TWICE says:

Liquidation sales on $300 million worth of inventory that began yesterday at 154 Circuit City stores are being conducted by Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers Retail Partners, a government filing shows.

An additional store will be closed by Circuit City on its own.

According to an 8-K filing by Circuit City with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dated Oct. 31, the retailer will be paid a guaranteed amount equal to 72 percent of the cost value of the merchandise included in the sales.

The liquidators, which formed a joint venture, will receive an agent’s fee equal to 3.5 percent of the cost value of the merchandise.

The stores are accepting cash and credit cards, but not selling gift cards or accepting checks.

Send your first hand accounts of the Circuit City liquidation to tips@consumerist.com and/or upload your photos to our flickr group.

Hilco, Gordon Bros. Handling Circuit City Fire Sales [TWICE] (Thanks, Klay!)

I'd just like to follow up with you guys after you were nice enough to post my story and get me help (incredibly quickly!). You guys were able to connect me to Lonny Paul at CompUSA who was able to support my warranty directly. I have my new adapter for my laptop (which I'm using now!), and everything is back to normal. Now, I am very satisfied by the level of support provided by the new CompUSA, however I feel Assurant Solutions is lacking. I would have a expensive Toshiba paperweight if it weren't for you guys, and I really appreciate all the help you guys have given me. Keep up the good work!

Remember, if you can't get anywhere with good-for-nothing Assurant Solutions on your TAP agreement, and you've got a legitimate repair, call CompUSA. From their director of e-commerce:

The All-New CompUSA would like to help ANYONE having issues with service and we hope they will contact our customer service department at 1-800-COMPUSA if they cannot have their issue resolved directly by Assurant.

(Photo: Getty)

The All-New CompUSA will do everything they can to assure customer satisfaction, including working with Assurant to ensure satisfacton or handle it ourselves.

It is very important to the All-New CompUSA that every customer know that things are much different. In addition to the wider selection and lower prices, there is a higher level of customer service.

There are many people who think they have lost their investment in protecting their products - and it is simply untrue. Most people don't know there is a number to call, and that number is 1-877-520-8324.

The All-New CompUSA would like to help ANYONE having issues with service and we hope they will contact our customer service department at 1-800-COMPUSA if they cannot have their issue resolved directly by Assurant.

So all of you who left stories of bad TAP follow-through in the comments earlier today, give the new CompUSA a call and see if they can help you out—and let us know how it turns out.

I feel really stuck after being on the phone with Assurant Solutions. I have a Toshiba laptop which I bought for $2,000 from CompUSA 2 years ago. Also, I bought the TAP extra service for 3 years of additional service. About a year ago, my ac adapter stopped sending power to my laptop, and I had it replaced with a cheaper brand through TAP, no problem.

Now about 2 weeks ago, I noticed my wires were fraying and I wasn't getting power to my laptop. And more recently, when I went on vacation, the wires became completely detached, no more power. But I wasn't too concerned, I still have a year of coverage.

So I look up the number for support and I call and talk to a Christopher who is quite helpful. He notifies me that CompUSA has been bought out, and his company (www.assurantsolutions.com) has taken over the extended warranties. He also tells me, under the new warranty with his company, I am entitled to 1 battery replacement, 1 screen replacement, and 1 ac adapter replacement. Great! So I tell him I need my adapter replaced, and tell him my wire has become disconnected.

He then tells me that he is unable to help me any further since the damage isn't accidental.

Tom tried to reason with Christopher, but got nowhere. He tried to escalate the call to a manager and was told one would call him back—but nobody did. Tom called back and argued with another CSR who refused to provide a manager, and who eventually just ended the call:

"I tell him if he is unable to help me, get me someone who is, but instead, he talks over me and says "thank you for calling" and hangs up on me."

Now, I feel helpless and stuck with no where to go. Mario was nice enough to give me their homepage, but after quickly searching, I can't find any email addresses or phone numbers, except for the number I originally called. What can I do next? Who can I call/email? I feel royally ripped off, paying $500 for a warranty program that doesn't do anything.

