Circuit City Returns Under Systemax

animeking503 was one of several readers to send word that after closing its doors earlier this year, CircuitCity.com is alive and kicking once again. Systemax Inc., the company that owns TigerDirect and CompUSA, purchased the Circuit City e-commerce brand name last month, and has now re-launched the website with promises of lower prices and better service. The Consumerist points out that the new site's return policies leave something to be desired.

Comments

really

[asdfndsagse]

Why shops at retail stores for electronics anymore?

Re:really

[LoverOfJoy]

Shipping costs, shipping time and return policies. Not to mention the value in being able to see the quality and try out the product before you buy it.

Don't get me wrong. I buy most of my electronics online. I can usually find much better deals there than in brick and mortar stores. That said, there are some times when I am very glad to have a physical store to go to.

Re:really

[Kjella]

Shipping costs: Well maybe but last I checked because I forgot to include a 15m Ethernet cable the online price covered it + shipping for less.
Shipping time: Yes, definately when you need it today but that's rare. I've done it for odd stuff like the missing cable and so on but...
Retrun policies: Around here, no better (Norway). And I very rarely buy stuff I want to refund, YMMV.
Seeing and trying: Yes, for some products Reviews, benchmarks, press quality preview pictures go a long way though and there's always window shopping.

Ok, so the last one is pretty much a cheap shot against the store, but it depends in what order I'm doing it. If I've reviewed the prices up front but I'm uncertain and I go to the store and it's not excessively much more, they'll get a sale. But if it's the other way around that I get interested in the store, I always go home and check online once before making any large purchase. Why? Because brick and mortar stores sometimes have prices that are complete rip-offs. If you look at the top 10 online stores the prices are usually within a few percent because it's so easy to compare. Retail stores sometimes have 50-100% markup on some items, and there's no way I'm paying 200$ for a 100$ online item. In fact, I think they'd get more sales if I got myself a decent browsing phone so I could check out prices while in store.

Re:really

[AhtirTano]

Depends on what you are buying. Sometimes the design of a product feels more comfortable to you than anther. And preferences like this can vary from person to person. For example, I hate the button layout and display on Nikon DSLRs. I have a good friend who loves them. No review in the world can possibly sort this out-you have to hold the object in your hand to come to a decision.

Re:really

[pecosdave]

You forgot "heavy stuff" and "breakable stuff".

If it's heavy, it's expensive to ship. Monitors (especially back in the CRT days), automotive parts (I know, off topic), and anything the exact right model are important on is best left to an in person deal if possible.

(when you're a Linux user and you buy by the chip - the exact right model revisions is important sometimes)

Re:really

[mysidia]

This is similar to the reason newer printers have chips on the cartridge, and the printer rejects cartridges that can't be digitally identified as being the same manufacturer,

And why in many cases cartridges have "timebombs", i.e. after X pages, the printer will declare the cartridge empty and refuse to use (even if there's still lots of ink in it)

More revenue for the printer manufacturer who got you the printer for cheap so they could sell lots of ridiculously overpriced ink.

Then again it's not really Circuit City

[Jesterace]

Just like the original article it does state that it's not Circuit City it's Systemax. I've personally never dealt with Circuit City as I'm in Canada. the only thing close I guess was "The Source by Curcuit City" which basically was Radio Shack prior to that. Not being able to return unused printer cartridges doesn't surprise me much considering even Walmart won't take them back either. The other major brands HP, Compaq that kind of surprises me because you couldn't just take that fancy laptop back to HP or Compaq and get a refund.

Tiget Direct == Better Customer Service?

[lsommerer]

Really? The Tiger Direct people are going to improve someone's customer service? I stopped buying from them nearly a decade ago. Are they any easier to work with now?

Re:Tiget Direct == Better Customer Service?

[ion.simon.c]

Sometimes, even at the best places, you get a bad egg...

Speaking of eggs, newegg.com is the best online store that I've had the pleasure of doing business with. :)

Re:Tiget Direct == Better Customer Service?

