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Circuit City Files For Bankruptcy
WillDraven is just one of many who writes to tell us that Circuit City, the United States' 2nd largest consumer electronics retailer, has filed for bankruptcy under chapter 11. This news comes as no surprise as the company has been in financial trouble, recently announcing that it will be closing over one fifth of its stores and laying off 17% of its US employees in the process. "Larger rival Best Buy, which is based in Minneapolis, has said it might take over stores that distressed rivals close. Yet a flood of discounted merchandise from liquidating Circuit City stores could hurt Best Buy during this holiday shopping season, said Jefferies & Co analyst Dan Binder."
This news comes as no surprise as the company has been in financial trouble ...
"Financial trouble" doesn't begin to describe it, their stock's been below 25 cents for a few days now. I was debating on blowing 20 bucks and demanding the paper stock be sent to me so I could have fancy roll of toilet paper to put near the can when guests are over. It wouldn't be a horrible investment as I'm sure it'd have other uses too ... lighting cigars with it, using it as wrapping paper for Christmas, etc. A man's gotta increase his perceived wealth among his peers, you know.
My work here is dung.
Oh no, not another twitter sock puppet story!
Circuit City was, to me at least, was always just a Best Buy knockoff. I might be crazy, but it was always so dark in their stores. Maybe that was to enhance the rest of the lighting. Or I am actually insane.
"A claim for equality of material position can be met only by a government with totalitarian powers." Hayek
... given the fact that they treat their customers like criminals. Besides which, my local electronics place usually beats them on price -- and there's always online shopping.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
The entire loss was due to shoplifting, they should have been more suspicious of their customers. Hopefully there will be a crackdown now.
Nullius in verba
Circuit City bought all the Radio Shacks here, and changed their name to "La Source: by Circuit City" Do they all get closed too?
Didn't things start to fall apart when they tried to push that crazy DIVX rent-and-throw-away DVD format?
The CB App. What's your 20?
Circuit City short circuited by the credit crunch.
Take Nobody's Word For It.
Wow good link. I find this surprising in that I was always told that once you are in the parking lot, the security for the store wont do anything and call the police on you. The security weren't even allowed to leave the building in case of a grab 'n dash. I know a couple people who shoplifted frequently a few years ago and walmarts and targets, they were never caught, but they were also under the impression that security wont leave the building to snatch up a shoplifter.
"A claim for equality of material position can be met only by a government with totalitarian powers." Hayek
Holy fuck, I just don't know what to say...other than only an AC would post something so intensely offensive.
But I doubt it.
Their prices and selection always sucked in my experience, and it does not look like the liquidation will change that.
Experience teaches only the teachable. -AH
I've always been disappointed in their offerings, and yet as one of the only retailers of their type in the area I always felt the need to stop by and be frustrated by their lack of anything. Between our new Best Buy and game stores in the area, I certainly won't be missing them.
I will shred my adversaries. Pull their eyes out just enough to turn them towards their mewing, mutilated faces. Illyria
I'm not exactly optimistic about brick and mortar electronics shopping in the even grimmer world of hegemonic Best Buy(thank the FSM for a local Microcenter); but Circuit City really, really deserved it. Unimpressive prices, incompetent service, paranoid treatment of customers, that whole "Hey, let's fire our best salespeople and attempt to hire them back at insultingly low wages" incident... Reduced local competition isn't a good thing; but Circuit City was too sick to survive, or even deserve to survive.
Good riddance to a disgraceful company. Let's not forget how they fired all their highest-paid, most experienced employees and allowed them to re-apply for minimum wage positions. After they pulled that stunt I never spent another penny there, going way out of my way to go to Best Buy instead when I needed to purchase something from that sort of store and didn't have the time luxury of getting it from the internet. Don't misunderstand: Best Buy sucks too, but at least they're not Circuit City.
Oppressing an entire population is never cheap.
--Jeckler (/. Beta IS GARBAGE!)
At least they always had products in stock because no one shopped there.
Man that commercial made me wonder why a kid would want a yellow sport walkman, it never did make me want to shop there.
...was the fact that they were across the street from the office. When you walked in, you always got mobbed by their people. They were waaay overstaffed with people who just ask "can I help you with anything" every five minutes. I would avoid "window shopping" there, for that very reason. I'm sure there were plenty of other ways they lost sales; but that was the main reason they lost sales from me. That, and when I made my last major purchase (LCD TV), Target whipped the pants off them price-wise. I was able to watch all the big screens at Target for 15 minutes, and decide which one had the best picture for the price. Nobody bothered me, and if anybody did ask "may I help you" it was just once, and they didn't do it again.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
So, as AIG gets its THIRD multi-billion dollar bailout in just a few months, I'm left wondering where Circuit City's bailout is. Or is it ok for a company their size to lay off 17% of their workforce but not ok for the financial sector to do the same? What's that? Circuit City doesn't help make politicians rich? Ah. I see... Pathetic.
No pity here either. Circuit City was so poor about stocking items listed in the weekly sale ads I got fed up and quit reading their ads all together and actually going to the store became a total waste of time.
Can you say Vista Failure? I can. So goes the M$ retail chain.
Seriously, what is your deal, dude? Yeah, I get it, you've somehow managed to join the GNAA & Goatse trolls in the ranks of annoyances on this site. You post 140 bytes or less sized comments and hijack threads. If you think this is appreciated by the community, why don't you take a look at your karma.
Seriously, you belong on Digg or maybe even Twitter! (Imagine that.)
I hardly think a company that sells a cable for $129.99 when a functionally equivalent cable is available for $5.43 is concerned about the availability of discounted merchandise.
As anyone who tried to find a good deal when compusa went under, good deals will be few and far between. Oh, you'll see lots of 30-50% off stickers, but they'll be against the MSRP or some other jacked up price. They will never come out of this and the inventory is worth more to them as an asset for some liquidation company than if they sell at too much of a loss. And I question how much inventory they really have anyway. Last time I was in there the shelves were pretty bare and I imagine the stock room is by now too. This has been well over a year in coming.
I never show my receipt and no one has ever said anything about it. Another thing I don't do: I don't stop if the electronic beeper goes off when I exit the store. I know I didn't steal anything and it's not my responsibility to make sure they deactivate the tags on my merchandise. It's their job to make sure it's done, not mine. Number of times I've been questioned when the beeper thing goes off: 0.
Interesting.
I've longed since stopped going to either Best Buy or Circuit City, but I have to wonder why someone can't accept the annoyance in exchange for lower prices *. Fry's does the same thing, after all, but people here generally love Fry's so you don't see anyone complaining.
What you have here is not a violation of any rights, they weren't going to search purses and handbags (although some stores do - but they clearly post that they reserve the right). It's implied consent when you shop at a store like that, and if you don't like it, don't go back.
I admit the part about the cop arresting him for doing nothing wrong is a bit perplexing, but I'm sure the outcome will be a positive one. To think, that guy could have avoided all the hassle, all the wasted time and money, just buy opening the plastic Circuit City bag and showing the receipt.
People keep demanding lower prices, they're going to have to put up with crap like this to get them.
* Yes, I read where you said the local place beats them on prices. Then why do people shop there? There must be some compelling reasons.
Stupid sexy Flanders.
Clearly they need bailout cash.
That tripe gets posted everywhere. It was new a year ago.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
I ask this only because I so rarely see something so offensive here: Doesn't /. have an abuse reporting mechanism? I would never advocate removing posts that were controversial, but this is not such a post. This is unrelated to the topic at hand, obviously intended to be inflammatory and really has no place here.
DISCLAIMER: This post was not checked for speling and grammar- if you complain- you're a whiner
But didn't anyone feel sad because of their memories of formatting those Windows 3.1 machines they had on display in Circuit City back in the early 90's?
That and putting something "cute" on the marquee screen saver.
Maybe I indirectly lead to their demise some odd 20 years later after making the one person who could have saved the company quit in frustration because of those damn brats.
"I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
-Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
The receipt check they do is bogus anyway. They don't actually check anything on the receipt. Basically, they look to see you have a receipt. They never look in the bag to see what you have, and they certainly never match what's in the bag to what's on the receipt. After they do a receipt check, quiz them on what you bought. They will never be able to tell you. Never!
I actually like Circuit City and prefer it over Best Buy any day. However one cannot beat online prices for electronics. Mark ups in stores is just a joke.
Best Buy has the same policy. After a confrontation with one of their rent-a-cops, I no longer shop there.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
This is more evidence that the American Consumer has no idea what it is spending its hard earned money on. People choose mediocrity over customer service in exchange for what they think is power. AMD64x2 is plenty capable for ALL internet applications today outside of games and what people really need to focus on like learning how to do e-commerce and pay their bills using computers. Every time I have shopped for a NEW computer at Circuit City - I have discovered the right computer in the right price range. $500.00 is the perfect price for any new pc. No more - no less, and it will handle 2 years of work for that price. 2 years down the road - you make a backup - turn it into a work server, and get a new one. Instead people would rather pay Best Buy inordinate amounts of gouging money to be lied to about Mail In Rebates and Big Screen TVs at the back of their Gigantic Warehouses, by know it all teenagers who have no interest in taking CASH from customers who literally walk in with fist fulls because they get commissions on signing people up for CREDIT. Having worked in Retail during the days of Tandy's bombed out Computer City I saw this all too well, and its going to happen again. Even Best Buy will fail. Then what do we throw in the leftover burnt out husks that used to be middle america? Rave parties? Stick it out Circuit City, prove to us that you are better with customers this Holiday Season, and we will shop in YOUR store.
I do exactly the same thing. If they ask if they can see my receipt, I say "No", and never break stride. Similarly, if the beeper thing goes off, I just keep walking. It annoys my wife to no end because she hates conflict, but I'm not shy about asking the door Nazis why they think all their customers are criminals.
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
Have a look at Best Buy and how Best Buy continues to have a better, more attractive retail space. On the other hand, Circuit City got more and more confused and worse and worse. I used to like to go to Circuit City and Comp USA but both those stores screwed up their floor plans so much that I lost interest in them. On the other hand, I was in Best Buy and it just amazed me, how nice it was.
This is my sig.
Seriously - I attempted this once with a different company and was not able to get the paper shares because they lacked a 'transfer agent' at that point. Make sure they can deliver.
... given the fact that they treat their customers like criminals. Besides which, my local electronics place usually beats them on price -- and there's always online shopping.
It sounds like he was nothing more then some smug jerk who was too infatuated with gloating about his rights and showing them off. He shouldn't have refused to show the officer his ID. The security staff blocking the car is one thing and could have lead to a fine on their part. He did nothing wrong by refusing to show a receipt. He did nothing wrong by refusing to obey the security guard and manager. He did something wrong when he refused to show ID to the police officer. I'm not familiar on Ohio law, but in many places it's illegal to not have some form of ID when over 18.
I'd like to see this guy to a BJ's or Costco in the US and try to walk past the person checking receipts, which is standard at those stores.
And I have a feeling I'll get modded troll for this post.
Posts not to be taken literally. Almost everything is sarcasm.
Yeah, it's called the moderation system. This is exactly the sort of thing the moderation system is supposed to filter out for your benefit. And, I might add, it did, unless you browse at -1.
"16MB (fuck off, MiB fascists)" - The Mighty Buzzard
Laws are different in different states. Just before CompUSA closed, I had a manager and security guard refuse to let me leave the building until I showed them my receipt. After some arguing, I gave in, then laughed in derision at the manager, saying this draconian policy is why CompUSA was losing business. Seems like Circuit City followed suit.
What seems to have not made it out of the Richmond area is that they laid off 500-800 people last Friday from Corporate in addition to the ones they're laying off from the store closures. That's a lot of people to dump into an already poor IT market.
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
I wonder how many Circuit Cities are not basically next door to Best Buy. This seems to be the strategy of expansion Circuit City used. Best Buy has a store, circuit city builds across the street. I guess this is good if one can compete on this basis, but really. How many appliances and stereos does a city really need? And might a better strategy for Circuit City be services a part of the City not served by Best Buy?
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
Searching my bag - whether it is a bag I came in with, on my brand new (once my purchase is completed at the register) Joe's Discount Electronics' bag - is indeed a violation of my rights. I don't surrender my rights because you put up a sign.
If specific and articulable facts lead you to a reasonable suspicion that I have been involved in a crime, they can hold me and call the cops. Store personnel have no right to search my person or my effects, and they do not gain such by posting a sign. All they can do if I don't comply with their store policy is ask me to leave and not come back - which, when treated like a criminal, is exactly what I want to do anyway.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
You must be new here. Try browsing at a higher mod level. There's keyboard shortcuts to do that. ALT+Fn, where n is the level you want to browse at (use 10 and 11 for 0 and -1, UI flaw). I suggest browsing at "4". Go ahead and give it a try.
UTF-8: There and Back Again
What you have here is not a violation of any rights, they weren't going to search purses and handbags (although some stores do - but they clearly post that they reserve the right)
I don't think putting up a sign gives them the right to go through my things. At best they could ask me to leave if I refused to let them go through my bags. Of course this is a moot point unless they are going through the bags before you enter the store, because by the time they asked you to leave you would already be on your way out the door anyway.
It's implied consent when you shop at a store like that, and if you don't like it, don't go back.