Has anyone had success with getting Assurant to honor their TAP agreement? These similar complaints on ConsumerAffairs.com make it seem unlikely, with Assurant claiming warranties aren't on file or that the terms of the warranty have changed and they'll no longer make the requested repairs.

Tom, you may want to try contacting the executive offices at Assurant Solutions to ask for more details, such as a written copy of exactly what your TAP covers under Assurant.

(Photo: dump by oddsock, sign by walkingsf)

I've always been a good customer for Compusa, even after their local stores here closed and they went to catalog and online sales only. I've ordered a full computer for my inlaws less than 3 months ago, and several parts from their online or catalog advertising they send me via mail or email.

This week I received a catalog in the mail from Compusa. The front says Vol. I Issue 6BE. I was paging through the catalog like I normally do to see what they have. I noticed a videocard that looked to be a good deal and I was interested in it. I tried to order this card yesterday morning.

The videocard is a Visiontek Radeon HD 3870 X2 Overclocked Edition which is advertised in the catalog on page 54 for $114.99 twice including a picture of the actual card. When I went to their website I saw the card was $399.99 at this link:

I thought, wow, what a good deal. I must have to call into the # on the catalog to get this pricing they are advertising. So I called into the # on the catalog (1-800-COMPUSA) and waited to talk to a sales rep. A guy answered the phone and I told him I received the catalog mailer and would like to order a video card. He asked for the part # and I said V261-3874. He said ok, and asked for the priority code listed on the back of the catalog I received. I told him that info was KFE-2801. He said ok, I see we have that card for $399.99, how many would you like? I said I am interested but the catalog pricing shows $114.99 not only once, but twice in the ad with a picture of the videocard.

I was put on hold for several minutes. He returned talking frantic and said that it was a misprint in the ad and that their cost for the card was much more than the advertised price. I said ok, but I want the advertised price, it wasn't an error in one spot, you show this card part # for $114.99 twice on the same page. He said they would not honor the mistake and that if I wanted one I would have to pay $399.99 for it. I said, what are you doing for those who got the mailer with this pricing. He became rude and told me I was one of about 600 people who tried to call in and get this deal and they are not helping anyone for that type of price. He immediately went on to ask me if there was anything else I would like to order instead. I asked again if they were honoring their advertised pricing and he said no and have a good day.

Typically, stores aren't required obvious misprints such as a car for $200.00, etc. Things get a little foggy when the misprint isn't obviously a typo. Usually what a reputable store will do in a situation like this is to post a notice informing their customers that there's been a misprint. For example, placing a notice on the CompUSA website would have been the appropriate thing to do in this case. What's not ok is to wait for their customers to call about the mistake and then offer to sell them the video card at a higher price. CompUSA should be making an effort to inform their customers that there's been a misprint in their catalog.

BestBuy:

"a no-questions-asked return policy for monitors is all Best Buy has going for it."

"Best Buy forces people to work without adequate training to sell products and services that are virtually worthless. They sell products at exorbitant prices and give 'coupons' to make their dumber customers believe they're getting such a great deal. Don't even get me started on overpriced cables/power cords."

"The only time you can snag a good deal is [sometimes] during a clearance or purchasing one of their loss leaders but everything else is just way overpriced."

"their stores are crap. Most employees lack formal training, and just general customer service."

"My personal Best Buy horror story: I bought a "new" car stereo and it came with a CD in the drive."

"Bestbuy is the devil, I've been boycotting them for years now."

"An Exorcism couldn't save Best Buy. DIE Best Buy DIE!!!"

"I worked with Best Buy from 1999-2005. Before we became the number 1 electronics retailer about 2001-ish, it was such a great company! Not much changed between 2001-2002. But in 2003, the company really began to embrace an arrogant attitude as they were the supreme electronics store and they could do what ever the fook they wanted."

"f I could vote a million times it would be for Best Buy every time. What can I say, the world really doesn't need a Best Buy anymore. Unless they want to be treated like a number, lied to via duplicate pricing, and treated like a general turd if you have a valid complaint. Best Buy just plain sucks. Worst Co. evah."

"Best Buy is the Wal*Mart of electronics for every one person who hates them there is 100 who just shop there because the stores are pretty and the prices are competitive with other retailers."