[Psyborgue]

Thanks for the recommendation. I might try them next time I shop online.

Re:Tiget Direct == Better Customer Service?

[Eugene]

mwave.com is also pretty good for online shopping.

Visited the site

[revlayle]

I mean the prices are pretty good and the site is full of useful content and info about the products. However, it's not Newegg, millions of product reviews are already there, competitive prices already and pretty decent customer services. The new CircuitCity.com is ultimately "meh" to me. I mean if you HATE Newegg, this might be an OK alternative... i guess.... MEH

Re:Visited the site

[ScottCooperDotNet]

MWave is a nice NewEgg alternative.

opt out

[renegade600]

Were you a customer of circuit city? Did you give your email address at the store? or Did you have an online account with them? If you do not want your personal data be transferred to systemax you need to opt out by June 9

See the following for the opt out page

http://mail.circuitcity.com/p/Circuit_City_Backup/cc_web_optout

see the following for more information about opting out

http://www.circuitcity.com/sectors/opt-outv2.asp

what's the point?

[cashman73]

So, the new site is basically Tigerdirect underneath with the usual Circuit City logo on the main page? I bet when you order, the stuff comes out of the same warehouse as Tigerdirect. So, why not just order from Tigerdirect? These guys did the exact same thing with compusa.com. If they were going to do something new and different with the brand, then I'd say go for it, but this is hardly creative at all. They've basically just put Circuit City on an eternal life support machine,...

Re:what's the point?

[CastrTroy]

Well, Best Buy bought out Futureshop here in Canada. They had plans of opening up Best Buy's, and closing down Futureshop. What they found out, is that after they opened the Best Buy stores, they made just as much money with Best Buy as they did with the Futureshops, and didn't Lost any Business at the existing Futureshop stores. They also realized that a lot of people, probably a majority of people aren't even aware they are owned by the same company. So many customers will make remarks about bad customer service and say they will go to the other store, while the employees snicker at them. I'ms sure that This is basically the same thing. Most people will have no idea they are the same store, and they will think they have a real choice about where to shop.

Consumer laws

[AnalPerfume]

No corporate policy trumps consumer law, it's the other way round. Do any consumer protection laws in the US guarantee something more that these cretins are trying to push? I used to work in a store where we were told to use "company policy is set in stone" as an excuse for getting the customer to accept something less than the law guaranteed them to.

Having said that, companies don't lobby politicians into NOT modifying the law pushing the company / consumer balance further in their favor. Judging by many laws / regulations etc you'd think they were written BY corporations and handed to the government to act on.

Re:Consumer laws

[CodeBuster]

Judging by many laws / regulations etc you'd think they were written BY corporations and handed to the government to act on.

In fact, this is not far from the truth here in the United States. Does anyone actually believe that Congressmen, Senators, and their staffs actually sit down and write out 3,000+ page bills to submit to committee? Many, if not most, of the bills that come before Congress are actually written by professional lobbyists employed by firms located in and around the Washington DC area on behalf of their corporate clients. Even if the bill is written by the Congress, the budget for example, the lobby firms still submit amendments for their Congresmen and Senators to slip into the package.

Translation of return policy

[sjames]

Products in need of return for physical defects may not be returned. Products that we ship incomplete may not be returned. Products whose brand name is recognizable may not be returned.

Honestly their return policy could be greatly abbreviated as follows: "All your base are belong to us"

The concise summary

[dpbsmith]

A chain that was called "Circuit City"
Lost all of the cash in its kitty;
    So they gave it some whacks
    With a big System Ax
And now it will be Circut Shitty.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Stand by your guns

[AnalPerfume]

Usually when I have paid cash for something and told my refund will be in the form of store credit, I ask them to point out where I paid in store credit on the receipt, and where in the statute books it states I can't be refunded in the currency I paid in.