I'm sorry but it's not. If I put up a sign on my front door that says "all female guests waive the right to refuse to have sex with me" does that mean I can rape with impunity? All they can do is ask you to leave -- but unless they are enforcing this policy when you enter the store (as opposed to when you exit) it's kind of like closing the barn doors after the horses have already escaped.
To think, that guy could have avoided all the hassle, all the wasted time and money, just buy opening the plastic Circuit City bag and showing the receipt.
He probably could have. Some people are willing to give up their rights to avoid a little hassle. I'm not one of them.
Yes, I read where you said the local place beats them on prices. Then why do people shop there? There must be some compelling reasons.
Because Circuit City is on the flashy commercial strip and the local place is tucked away in an old part of town that most people aren't familiar with?
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Are the purposes REALLY "intensive"? That's a mangling of "for all INTENTS AND PURPOSES". I'm normally not a nazi, but when you're being picky about grammar yourself in the sig, its too hard to resist.
My Babylon
Calling twitter a "twitter sock puppet" is amusing to say the least.
One thing that people don't realize is that when retailers declare bankruptcy, their gift cards are worthless. You're considered an unsecured creditor, which puts you in the back of the line among all other creditors. If there's anything left, you might get pennies on the dollar for what the card is worth--a few years down the road. Some companies plead their cases with the courts to allow gift card holders to use them--after all, if those people lose their card values, they won't be shopping at the now-bankrupt company, especially when the company needs those customers most...
At least Consumers Union is trying to petition the FTC to force companies to honor outstanding cards... But I can only see this happening if a retailer chooses to reorganize--forget it if they're liquidating.
So, the best advice is to use up your gift cards NOW , before the retailer goes under. Given that Linens & Things, Lilian Vernon, Sharper Image, and now Circuit City all went bankrupt in 2008, this problem will get worse FAST.
I'm curious to know if this is a problem limited to U.S. retailers... Is this an issue in Europe, Japan, etc.?
Windows 3.1x calc: 3.11 - 3.10 = 0.00
The security staff blocking the car is one thing and could have lead to a fine on their part.
How is this any different than what OJ did? I wonder if he can argue false imprisonment.
I ask this only because I so rarely see something so offensive here: Doesn't /. have an abuse reporting mechanism? I would never advocate removing posts that were controversial, but this is not such a post. This is unrelated to the topic at hand, obviously intended to be inflammatory and really has no place here.
you must be new here.
I would say just over half of the posts are obviously intended to be inflammatory and really have no place here
the "abuse reporting mechanism" is the mod system. I suggest that you browse at +1 score.
personally I browse unfiltered because the down side to the mod system is that often times people mod based on personal opinion.
example: If I were to say that Linux is not a solid operating system. (just an example hold your mod points this is not my real opinion) i would most likely get modded down.
but back to the point, I think you should browse at +1 if not +2.
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore."
Disclosure: I worked for CC for 6 years some time ago, and things were bright then. The stock hit $100 while I was there. That was 3 orders of magnitude ago.
IMHO, CC started to die when I saw fuzzy dice for sale on an endcap. No joke. If you look at their selection of merchandise, you see brands like "Broksonic". Who the heck wants to buy something they've never heard of _and_ has the word "Broke" in its name??? They went for the highest margin cheap crap instead of name-brand stuff that people actually wanted to buy. Their ability to get the right amount of the right product into the stores turned absolutely abysmal.
Being distracted by CarMax, FNANB, and Divx didn't help, either. Dixv was a great idea, IMHO, but the studios were afraid of it and killed it by honoring their contracts for 'x' movies per year with choice selections like "I'm Gonna Git You, Sucka".
I'm not familiar on Ohio law, but in many places it's illegal to not have some form of ID when over 18.
Too bad, because if you had bothered to become familiar with Ohio law before opening your mouth you would have discovered that Ohio law specifically says that you aren't required to hand over ID:
"Nothing in this section authorizes a law enforcement officer to arrest a person for not providing any information beyond that person's name, address, or date of birth or for refusing to describe the offense observed."
And BTW, just where in the United States is it illegal not to have ID on you?
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Best Buy is headquartered in Richfield, MN at the intersection of 494 and 35W. I hate how everything that happens in or is from Minnesota is labeled as either in the "Twin Cities" or in "Minneapolis".
There is or can be built a machine that can simulate any physical object. -Church-Turing principle
I worked at CC from 2000-2002 as a commissioned salesman. CC differentiated themselves by being the only national electronics chain with a loyal, knowledgeable, community-oriented staff. We're not talking 17 y/o high school juniors, but middle-aged sharks who at least knew what they were selling. This worked and stores were in the black, but the 2001-2003 economic conditions caused the clueless management to shift the blame on the sales force and divert to the hourly model. Since then, the store became a cheap knock-off of Best Buy with no value added to the customer. It was only a matter of time before this happened. They were too late to the online game, and were wiped out by the Neweggs and the Amazons. RIP another pointless store that takes pride in making people borrow money they can't afford to pay back. Who's next?
A store posting a sign that says "we reserve the right to..." doesn't give them the right to do something, especially if that something is illegal. So, while they can post a sign that says that they can search your personal belongings, would it hold up in court? Merely walking into a store and buying a pack of gum, a DVD or a $5000 television does not give anyone the right to search through my wife's purse or to make me turn out my pockets unless they have some kind of evidence to suspect me of theft. And even if they do have evidence that might lead them to believe I stole something, I'm going to be damn sure there are police and a few witnesses present before I'm searched for anything.
If nothing else works, a total pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through.
Just before CompUSA closed, I had a manager and security guard refuse to let me leave the building until I showed them my receipt
That's the point where I would have pulled out my cell phone, called 911 and told the dispatcher that I was being held against my will.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
At least in our area, Circuit City had the prices of Sharper Image and the customer service of Fry's. I can't remember another store where it was so difficult to buy something. (Well, I tried to do some Christmas shopping at CompUSA last November when the whiteshirts had already been given their layoff notice, which was arguably a worse experience, but that hardly counts.) You couldn't find anyone to help. If the merchandise was in a locked cabinet, you might as well leave, you're not getting it. And there was always one lone girl who looked about twelve trying to do all the sales.
Us geeks will put up with crappy customer service if the price is right, (it's almost a rite of passage, your first successful purchase of an OEM disk drive at Fry's) but Circuit City seemed to expect us to put up with warehouse-grade customer service at boutique prices. I can see where it might be possible to eck out a living in boom times with such a business model, but they had to realize that they'd be the first to go in any major slowdown.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
I go there to check out the high end products, put my hands on them, operate them, and confirm that the features I want are there. Then I go to the Internet and buy them.
Athiesm is a religion like not collecting stamps is a hobby.
Maybe they should allow a moderator to sacrifice 5 mod points to take a -1 post to -2.
And have it take only 3 mod points to bring it from -2 to -1.
So who even shops at Circuit City or Best Buy anymore? I don't much like the way their salesleeches cling to you, hold you up at the register, and try to scare you with nonsense in their rude efforts to ram extended warranties down your throat. And I don't like the way they charge big for the little things, like $25 for a gold plated USB to PS/2 adapter with 2 other adapters included that you didn't want, and the cheapest keyboard they have is $50 and to justify that price it's loaded up with fancy extras.
They aren't knowledgeable, and they don't really care to be. Just try to learn what the difference is between HDMI, component video, composite video, S-video, DVI, VGA, HD-DVD, DVD, Blu-Ray, stereo, 5.1 surround sound, 7.1 surround sound, and so on from them. Can't be done. They'll always steer you towards whatever is most expensive, never mind the facts and your needs. They don't know, and what they think they know is often wrong. You can't learn what's what in a few minutes at the store. If you visit, you've got to spend much more time researching it all yourself beforehand if you don't want to be clueless when you arrive.
When I want something, I buy online from Tiger Direct, NewEgg, sometimes Woot. And when I do go to bricks and mortar places, I go to Fry's (but watch out, their stuff can be very poor quality), sometimes WalMart, and a handful of local electronics stores (not Radio Shack, these are little independents) that don't try to charge $20+ for a cable.
Intellectual Property is a monopolistic, selfish, and defective concept. It is "tyranny over the mind of man"
reading the same news on Engadget is it what Super-Duper Mart looked like before?
Too likely to get into trouble. A simpler solution is to do exactly what the manager is asking for: show them the receipt. But at the Returns desk.
You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
I also think CC going out of business completely would be good riddance.
I'm gay and CC has a poor record with the GLBT community. The HRC Buyers Guide for Equality (Google It) gives Best Buy a perfect score of 100, while CC has a dismal score of 50.
I refuse to sent any of my money at their stores...
Derek
www.dereketnyre.com
What typically happens to the in-house support if Circuit City goes out of business? Obviously the support stops if the business closes, but can I look for a refund? Should I have my TV serviced for good measure?
What you have here is not a violation of any rights, they weren't going to search purses and handbags (although some stores do - but they clearly post that they reserve the right). It's implied consent when you shop at a store like that, and if you don't like it, don't go back.
This is incorrect they have no right to reserve in regards to searching your person and property. They can post all the signs they like, it still doesn't give them any right to search or detain you. The only repercussion a property owner has if you refuse to follow their posted rules is ask you to leave. If they see you stealing they can perform a citizens arrest but most state laws make it clear they have to actually see you do something criminal to detain you, not just suspect it.
I admit the part about the cop arresting him for doing nothing wrong is a bit perplexing, but I'm sure the outcome will be a positive one. To think, that guy could have avoided all the hassle, all the wasted time and money, just buy opening the plastic Circuit City bag and showing the receipt.
The store could have avoided the hassle as well if they did not insist on treating their customer like a criminal merely because he did not want them to search him.
Does this mean I don't have to pay off my circuit city credit card?
~ now you know
It depends on the state, but in Colorado, an employee can detain someone if the theft detection alarm goes off.
From the Colorado Revised Statutes, 18-4-407.
If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
Well, he already started posting on this article with one of his sockpuppets. It's a good bet that soon the other 12 will jump in to agree with him.
Simpler, perhaps, but not nearly as much fun!
If the masses can keep you down, you're not the Ubermensch.
The CC in Manchester, NH is really hard to get to, right in the middle of probably the busiest street in the city with numerous stop lights in each direction. It sometimes can take a good 15-20 minutes to get from the highway to CC when the traffic is bad. I almost never see the parking lot with more then 15 or so cars in it, most of those are probably employee cars. The employees are always standing around because there is nothing to do either.
Meanwhile BestBuy is down the street at the local mall, but right next to a highway exit, making it much easier to get in/out. It is always busy and surprisingly there is usually someone available to help you (although I never ask for help, as I know where to go).
To me, it doesn't surprise me that this is happening. In fact, I was shocked that the store here wasn't part of that 1/5th of stores closing announcement.
I had somewhere to be, and the convenience of just showing it won out. To invoke Godwin: I probably would have complicit in the early evils of Nazi Germany.
...but they're not sales.
Even after a 10 or 20% discount, I can *still* get stuff cheaper online, even after shipping!
They were never that great on prices, and their selection seemed lacking. The shelves are always disorganized in the software and music sections so I can't find much there, either.
Why would I want to shop at their stores?
-
WHOOSH!
I haven't given them any business in many years. Each time I've been tempted to shop there, I keep having terrible experiences that drive me away again.
The most recent example was 6 years ago. I had recently purchased a house and wanted a home theater system. I decided to try Circuit City again, and after browsing around for a while (and fending off the sales droids that were harassing me) I wound up with $1000 worth of merchandise in my cart. The audio sales droid, apparently wishing to get a commission for doing nothing, asked to check me out at his register in the back of the store. Things were going along OK, until he got to the infamous Circuit City extended warranty push. After he started that, I cut into his monologue and told him, in no uncertain terms, that I wasn't interested in the extended warranty. He began to protest, and I reaffirmed that he should stop talking about that and move on. He said fine, but he had to tell me about the warranties that came with my equipment. I told him to go ahead, and he began describing the stock warranty information for the selected equipment. He then segued back into the extended warranty pitch! So, I simply turned around and left the store. I stopped briefly to tell the manager what happened, and that I had just abandoned $1000 sale because his people didn't know when to shut up. So, I walked across the street to another electronics retailer, and got a similar setup for $200 less! That was just the most recent example, I had quite a few others related to service on a VCR, and other problems with sales people.
The biggest surprises for me related to this story were that they hadn't gone out of business before, and that they were the #2 electronics retailer!
Hell, they're worse than that. They sold me a used and returned TV as new. When it stopped working within minutes of taking it home they offered to sell me the display unit for 10% off. I got a refund on my card and never darkened their door again. I hope everybody in the entire company, from CEO down to stockboy, gets cancer of the face and dies alone and cold on their birthday.
(Okay, maybe that's too harsh, but damn, the utter lack of anything like customer care was staggering.)
Potato chips are a by-yourself food.
Get ready to see that kind of thing more and more in the next few years. I think a recent event finally managed to push a lot of racist people over the edge.
Racism also inflicts people with acute stupidity, so hopefully they'll also start drinking engine coolant and die.
