Really Annoying Circuit City Trip Results In Lost Time And Rebate
Chris writes:
"To: consumer_affairs@circuitcity.com
Subject: Store # 3160 - Problem at CheckoutTo whom it may concern,
I have just returned from a disappointing and offensive stint at the checkout counter this evening at the Circuit City in Albany NY. I would like to point out that I am a frequent customer, and have made several large purchases, including a HDTV and laptop, including my more frequent visits for DVDs, etc. Tonight, I stopped in for a 50 foot phone cord. I could've gone to the Walmart next door, but I also wanted to check out the selection of cordless phones, specifically the Uniden DECT phones.
I found my cord, at a price of $9.99, which would've been a bit less expensive at Walmart, but I was running late for dinner. I was pleased to find the Uniden phone I wanted, with a $10 rebate to boot. Along with this, I swept past the PC games and picked up Age of Empires. Why so much detail? Let me continue...
I went to checkout. And this is where the problems and my lengthy checkout story begins.Guess that's what happens when you fire everyone who knew what they were doing. Hey, it worked wonders for Home Depot, why not try it with home electronics?The young lady at check out was obviously new, but there were no other registers open. She was struggling with the customer in front of me for a few minutes, calling out across the store for assistance, using the phone to call for unanswered help, before someone finally wandered over to help.
When it was my turn, the phone cord, already price higher than I wanted to spend for standard cord, rang up at $11.99. I pointed out that it was $9.99 on the tag back in the phone section.
The check out person asked for assistance from an older gentlemen, to check the price. He went back into the phone section... and we waited. The line started to grow.
The gentlemen returned, and said he couldn't find anything labeled $9.99 in the back, and asked me to leave the line and point it out. So, I left my place in line and went to help.
At the phone section, I pointed out the $9.99 price for 50 feet of phone cord.
"Oh, that's for the thin cord," he said.
I pointed out where the cord was... and where the thin cord was actually located. And, that the 100 foot cord was actually priced at $11.99.
That was also wrong. Actually, all the GE phone cord seemed to be in the wrong place in the rack. As I was running late, and no longer had time to go to Walmart next door, I decided to just buy the cord as is.
I went back to the line which had grown at the single register that was open. When I finally made it to the second spot in line, the person in front of me had issues with their checkout. So, we waited. The line behind me grew.
Eventually, a person was called over to assist the checker with the issue. Then, this new person, a presumed to be a manager, said to the line, "Next over here..." The people behind me scattered to the newly opened register. Really, this new person could have said to me, the next person in line, "Sir, you can come over here..." But, no.
The person in front of me finally completed their purchase, and it was my turn. The pricey phone cord went through. So did my phone. Then, it came time to ring in my game.
Boop.
Boop.
Boop.
The checker was trying to scan in the bar code from the top of the game case, where the plastic seal was crimped. Boop.
Meanwhile, on the front of the case was the clearly labeled price, with a bar code under it.
Boop.
She asked the new checker, who I had presumed to be a manager, for assistance.
Boop.
Boop.
Boop. Boop. Boop.
It wasn't ringing in. Come on now, this is Age of Empires, a Microsoft game. This should be in the system.
The presumed manager attempted to enter the UPC code manually. And failed. She tried again. Failed.
Then, she called over a new person. Another manager? A real manager?
Three people were now trying to check me out. The young man this time put in the UPC code, with the letters "UPC" in front of it.
"Don't you know how to do this?" he asked the ladies.
"No."
Sigh. He left, and the original young lady booped in the rest of my purchases. The total came to $180.32. I handed over two $100 bills.
No, the troubles were not over.
She entered my payment into the system. The computer wanted my phone number.
"I don't give my phone number," I said. "Thanks"
She asked the young man for help. "He doesn't want to give his phone number... what do I do?"
He looked at the screen - she had typed in only $100 paid. He corrected it to $200, and asked for my phone number.
"I'm paying cash - why do I need to give a phone number?" I said. The line of people behind me were agreeing with me also.
"Your purchase is over $100, so we need your phone number." he said.
"I don't give my phone number." I said.
