rip off, If I have learned one thing in life its people want money for nothing all the time....Oh and if it makes you feel better, I used to shop circut city until I read this, electronics are unpredictable and I wouldn't want to have to pay someone for putting it back on a shelf, so you costed circut city some money here...Hope that gives you some comfort...

How is this Circuit City's problem? What are they supposed to do with the computer, sell it as new? Your unit wasn't defective, and as far as XP Pro, you know that know home-based units either come with XP Home or XP media. How could you not know what OS you needed? You just didn't like it. Too, too bad. As much as I dislike Circuit City, sorry to say, NO RIPOFF HERE. Next time buy your computer online from Dell, Sony, Toshiba, etc. You can configure it to your exact specification. XP Pro is about 79 bucks extra.