"Best Buy screwed me by not honoring their costly extended warranty and that cost me $65 plus the headache of dealing with non responsive employees."

"If you still shop there and expect any to actually know what they are doing, you're brain damaged."

"

Best Buy!
For the following reasons:
1. Fake web site
2. Raelyn's laptop
3, Price gouging people on the Gateway P-6831FX
4. Charging more for opened products then new ones
5. Ruining Jennifer's Super Bowl party, and being dicks about it
6. Mislabeling/switching CD's, DVD's, Hard Drives, etc
7. Automatically assuming their customers are thieves, liars, and brainless.
8. Refusing to honor 2 for $25 DVD sale as advertised.
9. Ruining a former manager's chances at getting a job elsewhere
10. Charging for free repairs
11. Exploiting Heath's death
12. and for all around just sucking ass when it comes to customer care

the list goes on, but I have to get back to work... "

"Best buy for their bait and switch tactics with regards to ad and website prices differing from the actual store prices."

"Not only is their EXECUTIVE customer service terrible, they overcharge, manipulate, and flat out lie to even their most loyal of consumers. Having a transaction with Best Buy is like being gutted and spat on by a mugger."

"From past experiences (even after working at a store) I've never been treated so badly. I have made my own personal policy to ban a store after multiple customer service/other issues (3 strikes, you're out), and Best Buy was the first to receive that award on my behalf. They lie to you about whether items are in stock based on their perception of whether you're buying the service plan or not, for just one example (i know this after working there)."

"One would think that such a popular store chain should have low prices due to the quantities they sell, but the just rip people off. I went to my local "mom-and-dad" so to speak computer store and their prices are much more competitive even though they don't buy their stuff from manufacturer as cheap as Best Buy does. I hate Best Buy. This is not a good business model."

"1) Best Buy — may they rot in hell for the busted TV they sold me. It took me nearly ONE YEAR of phone calls and house calls (and countless hours of my life I will never get back) for them to finally admit this and then replace it. Never EVER again will I buy more than a CD from this pile of dung."

CompUSA:

" I didn't like the fact that their sales were borderline fraudulent, but mostly because they canned thousands of employees like they only thought of them as a one night stand, without giving them any sort of proper warning. At least PRETEND to care. How would it hurt to say,

"Hey, we're probably not going to last another few weeks, so though it sucks you might want to start looking into other employment so that you can continue earning a paycheck. Sorry we suck so hard. We understand if you feel the urge to slack off these last few days, since you have nothing to lose. We're cool with that, we really got nothing to lose anymore either."

Ok, maybe not that last part, but at least give them warning."

"Everything was overpriced and broken. Going in the store was not fun. The only time it was.. sorta fun was to see their going out of business sale, where items were 20% off.

The shelving was the only deal in the whole place, that and maybe the CompUsa sign."

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america

STILL OPEN FOR VOTING: DeBeers vs Verizon, Exxon vs United Airlines, Sony vs Ticketmaster, Comcast vs The American Arbitration Association

Best Buy told the Chicago Tribune that they were "extremely disappointed" by the fine because they'd made a good faith effort to pull all analog-only tuners off the sales floor last October. As for some of the other companies, "Wal-Mart did not immediately comment, while a message to Sears was not returned." That's probably because Sears' phone has been disconnected for failure to pay its bill.

"Sears, Wal-Mart, others fined for analog TV labeling" [Chicago Tribune] (Thanks to Tim!)
(Photo: Getty)

CompUSA may be out of business, but that doesn't mean it can't be the Worst Company in America. Before their untimely demise, CompUSA (and/or their liquidator) sold crappy broken items at small discounts; raised prices before "lowering" them, sent callous pink slips to their employees, and sold a guy a $269 empty box.

DirecTV has a monopoly on the most wonderful product ever to exist, NFL Sunday Ticket, crashes through your ceiling with their feet and then refuses to fix it, extends your contract without warning you, and tries to make you sign up for crap you don't want.