He entered a phone number into the system.
"Your name is Edgardo Diaz, is that okay?"
"Fine." Little did I know this would come back to haunt me... and the lengthy receipt spit out of the register.
At the car, I had sneakying suspicion. Remember the Rebate offer for my phone? That's right, apparently Edgardo Diaz from Caguas, PR (Puerto Rico?) is going to get my $10. Had I KNOWN or BEEN INFORMED that my number was needed for the rebate form, I would have given it. But, no, I was told it was because my purchase was over $100.
I think you can understand why, after arriving late to dinner, I'm still irritated by this fiasco. And, why I'm going to think twice before heading back to Circuit City for my next purchase. With Walmart next door, and Best Buy across the street, it isn't too difficult to be swayed.
I would hope that crossing out Mr. Diaz's info on the rebate form isn't going to void my rebate, and my $10 comes to me. I hope you can rectify this situation, and look into the service issues at this store.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
C D (not Edgardo Diaz)
(name removed)
Purchase info:
Store # 3160, Albany NY
December 1, 2007
20:38:08
Ticket: 316002031017"
(Photo: Larry Tomlinson)
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Comments:
Why do people always mention that "i've made several large purchases here?" Apparently they think this entitles them to special privilages that the normal customer shouldn't get. I agree your experience sucked but just remember so matter how much you spend at that store, there is always someone spending more, stop trying to use your purchases for leverage.
@Soldmysoul
exactly!! I will not worship you because you bought a tv from my store! and give your damn phone number out, they don't use it for any marketing...they aren't allowed to anymore.
A cordless phone costs $125? I'm intrigued by the idea that you can just give your phone number to get a refund, though. Well, Edgar from Peutro Rico gets the refund, at least.
I had a similar experience with not giving my phone number and having the rebates auto-fill with the cashier's info (she put in her phone number instead). I whited it out, sent them in, and got all my rebates back.
But now I always give my phone number if I'm buying something with a rebate.
@swissdietcoke: How do you know? Nobody told him the phone number wouldn't be used for marketing. I know they used to use phone numbers for identifying extended warranties.
@Soldmysoul: Except that if I'm the store manager, and I know you've dropped $5k in my store in the last year, and presumably you will frequent my store for future large-ticket items, I'll be more inclined to listen to you.
Compare that to: "Look, I never-ever shop at your store, and it's a complete random chance that I stopped in to get something that cost ten bucks and there was this problem with the purchase, can you fix that for me?" Who do you think the store is more likely to care about helping?
As a general rule, I find it tough to get taken seriously in correspondence with more than 7 "Boop"s in the body.
@Soldmysoul:
But, your purchases *ARE* really the only leverage you have as a consumer.
The money you are likely to spend there in the future (which can somewhat be reflected by money you've spent there in the past) should certainly be considered by the store when they read your complaint.
They exist to make money, and they have to consider how much money you are likely to bring in when they determine how far to go to make/keep you happy.
@B: its there as a convenience feature, and to track your purchases if you lose your receipt. The cashier has no choice but to enter a false number if you decline.
Muchos Gracias for the 10 pesos, senor!
In appreciation,
Edgardo Diaz
I see nothing wrong with mentioning that you're a repeat customer. This is a business negotiation and letting them know that losing repeat business seems like a good tactic to me. My two cents.
I personally boycott both Best Buy and Circuit City so I guess I never need to worry about this issue bothering me.
You have much more patience than I. I would have just left after coming back to the huge line.
@Soldmysoul: perhaps he shouldn't have gone into such detail, but i think "long time customer" is pertinent to a complaint letter...as long as you relate clearly that the service has gotten noticeably worse over time.
regrettably, he gave the information necessary to have the poor girl (that was probably working her first day w/ zero register training) fired. falsifying company records (by volunteering a fake phone #) is a big no-no.
I agree with soldmysoul. Customers think they have the right to special privileges if they spend more. I have the same situation. I work at a large home center (with the orange letters). You wouldn't believe how many people tell me how much they spend at the store monthly. If what the customers are saying, then the stock should be $100 per share. My money is just as good as the next person and the same privileges should be across the board.