Web2.0: I love when people Flickr my cuil and digg my boingboing until my google is reddit and I start to yahoo
Not true. A friend of mine worked security at Wal Mart. He explained to me that even if they saw someone stealing an item they could not go after the person until they leave the building. He would go out into the parking lot to detain them.
You're upset that they switched away from commission based sales force? There was no way they could afford to pay equivalent salary to top sellers on a per hour basis. They usually made more than management. All the top sellers quickly got jobs at other stores. BTW, top sellers were the people who made you feel good about your buying choice even if it meant lying their ass off. Helpful, informative salespeople could lose sales since the best choice was out of stock, but Best Buy had it in stock. Top sellers know what they have in stock and sell that.
I'd like to see this guy to a BJ's or Costco in the US and try to walk past the person checking receipts, which is standard at those stores.
At warehouse stores you pay a membership fee and sign a contract in order to shop there. Part of that contract is that you agree to show your receipt. This is much different that BB/CC/any store without a membership fee and no up-front contract.
...in many places it's illegal to not have some form of ID when over 18.
That may be true, but none of those places are in the United States, which is where this particular confrontation took place.
Unless you're engaging in an activity which requires a license (for example, driving a car), you are NOT required to carry ID anywhere in the US.
Some places, such as airports, some office buildings, and CostCo, require ID to enter, but a police officer cannot arrest you for not carrying it in public.
If the masses can keep you down, you're not the Ubermensch.
Their poor stocking of sale items was the last nail in the coffin for me. Every time I went there looking for some DVD for PS3 game on sale, it was always sold out. "We only got 3 in" they'd tell me or something lame. Whatever.
However, there sales were generally better than Best Buy and they offered more percent-off coupons (i.e. they offered SOME.) Everything I bought there was with a 10% of coupon while on sale, which was nice while it lasted.
I don't know, but it works for me.
They didn't close because the economy sucks. No. They closed because we can shop for consumer electronics from sites like Tiger and NewEgg and get better prices, to boot. People aren't buying less consumer electronics, they're buying less from overpriced stores like CC. Good riddance.
One more thing - when is your going-out-of-business sale?
In Virginia, at least, most of the so-called theft alarms are nothing more than beep-beeps. I have heard recorded voice on occasion, however. How am I to distinguish "beep-beep we think you're a thief" from "beep-beep the register just scanned an item" from "beep-beep the floor waxer is backing up"?
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
Oh, and when I went in there they played the most god-awful music I'd heard in years. It seems obvious that since the store is closing, the employees, disgruntled after months of hard labor in an electronics chain, put together the most heinous soundtrack available, repleat with Whitney Houston, Will Smith, and other mega-cheese.
I got a little laugh out of it, but the whole situation was still mildly nauseating.
-
You're expecting me to become familiar with Ohio law?
Only if you intend to make statements about it, i.e: "He did something wrong when he refused to show ID to the police officer". If you don't intend to make statements about Ohio law then I guess you don't really need to become familiar with it.
I'd try to find a resource for where it's illegal to not carry ID on you, but any Google search for it is flooded by voter ID requirements.
So in other words you are talking out of your ass and have no proof to back up your claims? Well, at least you were right about one thing: "And I have a feeling I'll get modded troll for this post."
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
PS - Your reference says clearly that the person must be "acting in good faith and upon probable cause based upon reasonable grounds therefor" when detaining a customer. It does not say that setting off the alarm constitutes probable cause. IANAL, btw.
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
I once visited the Creation Museum and got some ID on me. Fortunately it scrubs off.
I would be surprised if you can find a state in the united states which requires you to carry ID over 18.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_and_identify_statutes
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
I only shopped at CC when I needed something short notice and it wasn't too much of a penalty (small-ticket items usually, stuff for which online purchases would get nailed with shipping fees).
I hope the Vestal, NY CC is one that gets bought out by BB. I'd much prefer a BB there than a CC (I'm in one of the few areas that has one store but not the other - Ithaca has BB but no CC, Vestal has CC but no BB.) CC got a reasonable amount of business from me just because of location.
I'm not surprised they're bankrupt though - they tried to make too much profit per item which utterly killed sales volume. For example, a Pentax K20D was listed for a long time as $1900 - MSRP was $1300 and street was $1150 then! Eventualy the camera went on "sale" for MSRP - you "saved" $600 and paid $200+ more than anyone else (street price from reputable dealers like Amazon and B&H had dropped below $1100 by then.)
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
According to the bestselling book Good to Great from 2001, Circuit City was a great company that was "built to last." The Freakonomics guys also noted this a little bit ago.
Interesting how a slicker competitor displaced Circuit City, seemingly so easily. Oh, and Fannie Mae was another company recognized in this manner in the same book.
To invoke Godwin: I probably would have complicit in the early evils of Nazi Germany.
Eh, I wouldn't make that comparison. I'm all about sticking up for my rights, but there's a huge difference between going along at Circuit City and going along with the people being loaded into boxcars......
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
I'd like to see this guy to a BJ's or Costco in the US and try to walk past the person checking receipts, which is standard at those stores.
There is a difference. BJ's and Costco are membership-based stores. If you read the fine print to the membership agreement, I'm pretty sure you'll find that they require you to show receipts at the door.
--You will rephrase your request for me to go to hell. Goto statements are not acceptable programming constructs
You have no idea. No idea whatsoever. twitter famously even blamed the Mississippi bridge collapse on Microsoft.
Web2.0: I love when people Flickr my cuil and digg my boingboing until my google is reddit and I start to yahoo
I used to cherry-pick hard drives back in the old days (a few years ago) when Circuit City and Best Buy used to give those huge rebates.
Those were the good days when you could get a relatively large hard drive at either place - I never spent more then $35 after all of the rebates.
I do know that I went into one over the summer and it seemed like they had never seen a customer before - I got hit up by probably no less than 6 people and all I was doing was shopping for a TV.
Costco is different, you are a member of a club that has rules you agreed to in writing and paid for the privelege
Good-bye
IANAL either, but I would think that the theft detection thing going off would be the probable cause.
Although, I think actually putting someone in a back room just for setting off the theft detector probably wouldn't be "reasonable".
If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
...I'll bet its owners now wish they had accepted the extended warranty.
Tired of FB/Google censorship? Visit UNCENSORED!
Actually, for your information, my IQ is in the 98th percentile. I am college educated from a well-respected university.
Although I do not agree with the violence and bigotry advocated by the "N- OWNERS MANUAL", I do not believe in racial equality as a biological fact. There are scientists, including Nobel winners, who have come to this conclusion.
So please do not paint with a broad brush. You can't fit all of us into a convenient cubbyhole.
It wasn't just the commission based sales force. My friend worked in the stock room for several years, and was making a pretty decent wage, and was up for a promotion within a month (his current supervisor was stepping down).
He was one of those victims of the "we raised your pay too much so now we're gonna fire you."
He wasn't even allowed to re-apply because "he was too qualified."
Firing my friend in that manner lost them a lot of business. I also boycotted Circuit City when that happened. As did all of my other friends, and our families. All in all, that added up to about 50 people.
I suspect that this situation was not unique, and was undoubtedly the killing blow through the heart of the weakened CC.
At warehouse stores you pay a membership fee and sign a contract in order to shop there. Part of that contract is that you agree to show your receipt. This is much different that BB/CC/any store without a membership fee and no up-front contract.
And even at that they still don't gain the legal right to go through your belongings. If you refused the bag check they could terminate your membership -- but they can't produce that contract and force you to submit to a bag check.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
The first place I ever saw that checked receipts on exit was the Price Club (later bought out by CostCo). Initially they took it pretty seriously. On one of our first trips there they noticed we had been overcharged for something and got us a refund!
a,e,i,o,u and sometimes w and y (at be if of up cwm by)
yeah, really. even if that tank or are delisted on the NYSE, i plan buy about 300 share (thats just a little more the $30 before trading fees). i Don't have a ton of cash, and it would great awesome if they made it up to $5 a share. and if i lose in the market with them, its only a $30, i spend that much candy every week.
they say it is often more relevant then the comment above, all we know is its called the Sig!
As others have said, their stocking policy was horrendous. So I stopped shopping there long ago. Glad to see it catching up with them!
Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away. - Elvis Presley (source: imdb.com)
Best Buy sucks too, but at least they're not Circuit City.
Funny, whenever I want to buy something in person at a big box electronics store, that's my exact thought process as I drive past Circuit City to Best Buy.
No, he's upset that they fired all of their best and most experienced employee's.
It wasn't just top sellers. It effected everybody.
And why the hell would you fire your top sellers anyway? How retarded is that?!?!?!
When you fire your top sellers and your most knowledgeable employee's what does that leave you with?
It wasn't exactly a brilliant move. I'm sure it saved them money in the short run but 2 years later they're bankrupt and closing most of their stores.
I remember reading about this ages ago but never followed up on it. Here's the result straight from Michael Righi's blog and it's a pretty interesting read, although it focuses more on him being arrested due to refusing to show his driver's licence, so decide yourself if this should be modded off topic or not. Some highlights:
"In the days that followed a few things changed. First, I learned that the prosecutor was more interested in protecting the city against a civil law suit than she was in silencing my speech. Prosecutor Hillary Goldberg was willing to drop my charges and expunge my record if I promised not to sue. Although this was welcome news I still wanted to fight the charges in court in order to set a legal precedent for others."
I'm sorry but it's not. If I put up a sign on my front door that says "all female guests waive the right to refuse to have sex with me" does that mean I can rape with impunity?
Worst. Analogy. Ever.
Their upside has always been that their floor demos worked and they actually had a decent selection of high end electronics out on demo. Their downside has been their absolutely inept, comission driven sales people, who cared only about selling you warranty extension contracts. I think most customers used them to check out the tech toys in person and then buy them online.
I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own.
Wrong. Whether or not they check the reciepts was a store-by-store policy.
I worked at CC for a little extra holiday cash once. The store was one of the biggest sellers on the east coast. You can bet your ass that every customer's receipt and contents of their bag was checked on their way out. On black friday. Our store took loss prevention VERY seriously.
I personally stopped about $1,500 of merch from leaving the store, and I only did the door checks ~4 hours a week (Filling in for people on lunch breaks, etc). In retrospect, I wish I hadn't. Bastards are reaping what they sowed.
nt
This is also helpful for knowing your rights:
http://www.aclunc.org/library/publications/asset_upload_file654_3533.pdf
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
Depends where you shop. I bought a laptop once at best buy, the doorman actually verified down to the model number.
Is checking your shopping bag such an invasion of privacy? Maybe. But their alternative to protect themselves more "legally" would be more cameras and stricter rules on the kinds of containers/bags you could enter the store with. Personally if all they search is the shopping bag, I don't care. If they were to start demanding to go through any other bags, I'd demand a police officer and some kind of witness testifying against me. Otherwise - walk. Let the guy "stop" you, because the second he physically touches you forms grounds for an assault charge.
You can get 15 minutes of fame, but you can go down in history for infamy.
Give FRN's instead, or spend some time with the person and take them shopping.
Gift cards remind me of that Simpsons episode where the family goes to Itchy and Scratchy Land: Homer exchanges $900 for "Itchy and Scratchy Bucks", which turn out not to be accepted anywhere. Why convert dollars into something that has the same buying power but only in one store and only while that retailer remains solvent?
[ home ]
They think all customers are criminals because a shocking number of them are in fact criminals. Most retail stores are experiencing losses up to 10% because of shoplifting, product defacement and the like.
So why would you not expect them to treat you like a criminal? When 1 in 10 people going through the store is stealing something or trying to steal something?
I can't stand either -- for a quick part I hit a local small computer shop. For most other items I hit the web and get it via Newegg.
Life is short: void the warranty.
Its great if you can get Chuck from the Nerd Herd to work on your PC, but otherwise the store is full of spies, spooks, and narcs.
Twitter on Twitter? And you want people to imagine that? How many heads have to explode before you realize what you're doing, man!?
What day is it? Could you please tell me?
Note; above account (Erris) is very probably a Twitter sockpuppet. You can speculate about his/her motives, but why bother?
I'm a recovering former CC employee. I worked there for about 6 months. In that time I went from trainee, to top seller on the floor, to PC tech, to lead at the tech bench. That should actually sum up their biggest problem...turnover. I saw 3 salespeople, 2 techs, and 1 manager, all quality people, leave in the time I was there. I considered these people to be quality for 3 reasons: They had a good understanding of the product, they took the time to understand the customers needs, and they cared more about getting the customer the products they *needed* than the products being pushed in the latest circular. Those people left for the same reasons I did. The position was always really nothing more than a placeholder while getting the job they really wanted. And they got tired of the pressure from above to offer useless "protection plans" and other BS pseudo-warranties. Oh yeah...and the employee discount sucked on anything that wasn't already rediculously overpriced. Everytime I saw someone buy a $20 network cable I died a little inside.
-=Bang Bang=-
You won't succeed, as it's not legally required in any US state. Police officers can demand your name, and in some cases your address and destination. But they can't demand that in the form of state issued id. They may in some states detain you for up to 2 hours to confirm that what you've told them, and you might be able to go about your business faster if you hand over id, but you are NOT required to do so.
They can definitely demand a driver's license if they are stopping you while you are driving.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
And it works. Didn't have a clue what the OP was complaining about. Hit "Parent". Now I've wasted even more time on Slashdot. Sigh. But yeah, the system works. Too bad television isn't moderated (except with the 'off' button).