This is a post in our Worst Company In America 2008 series. The companies nominated for this honor were chosen by you, the readers. Keep track of all the goings on at consumerist.com/tag/worst-company-in-america/

"I found a shattered LCD screen at the Columbus Circle CompUSA that was marked "MAY HAVE MINOR DAMAGE," John writes. He also describes the scene during the final days of the liquidation:

It was the Land of Misfit Electronics. I found wheezing printers, disemboweled PCs, grimy office equipment that had been hauled out of the manager's office for liquidation, and "today only!" tags advertising great deals on the actual shelving—in case you want to recreate the thrill of CompUSA in your own home, I suppose.

Columbus Circle CompUSA May Have Minor Damage [Geek Out New York]

She writes:

In any case, after wandering through two of the four remaining aisles, we came across a Sony DVD player that looked pretty solid and was discounted at 40% off. That's when I read the hand-printed words on the sales tag.

"Defective"

and

"DOES NOT WORK"

There was also an 'As Is' tag on the item, just in case you didn't read the hand writing on the big yellow sales tag and decided to try and return it later.

Wow, $179.98 for a brick sounds like a deal to me! Thanks CompUSA! This is why you're in liquidation now!

They also had a heavily-used tape dispenser for $2.00 and used, broken bar stool for $10. WOW! WHAT A GREAT DEAL!

The thing is, The Husband worked for Circuit City, so we price checked some of the other items in the store to see how good the discounts were. Many of them were selling at 40% off some inflated price so that the final discounted price was only $20 or so below the price of Circuit City or Best Buy right next door. I looked at a .Mac subscription pack, and it was selling for $10 below the price at the Apple store, though this was 40% off the highly inflated price. The pack was for a basic membership ($99.99 at apple.com) and was originally $179.99 (price of a family membership) and reduced to $89.99.

CompUSA: 40% off a defective DVD player that DOES NOT WORK [Bastion of Mediocrity]

CompUSA - The Final Days [So Wonderfully Idyllic]

Today, we made history!

A journey that started early last year culminated at 9:31 PST today, in the signing of a definitive agreement to purchase the CompUSA™ brand, website, up to 16 of their best stores, and many other valuable assets. In the next few days, www.compusa.com will be ours.

The value of the CompUSA brand is enormous and its potential is limitless. At one point, CompUSA achieved revenues of nearly $5 billion a year, with a "household brand name" status. Included with this acquisition will be millions of loyal customers who know and love the CompUSA brand. We anticipate many experienced CompUSA employees will fold into our company, joining our ranks, and our new improved company will be stronger and better.

The future is what we make it.

The new and improved CompUSA will operate within our family of websites. All web traffic, sales calls, service calls and orders will be taken, processed and shipped within our current systems. In a few weeks, we will begin to integrate 16 of the best CompUSA retail stores into our operations.

Integrating CompUSA into our operations will be a great challenge, no doubt. But everything we've done previously has prepared us for this event, and I know we will be successful.

Update: our tipster wrote back in to tell us that "the stores are going to be in Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico."

And yes, TigerDirect is notorious for receipt-checking.

(Thanks to S!)

On my way to pick up a replacement hard drive I swung into CompUSA first to see if I could get a lucky deal (that wasn't marked up right before going on sale) from their going out of business sale...

The place was fairly well cleaned out, and there were no hard drives to speak of, so I looked around to see if there were any targets of opportunity. On my way through the software aisle, I saw the sign attached above. You think maybe they should keep some of that software for themselves

(Thanks to Tyson!)

I start counting out hundred dollar bills and the clerk goes nuts! "Sir, we don't accept cash for this kind of purchase! You must use a credit card!" she says at the top of her lungs. (I see her also hit a button on the phone at the same time.)

Instantly a man shows up, clearly the manager from his nametag and the rent-a-cop security guy. Both tell me the same thing, "NO CASH! You have to pay with a credit card!"

The manager's actions are legal. 31 U.S.C. 5103 says that cash is legal tender for all debts, public and private. Creditors can't refuse cash. CompUSA can.

Of course, that doesn't mean they should.

I got a call back from a guy at CompUSA corporate, apologizing for what happened. He said that he would make sure that I was taken care of properly and that cash would be no problem. I told him I would think about it and call him back.