@mac-phisto: They have no choice but to enter generic customer information. This is SOP at most retail stores.
Why people shop retail is beyond me. Amazon + Amazon Prime = all I need for non-perishables. 527 orders last year, and I don't have to deal with this kind of crap.
yea, the "several large purchases" thing doesn't really hold up anymore. maybe back in the day with mom and pop style electronic stores would that complaint merit any extra attention, but definitely not with these big box stores.
@bigsss: I'd be pissed if a store spat on my face after being a loyal customer. So yes, I think being a loyal customer should earn you special attention and consideration.
I don't know how you form this idea that the person spending $5 on a non-regular basis would be equivalent to the person spending $100 on a weekly basis is.
Ever thought that maybe that was the cashier's phone number? Or at least a friend of the cashier. (If it was the cashier, then the cashier could have moved here for a few months, which would be why they still have a PR phone number.)
@StinkyCat: HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH.
Boop.
@Soldmysoul: He doesn't want special privileges. He wants a rebate.
If the rebate is still available on the item, customer service can return the sale to a gift card, re-ring it on a ticket and get you a corrected rebate form. I don't know if it's worth the trouble and the dealings with CC again for $10, but as long as the rebate is still active they can help you - since it's not a credit card sale, they can even do it over the phone and mail you the new receipt and rebate form. I did that several times.
I don't think how much you spend in a store has much difference. Maybe it would in some stores, like local mom-and-pops, but not most big chains. Best Buy and Circuit City do this type of crap all the time and people almost always say how much they spend a the store and how they will never shop there again. Guess what? The big stores could care less. They know you only have limited options if you want to buy something in store. People have been complaining about BB and CC for years and nothing has changed- that shows they don't give a damn. I know when I worked at BB, we were taught to not give a damn (especially if you didn't buy the worthless service plan).
Guess what? I still shop at BB and CC and all the other crappy stores. Know why? I expect to receive bad or no service when I go in. That leaves me less disappointed when the bad service actual comes true. I do research before I step foot into the store because I know the people that worked there aren't experts (I know when I worked there I knew some stuff and faked the rest).
@mac-phisto: "regrettably, he gave the information necessary to have the poor girl (that was probably working her first day w/ zero register training) fired. falsifying company records (by volunteering a fake phone #) is a big no-no."
Circuit City's system requires that all sales equal to or greater than $100 have a phone number entered, and if a customer refused theirs I would put in the store number to make both our lives easier. Actually, first I would let them know that it's to track receipts if they lose theirs and that the company doesn't sell the information externally, but if they still refused after my quick explanation I moved on. Unless, of course, there was a rebate attached, like here, in which case I explained that first.
If the item was under $100 I usually didn't ask; someone buying a $25 antenna or $15 cable doesn't need to be hassled.
Funny story about that: our store director was contacted by a customer who received a call from the FBI regarding a laptop he'd "purchased." Apparently some drug dealer had bought it at our store and refused to give a number, so the salesman used the store phone and for some reason this guy's name and address was the first (of many) listed under the number. Somehow they traced something back to him, and though they realized the mistake we still got a heated call from the guy. The store director immediately went into the system and added a customer under our store phone by the name of "AAAAAA AAAAAAAAAA" to prevent further toss ups.
Not that this guy doesn't have a valid coplaint, but how is it this quite frankly dull story got selected for posting? I'm wondering this because I e-mailed my tale of consumer woe [which was far more enthralling] with the local transit authority to all three editors this past fall [October, IIRC] and got nothing out of it, not even a reply. [Said transit authority also did not respond, BTW.]
@mac-phisto: I forgot to clarify that it was store policy - not written SOP, but unofficial - to put the store number in when a customer refuses. No one, especially a new employee, would have to worry about consequences from this.