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Not true. A friend of mine worked security at Wal Mart. He explained to me that even if they saw someone stealing an item they could not go after the person until they leave the building. He would go out into the parking lot to detain them.
The reason being, of course, that if they were still in the building when you grab them for having the item, they can always claim that they would have paid for it, and if they haven't walked past the registers and out of the store you can't prove otherwise.
I've told this before but this seemed like the right time to repeat it.
I went to Circuit City to buy a cheap graphics card for a computer I was building. They were down to their last $50 card and a stack of $200 cards, and I bought the $50 card. It was DOA when I got home so I went to return it. The clerk absolutely refused to give me a full refund (because of their stupid 15% restocking fee policy) and they didn't have any more cheap cards, but offered to give me full credit toward a $200 card. I didn't want to shell out an extra $150 and told them so, but they wouldn't budge.
One thing led to another until I was screaming at a manager and telling would-be customers what happened, and they eventually paid me my $7.50 to get me to leave. Since then I've not spent a penny at their stores. Oh well - it sounds like no one else did either.
Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
Not sure what BJ's s bust Costco is a membership store, just like Sam's club. In the contract that you sign when you get a membership, you waive away that right and you must follow their instructions or they will revoke you membership
~~"Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong." ~~Dennis Miller
Wow, I've never actually seen anyone Godwin themselves.
Seriously, Don't take anything I say seriously.
Costco is not different, you can still leave without consenting to the search, but they can terminate your contract with cause for contract violation, leaving you out $50 and never able to shop at Costco again.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
I assume he's referring to California, but my understanding of their law (IANAL), is that it is illegal to refuse to *identify* yourself to a peace officer - this has nothing to do with producing identification.
I had a switch die that tied two machines together (small switch, small shop). Went to CC on a Sunday to grab a cross-over cable to tide me over until Monday when I could order a replacement from our supplier.....they wanted over $46 for a 14 footer (all they had). Yeah, f#ck that. I rolled over to BB and picked up a Netgear 5 port switch for under $30 (if I remember correctly). Incredible.
WTF? Over?
If you would have taken a few minutes to read the full account on Michael Righi's blog, you would have seen that he wasn't arrested for not showing what was in the bag, but for "obstructing official business". Righi just refused to give the police officer his license, something that Ohio code specifically says he's not allowed to do.
You would have also seen this:
I understand that my day would have gone a lot smoother if I had agreed to let loss prevention inspect my bag. I understand that my day would have gone a lot smoother if I had agreed to hand over my driver's license when asked by Officer Arroyo. However, I am not interested in living my life smoothly. I am interested in living my life on strong principles and standing up for my rights as a consumer, a U.S. citizen and a human being. Allowing stores to inspect our bags at will might seem like a trivial matter, but it creates an atmosphere of obedience which is a dangerous thing. Allowing police officers to see our papers at will might seem like a trivial matter, but it creates a fear-of-authority atmosphere which can be all too easily abused.
I completely agree that the stunt with laying off the highest paid employees was bullshit. But then in your next sentence you say you drive out of your way to go to Worst Buy (Best Buy). At this point can't you realize that the retail outlet and the misinformed sales staff are not needed and buy things through Amazon or Newegg.com?
Best Buy now has a monopoly.
I'm both of them will use their power only for good and lower prices across the board.
And yes,
Kinda like Jerkit Sh*tty, the Republicans sucked at their jobs and deserved to go bankrupt in the last election.
My biggest concern if they go under is that the relatively recent closings of my local Tweeters and the complete closing of CompUSA stores nationwide leaves me with very little choice for middle-end Home theater and computer shopping. Best Buy and Circuit City kind of filled in the gaps when my first-choice stores went away... At least I hope it means that Best Buy ends up in a strong market position so I'm not stuck with online-only shopping.
Yes, I'd probably save money, and I could buy the pieces for a new PC from New Egg, or order Home Theater stuff through various web sites, but I like going into the store and seeing what I'm getting. There have been many times when the online research looked good, but a physical once-over has changed a buying decision.
Not to mention the instant gratification factor... and don't get me started about having to be at home to sign for a delivery.
So, for selfish reasons, I'm hoping they stick around.
When I read the CEO's statement on their web site, it looked to me like they're just reorganizing. Then again, a re-org usually happens before a full shutdown too.
Guess it's wait-and-see mode.
The Digital Sorceress
... given the fact that they treat their customers like criminals
I'm sorry, that commented has invalidated your $100 Rebate.
>And why the hell would you fire your top sellers anyway?
Because none of them thought to parlay their position from sales into something with decision-making authority?
If you are so smart, why did you fail to get yourself promoted into a position where you could affect these things? This is always "somebody else's fault."
"Yet a flood of discounted merchandise from liquidating Circuit City stores could hurt Best Buy during this holiday shopping season, said Jefferies & Co analyst Dan Binder"
I have to call bullshit on this one.
I was at the Circuit Cities that went out of business here in town less than a year ago. Those stores were still selling things like RAM at '10%' off prices that were inflated by any internet standards. Think 150 bucks for a 512 mg DDR2 stick! The prices of their televisions and computers were so high they were still on the floor when I went there after 2 days of them being part of a fire sale.
Honestly, I think the managers of the stores kept the prices high to buy them at a steal right before the store closed. I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing happens to the rest of the stores.
I could be wrong, it is after all speculation. . .
10% fiscal losses does not translate into 1 in 10 people shoplifting. I also think you may be conflating shoplifting to what is euphemistically called 'shrinkage' in the business. Shrinkage is when an employee totes a TV out the back door. I must say that having 3 different point-of-sale systems at CC has only helped those employees bent on stealing. If the inventory says there are 5 TVs in stock and the employee counts 6, then it's their duty to take one home to make the inventory come out right.
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
Heh. The Circuit City in my town is next to a boarded up Kroger and a boarded up Toys'R'Us, near a closed Applebees and a furniture store that got hit by a tornado earlier this year, and has never repaired...In case you're wondering, yes, it is on the list of stores to be closed.
They're not always in a better part of town, though in my town the only alternative is Best Buy and not any sort of local store (excepting a specialty audio/stereo store).
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
That's the point where I would have pulled out my cell phone, called 911 and told the dispatcher that I was being held against my will.
Until a jumpy security guard who has been watching too many movies takes your actions of reaching into your pocket for your phone as reaching for a weapon. Then you have a 5'2 300lbs fat man wrestling you to the ground and a manager fleeing to their office to call the authorities.
Posts not to be taken literally. Almost everything is sarcasm.
All of the receipt checks that I've experienced have been to check the count (Sam's is big on this one) and scan for big ticket items (i.e. over $50).
Layne
We have a really good local electronics outfit. They almost always beat Circuit City and Best Buy on price. They don't beat them on inventory but they are usually willing to order stuff for you if you are willing to wait. And they've never once asked to check my bags ;)
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
So, when is the firesale at CircuitCity?
Dibs on the laptops!
Raising all your prices to, or above MSRP then giving a whopping 10% discount doesn't seem like a deal to me. It just shows there are a lot of people who don't do their homework before they buy items.
very probably, hah! Erris IS a twitter sockpuppet and is well documented - It's posts like his that make me think we need a "-1 twitter" mod
That reminds me of when I went to CC to get a VGA cable. Nothing fancy, but I needed one to connect my laptop to my TV's VGA port. They only one they had was $40. I was amazed, and walked right out the store and haven't been back since.
Best Buy isn't really much better, as I went there next and didn't find the situation particularly different. I ended up waiting until Monday and someone at work just gave me one.
I continue to laugh at both of their no-name HDMI cables for $100+. Give me a break. Other than the electronics, everything else they had was significantly over priced. (And the electronics were just overpriced.)
Another example, we needed a wall-mount bracket for our new 40" LCD TV. They wanted some $300 for one. I picked up a much better one for $99 at Costco.
A good candidate for a "andnothingofvaluewaslost" tag.
I don't know, but it works for me.
Yeah, I'm sure sales of TVs, DVD players, receivers, speakers, A/V cables, car audio components, satellite TV packages, mobile phones, DVDs, CDs, landline phones, still cameras, video cameras, and alarm clocks took a brutal beating because they came with Vista instead of XP.
Wait. What?
CC *Used* to have good salespeople. When my daughter was little, we decided we needed a camcorder to do the "proud parent" thing.
The sales guy actually steered us to a lower-priced model that met all our needs, rather than pushing all the bells and whistles. That led us to go back there for our second generation camcorder. Same thing happened.
What a shame.
Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
if you follow the link, that is precisely what the guy did. Then after the cop showed up, he refused to show his license and then got arrested.
Oh, come on. Reductio ad absurdum is a valid argument and on the Internet references to rape or Nazis are pretty much de rigeur.
Anyhow it made me laugh.
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
more importantly, things turned out ok for him
http://www.michaelrighi.com/2007/09/20/success/
Actually, about half of a store's shrinkage (losses) is due to employee theft, while only about a third is due to shoplifters. And retail stores on average lost 1.57% of their inventories in 2006. So I'm not sure where you get this "one in ten customers is a shoplifter" idea.
No existe.
Well, say I have this car...
No existe.
That's what Hitler said though. You're a member of a club (Germany) that has rules (National Socialism, genocide).
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
And an awesome, awesome lawsuit that leaves you set for life.
Well, unless it was against CC, they're bankrupt I hear.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
I can't always wait that long for some items. Getting something at worst buy here in Tulsa is about the same as ordering online with 2nd day shipping - so it really depends on the item.
Why can't all fpga/microcontroller manufacturers just release free optimizing compilers???
It sounds like he was nothing more then some smug jerk who was too infatuated with gloating about his rights and showing them off.
Imagine that, wanting to use the rights that you have. Amazing. Next you'll be telling me that I'm a bastard by refusing to quarter soldiers or I'm just an asshole for owning a shotgun.
He did something wrong when he refused to show ID to the police officer.
According to Ohio law (which is indexed by Google), he's not required to show ID.
Just because someone is good at sales doesn't mean they'll be good in management.
You don't have to distinguish, you're not required to stop. They're allowed to stop you.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
How? How did they "refuse" to "let" you leave the building?
As little as placing a hand on your shoulder counts as assault, I believe. A security guard is NOT a police officer. They have NO authority to physically touch you, much less restrain you from leaving a store.
You can also defend yourself against anyone who assaults you, security guards included.
As you said though, laws are different in different places. Anyone know of somewhere where the law would be on the security guard's side?
Until transporter technology moves from the pages of science fiction and into the real world, there will always be times where it is better to drive to a know nothing store than to wait 1-5 days for something.
Actually... 1)Ohio state law says that you only need to provide name, DOB and an account of the altercation. The only time that you need to provide driver's license is when you are operating a vehicle. 2) It is different in Costco and the like, you agree to receipt checks when you sign the membership form. Don't be such a moron please, it frustrate people and I have to waste my time pointing out how much of an imbecile you are.
I'm not sure which is worst... Worst Buy or Circuit Shity
At, least, one less crappy B&M.
And BTW, just where in the United States is it illegal not to have ID on you?
Within 3 miles of the Rio Grande?
>Just because someone is good at sales doesn't mean they'll be good in management.
If someone is good in sales, they have skills that translate across industries, and should never have much trouble finding or creating a new job. If someone thinks he is good at sales but not at sales management, I would suggest that he is perhaps not as good at sales as he believes himself to be.
Microsoft Vista a failure you say? Please tell me more!
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
Seems all this confirms and condemns/consigns them to being "Circuit SHITTY", as one of my relatives disparaged the back in the late 80s/early 90s...
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
I think the bottom line is that there are simply way to many retail stores. If 1/3rd of them closed I'd never notice and would not care.
Retail adds zero value so no one cares other then location and price.
In Florida a cop can "hold" you until they can get proof you are who you say you are. For basically any reason.
There is a war going on for your mind.
I thought you are required by law to carry a state issued ID card if you can't drive, or a driver's license instead. Perhaps I am mistaken.
In Minnesota where I am from, I'm fairly certain we have a state law that makes it manditory for you to carry a legal picture ID after the age of 18. Such forms of legal ID include: State ID card, drivers license, or US Passport.
You don't need these to vote, but I do believe it is the law that you have one.
You meant the business model of charging full priced retail in an era of ebay and other online competition doesn't work?
I am shocked and amazed -
Who's next?
Worst ...errr I mean Best Buy?
---- "Logoff! That cookie shit makes me nervous!" - A. Soprano
I live in Virginia near DC. There are 3 Circuit Citys and 3 Best Buys within 15 minutes of my house. None of them seems very busy. Eventually something had to give. I recently bought a HDTV at one of the Circuit Citys that just opened because they offered an opending day 10% discount on top of a very good regular discount.
Of course the salesperson wanted me to buy a warranty. I told him I thought that there was a good chance that Circuit City would go under so why would I want their warranty (a rip off anyway). He quietly agreed with me.
Pff, what a gay reason not to shop there.
Michael: I declare....BANKRUPTCY!
That's the point where I would have pulled out my cell phone, called 911 and told the dispatcher that I was being held against my will.