Stay polite but firm, refuse point blank to accept less and keep moving up the command chain when the next chump sent to deal with you repeats the same as the last chump. Make sure you use a loud but calm voice to ensure that other customers hear you. Mind you, I enjoy twisting a sales person inside out with logic until they run out of excuses and agree to what the law states I'm entitled to just to get me out the door. Remember, the longer you tie these people up dealing with you, the more time they lose trying to sell stuff to other customers.

Of course this only works with a real brick and mortar store.

Re:Stand by your guns

[Electrawn]

Or ALWAYS pay with a credit card (not a debit card). One call to the bank, and it becomes the store's problem to prove you are wrong. Also, it costs them $25 to $50 from Visa to deal with a dispute.

Re:Stand by your guns

[evilviper]

One call to the bank, and it becomes the store's problem to prove you are wrong. Also, it costs them $25 to $50 from Visa to deal with a dispute.

Have you actually tried this on more than one occasion, or are you just parroting something you've heard somewhere?

After returning a clearly defective product that I had spent over an hour testing (specifically, a cable from the bastards at cableclub.com, found via pricewatch), I was told the received product was NOT DEFECTIVE, and I would be given a store credit for the price of the product, minus shipping & handling... in short, less than I paid to ship the item back, and less than it would cost to buy (including shipping) ANYTHING from them again. I tried repeatedly to explain that there's no way they could be correct, and pointed out a handful of factual errors in the info they provided, and still got a steadfast refusal to even return the "defective" item.

I contacted the bank that issued my MasterCard, and explained the situation. They told me that there's no way to prove the product was, in fact, defective, and that because they have a stated policy which allows them to do this, my challenge would be declined, and suggested I just stop shopping there. It took me 5 more minutes to convince the rep I still wanted to challenge the charge, and get him to fill out the paperwork. Of course, the refund never showed up on my card, and the paperwork for me to fill out never arrived.

That's the gist of my experience with CC companies. Their "fraud" protection applies only to a very narrowly defined scenario of fraud, and you'll still probably have to take them to court...

Why would you want the Circuit City brand name?

[LordNimon]

To me, the Circuit City brand represents high prices and bad service. I don't understand why anyone would want the Circuit City name. It's tainted.

Re:Why would you want the Circuit City brand name?

[mysidia]

Because there is a lot of recognition for the brand name.

Even if 25% of the past customers are unhappy with Circuit City and will never buy again due to 'poor service' or poor experience in the past, there are still those 75% of the population (a significant number) who would still buy from Circuity City, or give them a second chance...

That 75% (of past circuit city customers) is a significant portion of the population.

Probably a much larger population than Tiger Direct's customer base.

are you paying attention?

[damn_registrars]

Why shops at retail stores for electronics anymore?

There are no locations for the new circuit city. All their retail stores are still closed. The new circuitcity.com is online-only.

Re: No, really...

[symbolic]

I had an experience not too long ago that had me asking the same question. I first went to the website of a well-known bookseller to check the price on a particular item. They had a list price and an online price. Quite naturally, the online price was cheaper, but I was willing to fork over the list price because I still thought it was reasonable. I walk into the store to find that the shelf price was 60% over list. When I inquired as to why this was, I got the usual smattering of excuses, and an assertion that they would not be able to match the list price on their own website. After some discussion, I placed the item back on the shelf and left. A day later, I purchased the same item from an online retailer at a price that was 30% less than their list price.

So yeah, brick-and-mortars can whine about the fact that they have to charge sales tax, and that this gives online retailers an advantage, but please...when you pull this kind of crap with customers, EXPECT to lose business.

Re:What is wrong here?

[SEWilco]

I have a bad feeling about this: Smells like Same-pig-different-lipstick effect -- and it smells bad.

Oh? Which part of "System ax" gives you unease?

Re:Brothers in Suckitude

[ImaLamer]

God, yet another NewEgg fanboy. Because shopping online shouldn't be about choice - it should be about worship!

Not that I have anything against NE, it's just that this thread is looking to be spammed by their employees.