So I called the store to see if the items I wanted were in stock, after I asked the guy about them he said, "I know who you are, your the guy that wanted to pay cash. My district manager & corporate called me and read me the riot act over this. Thanks for getting me in trouble!"

He then hung up on me!

No Cash At Compusa????? [Sprint Users]
Legal Tender Status [Department of the Treasury]
(Photo: Tyler Durden's Imaginary Friend)

Reader Matt went out and took some pictures:

I was at my local CompUSA here in Rochester, NY. I have visual proof of them marking up items before marking them down. The included images are of Western Digital hard drive that was originally $119.99 and then marked up to $169.99 with 15% off.

Every 5-10 minutes, an announcement was made welcoming people to the liquidation event. Curiously enough, the guy making the announcements kept saying "fifty percent off", when in reality the items in question were 15% off. I heard several of these announcements, and I wasn't the only one that heard him say 50%. Clever use of near homophones..

Next bit of interest.. I saw a pack of DVD-R blanks with a couple of different price tags on it. There was one that said $4.99, and partially on top of that, one that said $9.99. The shelf signs offered another 15% off of that.

Upon taking it to the register, I was told that it was in fact $9.99. When I inquired, I was asked how they couldn't tell if I'd applied the $4.99 sticker myself. I pointed out that it had the same item number, and was partially *underneath* the higher price tag.

"Oh yeah. I guess you couldn't have done that then." The girl informed me that she was unable to give me the lower, marked price.

I remarked how good a deal it was for them - do a 100% markup on the product, then offer a 15% discount. Nicely done guys. She told me that "would be impossible, since price fixing is illegal." I explained to her that price fixing is when you collude with your competitors to charge the same price for an item, not artificially inflating the price of an item before discounting. When you own the merchandise, you're free to sell it for whatever price you like, generally. If you convince some sucker to pay more than he should, good for you.

For those who still think it was a good deal - it was only a 10-pack of DVD-Rs. Lightscribe discs, but still, not a great deal (25 for $12.99 on Newegg).

Other "deals" included a Western Digital MyBook World Edition 1TB for $404 (including the 10% off, so marked $449). Same drive sells every day on Amazon for about $350.

So, inflate prices, take nominal discount, profit...

(Photo:Thanks,Michael!)

Dear Valued CompUSA Customer,

Thank you for your business with CompUSA. We regret to inform you that we are in the process of closing our retail locations. We want to let you know, however, that you may still receive service under your Technology Assurance Plan (TAP). All plans are underwritten by an insurance company, so even if our stores are not around, you can still get service.

Based on the type of product and TAP Plan purchased, your service will be handled as follows:

If you do not have internet access, please call the national call center. For additional information about TAP Terms and Conditions, please visit our website:

http://www.compusa.com/services/tap/featureterms.asp

During the manufacturer warranties, service will continue to be facilitated by the manufacturer. We apologize for an inconvenience you may encounter and thank you again for your business.

Sincerely,

CompUSA Management

Reader Justin, who sent this in, says, "You have to wonder if Ed even typed it up himself or if he used a Microsoft Word template." Don't Word Templates let you customize the recipient's name?

CompUSA sends out layoff letters, bad service extends to employees [Engadget]

PREVIOUSLY: Leaks: CompUSA's Going-Out-Of Business Discount List

(Photo: quentinr)

Already:
New product shipments have ceased, what's already shipping and in the warehouse is it.
TAP Warranties are run by Assurant and so they will probably all be valid.

Monday/Tuesday:
General Managers get told what's going on:

Tuesday:
Last day to check in your computer for repairs.
Tuesday is the last day for returns.
Employee discount ends.

Wednesday:
10% off sales start
Repairs get shipped to Blue Raven
All sales final and if a return is accepted, it will be on a case by case basis

After Wednesday:
10% is only the beginning. Prices will be dropping weekly.

PREVIOUSLY: CompUSA Will Close All Stores After Holidays

(Photo: quentinr)

Sales will be held over the holidays to try to offload inventory. Wonder if the deals will be just as crappy as when CompUSA did the liquidation dance earlier this year.

CompUSA to close all of its 103 stores [AP] (Thanks to Doug!)
(Photo: Tyler Durden's Imaginary Friend)

Don't rush out with a wheelbarrow. If they're anything like the closings back in March, the deals will stink, you won't be able to use rebates, the newspaper ads will be glossy hype, and the ghosts in the machines will shed sad ghost tears. — BEN POPKEN

(Photo: Morton Fox)

The results were varied and shocking:

Best Buy: Said needed a new power supply
Circuit City: $59.99 "The jumper was set wrong"
COMPUsa: Charged $119.99, their minimum charge, but correctly diagnosed and fixed the problem
Fry's: $69.99, fixed all good
Torrence Computer Repair (local): Fixed, at no charge b/c it was so easy
BM (local)I: $275 due to "power short," as the "main board" and "hard drive" were "bad"

Shady computer repairmen are the new shady mechanics, the creative can find plenty of profit in unexpected places.

If your computer starts smoking, you might be better off getting a referral from friends for a local tech known for honest dealings. — BEN POPKEN

HowTo Give Computer Techs a Bad Name [Daily Cup of Tech]

We are not surprised. Gordan Brothers, the company liquidating CompUSA's remaining stock, is responsible for managing Tweeter's liquidation sales. This time, it's a family affair. The Chairman of Tweeter, Samuel Bloomberg, is the brother of Gordan Brothers' Managing Director, Jeffrey Bloomberg, who also serves on Tweeter's board.

Sven, CMStrapz, and Alex describe the sales, after the jump...

Thought I'd drop a line; stopped by a Tweeter in San Diego today and called around to a couple more. They're doing pretty much the same thing as the Good Guys' and CompUSAs — everything in the store is 10% off of list price, with probable plans to make the discounts bigger as time goes on.

I went looking at the Clairemont store where I've bought a couple of things in years past, and they still have a good chunk of stuff, but it's all still pretty pricey. I called around to the Encinitas and Vista stores (all in the greater San Diego area), and it's pretty much the same; the Vista store already has a guy who's got the 'I just found out I'm getting laid off and don't really care about your problems' attitude going on, at least over the phone, which is somewhat understandable — I'm guessing a lot of these sales guys came from Good Guys when they closed last year, so having to find yet another job so soon would kind of suck.

I stopped by my local neighborhood Tweeter yesterday morning (Mission Valley, San Diego, CA). They had a sign holder on the street corner holding a sign that said 10-30% off everything. When I pulled up to the actual store, the first thing I saw, from the outside, mind you, was a HUGE sign that said "All Sales Final". Once I could take my focus off of that, I saw the big signs that had the 10-30% information. There were no signs that stated "Store Closing" or "Liquidation" or "Everything Must Go" or anything gimmicky like that. Inside the store, there were 2 employees and no customers. I chatted briefly with the employee and looked around, I could only find items marked 10% off, and the reductions were all on original price. I would bet that some non-closing stores have some of these items for lower prices, since usually sale prices are more than 10% off. I couldn't find anything with 30% off, though I imagine it is on overpriced accessories, cables and such. The salesperson also alluded to the fact that they didn't have much in stock in boxes, most of the sales would be floor models. I asked about extra money off for floor models and he said no, not at this point. He pointed out that all of the tags said "NO FURTHER DISCOUNTS." So, really not very good deals at this point. The salesperson told me to check back next week, when they reduce the prices further. I'll take a look and update you again.

I stopped by at Tweeters (Albany, NY) two days ago to check out the sale and since I am a Mobile Audio Sound Quality geek I was looking toward some good sales on sub's/speakers/amps, but was really disappointed by only 15% off sale on major items and 30% off on little things like ipod accessories. The sale prices are still way higher then what you pay online, so I guess we'll have to wait. I'll stop by the shop sometime next week and send you an update on the sale.

PREVIOUSLY:
Tweeter To Close, Liquidate 49 Stores
CompUSA's "Fire Sales" Expected To Suck

The best deals are on computer cables, at 30% off, and on mp3 and satellite radio accessories, and DVDs, all at 20% off.