They are allowed to do that in a lot of places. Florida happens to be one of them. They can take 'reasonable' measures to prevent you from leaving. Of course reasonable isn't clearly defined, but it includes things very close to assault. You are welcome to call the police, but if anyone is arrested it will be you, possibly after being repeatedly Tasered.
You know what? Curl up and die or grow some balls and let's see a name other than "Anonymous Coward" attached to your oh-so-intelligent post.
If you do not subscribe to racial equality, then you are a racist.
What you seem to be talking about (you will forgive me, for I am a lesser light who can only hope to attain such a great height of mind and may misunderstand your point) is a trend where some races have a higher or lower average intelligence (or aptitude or ...) than others. If that is the case, you should not refer to "racial equality" because that is not what you are talking about.
Racial equality means that a person of another race is just as much a person as you are. It is about empathy, not ability. People have all sorts of different abilities, and if I am to believe you (I don't), one of yours is high intelligence. Bravery is not, coward.
I do not know what the theory you are talking about is called and I do not care to, because it is statistical bullshitting that is no indicator of the abilities of any single individual. Even if extensive studies were done, and the differences in socioeconomic status, education, and a metric fuckton of other factors were accurately accounted for (good luck), and the trends that you theorize proved to exist, i.e. Blacks turned out to have a higher average intelligence than Asians, it would have no effect on the personhood of either Blacks or Asians. I fervently hope that such a study is never (again?) attempted because it would inevitably be wildly inaccurate and would accomplish nothing except to foment your kind of racism, the kind that hides behind feelings of superiority but is too afraid of backlash to come out and say "I am better than you because I am white."
Racial equality has nothing to do with biology and everything to do with perception. If you do not perceive another person to qualify as much as you for the title of "human being," and that perception is based solely or significantly on race, then that makes you a racist (in addition to a coward).
Your brain is not a computer.
newegg should take retail presence in the abandoned CC shops.
I'm surprised they didn't arrest him for mopery.
I'll give you a hint - it's not illegal to not carry ID on you. This may sound surprising considering everyone "defaults" to carrying their Driver's License. But also consider how badly people mock the Nazi "papers please". People wouldn't be going around mocking the Nazis requiring everyone carry ID if was also required in the U.S.
IIRC, intentionally invoking Godwin removes the ability for it to be Godwin.
Just as a point of information, Radio Shack credit default swaps are trading for less than 3% per year, indicating a relatively small likelihood of default. And we all know the market is never wrong about these things....
And BTW, just where in the United States is it illegal not to have ID on you?
Apperantly every time you step into a car after staggering out of a bar... freaking fascist pigs...
(I joke of course)
Main How To Ruin A Retail Company
A prime case study on how to ruin a retail company:
Without well motivated sales-persons any specialized retailer can only lose.
Here the shareholders lost too. No tears for them. Why did they not stop the disastrous management plans?
Only long term Circuit City CEO Philip Schoonover, who was only fired six weeks ago, made a fortune by ruining the company. He got more than twice per year of what successful retail chain CEO's got. From the second link:
"Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
What sort of Nazi made up that rule?
Seriously, Don't take anything I say seriously.
The campus of Florida State University.
A boycott wasn't needed. If you fire your best people, your service will go to shit and your customers will get annoyed and go elsewhere. *That* was likely the killing blow, not any overt boycott.
The cake is a pie
You are welcome to call the police, but if anyone is arrested it will be you, possibly after being repeatedly Tasered.
If I'm tasered by a Circuit City rent-a-cop for the action of reaching for my cell phone I think the next question would be "How many zeros would you like on the check, Mr. Shakrai?"
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
That actually just happened to me (well, someone right in front of me in line) at a Sam's club yesterday. The people had a cart full of items, the person checking the receipt noticed that there was an extra item on the receipt that wasn't in their cart, and they got sent right to customer service for a refund. It was pretty impressive.
A couple "loss prevention" goons blocked my car after I refused to show receipt. They called the police and everything. I told them not to bother; I promptly walked back inside and returned the item. When the police arrived (with lights and sirens), the employees didn't have anything to say. I'd say I'd never buy anything there again, but it doesn't seem like I'll have that opportunity.
Went to CC on a Sunday to grab a cross-over cable to tide me over until Monday when I could order a replacement from our supplier.....
No CAT-5 spool, terminals and crimper lying around? Turn in your geek card!
I keeed, I keeed... (UID factor and all)
Set your phasers on "funky"!
*That* was likely the killing blow, not any overt boycott.
Actually the killing blow was probably the economic crisis and the realization on the part of the American consumer that borrowing against your home to finance a plasma screen TV isn't usually a sound financial decision.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
I can understand that you are not a thief and don't like wasting your time, but anybody who has EVER worked in retail in any capacity knows that theft is a huge, huge problem and that it raises costs for everybody else.
What SHOULD the stores be doing to try to prevent theft?
Every public library I've ever been in and has the same kind of door monitor--should they be allowed to check for non-checked out books leaving the library?
Just before CompUSA closed, I had a manager and security guard refuse to let me leave the building until I showed them my receipt
That's the point where I would have pulled out my cell phone, called 911 and told the dispatcher that I was being held against my will.
Of course, if the cops show and decide that you're just being an asshat, you could be in trouble for abusing the emergency line...
Bow-ties are cool.
They have the right to refuse service to anyone, therefore they have the right to say you can't buy anything if you don't voluntarily submit to search.
Your recourse is, of course, to not shop there. But they aren't abridging your rights because you are not required to shop there and thus any search is voluntary.
The cake is a pie
they wanted over $46 for a 14 footer (all they had). Yeah, f#ck that
For that price you could buy a cheap (but functional) Cat5 crimper tool, some cut wire and ends... and likely still have money left over for beer.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
So the answer is... It is illegal to be in the driver's seat of a moving car without ID in all 50 states.
The earliest evils weren't the boxcars. It was "Papieren Bitte!" for everyone, then yellow stars for select few, then eventually boxcars for those with yellow stars.
then it's their duty to take one home to make the inventory come out right.
Tough job, but I guess someone has to do it ;)
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
That is an answer. I'm not sure it was to the relevant question.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
True dat. Still a bit of a leap between that and Circuit City though. The Circuit City employees only think they have the authority of the Gestapo ;)
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
I'll have to remember not to go shopping if I'm ever there. I set those damn things off all the time. I think something in my wallet does it, but I've never isolated it.
It seems to me, however, that some people are just trying to cause a lawsuit.... It wasn't his decision to refuse the search of his bag at an area Circuit City that got him behind bars. It was getting smart with the police officer (that he, himself called) that landed him in jail. If you have an ID and the police asks for it and you refuse, you are obstructing. (The blogger does also say this at the end of the article.) Now the guy want the ACLU to come to his rescue and is soliciting donations to fund his defense.
I've not shopped much at Circuit City, but I don't recall anyone wanting to review my receipt there. They do at BestBuy (rarely) and Fry's, but Fry's is the only one I've seen that's actually makes a serious comparison. BestBuy has a guy stationed near the cash registers at the exit/entrance, so he can see you just came out of the checkout line.
Frankly, I think the reason they're going out of business is because they simply don't carry the stuff people want at the right prices. It's weird, they seem *almost* the same as BestBuy, but the times I have been there, I rarely end up buying something. But we buy a lot at BestBuy and I also like to take advantage of the X months, no interest, depending on how much you buy.
If you've never been modded as "flamebait" or "troll," you've never tried to argue a minority viewpoint here!
How would they know you're over 18... if you don't have ID on you...
Bald, wrinkly old man: I'm just 17 officers! My birthday's next month, but I swear I'm 17!
On a more serious note, stores like Costco can put receipt-checking requirements into the membership agreement.
That may be true, but none of those places are in the United States
This is only true if you're a US citizen. If you aren't, you are required to have ID. Of course, it gets messy since there isn't any good way to know the difference. So if you can't furnish ID, they'd probably have valid reason to hold you for a short time until they verify you are who you say you are.
Yes, it sucks, but I can't say it is unreasonable.
places like best buy, who have a "security guard" at the front door, often have a foot switch that can cause the detectors to give a false positive. Just so they have a "reason" to stop you.
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore."
It was my understanding that a store does not have the right to demand to see a customer's receipt much less detain them.
The only real exception to this that I know of is Sam's club, they will always check your receipt on the way out, but in order to be in their store you have to have a membership and therefore have signed your life away. But I think even then all they can really do is take away your membership.
Receipts
Eschew Obfuscation
That's not exactly "acting in good faith", but I don't doubt it happens.
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
Huh? Best Buy is infamous for having the door nazis.
My wife and I went to the store closing sale yesterday, and it was really pathetic. They had the XBox360 game "Blue Dragon" on sale for 10% off of the regular price of $59.99 (no returns under any condition). Of course, you can buy the same game from Gamestop for $19.99. Console systems were only 5% off their prices, and everything I saw was higher priced after the discounts than I could get from Best Buy, and you can't return anything. Also, there was nobody in line. I guess I'll wait for Fry's after Thanksgiving Day sale :/
WRONG, 1 in 10 dollars leaves the store through shrinkage, that is a FAR cry from saying 1 in 10 people leaving the store is a thief! Shrinkage comes from many sources but employees are a large one as is quasi-legal abuse of return policies (ie 'renting' a bigscreen for the super bowl). I don't believe any retailer has ever published a study showing a significant reduction in shrinkage due solely to implementing the receipt nazi's. The only place they have a chance of stopping me is Sam's Club when they aren't backed up 10 people deep since I do have a membership to keep.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
I knew that they were not long for the world when I realized that they'd hopped onto the "premium cables" bandwagon. I haven't set foot in a Circuit City since I went in casually looking for a set of RCA cables, and found that the bastards didn't even *carry* a set priced at less than $30. Not only that, but the employees were utterly obnoxious when I pointed out how stupid this was.
I ended up getting them at Radio Shack for about $3. Any company that relies upon its customers to be absolute idiots SHOULD go out of business.
You can keep arguing from here to hell freezes over, but it wont make it true.
By reading this response you owe me 1 million dollars. You had the right to not read it, but read it voluntary and now owe me a million dollars.
Seriously though its too bad there won't be any competition - Best Buy is the WORST, in terms of high-pressure pitches for extended warrentys, lack of sales help, lack of post-sales support (Just try buying a major appliance from them - and having it installed) and rebate scams.
What you have here is not a violation of any rights, they weren't going to search purses and handbags (although some stores do - but they clearly post that they reserve the right). It's implied consent when you shop at a store like that, and if you don't like it, don't go back.
Wrong. A retail outlet can't put up a sign saying "We reserve the right to ass rape you." and then ass rape you when you walk into the store.
Store security staff have no right to search you. At all. Under ANY circumstances. You can, and should, walk right by those idiots asking to check your bag. Remember, ONLY police officers have the right to touch you without your permission.
That includes shoplifting. CASE LAW has it that if a store security guard thinks you are shoplifting he may call the police and detain you until they arrive. Technically, he can't search you, but some guards may do it anyway assuming the shoplifter won't put up a big stink about it (usually they don't). However, if that guard starts harassing someone who ISN'T shoplifting he's automatically in the wrong and stores have been sued for large sums of money for having security staff arbitrarily harassing customers. Look up "shopping while black". Judges have granted awards to black plaintiffs simply because security staff was LOOKING at them in stores.
Smart store security doesn't even consider touching a customer in any way unless they have the shoplifting on video.
Name & location?
They have the right to refuse service to anyone, therefore they have the right to say you can't buy anything if you don't voluntarily submit to search.
So could they say they have the right to punch you in the stomach too before you leave? Would that be legal in your mind?
Posting a sign does not convey any rights, nor does it restrict them.
Everywhere. At least under the current administration.
Of course, if the cops show and decide that you're just being an asshat, you could be in trouble for abusing the emergency line...
How is calling the emergency line when being held against your will "abuse"? If you are attempting to leave a location and another person is preventing you from doing so then that person is committing a crime.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Did I ever suggest Best Buy as a viable alternative? Personally, I won't shop at either one of them. I'd rather do my business locally or online.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Man Arrested for Refusing to Show Drivers License
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/03/1449200&from=rss/
Skip ------ See the latest from http://www.anArchyFortWorth.com
Gee I sure am glad I paid extra for that 3 year warranty on the tv I bought a few months ago... Well at least I didn't buy the 5 year one. Will the manufacturer honor the warranty from circuit city?
Fry's does the same. Fortunately in Texas, they can't detain you without definitive suspicion of theft, and if they do you have a nice solid case in court. I walk by holding up a receipt without changing my pace. If the security drone can't slap his pink marker across the receipt before I'm past him, tough shit. I have no motivation to wait for their waste of my time, particularly when they're carefully checking the receipts of 20 sheep in front of me.
Shopping online becomes more attractive all the time.
If you are not a US citizen you are required to have valid state or federal ID.
I can't say I'm saddened. I've been shopping at newegg.com for the last couple years with no regrets. Great prices, good customer service, they often have free shipping. No reason to buy electronics in a physical store anymore*. * With a few exceptions. I had to sign up with "Verified by Visa" last night when I bought an LCD monitor through NewEgg. I guess items over a certain price trigger it. You can't opt out. PITA.
-- http://ninthagenda.com/
well, he said the early evils. so nobody was being loaded into box cars yet, just being required to register with the government if they were Jewish. later on i think they Jews were kicked out of government offices and academic institutions. then they were moved into ghettos and forced to wear the Star of David, but they were still allowed to leave the ghettos during the day.
fascism/totalitarianism just doesn't pop up overnight. if you do it slowly enough, and start with just the "untrusted minorities," you can get most people to accept almost any kind oppression. that's why smart people will make a big fuss about even minor encroachments of personal liberties. because once you get into the habit of capitulating your rights even a little, it becomes just a matter of time before you've handed over all of your rights.
My sentiments exactly. Last year I saw a Bluetooth headset sale priced on their web site. When I went in to buy the headset, I asked the nearest "salesperson" where I would find the headset. He told me he did not think they sold that model, and when I insisted I saw it on their website, he shrugged and told me sometimes their web site is wrong and walked away.
Determined to get my headset, I looked for about 5 minutes and found 3 of the sale-priced headsets on their racks, but the sale price was not marked. I took the headset up to the minimum-waged cashier and when she rang up the purchase, it registered at the full price. I told the girl it is on sale on the website, and her answer was that I could not get the sales price unless I ordered the item on the website.
Frustrated, I had her cancel the sale, took the headset back to the area in which I found it. Just as I was about to place it back on the rack and walk out, I noticed that no one was manning the customer service desk in that area. Further, the computers were all available and users were still logged in.
I walked behind the customer service counter, accessed their website, purchased the headset for the sale price and used "store-pickup" for the shipping choice, printed my receipt on their printers, and took the headset to the same sales girl. She promptly scanned it and removed the anti-shoplifting tag. I walked out with my headset and never went back to a Circuit City again.
Circuit City is not in financial trouble because of the lousy economy. It is just a poorly managed business overall.
Did he physically block you? If so then you should have called the police. If he did not, then you should have ignored him and walked out anyway.
Laws obviously differ from state to state but I am confident that a private security guard does not have the right to detain you unless he has positive evidence that you have committed a crime. Security guards don't have any special status under the law. If they detain someone it is under the aegis of a citizen's arrest, and such a thing cannot be legally performed unless a crime has actually been committed. Refusal to show a receipt is not a crime in any American jurisdiction I have ever heard of.
If you mod me Overrated, you are admitting that you have no penis.
Laws are different in different states.
The 4th Amendment isn't different in different states. NOBODY other than a "peace officer", a government employee, can search you without your express permission. If you refuse, no private security guard can legally search you under any circumstances. This includes the scenario where he has video tape of you busting into a jewelery cabinet and can actually SEE the stuff you stole sticking out of your pants.
What he CAN do is detain you until the police get there. That's not a "search". He is not allowed to gather evidence. Literally the ONLY special authority that security guards have is that they can detain people until the police get there IF they committed a crime. If they person they're holding DIDN'T commit a crime then it's kidnapping and the guard can get 25 years in prison. This is why guards almost always have videotape before they detain someone.
Now, in practice, teenagers stealing CDs and professional shoplifting rings probably aren't going to put up a big legal fuss about being detained for shoplifting. But store security is usually very careful towards anyone they think might sue, especially anyone elderly. I know a bit about shoplifting rings, and a lot of them are made up of little old ladies because they know the store security isn't going to harass them even if they're caught red-handed.
I tried getting around their poor stocking issues buy doing the buy it online, pick it up in-store thing when they started advertising that. (And, miraculously, had something at a price worth buying.) Unfortunately, that meant waiting in a customer service line because they never fleshed the policy out well. What was billed as 'walk in with your receipt, walk out with product' turned into an hour long ordeal of waiting at the counter and then explaining what the hell I'd bought as they had no clue about what I was trying to do. In the end, I'm guessing someone went into the back room, snuck into the store and grabbed the product off the shelf, and then came back in and handed it to me with an invoice taped to it. I think that was the last time I purchased anything there, and that was at least 5 or 6 years ago. I did get a good laugh reading their Black Friday "Sales" flyer last year, though.
If they have already allowed you to buy something and then ask to search your stuff, you have every right to refuse. Their only recourse is to ask you to leave the store, which you were probably doing anyway, and to tell you that you are not allowed to return.
A store cannot enforce arbitrary policies simply because they own the property. If you get into a dispute with them over their policies then the only thing they can do to you to enforce their policies is to force you to leave and not come back. And if you have already purchased your items then they are your property and they have no right to search them, any more than they have a right to search anything else that does not belong to them.
People really need to get this straight. You do not give up your rights simply because you enter property which belongs to someone else. They can ask you to do anything they want, but you can simply refuse. At that point the only thing they can do, unless you have committed a crime (refusal to follow store policy does not qualify!) is to tell you that you are no longer welcome in the store and escort you out.
If you mod me Overrated, you are admitting that you have no penis.
Retail is a nightmare. Newegg would have to turn themselves into something quite similar to the current retailers and you would eventually hate them too.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
Never said it was, ;)
I think its straight up dirty.
I guess i forgot to add the obligatory "It's a trap!"
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore."
It's actually a pretty good analogy. Such a sign does not magically make women unable to refuse to have sex with you any more than a similar sign in a retail store magically makes you unable to refuse to let people search your property.
If you mod me Overrated, you are admitting that you have no penis.
Having worked at "The Circus" once upon a time, I know there are at least 3 reasons for not getting into management.
1. Good salespeople take a paycut to move to management.
2. You have to move to take a management job.
3. Management is moved around from store to store every few years.
I know of a couple of divorces and a marriage called off because of being a manager.
And BTW, just where in the United States is it illegal not to have ID on you?
California. In California a peace office has the right to detain you indefinitely until he can "confirm your identity". If you are not carrying state-issued ID on your person you are required to provide contact information for someone ELSE who can confirm your identity with legal documents. You can be thrown into local jail until that person contacts the police. If you have no ID and refuse to provide contact details you are thrown in jail until you provide contact information. Eventually, you're put in state prison.
The assumption is that most people who have no ID and refuse to provide contact information are illegal aliens, so any Hispanic who does this is usually sent to Mexico. For whites and blacks it's assumed they're trying to evade an outstanding warrant. There are apparently a number of unnamed prisoners floating around the California prison system.
That's nice, except that it's something I can do by myself without having people treat me like a criminal just for shopping at their store.
If you mod me Overrated, you are admitting that you have no penis.
And you can still refuse, and leave. At which point you have breached your membership contract, and they then have every right to revoke your membership and carry out any other penalty clauses which might be in the contract. But no matter what the membership agreement says, they cannot prevent you from leaving without showing your receipt.
If you mod me Overrated, you are admitting that you have no penis.
ironically, Wal-Mart has repeatedly refused to install security cameras and better lighting in their parking lots for the protection of their customers. this is despite the fact that Wal-Mart parking lots are notoriously dangerous places at night and have been the scenes of many crimes, including robberies, thefts, purse-snatchings, abductions & kidnappings, carjackings, armed assaults, stabbings, shootings/drive-bys, sexual assaults/molestations/rapes, as well as multiple murders.
though, reportedly, they have tons of cameras inside their stores to catch shoplifters. so you should be safe so long as you stay in the store and keep shopping.
Can you say Vista Failure? I can. So goes the M$ retail chain.
I wonder if you realize that GWB and Jar-Jar command more respect than you.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
i'm curious (because of your user name), if you're willing to waste money on gas to buy from a store that's out of your way, then how would you feel about retail workers receiving union protection against such employers? i mean, conservatives are always complaining about unionized workers raising the prices on domestically manufactured goods, but isn't it worth paying a little extra to support workers' rights?
otherwise, why rag on Circuit City for trying to cut costs?
Indeed, there are lots of special cases for non-citizens. Non-citizens should be careful to comply with all of their special case requirements.
"Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
They can indeed decline to serve me. But in this case, they've already done so! The transaction is done. I've already bought the thing.
Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
You cannot wash away blood with blood
Let's not forget how they fired all their highest-paid, most experienced employees and allowed them to re-apply for minimum wage positions.
Trust me. I haven't. I also haven't forgotten that they hit me where I live by outsourcing the IT department as well. If I can't get a job with you, you can forget about getting money from me.
About 3 months before they did that, I bought a 37-inch LCD tv with wall mount, installation and even the extended warranty (which I NEVER do, except it carried lightning insurance and this is Florida). One of the biggest non-appliance purchases I've even made.
Since then, I haven't bought anything from them. Not even CDs and DVDs.
Nor, as it happens, from Wal-Mart or Best Buy. They can all go sell to the Chinese for all I care.
yeah. I would do the same thing, except I wouldn't return the item; I'd stick to my guns and deal with the police, even if it lands me in jail (unjustly), but that's just me. however, that fortunately hasn't happened to me yet, but I still decided to never buy anything from Circuit City ever again after they accosted me at the check-out counter, asking for my phone number and address.
Well I don't know about Tulsa but in Southern California you can order stuff from New Egg with Free shipping and it will arrive the next day.
Yes, like for the company I work for I buy stuff at MicroCenter and Fry's and then I order other stuff online. Still 90% of all stuff can be had online for less. SO if I can I order it online.
I hate conflict as well (probably much, much more than most), but I'm not going to sign my rights or dignity over for it. good on you. of course, if I were you, I'd stop shopping at those stores as well; they have every right to treat their customers as criminals, but you have every right to not go there. however, it's sadly the case that many stores seem to behave in this manner. perhaps you should look into starting a store of your own.
Loss isn't always from employees just out-and-out stealing stuff. When I worked at an office supply store (OfficeMax, IIRC) and we had "overstocked" items - product that the computer insisted we didn't have. The manager would take the perfectly good product out back and destroy it. I remember particularly that they opened several of the really large bags of m&ms into the dumpster - despite my objection that they could give it to a school or something instead of wasting it. In another situation the store manager called me out back and wanted me to stomp on some of those plastic in/out organizing tray things. I refused and she insisted saying that I should act like I'm mad at the trays just like I think she's a bitch. I just looked at her like she was nuts, but in the end refused to destroy stuff.
I sort-of got back at her by suggesting to customers who couldn't find something to look out the front windows of our store. The Staples across the street probably had what they wanted.
There is very little future in being right when your boss is wrong.
That's nice, except that it's something I can do by myself without having people treat me like a criminal just for shopping at their store.
You just made the simplest and easiest decision in the world--don't shop there. You're free, you can do whatever you want!
Me, I'll gladly suffer the horrifying indignity of a 15 second cart check to shop at Sam's. Absolutely worth it for me. (and it doesn't even make me feel like a criminal--can you believe that?)
Why extended warranties are no good
Did you know that 100 percent of Circuit City's annual profits come from the sale of extended warranties? How about Best Buy? Forty percent comes from extended warranties. That's why salespeople are all over you like a cheap suit when you go to Circuit City or Best Buy. Clark just read a Consumer Reports article on extended warranties that confirmed how useless they are. The only product CR says is worth it is a high end treadmill. The smartest thing you can do is to buy an item on a credit card because some of them automatically double a manufacturer's warranty. That's like getting a free warranty. Business Week got more in detail with extended warranties. The magazine found that if you were to buy a $1,000 RCA digital TV, Circuit City charges $100 for the warranty. Best Buy charges $62. But WalMart charges just $29 for the same warranty. So, it's a huge mark-up. Salespeople receive a huge amount of pressure to sell these things, and you pretty much never should buy one. Appliances, electronics and computers rapidly decrease in value as soon as you take them out of the box. Why would you want to insure that? Plus, the average cost of a warranty is as much as a repair. So stay away from extended warranties at all costs.
4 comments | Permalink
In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins cites Circuit City as a company that went from being a pretty good company to being a great one under a great leader. Without subjecting you to too much of the book, Circuit City identified ways to spread as quickly as possible while maintaining a "consistent" customer experience. Stamping out stores across the land with the highest efficiency. The "comparison company" in the same field was Silo which didn't make the leap. The book isn't that old. Did the leadership at CC change to take it in a new direction, or was it always on this path?
Personally, after getting ignored/treated as nonwhite (I'm nonwhite) a few times, I never went back.
When the axe came to the forest, the trees said, "Look out - the handle was once one of us."
Sure thing, to each his own. I don't even have any such places near me, so the loss is minimal. If you want to tolerate it then that's your right, but acting as though the search itself is some kind of benefit is a bit much.
If you mod me Overrated, you are admitting that you have no penis.
Not a complete waste of time mind you, their online to instore inventory was so bad, I managed to snag about 10 of those $24/24 minute guarantee gift cards.
I patented screwing your mom. But it got revoked for "prior art."
Since when did civil disobedience go out of style? If it's a ridiculous policy or situation you should absolutely make it as hard as possible for the person or entity you disagree on policy with. Of course you should remain calm and collected... and try and exhaust more efficient avenues first.
On the Oregon Cost born and raised, On the beach is where I spent most of my days
At which point, with my life in mortal, terrible danger, I reach the other way for my actual weapon, and calmly go along my way, a bloody wake behind me.
That is an answer. I'm not sure it was to the relevant question.
And it might not even be "illegal". I can only speak for New York but our law reads as follows:
Failure by a licensee to exhibit a license valid for operation under this chapter to any magistrate, motor vehicle license examiner, motor vehicle investigator, peace officer, acting pursuant to his special duties, or police officer shall be presumptive evidence that he is not duly licensed.
