David launched an EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) on Circuit City and CC'd us. Let's listen in:
I came to Circuit City hoping to purchase Guitar Hero: World Tour Complete Band Set for my wife's birthday. I had tried several other stores before coming to Circuit City, but all were sold out. When I arrived and asked an associate if they had the complete band set in stock, I was pleased to learn that they had one left. However, when they attempted to ring the item up, instead of the $189.99 list price, the item rang up at $10,000.00. We all had a good laugh at this as the associate went for a manager to clear up the error.
The manager looked at the price and told me that that normally happens when an item is marked unavailable because the item was not yet at its release date. Of course, this game was released last Tuesday, Oct. 28, and the manager and various sales associates told me that they had already sold a ton of them. After speaking to his supervisor on the phone (I believe it was a district manager), I was told that they could do a price adjustment to the correct price, but since that would throw off some numbers, would it be all right with me if they set the item available online, where the price is correct, and just pay for it on the web with immediate "in-store" pickup? I was happy to do whatever was needed, and did not mind helping, so I said sure.
Unfortunately, for the next 45 minutes I waited as the employee trying to make this happen ran back and forth from computer to computer trying to get the inventory and the website to match up. Finally, as I had been in the store over an hour at that point, I asked that the manager just do the price adjustment and let me buy the game. He got back on the phone with the district or regional manager, and I was the told that the Guitar Hero: World Tour Complete Band Set was not supposed to be released until NEXT Tuesday, so they could not sell it to me. This is untrue. Multiple CC employees told me that they had sold many of the sets earlier in the week. Also, here is a small list of stores and sites selling the set as of RIGHT NOW:
--WalMart
--Best Buy
--Target
--Amazon
--CIRCUIT CITY (At multiple stores, according to the website)When I told the manager this was not true and that the manager had in fact earlier offered to simply price adjust the price, the truth emerged. The district manager told the store manager that a price adjustment that large would make their numbers look really bad, so they could not do it. The "It hasn't been released yet" line was just that, a lie to tell me so I would leave. This is unacceptable.
This is what I would like from Circuit City:
1. An explanation why Circuit City's internal variance numbers are more important than a customer trying to spend several hundred dollars at your store, and why I was lied to.
2. An acknowledgment that the item I was trying to buy was in fact available, and that I should have been allowed to purchase it.
3. A phone call from the District Manager, Regional Manager, or higher up at corporate to explain 1. and 2. to me.
Finally, one personal observation...perhaps it is customer service like this that is forcing you to close 155 of your stores?
Sincerely,
David
UPDATE:
David has an update and a happy ending!
David says:
]]>I wanted to give you an update for my Circuit City issue. This morning I got a phone call from the District Manager for the Memphis stores and surrounding areas, Michael. He was "mortified" and had investigated the issue with the store in question as well as the asset manager that the store called. He went over what happened with me and addressed all my points. Apparently, there was a company-wide glitch that goofed up the price for my item. He apologized profusely during our 15 minute conversation, and though I did not ask for it, he gave me the complete band set for free. I just got back from Circuit City, and the game was waiting for me there. So, Circuit City, or at least Michael, really went over and above to address my issue.
So, perhaps YOU need to get the stick out of YOUR ass and use the extra focus you get as a result to read the article and comments before you comment on someone else's experience.
]]>Glad you got what you needed but I'm glad they are going out of business.
]]>That's an awesome example of an EECB working yet again. I think the guy went overboard in giving you the system for free, maybe he was trying to bribe you into NOT posting this on Consumerist. Whoops.
]]>No reason to be curious why there stock is at .34 cents and share and they are closing over 100 stores! They are in big trouble!
]]>Stood at the counter for 10 minutes waiting for someone to wait on me. Watched the sales drones wander in and out of t he back room, apparently having a good time chatting. All the time, a person was at the sales counter 10 feet away ringing up sales -- and the line there was 10 people deep. Finally got the attention of one of the yakking drones and asked to speak to manager. This lumbering oaf walks up to me and I explain the situation and he has the balls to tell me there is only one person working the sales counter and she is too busy to handle the web pickups - tells me to get in the 10 people deep line. I say, nope - you just lost a $350 sale...
To make it worse, I walk outside and immediately call their "custom service" line. They explain to me that each store handles their own issues and that I would need to speak to the mgr.... no wonder they are circling the drain. Never went to CC again.
]]>I think its because they know Consumerist is watching.
]]>even if they don't do the "find a better price and we'll give you the difference plus 10%" deal, it would show in the system as a 98.1$ discount.
the best solution would be for them to add a "DO NOT SELL" option to their items in the database, since someone can always override the cost. (sorry, i'm tired and can't think of the proper technical term. which is just as well, someone wouldn't understand it anyway)
]]>And this is the exact reason that if you have to buy big ticket items in a retail store, you're best off going somewhere that still has commission. While you'd think that by going to somewhere with commission, they'd try to bilk you out of every dollar possible, it's usually the opposite. The salesmen will usually try to make sure you're happy with everything you get, so you don't turn around and return it 2 days later because they oversold you or made you feel "ripped off".