Ugh. 1. Don't be so smug and paranoid about giving your phone number out. That's what called id is for. I would think that if you were in such a hurry, and already late for dinner, you'd just succumb and be done with it. 2. If you were smart enough to know that there was a barcode on the front...why didn't you SAY SOMETHING TO THE (ALREADY CORRECTLY DIAGNOSED) NEW/IGNORANT CASHIER? 3. Threatening to go to Walmart was a good choice, threatening to go to Best Buy makes me question your intelligence. :D
You can use white-out. Sometimes people give their phone numbers, I ask their address and they say it's correct. I tender the sale, they look at the receipt and lo and behold "My address is wrong!" and they look at me accusingly. Uggggh.
Anyway, if you didn't tell the three people that were helping you that there was a rebate on the phone, then amazingly enough we can't memorize every single item that has a rebate, especially for cordless phones which aren't all that popular.
And all purchases over $100 will ask for a phone number. If you don't want to give it and you lose your receipt that's your problem if you can't remember the fake one you gave us and you paid cash. No receipt = no return.
And unfortunately sometimes items are entered wrong into the system and UPC codes change. So I know Underworld Evolution doesn't ring up. I also know that Antec external hard drives don't ring up.
And I really don't care how much you spent in any store.
"Customers think they have the right to special privileges..."
Heh, I love how "special privileges", when used in the context of wanting NORMAL service, sounds a lot like "special rights" used in context of wanting civil rights.
The letter writer had every right not to give his phone number. He also has every right to get the rebate. It continually amazes me how anti-consumer the comments on Consumerist can be!
As for mentioning big ticket purchases in the letter - that adds weight. The store's incompetence has potentially cost them thousands of dollars in sales if the letter writer follows through and stops shopping there. Maybe - just maybe - measures will be taken to fix the problems in the store? One can dream...
@SOLDMYSOUL & BIGSSS:
For some strange reason I thought this was a pro-consumer website.
"special privileges"???
wake up guys
@Soldmysoul: I used to work in customer service at a circuit city; if someone comes in with an issue the first thing we do is look up previous purchases by their phone number, and dependent on how much you've spent in the past is how we are going to treat you at the service desk. A manager specifically said to me once, "If they haven't spent more than $1,000 here then let them get mad, we don't need their business anyway." This was four years ago, but i doubt things have changed.
Dude, I hate to say it, but you should have gone to Wal-Mart. If you're gonna get screwed, at least get the cheap price while they're frakking with you.
@swissdietcoke: I think that's probably untrue... I used to work at the Limited, and we could just enter "000" if someone wouldn't want to give out their phone number... but I don't know at Circuit City, but I'm sure there is some way to circumnavigate this.
@youwantedahero: Over $100, you have to enter a phone number. No shortcut. Not saying it's right, just that this is how the system was designed.
@quagmire0: Anyway, if you didn't tell the three people that were helping you that there was a rebate on the phone, then amazingly enough we can't memorize every single item that has a rebate, especially for cordless phones which aren't all that popular.
If only there were some device that could store information like prices and rebates and then display that information to the cashier during checkout. That would be really helpful to your poor overtaxed memory, I bet.
The only time I ever shopped @ C.C. or best buy i found I was bothering the employees, are they not there for helping customers ?
most rebates are stupid just give me the $10 off at the register, or shelf price. I don't want to wait for my money rebates just turn me off of buying a product because I look at what I have to spend now.
I would be just as angry as he was did the alarm go off when he left i wonder???
@AndyAgent87: I think sometimes these letters just sound whinny and the person comes across as causing most of the problems themselves. If you already know the phone cord was cheaper at Walmart then go buy it there. Your not going to make or break CC just because you bought the cord there. Also, you know the person behind the counter is new and the line runs on forever and the mean manager didn't pick you to go next and the rude meanie behind you stole your spot in line and on and on and on... The person obviously didn't need any of this stuff right at that moment since they had a dinner date or something. I disliked the person after reading that long drawn out letter.
@dream-king:
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought about that. Since when is not being scammed out of a rebate, even if it's ten dollars, a "special privilege"?
I think the point is not that loyal customers who spend more money are not entitled to better service than Joe Blow off the street who runs in for batteries. It's that every consumer deserves good customer service. With all due respect to Chase and its bullshit categorizing, there shouldn't be "tiers" based on what you spend or how often you shop--everyone should be treated with the same respect and courtesy.