Slim pickin's! — BEN POPKEN

Complete CompUSA closing stores savings list [HW Blog]

I made a purchase this past weekend that qualified for a $50 rebate. I attempted to follow the rebate process and was told by their Corporate Rebate folks (800-266-7872) - they would not honor it. They added, it would be honored if the store was one of the ones remaining open or website. You might want to publicize this to save folks from being "lured" by offers that will not be honored.

Effective immediately, customers in closing stores are not eligible for CompUSA rebates, and manufacturer rebates will not be available. If an item was purchased prior to 2/27/07, and qualifies for a rebate, please follow the normal submission instructions located on your rebate form. The closing store will not participate in CompUSA's national ads. However, the closing stores will have their own sales; pretty much every item in the store will be on sale, and the closing stores may have their own ads too.

CompUSA

CompUSA's "In-Store Pick-Up" is a scam. Here's how it works:

• You find a great deal on CompUSA's website.
• You order the great deal and select "In-Store Pick-Up."
• You give your credit card information
• You get a printable order receipt that says "Printable Order Receipt"
• You go to the store and present your "receipt."
• The cashier fetches your item and rings it up for a price significantly higher price than what you "paid" online.
• You are told that you did not pay online, and that your "receipt" is just a reservation.

Why do you not charge my credit card until I show up In-Store?
Flexibility. You don't have to use the card you reserved with - If you want to pay cash, check or another card, you can. If you change your mind, you don't have to deal with the hassle of messy refund credits. Also, you're free to add to or change your order once you're at the store. It's quick and easy.

Why ask for my credit card if you're not going to use it?
It's like making a hotel reservation - it's simply to secure your reservation so we can take it off the selling floor in the store.

Kevin's email, below.

On the 18th I went to compusa.com. I didn't get redirected from some deal site where they had linked to an obvious pricing mistake. I just went there because they're local and usually have good prices. I needed blank DVD+Rs and CD-Rs and so I picked out two, spindles. Apparently there was an instant rebate for $10 on the CD-Rs and $27 on DVD+Rs. "Cool!", I thought, "I saved some money." I typed in my credit card, filled out the mailing address and checked if they were in stock at any local stores. Surprise, they were in stock at the local store and I could pick them up in 15 minutes. Well, I could have, except that, this particular store closes at 8pm. Anyways, I printed my receipt which read a total of $35.70(attached). It actually says "Printable Order Receipt" on the receipt. That's because it's a receipt, ofcourse it says it's a receipt, right? 3 days later I finally get the time to get to compusa.

After standing at the pickup line with no one in sight for 10 minutes I just goto the 1 open register. The guy offers to go and get my stuff and rings me up....bam $72.70. "Uhh, my receipt says $35.70", I say. "Oh, well that's not a receipt, it's a reservation. Those deals expired yesterday.", the cashier says. "Actually, it says receipt at the top right here. And I already ordered it, I even paid with my credit card", I said triumphantly. "Nope, sorry, it's not a receipt" he repeats. "Then why did I enter my credit card info? I even could have had it shipped directly after I ordered it, I just chose to pick it up." The cashier just stares at me. I told him that I didn't want it then and he shrugged and looked to the next guy in line as if I was gone.

Later I sat in my car and figured I would read the fine print, expecting to find some sentence that says "this is not a receipt, but a reservation." There are two blurbs at the bottom and none of them have anything to do with receipts. One is about varying tax rates and the other is about recycling your cell phone batteries. I have carefully inspected the receipt. If this is not a receipt, I don't know what is. It seems like there should be some law preventing retailers from doing this. I mean I actually purchased the item and yet they won't give me the price because I didn't pick it up right away. I can guarantee that if I had it shipped, it wouldn't have left the warehouse until monday which is later than now. It says it takes 3-4 days from the time you order to the time it ships!

Dave spied a pair of $130 headphones and decided to indulge. An employee told him that no returns would be accepted. Defective merchandise could be exchanged.

"Well, I guess it was a self-fulfilling prophesy: of course, no sound come out of the left side unless I jiggled the volume switch. It was clearly a pair of badly-wired headphones. I took them back the next day, and was told that no, all sales were final, and I could not swap them out. Of course, I was furious. Not that anyone cared, since they were going to be fired in a couple of weeks and weren't really concerned with customer satisfaction."

Dave's email, after the jump...