So, in theory they could assume that you aren't licensed and arrest you for unlicensed operation -- in reality they'd probably just look your name up in the DMV database (unless you pissed them off). You'll note that the actual law doesn't mandate a specific penalty for failing to have your license on your person.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
PLEASE read what you link to in the future.
"(C) Nothing in this section requires a person to answer any questions beyond that personâ(TM)s name, address, or date of birth. Nothing in this section authorizes a law enforcement officer to arrest a person for not providing any information beyond that personâ(TM)s name, address, or date of birth or for refusing to describe the offense observed."
He gave his name and address, all he's required to do. We're not required to carry papers here in the USA, it's not the USSR, or Nazi Germany.
he store was one of the biggest sellers on the east coast. You can bet your ass that every customer's receipt and contents of their bag was checked on their way out.
Well, except for any bags I might have had. I don't do bag checks and there's nothing you can do about it.
"We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
California. In California a peace office has the right to detain you indefinitely until he can "confirm your identity". If you are not carrying state-issued ID on your person you are required to provide contact information for someone ELSE who can confirm your identity with legal documents. You can be thrown into local jail until that person contacts the police. If you have no ID and refuse to provide contact details you are thrown in jail until you provide contact information. Eventually, you're put in state prison.
None of what you've said suggests that it's illegal to not have ID on you. It suggests that it might be a PITA if the officer decides to be a prick about it but it doesn't suggest that it's illegal to walk around without ID. Indeed, you said "if you have no ID and refuse to provide contact details", which suggests that there is a procedure in place to handle those without ID.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
This is only true if you're a US citizen. If you aren't, you are required to have ID.
Technically, I supposed you're required to have your passport and green card, but only a cop can demand that sort of thing, and he can't tell anyway. What it comes down to is you aren't required to have ID and it doesn't matter who you are, at least as far as store security knows.
"We returned the General to El Salvador, or maybe Guatemala, it's difficult to tell from 10,000 feet"
I'm sorry but it's not. If I put up a sign on my front door that says "all female guests waive the right to refuse to have sex with me" does that mean I can rape with impunity?
Man, THAT is why no chicks come to your party! D'oh!
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
And BTW, just where in the United States is it illegal not to have ID on you?
Everywhere, if you are not a citizen. Non-residents are required to carry a passport with proof of legal presence at all times which must be revealed upon request by certain officials (at one point there was exceptions for some Canadians, but I don't know after 9/11). Greencard holders must have their green cards with them at all times and reveal them upon request to any officer of USCIS (this was basically unenforced for decades before 9/11, and now is occasionally enforced).
Nowhere, if you are a citizen. However, there is a requirement to identify yourself fully and truthfully to certain officials under certain circumstances (say, being detained by a cop).
Simpler, perhaps, but not nearly as much fun!
Maybe for Bubba the jailhouse inmate, but if you'll recall from OP's link, the officer turned on the guy who called in the cops on Circuit City.
"I'm not sure I like the fugnutish tone you used in your post!" -RogL (608926)-
i don't think they can do that whether or not there is any sign. that seems to be some kind of wrongful imprisonment or something. when i used to work in retail our loss prevention people told me that in order to stop someone they had to witness them putting the things in their bag and have them recorded on camera from the time they put it in the bag until detained. i believe the camera recording was just to make court cases easier, but either way that's what they required. also they would not search anyone's bag until the police got there.
Why do I have to carry an ID in the first place? I'm not a citizen if I left my driver's license at home? I'm sorry, I just wanted to take a fucking walk.
Man, THAT is why no chicks come to your party! D'oh!
Is that what I'm doing wrong? I just assumed all the chicks knew I was a /.'er and stayed away for that reason ;)
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Why do I have to carry an ID in the first place?
You don't. That's what a lot of people here don't seem to understand.
I'm not a citizen if I left my driver's license at home?
Actually, you aren't a citizen even if you have your driver's license. A driver's license is a license to drive -- it doesn't prove you to be an American citizen. A passport would do that but how many people carry their passports with them while walking around the US?
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
I can understand why people are upset about searches. Think of it this way though. If every time someone is suspected of shoplifting they had to call cops, we would have a problem. May be there needs to be an alternative solution to this. Personally I would just submit to search or whatever they do down south unless security guard was a complete asshole about. Oh and no touching my junk either :)
You can opt out of Visa (there are plenty of reasons why you wouldn't, it is probably the most convenient credit card to have...).
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
If you want to tolerate it then that's your right, but acting as though the search itself is some kind of benefit is a bit much.
The search is absolutely a benefit to me. If you've never worked in retail, you'd probably be surprised by just how much stock is lost to theft. Some employee, a lot through shoplifting. If I can do my little part to reduce shoplifting, I'll gladly do it. For one thing, it keeps prices down. Absolutely a short bag/cart check is worth it for my pocketbook, and ergo, worth it for me.
It would be totally awesome if it wasn't necessary, but until the day when people don't steal...
Wow! I've been boycotting CC for quite a while. I expected to seem them decline as a result, but I never dreamed of THIS!
Unfortunately for any celebration, today is also the day the Phoenix Lander was pronounced dead :-(
-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.
Good riddance to them and their phony price guarantees. They somehow got manufacturers to create products with unique model numbers that can never be found anywhere else. Therefore, no one could ever beat their prices on any products.
That's a lie. If you read his subsequent entry you'll see that not only was he vindicated, but that Ohio law specifically reiterates that you don't have to show police ID, but rather only tell them your name, address, and age (which he was perfectly willing to do).
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
I didn't bother to read the original post and I'm sure you are correct but seriously dude, you are an asshole.
The reason cops fuck with people like you and Ohio CC guy is because you are dicks! It's that simple. I don't give a shit what the law says, the guy with the gun makes the rules. He wanted to see some ID because dude wouldn't show a receipt thanks to his stupid logic bound ideology. You both need to get over yourselves. We live in an unfair world. Raising a shit storm over a 5 second security check does not pay.
Here is some ideology for you and you CC boyfriend: Order that shit online! That way when you sent bitchy emails complaining about everything under the sun it will be handled by an automatic emailer and not waste employees and police time. And If you still can't deal with all the rules or psuedo-rules here, move to mexico. They won't check your receipts down there gringo...
Wow good link. I find this surprising in that I was always told that once you are in the parking lot, the security for the store wont do anything and call the police on you. The security weren't even allowed to leave the building in case of a grab 'n dash. I know a couple people who shoplifted frequently a few years ago and walmarts and targets, they were never caught, but they were also under the impression that security wont leave the building to snatch up a shoplifter.
I worked for security (Loss Prevention) at Walmart when I was younger and I can tell you that you and your friends couldn't be more wrong. We usually apprehended in the parking lot as it leaves no doubt about passing the last point of purchase when it comes time to go to court. Plus when someone resisted or tried to run we didn't have to worry about making a scene in the store. As an added bonus, it is much more satisfying to slam someone onto an asphalt parking lot than a tile floor. However once you are out of the parking lot you are no longer on the stores property so a store employee no longer has any authority. The official laws in most states will say you're free. In reality if security chooses to give chase and catches you the court will treat it the same as if you were caught on the property.
Your link clearly says (A) No person who is in a public place shall refuse to disclose the personâ(TM)s name, address, or date of birth, when requested by a law enforcement officer who reasonably suspects either of the following:
It says nothing about showing an ID. In the blog you are referring to, he says he gave the officer his name and address, but because he was not driving the vehicle did not think he should have to show his ID. The link to the Ohio code you provided would agree with him.
Judging by their insistence on stupid practices regarding receipts, I think this was expected, and other businesses doing similar things must take notice and stop frustating their customers.
Is that what I'm doing wrong? I just assumed all the chicks knew I was a /.'er and stayed away for that reason ;)
Holy sane slashdotter, Batman! A slashdot user with a sense of humour who knows how to take a joke without being offended! I think I'm going to faint!
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
I believe NewEgg actually ships from California a lot of the time, so that makes sense.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
I just finished reading Jim Collins' book, Good to Great, and Circuit City is one of the companies that went from Good to Great in the timeframe they researched.
That book came out in 2000 or 2001. Since then, Amazon.com has certainly increased their retail markets to more than just books and music. Personally, I bought a lot of my home theater equipment from Amazon, rather than CC simply because the prices were at least 20% better. I went to CC stores to physically compare the products I was planning to buy from Amazon.
With CompUSA's failure, and now Circuit City, I expect Best Buy to fall victim to online retailers.
Good riddance.
Now, I'm not expert on US law, but in Canada anyone can perform an arrest for an indictable offence. And since any theft is a hybrid offence, it counts.
Now, most security guards and 'theft-prevention' employees are smart enough to wait until you get out of the store before doing this (makes it that much more doubtful you were actually going to pay), they would have a case for performing an arrest on you.
Well, sort of.
The guy was arrested when he refused to show ID to the cop.. Nothing to do w/ the contents of his CC bag.
And, if you follow the adventures of this guy, you'll see that the case was dropped in return for Mr. Righi not suing the pants off of that police dept.
PERVERT!
Except he was not obstructing...
Section (A) requires that one of the underlying (#1 or #2a~2d) be true.. None of them were.
Also, Section (C) speficially says that the person has only to answer one or more of the following:
Name
Address
date of birth.
Nothing at all in there about showing ID.
2921.29 Failure to disclose personal information.
(A) No person who is in a public place shall refuse to disclose the person's name, address, or date of birth, when requested by a law enforcement officer who reasonably suspects either of the following:
(1) The person is committing, has committed, or is about to commit a criminal offense.
(2) The person witnessed any of the following:
(a) An offense of violence that would constitute a felony under the laws of this state;
(b) A felony offense that causes or results in, or creates a substantial risk of, serious physical harm to another person or to property;
(c) Any attempt or conspiracy to commit, or complicity in committing, any offense identified in division (A)(2)(a) or (b) of this section;
(d) Any conduct reasonably indicating that any offense identified in division (A)(2)(a) or (b) of this section or any attempt, conspiracy, or complicity described in division (A)(2)(c) of this section has been, is being, or is about to be committed.
(B) Whoever violates this section is guilty of failure to disclose one's personal information, a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
(C) Nothing in this section requires a person to answer any questions beyond that person's name, address, or date of birth. Nothing in this section authorizes a law enforcement officer to arrest a person for not providing any information beyond that person's name, address, or date of birth or for refusing to describe the offense observed.
(D) It is not a violation of this section to refuse to answer a question that would reveal a person's age or date of birth if age is an element of the crime that the person is suspected of committing.
The Canadian operation has "good strong sales and good earnings over the last several quarters"
the Canadian subsidiary had no choice but to seek the court's protection, which he said "was triggered by the filing in the United States."
Perhaps, "Blame the US" should be invoked? :-)
.. paranoid crackpot leftover from the days of Amiga.
If by that you mean those dens of parasitism at the top, the big investment bank casinos and the repackagers of compounded debt that they somehow deserve to profit from, and getting everyone tied into their financial tick-dom, yes they are quite large, and don't deserve to fail..they deserve to be destroyed, not replaced, and the ones responsible go to jail. Period.
To put the real wealth producing and productive economy at peril for the benefit of the speculation/casino economy is *criminal* and quite insane. And that goes for the federal reserve as well, the biggest economic mistake this nation ever made. If their (and yours obviously) completely bonkers theories/cons/ponzi schemes worked, there wouldn't be such a mess with bailouts needed. They are *looters* on an unprecedented scale, and now they are using economic terrorism to threaten the rest of the world that if they aren't bailed out for their 50 to 1 leveraged bets, that they will bring down the entire rest of the economy. They should be charged under RICO and work up from there, all the way to treason. How dare they threaten economic terrorism-an extortion, no different from the mafia shaking down some merchant for "insurance" and shame on you for supporting that notion. Yes, we would have a painful transition period, but it needs to be done, not perpetuate the same insanity lead by the same greedy power mad sociopathic megalomaniacs.
I find it funny when I purchase things from Fry's, like an ATX extension cable, some LEDs, an IC, maybe some resistors...and they check the bag. I kind of want to ask them if they have any idea what the stuff I bought is.
"Ok, looks like you have a receipt for some kind of electronics stuff....OK, looks like you have some electronics stuff...must be the same stuff".
Yet another reason to buy online.
/frisk the UPS driver?
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Now look around at all the businesses that count on their credit lines and cash flows to keep the lights on, that practice "just in time" economics and lose money nine months a year so they can get the gravy Christmas business that's not coming this year.
It'll get better one day, but it'll get worse first. This is no way to run a going concern.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
The Jews have trained you well!
What most of you don't understand is that the stores don't trust their own cashiers. That's why they check your receipt at the door. The loss prevention people KNOW you've been through the checkout, but what if that cashier has over-charged you ($100 for that $80 item pocketing the difference), under-charged you ($100 for that $900 item because you're their friend), or even didn't charge you (paid for 3 items, but have 4)?
I haven't shopped at Circuit City since they were pushing that DIVX bullshit, because they were pushing that DIVX bullshit.
I still laugh whenever I download a DivX/XVid movie and think about what those MPAA bastards tried to foist on us.