Plus, they run to serve you since you're their paycheck.
]]>that guy really needs to get the stick out of his ass. that 189.99 has no margin so they dont care what they say to you in the long run. why do you insist on waitintg around for a hnour when you can go to the [insert competing store name here] across the street and go buy it. no one at CC will care if you go somewhere else to buy a VIDEO GAME.
]]>(And returned it tonight, not worth picking up. RB2 > GHWT)
PS: It looks like they marked it down, the CS rep made mention of the price showing up at $1000.00
]]>Circuit City is like Mega Maid from the Mel Brooks movie, Spaceballs. It's gone from suck to blow
]]>IS it a big surprise to anyone that CC is a sinking ship? Anyone who has shopped there could have seen this coming miles and miles away.
]]>If only this game was worth getting even for free. I bought the complete band bundle for the Xbox 360 for $189.99, and it was riddled with problems. The main problem was that the drum kit doesn't work correctly. It doesn't register drum hits. Activision claims a USB to MIDI cable (hooked up to a computer, your drum kit, and the game console all at the same time will fix it.) Truthfully, it is just a band aid to faulty wiring as mine was fixed for a day then went completely out. Activision's discussion boards are riddled with people having problems like I had. I was fortunate to be able to get a refund for mine, others were not so lucky. Major retailers have halted exchanges for opened boxes and are directing people to take it up with Activision, the game's publisher, only to find out they have to spend their own money to have the defective equipment shipped to be repaired. Hope your free Guitar Hero World Tour kit works properly, or your free game may end up being costly and causing you unwanted grief.
]]>I wouldn't go to Circuit City even if they were giving everything away.
]]>"What are you going to do, FIRE ME?"
]]>@The 12 Men on the Field Watch Intern: Asset manager, rather.
]]>@nursetim: I do want to point out that at least the original cashier and possibly the store manager seemed to be attempting to help, but apparently didn't have the direct authority to do so. An hour trying to resolve an issue like this isn't exactly tossing this guy to the side. The district manager guy seemed to be the single point of failure.
]]>@Tiber: Plus the part about the item being free was an update to the story so there is going to be a percentage of comments where that wasn't even there. Just a story about CC not taking the guys money.
]]>They are making fun of CC for losing money when they could have made a sale.
]]>Seriously though, why is everyone mocking them? Yes, the store was stupid, but he got a $190 item free! Most people are satisfied with a $50 gift card!
]]>@Jabberkaty: and doesn't it just ruin the fun of having $1000 burning a hole in your pocket when nobody is willing to help you spend it?
I can't even begin to count the number of times I've been to a store with money in hand, ready to buy something only to have the staff dismotivate me from any purchase whatsoever.
Sad, really. ;-)
]]>This is how Skynet is able to take over, because no one wants to deviate from what "the computer" says.
]]>From every CC post I see on this site, stuff like this doesn't really suprise me. But wow, when your company is on life support and you pull this crap, BB keeps looking better and better(add lots of scarcasm).
]]>The only good thing they have going is their stock is up 10cents today. They're up to 36cents
]]>At least when it happened to Rock Band, they responded as well as one could hope. Activision is charging for shipping on their broken instruments.
]]>Didn't read the story 100% through, but the game was released on October 26th.
]]>I had a fifty dollar CC gift card I received as rewards on my credit card that I was going to use when I bought Rock Band 2. Rock Band came out on a Sunday, so I went to the store and looked around and it was nowhere to be found. After trying to get anyone's attention for 10 minutes, someone finally stopped to help me. After he looks around in the same spots I just did, he calls the "warehouse" to find out about it. They told him it wasn't released until Tuesday, even though it said "Available now" in their own flyer.
I figured I'll just pick it up elsewhere (bought it at Gamestop that same day), because I wanted to get the wireless "guitar" and could use the 50 dollars on that. I kept checking back in the next few weeks, and I'm still not convinced they ever actually received the game or anything else related to it.
This is not one of the stores marked for closing either.
]]>That is some pretty stellar customer service, as well as a sound explanation as to why CC is getting shitcanned. (Sure, just take the $150 product!)
]]>They have become Sears. Only Sears is magically somehow still afloat...
]]>on a serious note, this does seem like the kind of customer service that would lead to the end of days for a retailer. blatant and transparent lies ... never a good way to win customer loyalty
]]>Ironically I'm sure that the CC death watch had a lot to do with it becoming a problem in the first place.
The store probably wouldn't of cared about just taking the markdown if the company was hunky dory. I'm sure the manager and district manager had heard the rumors too (why else would the manager even bother talking to the DM?) and knew that blowing the entire month on one customer wasn't going to help their odds of not making that list.
Not saying this is justified or "right" in any way. I can just see where they're comming from at a time where I'm sure the manager and DM are just as worried about their jobs.
]]>Never would have happened if he had bought Rock Band 2.
/kidding, kind of
]]>I mean, what do they expect?
]]>Stuff like this is why I never shop at Circuit City. If they don't want customers... what do they expect other then to go out of business?
]]>