I went to check out the sale going on at my local ex-CompUSA in Monroeville, PA. Basically, everything is 10% off MSRP, with no sale prices currently in place (they aren't honoring CompUSA prices). Some items are 20% off (game guides, tech parts, and other low volume sellers). I had my eye on some headphones (expensive $130 ones) and figured 10% off and instant gratification was a good deal. I asked the checkout guy specifically that even though sales were final, if they were defective, could I swap them out for a new pair. He said, yes, I could, I just couldn't get a refund. Well, I guess it was a self-fulfilling prophesy: of course, no sound come out of the left side unless I jiggled the volume switch. It was clearly a pair of badly-wired headphones. I took them back the next day, and was told that no, all sales were final, and I could not swap them out. Of course, I was furious. Not that anyone cared, since they were going to be fired in a couple of weeks and weren't really concerned with customer satisfaction. Just a heads up, the 10% discount isn't worth it. Just avoid these sales entirely, unless you plan on buying something "unbreakable" (paper?). Time to break out the soldering iron...

Previously: CompUSA's "Fire Sales" Expected To Suck

1) Enter Compusa and your town or zip into Google to find your local CompUSA's store number
2) Replace XXX with your store number and hit enter

You should get a list of "blowout" specials. Then:

1) Find an item you like.
2) Enter it into Amazon, Pricegrabber, or Froogle.
3) Laugh.

— BEN POPKEN

UPDATE: Is this just for items that are getting discontinued, not liquidated? That's what reader Krishen, says:

if you do some research, you'll find that Gordon Brothers, the liquidation company that purchased the 100 closing stores is incredibly good at screwing customers and employees. look for Compusa fire sale prices to be incredibly bad. (as in, prices will rise, not drop for the first oh, month of sales)

they also will not allow returns, exchanges, or defective exchanges. Most products will not receive manufacturers warranties after purchase by customers.

the fire sale will bode bad news for a lot of customers :(

just imagine the stock that compusa currently has, with the warehouse people sabotaging it. (can you say "dropkick?)

Wonder if local papers will be filled with glossy inserts touting the sales. If so, savvy shoppers will know to compare the prices with the CompUSA prices elsewhere to make sure it's a deal. Just because the number is surrounded by an exploding yellow star doesn't necessarily mean savings. — BEN POPKEN

Keep an eye out for sales, though they may not be all that hot and most of the merch will probably end up on eBay. — BEN POPKEN

A liquidator, Gordon Brothers Group, the same used for Good Guys, will take over tomorrow, Wednesday 2/28, he says.

A company insider also tells us that says the closed stores will be ones with a high monthly rent and will include locations on the East Coast, West Coast, and in the Chicago and Atlanta areas.

Stores being closed were informed via conference call with headquarters around 3pm eastern time today. — BEN POPKEN

PREVIOUSLY:
CompUSA Invented 53 Week Year So Execs Could Cash Big Bonuses?
On Second Thought, Don't Expect Good Prices During CompUSA Fire Sales
EXCLUSIVE: CompUSA Closing 100 Stores
(Photo: jetalone)

Most places have their quarters that run in: 4, 5, 4 (13 weeks = 1 Quarter). Last year CompUSA had (4, 5, 5). = 53 weeks/ year. Yes CompUSA had a 53 week year.. Not sure how, but the upper management got some FATTTT BONUSESSS $$$$$$... B/ they hit their bases #'s they needed to.

We're not even sure how to begin substantiating this statement. Perusing annual reports or something, we suppose. Policies like this might be part of the reason why the company is imploding. — BEN POPKEN

UPDATE: Readers are noting this is a fairly standard practice in accounting and finance. No wonder we put a question mark in the headline.

As for close out sales, if you remember the KANSAS CITY store closings & 14 others, they did not make any good deals. Yet they just screwed people out of their money.

They ran normal sales through their flyers, and you could no longer return the product at any compusa. You did not get any good deals. They might run 10% and gradually go up a little bit. But they sold most of it to a Ebay wholesaler who bought it all for 4 cents to the dollar....

Oh, okay, just keeping buying stuff from eBay? No problem. — BEN POPKEN