I'm a big tall mofo.
IMHO, in spite of the crappy atmosphere, poor selection, and high prices, the real reason Circuit City failed is that their stock value was tied into growth. As long they were adding new stores (and they were adding them at pretty fast clip in the 90s), their bottom line was growing, and they could look like a good stock, and borrow money to build more stores. But there inevitably comes the time when they saturate the market, even without considering the competition, and run out of reasonable places to build. And then they struggle to keep up profits, remodel, lay off, reduce services, and go bankrupt.
Receipt checks don't usually bother me too much (perhaps I'm overly-accommodating). Consider though that they can actually protect the customer as well.
One time a receipt checker at Fry's noted I had been slightly overcharged for a component and fixed the problem for me.
If the system is wrong... we fix it. We record that to keep the accountants happy, though.
Two people invested two negative mod points on a post that was already at -1. That should give you an idea of how well liked you are around here.
He let them off easy.
If the masses can keep you down, you're not the Ubermensch.
I live in Chico, CA. The local Circuit City ROCKS!!! The sales people actually have a clue, they are always courteous, their prices are generally very good, and their service is excellent.
I've seen/heard horror stories from teh Intarnetz about just how bad CC is, but I haven't seen it... at all. I probably spend about $2000 a year in various stuff there, and am perfectly happy to spend it there!
Here's my most recent story:
I wanted a decent sounding stereo system for my Halloween party. It was literally the day OF the party. I already had a decent pair of speakers, I just needed a receiver to put it all together. Nothing fancy, just enough watts to make it sound nice. I walked in to CC and found a floor model for sale, just $77. I snatched it up immediately, and bought it right away. Total time in the store was less than 5 minutes. I took it home and found that it didn't work, so I took it back.
They exchanged the dead floor model with a working new model, and didn't even make me pay the difference in price!
In my line of work, I consume lots of data, and I use USB HDDs like backup tapes. I have lots of them, labeled with dates, and I find that CC usually has USB drives for sale about as cheap as I can find at pricewatch.com - and I don't have to wait 4 days to get my goods. I've also a flat-panel monitor, computer speakers, flash memory, and several digital cameras in the last year alone - all at Circuit City, and all with excellent prices and service.
I hope Circuit City pulls out of this funk - I rather like my local store.
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
I think because of Circuit City's poor treatment of their customers, they have driven away potential customers in droves--right into the hands of Best Buy, Costco and even Wal-Mart (Wal-Mart made a very smart decision several years ago to aggressively pursue the consumer electronics business, and they are now among the largest sellers of flat-panel TV's in the USA).
Don't forget the DIVX debacle. I boycotted them for a few years after that doozy.
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
Here around (France) it is (was?) not legal to search you if you are not a police officer. They can ask you politely to show the bag but you can refuse. Then it is up to them to call the police or ask you to leave the premise. I got asked more than once, and i just plainly refused. Then they are SOL.
Same here, except I worked there for 18 months (just quit in October). Started as a PC tech April 07, and December 07 moved up to in-home tech, which is admittedly a very cushy job for being the highest-paid non-salary position in the store.
I saw a LOT of turnover, which as you said was due to other factors (i.e. pressure to sell when on zero commission). The sad thing is, even having the best position other than store director or operations manager, I was STILL pressured into that stuff. It was enough to drive me to quit despite being able to set my own schedule and almost never be under any supervision. I guess my point is that even when you got the position you wanted after sitting through the "placeholder", it still would have been shitty.
In 1.5 years, I saw 4 completely different sets of management, and probably 5-10 full turnovers of almost every employee in the store. In my ending weeks, I honestly didn't even know about 90% of the people that worked there, despite being a "veteran", because the turnover was so high and I was rarely actually in the store.
WHO NEEDS SHIFT WHEN YOU HAVE CAPSLOCK/ DAMN1
In Michigan the MLCC tells establishments that each and every customer is required to have government issued ID if the person is inside a establishment that serves alcohol and the person is over the age of 18.
I have seen the state police go through a bar and check everybody for ID, those without ID were not personally hassled if they didn't have ID but were asked to leave. The two different places I have seen this happen at the liquor license was eventually revoked for the bar, which I think is the purpose of the law, give law enforcement enough gotchas to shut down any establishment that serves alcohol.
As to Circuit City, I won't miss them, they have this incredibly stupid receipt check as others have mentioned, it's so insane when they stores are extremely understaffed to the point it's painful to check out but have the jack off idiot at the door checking receipts but a Microcenter a block away doesn't have a similar policy.
I hope they take Best Buy down with them, others on Seeking Alpha seem to think Best Buy is overstating their sales and their numbers look bogus.
In many states it's simpler than this. For example, in California you can't get arrested for a misdemeanor unless the arresting officer sees you commit the act, so you just go ahead and pull out your receipt when the arresting officer arrives, and then force charges (in California you can make a citizen's arrest) on the person who held you. Or just walk out anyway, which I've done in several situations. Once at a restaurant I was followed out and the person who followed me out wrote down my license plate number. The result: nothing.
Bubba, even if charged with murder, is NOT going to risk anything at this point (city or county lockup) to hurt you.
Just act strong, and stick to your story: when asked why you got arrested, tell him the name of the cop. This way: "I beat the shit out of this stupid piece of s**t cop who wouldn't get out of my way". Add relish (but no mustard) as necessary.
Been there. Found that out.
You are an idiot. You're proving it with every single post you make. Feel free to continue.
Seriously, what is your deal, Ballmer? Yeah, I get it, you've somehow managed to join the M$ addicted trolls such as willyhill and his sockpuppets macthorpe, jwilcox154, dedazo, and several others in the ranks of annoyances on this site. You and those who suck your dick are obsessed on whether or not people post 140 bytes or less sized comments and hijack threads when you do the very act you accuse me and others of. If you think this is appreciated by the community, why don't you take a look at your karma. Oh, you are posting as anonymous like me. What's wrong, afraid to let other see which account is yours Steve? Are you going to throw a chair at me? You should be arrested.
--
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk
Friends do assist M$ addicted friends in committing suicide.
Righi just refused to give the police officer his license, something that Ohio code specifically says he's not allowed to do [ohio.gov].
Is this a typo or did you read that law and come away with the impression that he had to hand his license over when requested? That's the same law I cited to prove that he didn't have to hand it over -- ID isn't mentioned at all in that law. All it says is you have to disclose your name, address and DOB if requested.
I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
Of course, if the cops show and decide that you're just being an asshat, you could be in trouble for abusing the emergency line...
How is calling the emergency line when being held against your will "abuse"? If you are attempting to leave a location and another person is preventing you from doing so then that person is committing a crime.
Here again is the problem that I am trying to explain:
Ultimately, it doesn't matter if you're right, what matters is if the cop who shows up thinks you're right.
If the cop shows up, hears your story, and responds with, "What, you called the cops just because you didn't want to show the guy your receipt?" he may decide that you are wasting his time - and thus be inclined to approach the situation as if you're in the wrong. (Placing an emergency call for a non-emergency, whatever other punitive BS charges he may decide to threaten you with...) If you want to fight that, then you have to go to court, where you may face a judge who will also not hold your assertion of rights in very high regard. Because, after all, the whole thing would not be an issue if you'd just showed the guy your receipt.
If you can afford the court battle (or battles) required to establish that you're right, and additionally establish that any punitive charges laid on by the police are wrong, then you can really show 'em. Otherwise, you may be the one who gets shafted in a deal like that.
I'm not saying it's right - I'm just saying that, you know, if you're not the one who's prepared to sacrifice something to fight for your rights, then probably starting a big battle over a little issue isn't a good idea.
Bow-ties are cool.
Good luck proving that anybody actually read beyond "By reading this response"...
Everyone is talking about recent CC crap. I remember when they came to my area (SE PA) and put most of the other electronics chains out of business 15+ years ago. I knew some insiders and they explained how CC did "market dumping"- sold below market to put competition out of business, then they own the market. The Japanese did it to the entire US electronics industry in the 1960s, 70s, 80s. Anyway, I've never bought 1 thing from them and I will sing and dance when the last store closes.
I would have loved to be slammed to the asphalt by a security guard at 14 for stealing a bag of chip or a pack of smokes. I would then own his paycheck for the rest of his natural life.
"A claim for equality of material position can be met only by a government with totalitarian powers." Hayek
My cousin and her fiance were both fired from Circuit City when all of this went down.
The decision was handed down from the top. Store management had little or no say in any of this.
Most people that work in a store like that don't have what it takes to work their way up to VP status and not every smart person in the store can be a store manager.
Besides nobody said they had management smarts. I said good SALES people, knowledgeable (since when do managers fall into that category?) people and experienced people.
...let this be a lesson: In writing a book about business success, you don't have to be right, you just have to appear right until enough copies are sold. The same holds true for anything where 'secrets' are believed to be the key to success. Consider Jim Cramer or Jack Welsh for examples.
Collins is a writer. Whether or not he believes what he writes is exactly as important as whether or not it's true. Advice books are for people looking for quick answers, not correct ones.
"People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
I guess I was hoping for a bit more than another troll response. Oh well, the dice can't always be in my favor.
Your brain is not a computer.
My boycott worked! :-D
I've boycotted them ever since DIVX.
I didn't see any way to do it. Apparently it's an arrangement between my bank and certain shops. I guess I could have used a different credit card, but that's more of a workaround than a true opt-out.
-- http://ninthagenda.com/
what if their bonuses were tied to the average annual profit over the last ten years, and those bonuses started after working as an exec for a few years (and ended a few years after leaving).
if that were standard practice, then there would be a lot more care towards long term growth/stability and caring about finding the best person to hand over the reigns to when you left, since you'd be partially vested in his success...
Are you kidding me? I do receiving for another office supply store (not Office Max), and destroying stuff is the best part of my job! Of course, the stuff we destroy is actually stuff that's bad/non-sellable-whatever. :P
"In caelum, illuc est libertas."
What is your name, FiloEleven?
Why do you beat your wife?
Yes, that is what I am talking about. Intelligence is a measurable aptitude (quantity) that can be compared with to others. So the usage is correct.
Right, someone who doesn't agree with you must have low intelligence. And you post with a psuedonym online but chastise me for anonymity. Pathetic attempt at argumentation.
Which is why I am not talking about individuals. There are black people who are smarter than white people. But, as a group, whites average higher than blacks, and Asians higher than whites. Within the white group, Ashkenazi Jews score the highest - above even Asians.
Socioeconomic status is a valid variable, but its not going to fully explain away group differences. Anyhow, IQ metricans have taken that into account.
The socioeconomic argument can be stopped dead in its tracks by asking how poor Jews and poor Asian immigrants have come to America and manage to outperform the native Anglo population.
Intelligent people are intelligent more so because of genetic predisposition and less so because of their situation, so they are more likely to overcome adversity and uplift themselves than those who are not.
But the studies are accurate - i.e. they correlate with what goes on in the real world - not some liberal fantasy of social engineering that inevitably fails every time.
Pointing out group differences is not a form of supremacism. I readily accept that, on the group average, Asians and Ashkenazi Jews are smarter than my group.
I am more interested in digging at truth than worrying about upsetting people who have a problem with accepting reality.
Please. Having a conversation with you is like being dragged in front of the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee.
Get a grip on yourself and engage in rationality instead of throwing out hysterical accusations as to my intentions and calling me names.
It seems to me that you are making a very fine distinction between "required to carry an ID card" and "required to identify yourself to a police officer". California law is virtually identical to the Nazi Germany laws that required citizens to carry identifying papers. If you didn't have your papers, the Gestapo would detain you until your identity was confirmed. Most people in the world used to consider this oppressive and totalitarian.
First of all it depends on the state. In fact, one that I looked through even allow police to frisk you if they've stopped you (for cause) and then suspect you're carrying a weapon (Louisiana). Others don't specify if an officer has to accept a verbal identification. In Vermont, for example, it reads, "The person may be detained only until the person identifies himself or herself satisfactorily to the officer."
Yes, he was vindicated, but what did he get? His bag still got searched (by the police officer) to make sure he wasn't shoplifting and then he gets to pay $5,000+ in legal fees for the privilege of "being right." I'm sorry, but I don't have sympathy with people who make a mountain out of a molehill. And yes, this was a molehill. There are far greater crimes and bigger battles to be fought. If you have a problem with a store's policy, then fine, complain to the store (upper) management, the state attorneys general and/or give your business to someone else.
We also don't know what was said (or how it was said) to the police officer. First of all, I as a citizen would rather have a cop patrolling for really bad guys than having to go handle a dispute where someone is stopped and asked to see his store bag. I can imagine that when he gave his name, the cop asked if he had an ID. If the guy then says, "Yes, but I don't have to show you that," the cop is obviously going to figure that he's being given a false ID.
I think there are plenty of times we must stand up for our civil rights, but to me, this borders on the ridiculous. And I imagine that Circuit City is STILL asking shoppers to peek into their bag and see their receipt. So nothing was really won here, except for his attorney.
If you've never been modded as "flamebait" or "troll," you've never tried to argue a minority viewpoint here!
When I said it was something he wasn't allowed to do, "he" was referring to the officer. Re-reading what I wrote I see I phrased it poorly and made it seem like I was referring to the man arrested.