I can't believe I'm quoting Cutler fucking Beckett, but it's just good business.
Just cross out the info and put in your own, I have done it before it works. As long as you have the UPC and receipt that is all that matters.
You do need to understand, when you fire all the people who know how stuff works, there is no one to show the people how to do it.
Sprint does that too. If you are not the name on the account, you don't get a refund if you return a phone and paid by cash OR checl. The person whose name is on the account gets the refund. Pretty shesty if you're on a multi-line plan.
It's amazing how many people have contrary opinions just for the sake of having contrary opinions.
-You should never ever be obligated to give out personal details in order to buy something with cash. If their "system" is messed up then that's their fault for putting such a complicated "system" between their customers wallets and their cash boxes. All it has to do is open and compute change. Don't shop there.
-While it's tough to convince the manager (not owner anymore) of a big box store that your monthly large sums will be lost becuase of bad service over the din of nickels and dimes in his ears, it doesn't go completely unnoticed. The problem is that in the old days when people actually owned their places of business, they were more directly connected with their customers. Now, the manager doesn't really care on a visceral level with how many people shop in the store, or if they're happy individually, if they've had a good time or will come back. He cares about it because he'll get chewed out by his DM if the numbers aren't right, but that's a poor incentive to act like a human to his customers.
Ultimately, it's not about trying to make a business change their ways or fail completely, it's about making informed decisions and being objective about where you shop and from whom you buy. You can't go into a store 12 times and every time complain bitterly about how they ask for the same information that you don't want to give, or that they always screw up your order at the starbucks, or that you never get all your food at the drive through. They're not going to change because of you, or the person behind you, or the person behind them. It takes thousands of people over a huge geographic area complaining about the same exact thing to effect any sort of material change. The best you can do is say "Well, I won't go into that store for a while, because they conduct business in a way that I'm not happy with." Maybe they never change their policy, but who cares? You won't be shopping there anymore anyway. Put on your big boy pants and move on with your life.
If a store treats you poorly you've got 2 options:
-Don't shop there anymore (possibly return what you've already bought, for emphasis).
-Keep shopping there, but realize that you've lowered your standards and thereby lost your right to complain about the shitty service ever again.
Funny, did you even bother elevating the issue to store management before you wrote this horrible diatribe? Sounds like you're trying to stir up unnecessary drama. Hey look you got on Consumerist! Aren't you awesome!
Not to mention, have you ever been new at a job before? The cashier obviously was brand new at her job. Retail is retail, and you will always have people that are new.
I find it mildly amusing that this guy was buying a 50 foot phone cord and a cordless phone.
@Tinybug "If only there were some device that could store information like prices and rebates and then display that information to the cashier during checkout. That would be really helpful to your poor overtaxed memory, I bet."
With the new system Circuit City uses there's no way to show if an item has a rebate.
And I'm assuming that you are capable of memorizing hundreds of items at different prices with different rebates (sometimes more than one per item) that changes every week, or you wouldn't be making fun of my memory.
LoL $10 earned or lost buddy? All that time you burned standing there in line to get a $10 rebate..no wait, less postage and any other addendums to drive that far down $10...not worth it lol
and for people who say that they deserve respect because they are loyal customers..uh no. unless you can tell me you shop at 1 market for groceries, 1 establishment for other items, 1 gas station for gas, 1 restaurant for food..there's no loyalty..if you are seriously doing that to this day, you must have a lot of money to blow..no price comparison, no price shopping..i would give you the Bold Person of the Year Award. In any case, who really remembers who went to the store and bought thousands of items..turnover is so high in retail, you'll be lucky to see the same manager the next year!
White out the receipt, return the item..whatever you want to do to get your $10 and move along. nothing to see here.
Just do what I do, give them local IRS phone number. If they will use it for telemarketing, they'll be surprised.
For the rebate, just white-out wrong info, and put yours.
If I were one of the cute blonde cashiers at my local store, I would not get in the habit of putting my name, phone number, and possibly address on the receipts of my customers, who are primarily a bunch of creepy, lonely geeks. :)
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz $10 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz